After a series of good rally results it was time for a closing event of the 2023 rallying year: the Brit Butt Rally, a 35 hour rally through Britain. I had have participated in every BBR since 2011 and won it between 2015 and 2018, coming second twice and third once. In the year after 2018, I had a series of mishaps and errors that had annoyed me. I like riding through the British countryside, so it was time to travel to the rally HQ in Coventry. However, I wanted to avoid stupid errors this time to get this monkey off my back.

The rally’s topic was “chart music”, the rally book was simple and I finished my planning at 11 pm, having time for a beer before hitting the sack. A luxury.

My plan included the Welsh coastline, Dorset, London, East Anglia and Northumberland; actually I was ahead of my ambitious plan which allowed me to include two extra points that were crucial in the end. I had no issues except some dying auxiliary lights. Traffic, as usual, got painful in the afternoons. But I stayed in the flow and had a nice ride. The BMW behaved perfectly, as ever. I arrived 30 min too early as I ran out of locations.

After the dinner, the ceremony revealed the ranking: I was called to the podium with Scott and Arjen. I had no lost any points this time and even Arjen’s strong route and execution could not prevent me from winning the BBR for the fifth time! Nice! A long evening with a lot of chatting and pints ended this good weekend.

So the 12 Days Rally is done and dusted and in the rally books. 12 days of riding through 22 countries of about 13.000 kilometers. Visiting 123 bonus point locations. Numerous twisted roads and a spectacularly performing K1600GT that never missed a beat. I avoided most of the bad weather that haunted the continent and devastated Slovenia and parts of Austria, riding in sunshine in moderate temperatures for most of the time. There could be lots of tales to tell and I will decide later if I’ll do that. However, I have made a vow to myself to not comment on details of the rally and how it was organized. A gentleman never tells.

Some of the places were great locations though. I had managed to carve out a plan that combined most of the high combos and made only two small errors (one wrong picture and one transcription error that cost me two combos). But all in all the plan was a good one and very well executed.

A big thank you goes to Stefan and Simmerl had formed the “Hutzlmandl Service Team” and changed my rear wheel/tyre and did an oil change at the checkpoint at the Passo Tonale on day 5. I had no technical or physical issues (thanks to my fitness trainer Thomas) and kept the quick pace I showed during the Iron Butt Rally, even keeping the long, generous rest breaks.

My plan to travel super light with only one top case and a small bag worked out quite fine. A thanks also to the organizers for putting together this event and to IBA Benelux President Michiel for hosting a cozy start and finish event.

Here is a selection of some of the 123 locations I visited and some additional pictures I took:

In a few minutes I will be heading to the rally hotel of the 12 Days Rally. It’s not a big trip yet, as it is only 25 min away, situated in Eindhoven 😊. The bike is ready. Actually, it is exactly in the same state when I returned from the Iron Butt Rally some weeks ago, only that it received a thorough service at the BMW dealer. The had proven to be optimized and in good shape – no reason to change anything (“if your system is working, don’t fix it”). There is one difference though – I will ride without the panniers, only with the topcase and a small bag for warm/rain gear. I used the experience from the IBR to leave everything at home that I didn’t (really) need in America.

It will be a rally of a lifetime – with 12 days, it will be the longest LD rally in the world – one day more than the Iron Butt Rally. It will also be harder than the IBR – speeds are much lower than in the US, there will be much more, secondary, twisted roads and there will be border crossings outside the Schengen area. There will only be three IBR finishers among the riders, but even for them, it will be a new experience, as the physical and mental challenge will be higher here in Europe. I did some maths and I concluded that I just should continue the relaxed riding style of the Iron Butt Rally, I am still well trained in that respect.

I will ride to the rally hotel, do the Odo ride and the registration, check into the hotel and at 5:30 p.m. we will gather for the riders meeting…

https://new.spotwalla.com/animation/da3e-10e0-f10b/view?speed=80

16th place out of 96 finishers. Very good.

Robert is safely back at the finish control and he’ll be a finisher for sure, with just the “colour” of his finish now to be decided.

I’m sorry that this years commentary has not perhaps been as entertaining as in 2013 or 2017, but as you’ve seen, by IBR standards, it’s been a fairly mundane ride for Robert.

However, I will say this, it has got me thinking about 2025 ……

10 a.m. EST, the Iron Butt Rally is over and the social media ban has been lifted. I arrived well with more than three hours to spare. I lost some point at the scoring table, but this was due to a corrupt SD memory card and a disappeared picture. Could be worse.

It was a great rally and I will write about it shortly. I had no issues, rider and the steed arrived well. More later, because I urgently need some sleep now, I have ridden through the night. In the evening, the ceremony will take plan in the evening.

He’s in Somerset …..

Ah, no, it’s Somerset PA, USA

Humour intended for British readers only …..

Just 70 miles to go. By the time I get back home in a couple of hours, he’ll be there and tucked up in bed no doubt …..

What he will have though is the “Post IBR Blues”

This is what I wrote about how I felt at the end of the 2011 IBR :

Dismounting and taking off my helmet and jacket, I was immediately presented with
an ice cold beer and I sat down on the floor talking with various folk as they offered
their congratulations. Jeremy who had arrived half hour or so earlier, came over and
we talked for a while. It was during those few words that we exchanged that so many
stories that I’d read from people who had completed an IBR suddenly made sense.
Most ride reports of IBR finishers end with the words (or variations thereof) “you
can’t really truly explain what it feels like when you cross the finishing line of an
IBR”. Up to this moment, I’d thought “What a load of bollocks !!” ☺ How can you
not be able to put into words how you feel ?

But it’s true – you cannot describe the feeling. It’s a strange mixture of elation for
having done it, depression for it having finished, exhaustion for what you’ve been
though and in my case happiness for seeing Sonia again. In short, it’s something that
I’ve just never experienced before.

Robert already knows how this feels and he is about to experience it again ….

He’s just 200 miles from the finish now with about 8 hours in hand.

He could virtually push the bike home from there !!!!

….. and I know it’s day 10 of an eleven day rally, but I have finally managed to catch up and are now posting “as it happens” ….. Lol !!

Well, he’s just finished his Day 10 ride and he’s in Charleston.

He’s just about to take his 8 hour break and when he wakes for day 11, he will have 26 hours to ride 1200 miles, pretty straightforward stuff really. The only potential hiccup is that his last “loop” takes him back in New York for a few hours, but barring a total calamity, he has so much time on his hands, it’s almost impossible to imagine that this could could wrong now.

Day 10 was another totally forgettable days ride primarily along Interstates. Robert is fine, the bike is fine, the traffic is freely moving and from what I can see, the only really notable this that happened was that not long before he stopped for the night, he rode past a town called “HURRICANE”

He has even commented to me today, just how “relaxed” this entire rally has been – and that must present a problem for the organisers, in that if someone from overseas can come to the IBR (admittedly a very good rider on perhaps the most suitable type of bike you could use) and have a relaxed IBR, then that cannot be good. It’s a dilemma though across the world for IBA rallies where organisers have to balance the “challenge” of an IBA rally against the requirements of an ever increasing safety conscious world that we live in.

I’m glad it’s not my problem ….

When the highlight of the past 2 days was taking pictures of the worlds largest Pistachio nut and the worlds largest Chilli (and they weren’t even bonuses), you know that it’s been boring ….

And that’s been the story of day eight and nine, Robert just heading east towards the finish. He has plenty of time in hand even though he knows that he will lose a few hours doing one last loop before arriving at the finish control (exactly where he started from). He also knows that barring a disaster, he has enough points to be a finisher already

He’s managed to dodge the bad thunderstorms that have been been moving across the central belt of the USA from west to east but didn’t manage to dodge the truck fire that temporarily halted progress along I-40.

But these last two days have been indicative of what happens, I guess, when you are an extremely competent rider, using an extremely competent motorcycle and you ride well within your limits on an IBR – it just turns into a long ride.

Roberts 2013 IBR and 2017 IBR when he used extremely unsuitable motorcycles, were full of adventures, full of many highs but also many lows and also full of many comedic moments for a “commentator” like myself to seize upon. This time, a large chilli and an equally large nut are about all this is to laugh at !!

As enjoyable as the 9 day ride will have been, it has been devoid of excitement – rather like my reporting – and indeed the lack of comment from the readers of Roberts (my) blog this time seem to reflect the mundaneness of the ride.

Now, I’m really hoping that I haven’t now jinxed Robert for day ten and day eleven, but I suspect when he’s got this IBR done and dusted, in many years time, when he’s an old man (mmmm … should that be “older” man), smoking a pipe, sitting in his rocking chair in his Bavarian cottage, he’ll look back at his 3 IBR rides and of the 3 rallies, he’ll barely remember the 2023 ride – apart from the big chilli that is ……

I haven’t spoken to Robert about Day 8 yet, but I can see that he reached San Francisco and is now heading east again and into the Mojave.

I’ve just had this message :

“Yuma, AZ. 7.00pm and still 40 degrees. F**k”

I think he hurting, but if he can just get through the next few hours, he will be back into more pleasant temperatures

You know sometimes when you do one thing and EVERYONE else does something else and you question why ? Well that is how Robert is feeling right now.

On leg 3, the riders seem to have split into 4 groups. Three of those groups have gone their own 3 separate directions and are more or less of equal numbers. And then there is the “solitary wolf”, going in a totally different direction to any of the other groups – a man on his own. Time will tell if Robert is a genius or a dumbass !!

I have to say, given what he’s told me about leg 3 (and assuming he’s not missed something obvious), it’s what i would have done. Sometimes you fine high points in the most unusual of circumstances …

So, what else happened on Day 7 ? Well, he screwed up with one bonus in his planning – he had marked it as a “daylight” when in fact it was a “restricted” bonus. He reckons though that it shouldn’t be too much of a disaster though.

Oh and for the first time in his riding in the USA, he got pulled by the police (for speeding). What a lightweight – I got stopped THREE times just on my 2011 IBR ride (although I guess as much out of sympathy that anything)

Anyway, fortunately for Robert he was just let of with a warning.

And for the first time, he is now considering the possibility of finishing and is hopeful (but not yet confident) of a “Gold Medal” finish. In fairness and I know that some have been speculating of perhaps a top ten finish, Robert is very doubtful that can be achieved.

If you look at the Day 7 report on the official site (link below), he’s made the picture :

Day 07 – Main Course

So, a little more of Roberts plan for leg 3 …..

From Denver, he headed north for a while before turning east and heading for San Francisco. He’s resting here overnight before heading south down to San Francisco on day 8 and then, unfortunately back then west again across the Mojave. Let’s hope that the weather is kinder to him this time.

Mmmmm …. that last line reminds me of a German/English joke :

Who are the more generous of German and English children ? Well as generous as the English children are, the Germans will always be kinder ……

I’ll get my coat …..

I cannot lie in that I feel more than a little embarrassed finding myself in this position again.

I feel very honoured that for a third time Robert has asked me to be his mouthpiece for an IBR, but there’s far more qualified people out there who should be doing it in my opinion.

Yes, I’ve ridden the IBR (and finished) and I guess that certainly for his 2013 and 2017 attempts where his choice of bike was “unusual”, I suppose I was the obvious choice, but not this time.

So, when you’re reading my deep and philosophical ramblings, please just remember, they’re just my opinions and thoughts. Other opinions (and probably far more relevant ones) are available !! Lol !!

He’s on his way.

He has a plan and it’s a good one.

He also has a couple of “issues” – one associated to the plan, one not. Neither are show-stoppers but both will need to be managed

I’ll be able to reveal more as the leg develops

https://new.spotwalla.com/animation/1217-80eee-19b7/view?speed=80

I guess most of you won’t know that actually I am on a riding trip myself. Nothing like the IBR, although I’ll have covered about 4000 miles by the time I get home tomorrow on my 1969 T150 over the last 10 days and believe me, that’s tough !!!

However, that’s just so you can understand the sometimes haphazard and necessarily brief reports I’ve written so far.

From tomorrow (Monday), I’ll be able to devote a little more time to the daily updates

Apart from a “f*uck up” when he forgot to make the call in bonus, day 3 of leg two (day 6 of the rally) went well.

During the night between day five and day six, he was riding in the Rocky Mountains – quite a contrast to the previous two days of desert.  For the last 15 miles to his scheduled overnight stay, he had to stop and put on warmer gear because the temperature had dropped to 6°.

After four hours he left again the motel knowing that he still had to do another 600 miles. He had one hour of buffer but an open road. The speed limit was increased to 80 mph which meant that he could coast nicely at about 99 mph – Naughty !!!!

He tells me it was quite cold and the temperature hit a low on this rally of minus 2° – as I say, quite a contrast ……

He had one small “fuel range” scare – he was checking how far the next fuel station would be and the GPS told him it was in about 100 miles but the computer of the motorbike told him that my range was also about 100 miles. He had to slow down and to save fuel until I was safe to actually reach the station.

As he was making good time he knew that he would make it to Denver in time. He visited another restaurant bonus point location and arrived Denver right on time and luckily found that the BMW dealer where he had the service scheduled was actually right opposite of the checkpoint hotel. Somehow he’d misjudged exactly where the dealer was – very un-German like  !!  I would strongly suggest a DNA test when he returns home to ensure that his German parents were really his biological parents and that he wasn’t adopted ……

By 5 o’clock I could roll out the garage with new tyres fresh motor oil and filter – a perfect service from BMW of Denver.

He checked in very early and he had his papers already prepared for scoring  He believes that he lost no points at the scoring table

He suspects leg three will take him first to the north-west of the US.

Now he is resting.  Leg 3, the five day leg will require a ride on a minimum of 4000 miles and possibly (probably) more ……

I guess you’ll also notice that this report is a little more detailed than my previous ones.  I have reconsidered what I can and can’t write and still comply with the social media rules on the IBR.  It’s a case of me doing exactly what you should do on IBA rallies – “Improvise, adapt, overcome”

I think that I am still inside the rules …..

and he’s on his way back to Denver for a tyre change and scoring.

It looks as though, assuming he’s not done anything too daft that the inconvenient tyre change appointment may not cost him too much. We will see when the results are published for leg 2 sometime on Sunday

He will then be faced with a dilemma : Play it safe and get a respectable finish (he’s already well ahead of the scheduled points requirement after leg 1) or go for broke and see how high he can be placed.

Difficult decision …..

I again managed to catch a few words with Robert between “day four” and “day five”. Remember in the world of the IBR, day six will just be getting underway. The time zone that RTK is currently riding in, is 8 hours behind European time.

When he received the rally book for leg 2, Robert tells me it was a straight choice between heading northeast and Wisconsin or south west and California. Each route had it’s merits and the weather would play a factor in whichever choice was made – the searing heat of the Mohave desert to the south west of storms to the northeast

He chose the heat, not least because there were slightly more points to be had but also because it fitted the tyre change schedule slightly better.

So, that’s what he’s now doing – Tulsa to Los Angeles and then all the way back to Denver.

Leg two is another three day leg and he’ll need to be back in Denver by the time you all wake up on Sunday morning (“you” being the people in Europe that is)

Leg three will be the defining leg for Robert

And now a further explanation of what I mean by the heat of the Mojave …..

It’s been fairly hot in the UK and Europe the last few weeks with some places hitting the mid thirties during the day. In the Mojave it doesn’t DROP to those temperatures even in the dead of the night. Robert will have faced temperatures of mid to high forties, in his riding gear, with no shade available to give some relief from the heat. If you lift your visor up, the wind is so hot that it burns your face. If you take your gloves off and ride “gloveless”, the backs of your hands burn.

The only way to describe what riding across the Mojave feels like, is imagine you are cooking a Sunday roast and you open the oven door. That “blast” of heat you get is what you get in the Mojave – except it’s from every side of you, not just the front.

In 2011, I spent 36 hours hiding behind the screen of my Windjammer as I trundled across the Mojave from east to west. The temperature never dropped below 100 degrees fahrenheit for 48 hours. Each and every fuel stop is a welcome break from the heat as you pay for your fuel in the airconditioned gas stations. In short it is Hell !!!

But there’s points to be had !! Lol !!

The problem is though with Leg 3 being a 5 day leg, he may have to go back again …

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https://new.spotwalla.com/animation/6af9-56374-3e04/view?speed=80

Well I guess most of you will know by now that Robert is in 37^th place after Leg 1.

I managed to have a very brief chat with him after the scores had been announced and he confirmed that the route that he had taken was the one that I guessed.  His placing therefore was to be expected.

He also confirmed though that many (obviously not the top riders) of those above him appeared to be rookies who came in exhausted have ridden hard during the first leg.  Robert is very relaxed and riding well inside his comfort zone at the moment

He’s ahead in points of where he thought he’d be because he was able to pick up several extra bonuses.  The scoring went very well and he did not lose any significant points – only about 0.05% of his total point value because he had made a typo in the bonus code.

On the downside, his rear tyre (or should that be “tire” ?) has lost pressure over the last three days and after pumping it up, his compressor then promptly failed !! – bloody German rubbish !!

Hopefully the leak will not increase and in any case, it only needs to last a day or so as he has a tyre change booked in Denver on Saturday.

However, that in itself will be a problem as he will need to plan his entire route for Leg 2 around that tyre change appointment.  It means that whatever route he plans, unless he is REALLY lucky, it will not be the optimum route.  It’s probable therefore that he will slip down the rankings by the end of leg 2.

I’m guessing he will head west and then do the tyre change on the “way back” east towards the leg 2 checkpoint.  Of course, if that is the case, then he’s heading to the one state in the USA where “lane-splitting” aka “filtering” is legal – California.  Robert, unlike many of the USA riders  should be able to take advantage of this.

And that’s about it for now. When I spoke with him, the leg 2 bonuses had not yet been released so it’s just speculation what he’ll be up to as yet.

Leg 2 therefore will be a “holding leg” for Robert.  He just needs to make the best of it because of the scheduled tyre change and then really go for it on Leg 3 ……

I’ve just had word that Robert has checked in on time at Tulsa to complete Leg 1

I will post more later once I reach tonights (Thursday) hotel.

As I arrive in Graz (my hotel), Day Four and Leg 2 for Robert will just be starting – now it should get interesting

As suspected, the group of riders that Robert is clearly amongst have now set out en masse west and towards Tulsa.

Although he has plenty of time, clearly Robert will want to mop up as many bonuses on his way as possible, without putting himself under too much pressure – that can wait for Legs 2 and 3. Generally, the points available for legs 2 and then leg 3 tend to increase, so only a mug “rides himself (or herself of course) into the ground” on leg 1

As he leaves the east coast, the traffic will ease – and the roads get better. The roads in the USA especially around the cities are in poor condition, but the Interstates tend to be much better. His only real concern will be roadworks as in the USA (well most of the USA), filtering is not allowed meaning you just have to sit and wait in jams along with the other traffic.

Looking at the weather forecast, he should enjoy nice weather over the next two days. Indeed as long as he stays “north”, the weather forecast looks “okay” for most of the rally In the south of course, the heat is always a real killer.

Still at least this time unlike 2013 and 2017, he can just “ride his rally” and enjoy it without having to worry about his bike.

More to follow ……

This is the official IBA report from midway through Day 2.

Fortunately Robert does not appear in it, but note the paragraph towards the end of the report about a rider posting to Social Media.

It is difficult to comment on Roberts progress “blind” as I am, however it is even more difficult ensuring that nothing I say should harm Roberts participation in anyway whatsoever.

My “IBR Blog” this time therefore will necessarily have to be vary different from 2013 and 2017. Please understand that

IBR HQ Report :

There are days when the scribe must sigh deeply and report on things which are unfortunate. It is particularly unfortunate to have to post such things when bringing you news of Day 02. But this is not the first time, nor is it likely to be the last time the scribe is faced with such a task.

Lisa Rufo and Molly are recovering after a deer strike totaled their motorcycle, but they are out of the rally. After making sure Lisa was released from the hospital and all was well, Steve Rufo is continuing the rally solo. He has unfinished business. Steve had entered the 2021 IBR but was unable to ride due to having back surgery before the rally. He will have a penalty assessed for their team not staying together, but still has an opportunity to become a finisher. Continuing without the rest of his team was no doubt a difficult decision, but we wish him well.

Gerry Arel had an accident on his GSA in South Carolina and is out of the rally. He is in the hospital with some broken bones. Medjet is arranging to transport him to a medical facility near his home in Connecticut for the recommended surgery. SCHP and an eyewitness reported Gerry’s front tire hit some construction debris during a rainstorm, and the bike went down hard. Gerry was somehow able to scamper to the median and out of traffic. He called the RallyMom yesterday and apologized for causing her to have to open the Red Book. We are very thankful he is in good spirits and getting the care he needs to recover. IBR Vet Dan Crowley unselfishly drove several hours to be with Gerry at the hospital, something for which we owe him a debt of gratitude. Gerry’s awesome wife Nikki rushed to the airport and is now on scene, allowing Dan to head back home.

Troy Martin rode his Triumph Trophy off a curb and damaged the oil sump, creating a leak. He patched the leaking aluminum with some J.B. Weld and is back on the road. So far the repair is holding.

Rob Griffith had a fuel pump failure on his GoldWing in North Carolina. The pump has been replaced. Rob is making his way to the checkpoint.

Too Much Too Soon?

Conventional wisdom holds that going too hard on the first leg of the IBR is not a good idea. Traditionally, the number of points available per mile ridden increases throughout the rally. The point values available on Leg 3 will typically dwarf the point values available on Leg 1. Ideally, riders still need to be relatively fresh on Legs 2 and 3. However, should they bite off too much from the menu on Leg 1, they might not be fresh enough to route efficiently or ride their plan effectively. In light of that, a conservative approach would seem more appropriate.

Reality is a bit more nuanced. Riders competing for a gold medal finish, especially those in the hunt for the top ten, cannot really afford to pass up points on Leg one. Having noted that, they still need to allow for enough rest to be fresh and ready to plan their routes at the first checkpoint.

It is also a harsh reality that riders looking for a top five finish are operating at an entirely different level and every point they can collect on every leg is important. Riders who breathe that rarified air tend to push the envelope from the start. But even they need to manage time carefully.

There are often bonuses with big point values placed in locations designed to tempt riders to take a big bite which they may ultimately find too difficult to swallow. These are usually referred to as “sucker” bonuses. The points may suck the rider in with dreams of a big score and when it is too late to recover, they find the difficulty of collecting it simply beyond their capability. Maybe it is too far away for the time available. Maybe it is in a difficult to access area which required triple the amount of time to collect it than they budgeted in their route plan. Maybe it is on a rough dirt road which becomes a muddy mess after a rain. Maybe it requires hiking across a land bridge only available at low tide … and low tide occurs after the time a rider would need to leave to get back to the checkpoint. Maybe it is doable, but not if the rider spends too much time collecting smaller bonuses on the way. Maybe it is doable, but is it smart and how does it impact the rest of the rider’s rally? Maybe it is just not doable at all.

In any case, rally architects have a habit of inserting such temptingly shiny baubles into their rallies to see who will reach for them. I would not say it is for sheer amusement, but it probably contributes to the term “rally bastard” being tossed around by certain riders. In addition, what might be a “sucker” bonus for a rookie might be entirely doable for a top tier rider.

Do the top tier riders sometimes bite off more than they can chew? Yes, they do. And sometimes, so do riders who are just looking to finish. Can those elite riders pull off a massive ride that sets them up for a point lead going into Leg 2? Yes, that is possible. Can those riders create an impressive point lead on Leg 1 and then find themselves too fatigued to ride their plan on Leg 2? Yes, that is also possible.

It remains to be seen if any of these scenarios apply to Leg 1 for the 2023 IBR riders. As this report is being written, there are a few riders who appear to be far enough out to place their arrival time at the first checkpoint well into the penalty points. It will be interesting to see how their rides and bonus claims work out if they can get to the checkpoint before being time barred.

As always, we watch and wait.

Other riders are taking the more conservative approach and are on track to arrive at the checkpoint hotel well ahead of the opening of the checkpoint window. Rookie riders are usually better off following this strategy, for multiple reasons. They should be able to get enough points to hit the finisher target for Leg 1 and still arrive with a time cushion at the checkpoint, which reduces stress. They can arrive with time to rest and sleep before the next leg bonus list is handed out. They should then be well-rested when planning their Leg 2 routes, assuming they don’t spend their rest time hanging out in the lobby talking to everyone they see. They should also be rested to start riding the second leg and collect the higher valued points.

Tuesday was a travel day for the rally staff, moving the rally work room from the hotel in Pittsburg to the hotel in Tulsa. Some of the staff made the trip riding, some were driving, and some were flying. There are always issues with any form of travel, but everyone made it to Tulsa. The preparations for the riders to arrive Wednesday evening began late Tuesday night. We will post more details of the Tulsa checkpoint in tomorrow’s update.

There is a group photo bonus Wednesday, north of the checkpoint, and we expect a lot of riders to show up for an easy 1632 points. They must sign in before the deadline to collect the points and be in the photo.

It is disturbing that information about this bonus, and information from another bonus, was posted to social media on Tuesday. That information could have only come through a rider in the rally to the person who posted it. The integrity standard for this group is simple: Do not do anything during the rally about which you would be unwilling to stand up in front of your peers and admit to. The rider meeting at the checkpoint, where the Leg 2 bonus list will be distributed, should be interesting. It is also disturbing that a rider posted a photo of bonus information to Facebook on Wednesday. The rules are clear on these things, and they were covered in depth during the rider meeting. What are these folks thinking?

We posted the following update on Monday under the headline “Rally 101”:

“At 1:07am, Landry received a photo text, showing flag 88, hanging on a pole in Bar Harbor, looking so sad and abandoned by its hapless rider. Oh well. 
Then, at 3:01am, another rider came upon the lonely flag and texted the RallyMom, asking if should they bring it back. Really?!
When no text response came from a sleeping Landry, and no phone call to verify the basic rules of rallying, at 3:07 the rider announced in another text they would bring it back to Tulsa… The riders have managed to connect and they are working on a handoff location to return the wayward rally flag to its owner. Hopefully, this will be resolved without further disruption.”

Unfortunately, Dan Duvall not only chose to take a rider’s flag, costing the rider hours and aggravation, he also chose not follow Jeff Earls’ specific instructions on how to proceed. The scribe predicts the next rally will incorporate a new rule and painful penalty for similar transgressions.

John Harrison
IBR Scribe
Iron Butt Rally©

To begin with, apologies for the delay – I hope to have caught up be the time Robert starts Day 4

Like all rallies, but especially with the IBR, it is all about pacing yourself.  

Looking at the global Spottracker page for Day One, it seems that the riders have split into 3 main groups.  One small group has headed west, another group has headed south east, but the big group has headed first northeast before then turning south at various points.  Given what Robert has already told me, I expect Robert to be amongst those riders as it’s clearly the “middle way” for this leg

The east coast has far more traffic than other parts of the USA and certainly when I rode the rally in 2011, the “east coast” leg seemed to create unrest amongst many of the American riders because of the congestion.  Being used to riding in Europe, this should be no problem for Robert.

It’s very difficult to comment without actually seeing the rally book but Robert did tell me that there is a “group photo bonus” that is worth a lot of points just before the end of the first leg (The checkpoint is Tulsa), so I expect he will stop over somewhere around New York at the end of Day One, before heading in a more westerly direction the following two days.

He’ll have a “neutral” day on Day One, making up time to begin with before losing some time in and around New York.  Day Two and Day Three will no doubt be on interstates with small detours to collect bonuses and so he should make good progress.

It is highly likely that he will arrive in the Tulsa area well before the checkpoint closes as he’ll not want to miss those points.  

More to follow …..

….. in my reporting. Once I get to my hotel tonight (which should just about be at the start of Day 3 for Robert), I’ll post up my thoughts so far

…. and the good news is that he is conspicuous by his absence in the early day one reports – other than a picture at the start

More later ……

Welcome to Day 1 of the “Johnthetommy Blog” previously known as “Hutzmandl on Tour”.

I spoke to Robert about three hours before the rally books were given out and I can see from his last posting that that he has already planned Leg 1 but like all of you reading this, that’s all I know for now.

I guess he will be asleep now as the rally is due to start in a little over 7 hours time at 16.00 European time (15.00 BST)

Fortunately for Robert, “the heat is off” this time. In his last IBR in 2017 he achieved his main objective in obtaining his “3 digit” IBA membership number. For those of you that don’t know, in the IBA, you are allocated a membership number when you complete your first qualifying ride. I guess it must be up to around 80,000 now. However, the first 999 membership numbers are reserved for any rider that has been an Iron Butt Rally finisher (I am number 458) and it marks you out amongst other IBA members as “one of THOSE guys” ……. Robert has his now – higher than mine I might add …. Lol !!

So he can approach this rally differently – however there is his dilemma. He is no doubt capable of achieving a top place, but as a famous racer once said “to finish first, first you have to finish”. Coupled with that, for any European (and especially a European shipping his own bike over to ride), the financial cost is enormous and so “crashing and burning” on the first leg (pardon the pun) is both counter productive to both ending in a high position or indeed from the “value for money” angle.

For that reason, I expect a fairly conservative first leg. It will ease him into the rally and allow for any “heroics” in legs 2 and 3.

So that’s all from me for now. By this time tomorrow, armed with what I know, i should be able to work out what he’s up to on the first leg

It is before midnight and I have already finished my planning and preparations. After I close this laptop, I will hit the sack and you will hear nothing from me until Friday 30 June, 10 a.m. EST. I am under a strict social media curfew from tomorrow morning onwards, no direct information from me must appear on the internet. I may even not be comment or like Facebook posts. So do not expect anything from me in this time. Anybody who has received my GPS tracker link must not share it, it must not appear on the internet. Luckily there is the new http://www.ironbuttrally.net website that will keep you updated together with John Young’s entertaining comments on this website. Stay tuned in to this blog!

I have received the rider number 31 out of 112 starters. The way to the next checkpoint in Tulsa seems close, but as expected, this would have been too easy. It resembles more the Dancing Procession of Echternach.

Talk to you in 11 days!

Mr. Young, please take over the rudder!

I had a a good rest tonight and rose refreshed. The choice of breakfast was again pretty depressing but I tried to counter with some fruit salad at the end. In the beginning I was pretty alone at my table, but gradually it filled with quite illustrious people of the Iron Butt Association such as Ed Otto, Jason Jonas, Bob Lilley and finally his excellency himself, IBA President Mike Kneebone. This made me stay a lot longer as this was a unique opportunity to chat quietly with these people, soon the storm would break loose. I had a long and good conversation with Mike about a series of topics. I told him that I was super relaxed, what a difference to previous IBRs where I was very nervous before the start. This will of course change during the ceremony tonight: after the dinner, when we will be handed out the rally book, the imaginary clock for planning starts.

I rode to the nearest petrol station (or as they call it here, ‘gas station’) and used my electric pump for the first time to correct my tyre pressure. I filled up and I purchased a series of items in the shop (water, energy bars, beef jerky, cookies…). In the parking lot, a had a talk with Bob Lilley asking for tips in terms of riding style, precious information.

In my room, I prepared my luggage, the one that I will carry and the one I leave here. I connected my Sat Nav to the notebook and noticed a problem: the North America maps that are stored on the devices are not visible in Basecamp, the planning software. They are on the devices, I used they to come here, but they are not visible for planning. Luckily, I had installed some Open Source Maps on the Computer to use it also without the GPS, handy to have a quick look on the roadside. This should work as well. A good example for appropriate redundancy.

I will go to the rider meeting now, curious what the rally master will reveal to us. Later the banquet will take place where we will be given the rally books. Then, the storm WILL break loose.

I got up at six and after a typical …American breakfast, registration started at 7 a.m. At lot of stations had to be passed, I went for the paperwork first: insurance, repatriation insurance, GPS tracker check, camera check, video statement recording, In the car park, it was time for the bike papers check and tech inspection. All ok, also the auxiliary tank check. The only ‘problem’ was about the stickers. No commercial stickers are allowed on the bikes, sponsoring is prohibited.

I had wondered if my number plate holder could be a problem, it bears the name of BMW dealer. But no, it were the decals with the name of my site (see the top of this page!). I insisted that this would be my blog site and nothing commercial. In order to have a ‘level playing field’, I was told to cover it with tape. When I tried to put some Gaffer tape on it, Dale ‘Warchild’ Wilson, the head of tech inspection felt sorry as it would destroy the stickers. He made the Solomonic proposal to just cover the ‘.com’ with tape….and so I did. The whole story brought me the first mention in a daily report this year, maybe for the wrong reasons. Well….🙄.

What was missing was the odometer calibration route of about 54 km. It is to be done to determine a correction factor for the milage ridden during the rally. I managed not to take wrong turns like others and at after three hours, everything was done and dusted and rally master Jeff Earls congratulated me for being an entrant to the IBR 23! Everything went very smooth, even the ridiculous sticker episode. Well, I had gone through this before, practice makes perfect.

After this, I went to the gym and did some exercise, I had not moved my bones in one week. In the afternoon I chatted with fellow riders, strolled through the carpark and decreased the entropy in my hotel room by packing the luggage for Monday. At 6 p.m. I joined the happy hour and later the buffet dinner. In contrast to the the previous two IBRs, I am super relaxed and everything worked out just fine. Tomorrow is another relaxing day…until the riding meeting.

I add some pictures from the dark park for entertainment.

Well, my arrival in Toronto was expected – a quick Passport control, taxi ride to Air Canada Cargo and….then staff was confused…”this usually takes more than six hours”. No, it didn’t. However, I had to walk back from customs to get my passport, they needed it. I had to wait for a while, but staff got more and more friendly. Finally I got back back the BMW and rode to the hotel. The night was not pleasant, I got some cramps in the calves…too much sweating and a dehydrating intercontinental flight. Luckily I was prepared and solved the problem with magnesium and lots of water.

In the morning I had a barely edible breakfast and set off soon. On the way to the border, I changed my mind and decided to pass by the Niagara Falls and to do the border crossing there like in 2013. It should be quick as it is a minor crossing. I went to the Falls and took some pictures. Compared to the Victoria Falls in Africa and the falls in Iceland….cute.

When I went on the Rainbow Bridge that spans over the river, I got stuck in traffic…it took one hour to cross the bridge! At the border port, the official did not how to introduce a ‘foreign’ number plate. I had to go into the immigrations building and faced an enormous crowd in the waiting room. Urgs.

Left: a sticker of Hansa Rostock on the Rainbow Bridge??

After one hour of waiting time I was admitted, could answer some questions and got my passport back. Without a stamp, they don’t do this anymore. I had lost a lot of time and in the next hours I learned that the preferred, direct route led right through Western upstate New York, quite rural, slow and with bumpy road. And the worst of all: no filtering permitted. What is quite acceptable to jump the queue with a bike is a no-go here, people would get quite angry. So this route seemed to take forever, with a fuel and sandwich stop in between. Later I continued on Interstates and finally arrived in Gaithersburg after 760 km before sunset. I filled up and prepared my visit for the following day.

Today, I stored my luggage and was picked up by the Director of the Reference Materials Office at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), my peer in the US. I gave a presentation to the department about the European Reference Material program and we had a lot of good exchanges and discussions. It made sense to make a little detour to visit NIST for the first time.

I changed at the hotel and set off for the rally hotel in Pittsburgh where I arrived after a lot of traffic after four hours. I checked in and went to the bar where I found some familiar faces and had some good chats. The “team Europe” is rather small with two Irish, one English and me.

Tomorrow will be a tough day doing the whole registration, this will take the whole day. But everything should go smooth. I hope.

What a glowing tribute from Robert there – even if there was a “sting in the tail” …. Lol !!

So, to clarify what Robert has already said, there is effectively a social media “blackout” during the rally and that even extends to me, his co-blogger. My job therefore is, each day to try to make sense of what Robert is up to and, as best I can, work out what is plan is as the rally develops.

I’ll probably be way off the mark most of the time as Robert’s kind of rally planning is still much of a mystery to me. I’ve never been one for the meticulous Germanic approach to deciphering a rally book – most of the time, I just “wing it” and see what happens. From our past “rally battles”, I’m still not totally sure which method is best. What I am sure of though, is that our respective approaches to rally planning, perfectly reflect the perceived national traits of the English and the Germans !!

So, you’ll not be hearing from me again until the end of day 1 of the rally, when I’ll have my first stab of what the “Kraut” is up to !!!

Got up early, one hour too early. Perfect summer weather. Packed the rest, said goodbye to the cats and the cat mummy ☺️, left at 8 a.m. It was only some 400 km to today’s destination, the airport area in Paris. The usual traffic in Antwerp didn’t slow me down a lot and after two hours I was near the French border where I visit a motorcycle accessories shop. I bought another piece of extension for the RAM Mount system I am using to put the tablet in a better position.

After two hours more, I arrived at the hotel near the airport were I dropped off most of my luggage, at least the one that does not stay on the bike. I went to a car wash and cleaned the bike thoroughly and filled up 1.5 L of petrol: the maximum allowed volume of petrol in the tank is 1 gal (4 L), but I was afraid I’d had too little until I will get to the first Canadian station.

I went to my agent who does all the transport and customs procedures, he explained me the process. His colleague showed me the way to the warehouse/drop-off point. I was happy that I can leave a lot of things in the panniers: helmet, rain gear, tools and accessories. I had to disconnect the plus lead of the battery (as usual) and an employee of Air Canada checked the bike and liked what he saw. After that, I pushed the bike onto a metal pallet and two guys strapped the bike to that plate very thoroughly.

I was driven back to my hotel (excellent service) and did the check-in. It has a modern but very different style (Pink?? Pink!!). I never had slept with the shower next to my bed. The utilities in the room were all controlled by a tablet and the TV program was projected against the wall by a beamer. A funny place and ok for one night. Having the moisture from the shower in the sleeping room is not so nice.

After some relaxing I went downstairs and had some buffet dinner that was actually quite nicely prepared and tasty. I checked the weather in the US and it seems that the situation will be similar than 2017: We will get toasted in a heatwave. Even the two checkpoints that are rather central in the US (Tulsa and Denver) will see temperatures above 35ºC. Wow. What about the Southwest? The prediction for Phoenix (Arizona) left me speechless…highs of 47ºC and lows of 33ºC. Not my thing. Hopefully there will be more options to the North.

I had wondered when drama would struck for the first time. And it did. I had received an e-mail to check in for the flight already. When I went through the process, I had to introduce a number for a Canadian visa. Visa? What? Why? There was a help button that revealed that I had to introduce the number of a visa or the ETA number. ETA? A quick search showed that since my last visit, Canada has also introduced an electronic visa programme similar to the ESTA in the US. Gulp. This was new to me. I found a site on the internet that provided the application. It looked very similar to the US application I had done a few days ago. A the end, I startled…97 $?? That was hefty. Well; but I needed the number ASAP, otherwise I could not board the plane. When I received the e-mail after the transaction, it was in Spanish. Spanish? I checked the e-mail address that led me to a website in Spanish. Was this a scam?? I did not receive a confirmation message. Maybe it was a scam. I searched again and came across a governmental website that asked me all kind of things again. This one cost only 7 $, I got the confirmation immediately and the number a few minutes later, this was fast. I could finish my check-in and disaster could be averted. The other confirmation and number arrived later on that evening so I must have been kind of legit, although it is still a scam to ask 90 $ on top. Right, some money burnt in the process, but at least I could fly. It’s the result that matters.

After my breakfast this morning I took the shuttle to the airport. As there were some roadworks, I got dropped off at another terminal. The hotel could have warned me, as now I had to take a shuttle train as well and to walk for about 1 km to my check-in counter. The security check was interesting, after all I carry a lot of electronic devices, cables, power banks etc…these were fine, but I had to wait for more than 20 min to have my bag routinely swiped for explosives, the only security guy was not the fastest and clearly overworked…At the gate, the boarding went veeeeery slow, Paris Airport is still very complicated to travel. Nice cafés though.

So finally I entered the plane…I thought I was clever to book a seat next an emergency exit door. Infinite leg room. I did not reckon with the super narrow seats that are even narrower close to the window. It is impossible not to be in close touch with my seat neighbour. I realise that my ‚width‘ did grow a bit….this is a disadvantage here. The reason is that I started my fitness programme late, but at least I did. Since January, I have a great personal fitness trainer and together we managed to get me in a much better state than I was in January. Thomas designed a perfect plan to get me ready for the Iron Butt Rally with a focus on core stability. I did a lot of training myself, but Thomas keeps on pushing me to the limit which is necessary for good results. In the end I didn’t lose a lot of weight (yet), but I turned about 8 % of my fat tissue into muscle tissue in the last five months. As a result, I have a much stronger upper body that should bear much better the physical stress and fatigue during an Iron Butt Rally. My test ride around the Benelux was a good proof: no pain felt whatsoever.

As I have plenty of time to write now, being on the plane, I want to take the opportunity to introduce (again) another co-commentator for the next weeks: my good friend John Young will do me the honours, just like for the Iron Butt Rallies in 2013 and 2017. He will comment on my progress, the Iron Butt Rally and whatever comes to his mind. I will be barred to publish anything on social media between two hours before the start and the finish of the rally. In order to keep this blog alive in that time, he will entertain you with his witty contributions. Too bad you can’t hear his nice Yam Yam accent, this would make it even more colourful.

IMHO John is still the best British LD rally rider, even that he doesn’t do rallies anymore. Having said that, no rule without exception, he won the short SAS rally in May where he competed with his famous 1969 Triumph Trident that had successfully completed the 2011 rally with him.

By the way, I did not participate in that rally 😉. While he still WAS doing rallies, it was usually the question who of us would win it. If you are curious, you can check his old posts in June/July 2013 and June/July 2017, they are in the archive.

So I am on the plane to Toronto and I will land in a few hours. Before I can get to the hotel, I’ll have to pass immigrations, the warehouse, customs and the warehouse again. What could be more fun after a transcontinental flight?

Well, here I am, sitting in the garden with the laptop on my knees, enjoying a relaxed evening, probably the last one in the next three weeks when I will be aboard the plane back to Europe. Tomorrow I will be riding to Paris where I will drop off the BMW before I will fly to Toronto on Wednesday. The weather will be good, but I still will have to clean the bike before I present it at the customs and warehouse: no muck allowed.

I have packed everything and the bike is waiting in the garage to be mounted. I will put an extra bag on top of the auxiliary tank that I will have to carry to the rally hotel; it contains some extra luggage like clothes that I will need before and after the rally.

By looking at the pictures I realize that this is the most serious motorbike I have ever taken to an Iron Butt Rally. The XBR 500 and the ST1100 were iconic bikes that gave me a lot of attention, but they were not really “competitive”. This bike and its predecessor have demonstrated that the K1600GT is a very serious motorbike for long-distance rallying. It consider it a “Flying Fortress” as it covers many miles so effortlessly and makes you always feel in control, even under bad weather conditions. A machine. Comfy, but with a lot of character, if needed. And the farkles attached to it make long distances a lot shorter. In the end, I have decided against two modifications: highway pegs and a radar detector. The pegs are difficult to mount and not really needed as I have now lowered foot pegs. Most American riders have radar detectors that are legal in the US; during my trips in America I had never been stopped so why now. And maybe I’ll get away with a warning 🥳. Fixing an electronic device last minute without proper testing is simply asking for stress and problems, so it’s a ‘no’.

So what are the modifications of the ‘Flying Fortress’?

• Russell Day-Long seat for a pain-free bottom
• Clearwater Erica LED auxiliary lights turning night into day with 15000 lumen
• Auxiliary tank with about 11 liters of extra fuel, the smaller version to be under the lower American fuel limit
• Wunderlich Crash bars
• Wunderlich grip protectors
• Samsung Galaxy Active 3, rugged and watertight, permits real-time navigation and online internet
• Garmin Zumo XT GPS
• BMW Navigator V GPS
• Wunderlich lowered foot pegs
• SW Motech tank bag
• Quad Lock mobile phone holder with inductive charging
• Optimale USB Charger with 3A output
• SPOT GPS tracker

That’s it. Pretty modest, actually. At least in comparison with other American riders. But you know, they say ‘less is more’ 😚.

Paris, je viens!

It is less than 10 days to the start of the Iron Butt Rally 2023 and I haven’t posted a thing in months. This is not to surprise people, it is just a case of extreme procrastination. I know for more than one year that I was selected to ride in this year’s rally, but I kept quiet for a long time. In 2013, I posted a lot during month, documenting the transformation of my XBR into a rally bike. In 2017, I was less chatty, but informed about my upcoming trip. In 2023…things were super relaxed. I had to kick myself to start the preparations not so long ago, I was/am in a very relaxed state of mind.

Of course I’m not a rookie anymore. I know how the process works at the IBR. I know how rallies in America are different from Europe and and I have done my share of multi-day rallies to know my body and mind under these conditions. But there is always the possibility to overlook a tiny thing that is essential. In 2017, I lost my proof of medical repatriation insurance before the rally registration. With out this mandatory document, you cannot start the rally. I managed to get another insurance online, but incidents like this result in unnecessary stress before the real stress even begins.

I had planned to ride the rally with my old XBR500 with 402.000 km on the clock. However, it was not possible to obtain insurance for the US and Canada, as the only provider for tourist insurances does not insure motorbikes older than 30 years anymore. So no start in the ‘Hopeless Class’ for me. First, I was disappointed. I had already put aside a more powerful motor with 600cc und had made plans to improve the XBR. The only alternative was the mighty K1600GT, the ST1100 that barely made it to the finish in 2017 is considered retired and is only used occasionally anymore.

Bit by bit I was convinced that choosing the K1600 was the better idea. It’s a comfy ride and 10.000 miles or more is a long distance to get tired. Everything is optimized for rallying, everything in place. Well, small changes I needed to make. I finally managed to get my tablet running, using a plug for the socket in the fairing and using direct charging with a watertight USB-C cable.

Some weeks ago, I bought a original top case for the BMW: I want to use it to keep the rally flag, list and computer and a bag with daily needed gear in there, without having to touch any stuff in the panniers during the different legs, except when needed. An expensive, but very useful addition. I had planned to do some test rides, the first was to the Ride to Eat in Barcelona in April. However, the riding comfort of the BMW got worse and worse and in a common investigation in the garage we discovered that the rear Wilbers shock was leaking! This was a major disaster! As it was not an original part, the shock would have to be returned to Wunderlich and then to the original manufacturer Wilbers. A few weeks before the take-off over the Great Pond, this was an impossible undertaking. After all the issues last year, I simply had enough. It took me one hour of discussion with my dealer and after I had traded my red 2017 K1600GT with 62.000 km for a 2020 white metallic K1600GT with 7.500 km.

Think Big.

Ignore the pain in the area where the wallet is, that’s for later. Or as Douglas Adams has put it:

This planet has – or rather had – a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

We agreed that the farkles of the old bike would be transferred to the new bike by the garage, this softened a bit the pain of the low vending price. After all the administrative procedure (insurance, registration), I swapped the bikes and enjoyed the new bike that was not really different. But it had a working suspension.

I had to go on a business trip to the Lago Maggiore and use the new BMW for. it. Riding in the snow in Switzerland, in the torrential rain in Italy and over the Swiss passes back north showed me that a working K1600 is a mighty fortress and big fun on long distances.

I rode on the ST1100 to Barcelona and was reminded again what a good bike it still is. Smooth.

I visited some of my favorite places in Barcelona and the Costa Brava (I had lived here in the 90s) and did the best coastal road that I know north of Tossa Del Mar. My new tyre was immediately run in 😳.

In May I went to do the only rally this spring, the 12 hour M12 Rally in Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania. I carved out a cunning plan with an excellent adaptation during the rally (I was ahead of my plan). It was a fun ride with no issues. And for the first time in two years, a rally win. The spell is broken.

When all the farkles had been installed, I did my last test ride with the BMW: the Benelux Four Corners ride. Visit all most Western, Northern , Easter and Southern points of the Netherlands and Belgium; And the most southernmost point of Luxemburg. And all geographical centre points of all three countries. And the northernmost point in Holland. In less than 24 hours. After my failed attempt in October this time in perfect sunny conditions.

About 2000 km in 20 hours, right on the planned time. A perfect shakedown run.

Slowly I made my check lists. No hurry. A few purchases. Another advantages of the BMW is that there is little to optimize. I was deeply relaxed. The finalization of the insurance and the bike transport was more nerve-wrecking. Finally everything was settled. Next Tuesday I will ride to Paris, drop off the BMW and fly to Toronto the next day.

At the moment, I am packing my stuff, about half of it is already in the panniers. I think I can call it a day now. There will be more time to mention other preparations…

I had asked for and early 7 a.m. breakfast as we had a ferry to catch. Tatiana prepared us a fine breakfast with homemade cheese, jam, honey and fried dumplings. She was very charming again, calling us „good boys“ and „very positive“. The place was superb value for money, especially compared with earlier accommodations. And then Tatiana. Imagine the most hospitable and charming landlady you have ever met. And then put some iced sugar on it. That’s Tatiana.

We parted at 8 a.m. and rode to Saranda, our ferry harbour to cross the strait to the Greek island of Korfu. Thanks to the Sat Nav, we could find the small ferry harbour in the harbour and waited for the check-in….one hour later. It was only 9:15 and we were already roasted by the, seeking shadow where we could.

When another boat arrived and all the passengers wanted to leave to compounded area, chaos broke out. When you only have ONE policeman and ONE little gate that have to cope with with the influx and outflow at the same time, it get’s…complicated.

Finally we could enter the tiny ferry. All the good seats were already taken so we identified the free seats that would be in the shadow during the crossing. The only downside was that they were close to the women’s toilet. There was a large and noisy group of Polish tourists and after they had downed a crate of beer (!), the women lined up to get rid of it again…
The arrival at Korfu was somewhat less chaotic than the check-in in Saranda, but only slightly. The passport control in the building just took some time, but then every vehicle needed to be inspected one by one. We were last (no need to hectically queue, hakuna matata) and then the guy saw our dirty bikes and didn’t bother to inspect them. Well,…
What to do with half the free day? Our ferry to Italy would only depart late in the evening. We exited the harbour and visited the office of Minoan Lines as requested in the confirmation e-mail. However, this was a misunderstanding as it was meant that you had to visit the counter in the terminal prior to departure.
We rode along the coast, enjoying the splendid views on the sea and the small bays.

The idea was to have some snack in a snug location. Finally I spotted the right thing, called „The White House“, a restaurant right above the water of a small bay with a free table in the shadow. We ordered Greek salad and grilled squid and permitted ourselves a glass of white wine with it. The food was less traditional but with a modern touch. Anyway, it was tasty and we had to leave before the wedding party would arrive.

It was pretty hot and humid so the best place seemed to be the highest place on the island, in this case, the 900 m high summit of Pantokratoros. Home of a monastery and lots of radio communication. And a small café where we had a gorgeous view. And some chilled drinks.

We had spotted a tiny road at the bottom of the mountain, gravel, so we thought. We asked the barman and he said it „had a lot of stone“. We wanted to give it a try. After less than a kilometer, I called retreat. Stones, yes, but rocks? This was a tough road. Maybe ok without all the luggage and extra weight, but under these conditions…better to turn around than to risk a fall on the last kilometers. We rode down the mountain on some tiny roads and with good views. Down at the coast I had to fill up and had to help a very clumsy guy who tried to serve us.
After that, we rode to a taverna we had spotted in internet but found it closed. We picked another place with tables outside near the harbour and decided it was Gyros time with some beers. At 9 p.m. we went into the harbour and checked in. We still had to wait for about two hours until we could enter the fenced in area and had to wait another one until the ferry arrived and finally was moored properly. In the meantime I checked the air filter of the bike as it was running a bit rich. The dirty piece that I removed from the airbox confirmed my idea: I never had such a dirty filter…when did I last change it??

The ship’s staff welcomed us in the same way we would be treated the next 20 hours: rude and unfriendly; a guy trying to tie down the bike was shouting at me that I should lock the steering lock and fumbled with my keys in the ignition. I shouted back this was not possible and that he should take his &($%!!! finger off by bike and removed the keys before he could destroy something. The officer was also very charming.

The ship was a real disappointment, probably a punishment battalion of Minoan Lines. Instead of a plush ferry like the MS Venice, this MS Florencia filled the gap. Dirty, crappy food, unfriendly staff, no proper facilities…charming! We tried to kill time as good as we could. Epic: Greek truck drivers heavily smoking under a series of “no smoking” signs.

We arrived an hour late the next day in Ancona at 6 p.m. The check-out was quick and soon we were on the autostrada. As the sat nav said that we would arrive at the pre-booked hotel at half past eight, I pushed the XBR a bit….in the end we were flying with 150 km/h, a speed our bikes hadn’t seen in a long time. We made up some time and arrived at our 12th (!) country of our trip: San Marino. It is a very scenic place, dominated by a huge rock where the old town is located. We parked our bikes at the parking of the pedestrian zone and walked to our hotel. After a quick shower we were ready for dinner. The views from the terrace of the Piazza della Libertà are truly spectacular.

Next to the Piazza, we managed to get a table in the restaurant “La Terrazza” that has gorgeous views as well. We ordered all kinds of local products, beer (“Titanbräu”!), wine, antipasti, home-made pasta, Tagliata and desert. All very good. The gastronomic highlight of the trip. After a digestion walk through the old town we hit the sack.

The next morning we left San Marino not without filling up with “cheap(er) petrol”. On the way through the Po plain, it got hotter and hotter. Close to Verona, I exited the Autostrada and looked for a nice village, because the XBR was celebrating a special day:

I had never expected that I would ride 400.000 km with this bike, but it has happened! 400.000 km through 55 countries on four continents; the bike had sometimes some issues, but it never let me down, I always reached my destination, no breakdowns! Well, it’s a Honda! This asked for a short victory lap:

The rest of the trip was easy. Motorway in Italy and Austria. Temperatures up to 37 degrees. Lots of drinking breaks. Last scenic shortcut via the Achensee. Back in Miesbach, we went out for a Pizza (that we didn’t get during the trip) and concluded that this was a great trip, twelve countries in nine days, a lot of new impressions, and a good time!

After an early breakfast we south, riding along the lake. The night before, we had changed the plan. Instead riding on main roads and visiting the UNESCO heritage town Berat, we decided to cut through the Albanian hinterland and to experience some backroads before arriving at Gjirokaster. We knew it could get bumpy….

At the south end of the lake, we climbed up the road when we had to acquire a ticket to cross the Galicia National Park. From up there, we had first views on the Ohrid and later on the Lake Prepansko where we met good tarmac again.

Some kilometers to the south we crossed the border into Albania again. This time, I was asked for my insurance at the Albanian border. Gulp! I handed over my insurance paper with the stroked-through „AL“ and the Kosovar insurance, maybe this one would be valid here, too. Apparently it did. Or not. After registering my data, I could pass and we were back in Albania. The first part to Korça (home to the Korça brewery as we had yet discovered) was a good road. In Korça, I looked out for a more modern petrol station where I could pay by credit card. The road south of Korça was in a fantastic state, brand-new! Would this ride today be a piece of cake? For a while, we were living this dream, riding on perfect tarmac. Until the road ended and we faced the reality of Albanian backroads again. The landscape was nice, but the surface required all attention. The town of Erseke was clearly preparing for some mass tourism…whenever it will come. Slowly, the road deteriorated more and more. It turned more into a track, although I know many tracks that would feel humiliated to be compared with THIS.

The sights were lovely, though.

We crossed a little pass and I had to notice that I felt some play in my handlebar. What was going on here? Clearly, it was getting worse and the bad road clearly revealed it. Finally we reached the town of Leskovik where a decision or action needed to be taken. In my mind, I had developed already some plan B and C, should this be a problem that couldn’t be fixed. They all involved crossing into Greece immediately, avoiding bumpy Albanian roads. However, I had an idea…; I had experienced something similar during my trip in Iran….a play in the steering that showed on bad roads. Later, it had turned out that the steering bearing was not tightened properly. Could this be the same problem here? I explained the issue to Stefan and had him riding the XBR as well. He confirmed my observation. By putting our tool boxes together, Stefan checked the steering bearing screw…and fix it, it was indeed not tightened enough! A quick test showed that this had been the problem, probably the counter screw was a bit loose and the bad road had worsened it, loosening the bearing screw that holds the bearing in place. Phew! Resolved. We could continue with plan A. With the help of the Sat Nav, I could find the road but I soon concluded that there must have been a reason why there was no indication, it should have said: „not for public use – ride at your own risk!“
The whole way down to the valley we met one couple on mules and one car who seemed happy to meet a living soul. In terms of landscape, it was worthwhile, but I was happy that the bearing was fixed, because this was the worst part on our whole trip. The thing is that you never manage to get it properly documented on pictures, so you simply need to take my word.

Down in the valley, close to the Greek border, about 90 km from Gjirokaster, we were surprised to find a road with perfect new tarmac! This was our reward after this suffering? Anyway, we enjoyed it. I did a bit less because the steering bearing was a bit too tight, something that was adjusted later after arrival. We were motivated to hurry a bit, because a large thunderstorm was forming where we just came from. After 1.5 hours and a fluent ride and good and scenic ride in two valleys, we arrived in Gjirokaster. It is listed as UNESCO heritage for its ensemble of Ottoman houses that were preserved even during the communist era. The fact that it was the birth town of Enver Hoxha may have played a role here.
The Sat Nav led me through very narrow streets, only passable for motorbikes until we arrived at our Hotel Argyropolis. It has the highest rating I have ever seen on Booking.com, a whopping 9.9 out of 10. And we were not disappointed. We were welcomed by Tatiana, the owner. What she lacked in English vocabulary, she overcompensated by kindness and hospitality. The 200 year old house had been renovated thoroughly and put in a very modern and clean state. For Albanian standards, it’s off-scale so the 9.9 rating is justified. Our room was next to the house, super clean and cozy. After an urgently needed shower, we were ready to walk to the city centre nearby. Tatiana told us to wait and to join her in the patio and returned with two glasses of water and some homemade caramelized water melon skin. Very tasty, I never had this before.
In the city, we understood why the city aspires to be the touristic centre in the region.

Old traditional houses with tiny streets….and lots of souvenir shops and sellers. This seems to be the essence of tourisms. We walked around a bit before we went to the restaurant that we had spotted in internet. We were very early and could occupy the tiny balcony in the street. Good for watching, but also prone to getting roasted by the setting sun until it disappeared behind a mountain.

The food was ok, maybe not up to the high expectations, but ok. After that we walked up to the old castle where one has a good view on the city and its location on the mountain’s flank.

We had in mind to have some concluding drink on a terrace and found a very modern, „cool“ lounge-type place with a large terrace with a spectacular 270 degrees view.

We spent the rest of the evening there and filled up our liquid reservoir, as the sweating during the day depletes you of a lot of water. The thunderstorm did not make it there, but provided some dramatic scenery. When we returned to the hotel, we discovered the even „cooler“ streets with DJ music and youngsters sitting in the streets. This was in contrast to the call of the muezzin coming from the centric mosque.

Although we could get our breakfast only at 8 a.m. again, we managed to leave at 9 a.m. We descended to the Tara Canyon, the second deepest in the world after the Grand Canyon. It is the largest and deepest canyon in Europe, which is for the most part located in Montenegro, and to a smaller extent in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We stopped at the Đurđevića Tara Bridge that was built between 1937 and 1940 in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The 365-metre-long (1,198 ft) bridge has five arches; the largest span is 116 metres (381 ft). The roadway stands 172 metres (564 ft) above the Tara River. At the time of its completion, it was the biggest vehicular concrete arch bridge in Europe. It is still very impressive today:

We followed the canyon and had some great views, although it is difficult to stop at the best ones. The waters are spectacularly green and clear. For the next 40 km, there was no settlement or even hamlet, just the canyon and a good road. Fantastic.

The landscape after this was less spectacular, but still beautiful. We rolled slowly through the green countryside and enjoyed the morning. Then I had missed a turn and pointed to Stefan to turn left. I heard a crashing noise behind me and saw man and machine on the ground. He slipped on some sand when he wanted to turn. But luckily it is a BMW GS with crash bars so no harm done to rider nor steed apart from a few scratches. It showed, however, that carrying gloves even in hot weather is still a good idea. In Rozaje, we filled up tactically to have enough juice for the whole day. We rode up some densely wooded mountains and arrived at a pretty abandoned border post. The Montenegrin side took it slow, the Kosovan side as well. It’s good to have some quiet border crossings as well. We had to buy some insurance for the Kosovo which required some patience and explanations to the clerk but we succeeded and we were now owners of a very colorful piece of paper for 10 Euros. Before that, we had to pass a herd of cows that shared the road with us. Their cowboy said that he had lived in Augsburg for 30 years. It’s a small world.

While decending, the Kosovan plain was right in front of us. We sat down under a tree, had a little break and enjoyed the view. .

This was the only picture I took in Kosovo and later it will turn out why. We carried on and arrived at the city of Pejë. The towns we crossed were bursting with life, a lost of recent progress seems to have been made. People have come a long way, it is a weird mix between old and new, it reminded me of the situation in Eastern Europe in the nineties. The was one special place to visit according to the Lonely Planet guide: The Visoki Dečani Monastery. Luckily, my Sat Nav found the way, roadsigns seems to be really absent in the area. When we approached the monastery, we had to pass a check point (!) by the…..KFOR! It began to dawn on me that this could be a political issue. The monastery is Serbian orthodox, surrounded by ethnic Albanian Kosovars. I had a look in the guide. Indeed, I was right. The KFOR is the peacekeeping force of NATO members stationed in Kosovo after the Kosovo war in 1999. From Widipedia:

The Visoki Dečani Monastery is a medieval Serbian Orthodox Christian monastery located near Dečani, Kosovo. It was founded in the first half of the 14th century by Stefan Dečanski, King of Serbia. In 2004, the monastery was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO) as “an irreplaceable treasure, a place where traditions of Romanesque architecture meet artistic patterns of the Byzantine world.”

Albanian civilians seeking refuge in the monastery returned to their homes following the withdrawal of Serbian military from Kosovo in June 1999. An Italian unit of the Kosovo Force (KFOR) was subsequently assigned to guard the monastery, which was attacked on several occasions. Since 1999, attacks on the Monastery have increased, there have been five significant attacks and near miss attacks on the monastery.

Wikipedia, Visoki Dečani

Suddenly we were reminded of this frozen conflict that is pretty much forgotten in Central Europe. We found the entrance to the monastery that was guarded by a heavily shielded check point. We were friendly asked by a soldier to park opposite on the parking lot. At the gate, I chatted a bit with the Italian soldiers, but they were well trained and gave diplomatic answers about their mission and the situation in general. We had to leave our passports and received a visitor badge. After that, we could enter the small, walled area. The church is not so big, but it does indeed have a byzantine touch about it. The next pictures are all from the internet, no photographs were allowed.

We entered the churched and were immediately stunned by the quantity of the frescos that covered all the high walls. We were asked about our whereabouts and the friendly man started to tell us something about the church’s history. This developed into an interesting talk, partly speaking in code because our conversation touched politically and historically sensitive subjects, such as the founding of the monastery by the Serbians, the Battle of Kosovo (Schlacht auf dem Amselfeld) in 1389, the role of Kosovo in Serbian history, the Balkan War in 1912 etc. It was a very good background given from a more Serbian point of view.

In the monastery shop, I purchased two Rakija (“Grappa”) from the monastery for late use. When walking back to the parking, I was thinking about this absurd situation that represents the complicated entanglement of “ethical” relations in the whole region of the Balkans. Croats vs. Bosniaks vs. Serbs vs. Kosovars/Albanians vs. Macedonians vs. Bulgarians…. what a mess.

We rode towards the mountains and the border, this was a only a very short visit to the Kosovo. Shortly before the border, a very ambitious Golf III overtook Stefan, but he wouldn’t overtake me as well, would he? Well, he managed in the last 20 m before the checkpoint! Wow! A first glimpse what was ahead of us in Albania. The border checks were quick and my question where I could buy an insurance was met with an indecipherable grunt that probably meant “I don’t know/who cares/please leave/don’t embarrass me”. The first town we crossed looked different from the other countries we had visited so far. A tad less developed. I thought to have even spotted an old monument of the Enver Hoxha era.

We entered the Valbona valley, probably one of the best natural beauties in Albania.

The Valbona Valley National Park is a national park inside the Albanian Alps in northern Albania. The park covers a total area of 80 km2, encompassing Valbona River and its surrounding areas with mountainous terrain, alpine landscapes, glacial springs, deep depressions, various rock formations, waterfalls and the Valbona Valley with its dense coniferous and deciduous forest. It is characterized by its very remote areas which have a large preserved ecosystem all of which is primarily untouched with pristine quality. This vast pristine ecosystem is the centrepiece of what has been referred to as the Albanian Miracle of the Alps.

Wikipedia

The views were indeed spectacular. A deep valley and high mountains. Clear rivers. Definitively Alpine. But not something you would expect at this latitude.

I had reserved a room in a hotel at the very end of the valley, reachable by a bumpy piste after 1 km. The place was modern and clean and after stowing our luggage, we went back to the XBR to fix the play in the sprocket/rim/damper. By working hand in hand, we quickly removed the back wheel, cut some rubber stripes out of the rubber mat I bought in Dubrovnik and placed the pieces to reinforce the rubber damper, thereby reducing the play. The whole work lasted less than 20 min. I also exchanged the spark plug and topped out the chain lubricant, service done!

After a well-deserved shower, we occupied a large table with gorgeous mountain views, accompagnied by some quenching beers. We ordered dinner and the young waiter who spoke some German elegantly made us order more and more until the large table really made sense. It was all very good and we managed to eat almost all of it. After all, we have no lunch breaks so the stomachs are pretty empty.

Later in the room, I tried to write my report and upload the pictures, but I did not succeed. This means my reports will be a bit delayed from now on.

Our breakfast fast was rather late – 8 a.m. – but our program for today was not very tight so we could afford a relaxed one. We had to carry our luggage to the fenced parking that caused my sweat to flow in streams – hot and humid mediterranean climate does that to me. The weather was – what a surprise – sunny and hot. We started rather late at a quarter to ten, after topping up the motor oil and chain lube, and left Split riding on the coastal road again. It was a detour but definitively worth it. Lots of beautiful sights, cute little bays and beaches, too many to stop every time. It is tricky to capture the atmosphere in pictures – a lot is lost there, but I think you get the idea:

We filled up again and joined the motorway again. The temperature was in the 30’s with higher humidity at the coastline. Soon we reached the border to Bosnia and Hercegovina and after a short passport control, we were in! I had planned to visit the Kravica water falls, but due to some lacking road signs, I gave up and dumped the idea. The next destination was Mostar, the notorious city known from the Yugoslavian war. It’s not very far from the, just some 50 km.

Mostar is situated on the Neretva River and is the fifth-largest city in the country. It was named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who in the medieval times guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva. The Old Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built by the Ottomans in the 16th century, is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most visited landmarks, and is considered an exemplary piece of Islamic architecture in the Balkans. Two wars (Serb forces versus Bosniak and Croatian and Croat-Bosniak war) left Mostar physically devastated and ethno-territorially divided between a Croat-majority west bank (with ca. 55,000 residents) and a Bosniak-majority old City and east bank (with ca. 50,000 residents), with the frontline running parallel to the Neretva River.

Almost 30 years have passed by and the Bosnian War seems to be over a long time. However, quite a number of ruins reminded us of the past when we rode into the city. Today, Mostar centre is full of tourists and souvenir shops. We parked the bikes in the shadow, close to the pedestrian zone and locked our jackets and helmets to my bike. We strolled between numerous souvenir shops towards the Old Bridge.

The Old Bridge is unmistakenly the outstanding piece of architecture in Mostar. It stood for 427 years, until it was destroyed on 9 November 1993 by the Croatian Defense Council during the Croat–Bosniak War. Subsequently, a project was set in motion to reconstruct it; the rebuilt bridge opened on 23 July 2004. The bridge is considered an exemplary piece of Balkan Islamic architecture and was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557. Upon its completion it was the widest man-made arch in the world. Given that mosques, synagogues, and churches in Mostar were in proximity, the Old Bridge was targeted for the symbolic significance it served in connecting diverse communities.It can be considered an act of “killing memory”, in which evidence of a shared cultural heritage and peaceful co-existence were deliberately destroyed. This resembles latest developments in Ukraine where the cultural heritage is targeted as well.

We crossed the bridge to the other side and discovered some nice cafés under it with a view on the bridge and the people who were eager to join some rafting boats. A large jump into the river was also near where people jumped from 15 or 20 metres height. We found a small table in first row and enjoyed a Turkish/Bosnian Mokka.

After this relaxing break in the cool shade, we walked to our bikes and rode back, in some 35 degrees. But instead going back to the coast, we did a little detour. Bosnia owns a small strip of land at the coast that cuts the Dalmatian, Croatian coast in half. By riding directly to Neum, the Bosnian city in this enclave, we avoided to cross into Croatia, back to Bosnia, and back to Croatia again. Only one crossing to Croatia was needed.The last 50 km today were very scenic, I stopped again a few times, much more stops could happen, but I’m usually too lazy to turn around.

Well, and then, finally we arrived at King’s Landing. Oh wait, I think in this world it is called “Dubrovnik”?

We quickly found our accommodation, like yesterday a place that has a few ok rooms, but is not really a big hotel. But for our purposes it’s ok. A quick shower and we were ready to visit the Old Town of Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. In 1979, the city of Dubrovnik was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in recognition of its outstanding medieval architecture and fortified old town.

We walked through the narrow and wide streets and alleys, its picturesque squares. As it was already in the evening, we didn’t walk the huge ramparts on the huge wall that surrounds the old city. A genuinely marvelous city with a very special atmosphere.

I had to think of my favorite scene in GoT:

That was the right hint. We discovered this busy bar outside the wall, just over the sea with magnificent views. Time for an aperitif!

After that, we want back to that yard that we had seen before, looking great. We had some salad and grilled calamari, very delicious.

Cozy. On our way back to the hotel, we criss-crossed the old town and enjoyed the lower temperatures. No fire-breathing dragons anywhere in sight!

Luckily, our rooms have airco again. Tomorrow, the new country will be: Montenegro (Црна Гора).

We started the day early – off to breakfast at 7 a.m. It was surprisingly good and we had a good start in the day. We packed our stuff and at 8:15 we sat on the bikes and wanted to set off – I started the motor, released the clutch – and heard a terrible sound from the front! I remembered that I had tested my lock yesterday and had put it around the front wheel. Well, the cracking sound resulted in a damaged front fender that was totally broken and even ripped out of its screws on the left side. Fantastic! Only two meters travelled and already a damaged bike! We assessed the situation – this looked bad. I came up with the idea to fix everything with some gaffer tape – not beautiful, but effective. But there is another advantage when you travel with the best mechanic on this side of the Mississippi: Stefan came up with the idea to heat a screwdriver with a lighter and to burn two wholes in the plastic of the fender, fixing it to the underlying fender frame with zip ties. A very bold idea…

And it worked! Wow! Rock stable. With only 15 minutes delay, we headed off. On the motorway and off to Slovenia. But before, we filled up and wanted to purchase a vignette for the Slovenian highways. Only possible online. For the next 10 minutes, I arranged to book with my smartphone two vignettes for us. The weather was splendid today. We passed the Karawanken mountains in the tunnel and rolled through Slovenia. Easy going, we were not in a hurry. Around Ljubljana there was some heavy traffic that required some filtering. We had decided not to ride the whole day on motorways but to do some shortcuts on secondary roads. The first one was rather slow – lots of traffic and little chances to overtake. We passed the Croatian border, did a short break and descended to Rijeka on a good motorway. There, the Adriatic Mediterranean welcomed us with fantastic weather. Hot, but not too hot, blue skies and fantastic views. Soon we left the motorway behind us and rode on the coastal road No 8. There was still quite some traffic but the views were fantastic, postal card quality. In Novi Vinodolski, I had to stop and take some pictures.

In Senj, we had to fill up and combined it with a short break. I needed a snack, enjoying the great view from the petrol station. After Senj, the road turned into a fantastic ride: little traffic, gorgeous views, mostly good tarmac and nice bends. A scenic motorbiking dream. I rode a bit faster to occasionally stop and take pictures. This was so much better than the motorway!

Shortly after picturesque Karlobag we stopped for a break for a scenic view. This road made it directly into my top ten of motorcycle roads. The 150 km between Senj and Zadar are highly recommended!

It was quite hot, above 30 degrees, but when riding it was ok. Even the best flow has to end and near Zadar we joined the motorway again. The next hour was rather boring and I checked whether a detour along the coast would cost us a lot of time. It would so I dumped the plan again. With 30 km to go, we exited and took a road to the coast, descending to the blue coast again. With our today’s destination (Split) in sight, I spotted a larger-than-life ad of Bauhaus, the big DIY shop. I set my Sat Nav to this location as I had a cunning plan. When putting the rear wheel back in the bike, I realized that the rubber dampers in the rear wheel are quite worn, resulting in a large play. Not always fun to accelerate. In the shop, I purchased a rubber mat, a cutter knife and some clue. Should I get too annoyed by the play, I could add some rubber to the damper.

Some minutes later, we would arrive at the rented room – so we thought. But the place was located in a small street that seemed to be inaccessible for motorized traffic. After some turns, I walked to the place and met the landlord. We could push the bikes there and check in. We were shown the locked parking later. It is a nice room in an old building, one of the few that was left a few days ago, considering the centric location. After the shower and the washing of the riding underwear, we walked through the old town, that is dominated by the old palace of the Roman emperor Diocletian:

What was a bit off-putting was the sheer quantity of people in the streets. How does this look like in August???

In the end we place that our landlord recommended to us – a very authentic place, not so touristic like many others. Not fancy, but the food was very good. We had octopus salad for starters and sea bream and Cevapcici for main course. Simple, but very tasty.

The price however was not traditional, but very much adapted to the new reality in town. Wow.

We walked back through the harbour promenade, wondering where all the people came from. Party time!

Today, we went through Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. Tomorrow, we’ll make a detour through Bosnia. A new country.

It is time for another little adventurous trip. It’s only a short one, but like the trip to Japan, it was postponed for some years, in this case due to the Pandemic. Three years ago, my mate Stefan and I decided to do a trip together, the concept was fairly simple: visit the white spots (aka unvisited countries) on my motorbiking map. In this case, this means Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania and North Macedonia. Not in three weks. Nor two weeks, no. We plans to do it in 9 days, which is equivalent to one country per day. And of course I ride with my trusted steed, i.e. the old Honda XBR500 with 397.000 km on the clock.

After leaving the fair in Munich where I worked this week, I returned to my place in Miesbach and changed gear considerably. I left shortly after 5 p.m. in showery rain and picked up Stefan. We filled up and set off for our first long ride together in four years. Our old ladies (a 1985 XBR and a 88 R100GS) go slow, but steady. We had decided to do a short trip in the evening of about 280 km that would save us some riding the next day; we passed Salzburg and crossed the Alps on the Tauernautobahn direction south. We had put on our rain gear at home and finally we passed some strong showers; riding in the sunshine in full rain gear does look somewhat stupid. In the end we profited from our anticipation.

After 2.5 hours we reached our destination for today, Villach in Carinthia. The hotel is “no frills” near the station but ok. We walked a short distance to a nice brewery where we had some good beers and good local food. Tomorrow the heat will start and rain gears won’t be needed for a while.

Should you be interested in checking the GPS track: https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/7ded-65eee9b-cf5f/view?p=Balkan

Then I had this plan to combine everything.

Well, I combined two business meetings at the Lago Maggiore and in Valencia by riding with my old XBR500. It was a smooth ride and I was really lucky with the weather. I stayed with family in Valencia and on one day, I went out for a ride with my XBR buddy Johannes, who was by coincidence on a motorbike vacation in the area. I showed him my favorite biking/motorbiking roads north of Valencia. We had a really nice day out in perfect weather.

I left the bike in Valencia and returned by airplane. One week later, I returned to Valencia by plane and the next morning I set off for the Ride to Eat meeting in Portugal. I set off at 6 a.m. at some cool 14 degrees. The motorway climbed up to the Utiel Requena region and it started to get chilly. I stopped and put on my sweater. Hmmm, only 5 degrees now. While riding to Madrid, I hoped that the sun would soon warm up Castilla….which it didn’t. When I was west of Madrid, I stopped in bright sunshine and put on my rain suit! There was a nasty cold wind that made me shiver all the time. The rain suit at least protected me from the windchill. Close to the Portuguese border, I stopped in Ciudad Rodrigo, looking for a place to eat. I had not remembered that Portugal is in another time zone so I had another hour to get to the meeting point. By coincidence, I passed by the local Parador in the old town overlooking the plain. Hm, why not. I had some suckling pig (famous in the area) and when I left the restaurant, it was finally warm outside. Before reaching the border, I noticed that the sparse Castilian plain turned into a green land with many bushes, trees and shrubbery. The motorway in Portugal was of excellent quality. I had to book into the automatic toll system that works with number plate recognition (!) The landscape was lovely now and I finally warmed up in the Portuguese sun.

I exited the motorway in Covilhã and was surprised by this neat town situated at the bottom of the Serra de Estrela mountains. The views were very nice, what a difference after the Castilian plains. And the road was very winding and in a good state, this felt a bit like in the Alps!

Higher and higher went the until I reached the highest point in Portugal: Torre in the centre of the Serra da Estrela, just under 2000 m altitude. And there was already the rest of the pack: riders from UK, the Netherlands, Germany and other countries, meeting at 4 p.m. sharp for the group picture of the “European Ride to Eat”, that happens at a special place anywhere in Europe. This time it was in Portugal and a good excuse for me to visit the country: it was a white spot for the XBR, I had never been to Portugal on a motorbike before! After the group picture, we headed downwards to the Hotel in Manteigas where we all stayed for the night.

On the way down I had swapped my new notebook with the one from Tommy who had given me the idea to use it for navigation. It’s a big bricking the front, but it gives the option of using nivation apps (Waze, Maps) in real time. It worked quite well on this first trip, but while riding the tablet does not charge. The swap confirmed that it was not a problem of the tablet; Tommy’s tablet showed the same problem. My conclusion was that the vibrations of the XBR make the flexible contacts oscillate which results in a bad connection. When the motor is switched off, the tablet charges normally.

After checking in, I discovered an unexpected rider: it was John Young who’d not beet at the meeting point as he had overslept 😆. We had a chat before I checked the shower in my room. The hotel was a very elegant spa with its own fountains. A great pick. This was also confirmed by the good buffet dinner. We had a good evening with a lot of good conversations. After a relaxed breakfast the next morning I left very late at 10:30 a.m. (well, actually at 11:30 Spanish time). I did a little detour and enjoyed the plush landscape and the picturesque villages. I was reminded of riding in Northern Italy and concluded that I definitively have to return to Portugal for some proper riding.

Soon I reached the Spanish border and was back in flat Spain. I filled up in Salamanca and turned north. Only when I turned east and followed the Ebro river, the landscape changed for the better. I was in the Rioja region now and liked to ride through the rolling hills. Mental note: a trip to La Rioja is on the wish list for a long time already.

I made good progress on my route to the Pyrenees. My idea was to visit Andorra the next day. Why? Because the XBR had not been there, so….Earlier, I had managed to book a hotel in Lleida for the night, using the tablet. This might sound scary, but actually it is easy during a slow motorway cruise. I ride quite relaxed on the old XBR that is only a few kilometers short of 400.000 km. 120 km/h is usually the right speed that makes the old lady feel comfortable. I had a moment of suspense when there was no petrol station when I needed one. But in the end you need to have patience. Finally I arrived in Lleida and checked into the prebooked hotel.

I had selected it for its good reviews of its restaurant. You can understand my disappointment when I heard it was closed on Sundays! It was difficult to find an open restaurant; in the end I visited a Chinese-Korean-Japanese restaurant called “Himalaya”…where I was the only guest. I ordered a Japanese classic – Ramen with Gyoza that was actually quite alright. My plan to have some nice Catalan dinner had to be postponed. On the way back to the hotel through the sleepy town I had to make a detour; I was stopped by a policeman who suggested to take another route. Apparently, a big police squad was doing a raid. Not so sleepy as I thought then.

After a good night’s rest without a breakfast, I left Lleida at 8 a.m. and headed north. I enjoyed riding through the soft, green hills, a true pleasure. I made good progress and decided in Ponts to have a classic breakfast in a roadside bar: un cafè amb llet i dos croissants, si us plau! I had a long day ahead of me, so I needed a solid foundation for the day.

I spured the XBR, but the closer I got to Andorra, the more cars with Andorran plates (Porsches, Jags, BMWs) passed me. And not just by a small margin. They seemed to be drawn by a strong, invisible force towards their home principality.

Very often I did not manage to stop when there was a magnificent view, but sometimes I was able to stop the flow:

Finally I arrived in Andorra where I filled with “cheap” petrol. Cheaper, that is. Andorra la Vella is really a special thing, like any other micro states. Only a small patch of land, but the fancy buildings indicate that a lot of money is parked here. I had planned to stop and to visit a wine shop. I wanted to acquire a souvenir from Spain. The shop had an exquisite selection of fine wines from Spain and France, top notch. In the end a bottle of yummy Valbuena was stowed away in my panniers. I decided not to ride over the pass, but through the tunnel towards the French border, I still had a long way to go on that day. After a chilly ride with the mountain tops covered in snow, I crossed the border and descended into France. although I still had to ride on country roads, I made good progress and joint the motorway again near Carcassonne.

The route northwards was simple: follow the A9 along the Mediterranean and the Rhone valley. A petrol and snack stop near Bezières. I planned to stay anywhere near Lake Geneva, best on the French side to avoid pricy Switzerland. However, a lack of vacancies made me rethink this. North of Geneva, only few places were still available, so I booked one with good evaluations. It did not have a restaurant, so I thought to have a stopover before. Unfortunately, it turned out that Monday evening in Switzerland is the equivalent to Sunday evenings in Lleida: everything closed.

In the end I had to visit the only place that was open: a Chinese restaurant! So no Swiss dinner tonight. Well, the Chinese food was ok and with a full stomach I tried to find the hotel. Hotel? In a residential area?? Let’s check…no, the address is correct! But this is a private home? I rang the bell and was welcomed by the landlady. I had booked a room in a private house! Slowly I realized that the place was listed as “chambre d’hôte”. Private room. Ok, no problem, any hotel would be more expensive. The lady was very friendly and served me a beer with snacks. The place was cosy and in the morning, the charming host served a spectacular breakfast on the little balcony with views on the Lake Geneva and the Mont Blanc.

I was well fed for the last stint to my home place in Miesbach, Bavaria. In finest sunshine, I cruised across Switzerland to Lindau. I decided to avoid motorways and chose the roads close to the mountains. It was quite fast, and in the early afternoon I arrived on home soil. Before arriving at my house, I had to make a stopover at one of the most beautiful places in Bavaria: Kaltenbrunn over the Lake Tegernsee.

After this relaxing initiation I rode to my home place where I spent some relaxing days. This is best done in some nice weather, for example like this:

Of course I also some important things to do. Last year, I had purchased a tuned motor from a Honda NX650 Dominator with the intention to replace the 600cc motor in the grey café racer XBR with it. 680cc instead 600cc instead 500cc. Higher displacement and a hot cam shaft. My mate Stefan had swapped the engines some weeks ago, the idea was now to install an oil cooler to keep the temperature at bay. On one day, Stefan took care of it and organized a new oil hose as the provided one did not offer a proper position. In the end, the result was very satisfactory, everything looked fine.

There’s no replacement for displacement.

Honda XBR680

I did a short test ride and the set-up seemed to work, the power is flabbergasting. Everything was tight, no leaks, no issues. So this meant that Stefan and I had to go on a longer, proper test ride the next Sunday. We did nice tour to the Lake Chiemsee and back. I soon noticed that there was something…different. The revolutions of the motor did not match the usual pattern. It was difficult to ride with less than 3000 rpm in the small gears, difficult in 4th under 4000 prm und impossible in 5th gear. The rpms in 4th gear at a certain speed were lower than normally in 5th! What was wrong here? The gear ratio was completely off!

The Dominator has a 15 teeth front sprocket, a 45 rear sprocket and a 520 chain. The XBR has a 15 teeth front sprocket, a 36 rear sprocket and a 525 chain. So I had ordered a Dominator 15 teeth front sprocket, a 36 rear sprocket with XBR geometry and a 520 chain. Seemed logical.

Big mistake.

What I didn’t have in mind was the primary gear ratio of the motor. I discovered that both XBR and NX motors are totally different. With the help of a calculator website and the data from the internet I could confirm my observations. I also could calculate what the right ratio would be. I ordered a set on the internet only to find out later that for this rear sprocket (15/46 teeth) I had overlooked to check for the right geometry (right inner diameter and right bolt circle, but wrong bolt diameter). Right, cancel it. However, there was no sprocket with 15/46 to be found, only a 13/39 combination. According to the calculator, this should be similar. I ordered it with the aim to receive it before I would return north the next weekend. Good plan, but I didn’t count with the bad performance of the parcel delivery. It arrived far too late and left me no option than to do the Magic 12 rally, situated in the federal state of Northrhine Westphalia with this gear ration, an unpleasant ride. On the way up to my individual starting place, I noticed the strong pulling of the chain, caused by the wrong gear ratio. This was not good. I could ride in fifth gear above 130 km/h, but it was not smooth. In the hotel I checked again my well designed plan; we had received the data some days earlier. It was a good plan, potentially a winning plan. Visiting lots of places plus a lot of extra points taking pictures of town signed whose first letters would form the name NORDRHEIN WESTFALEN. All set.

I got up a four and started the 12 hour rally with a petrol receipt at 5 a.m. There was not a lot of traffic in the morning when I whooshed though the country side. The motor does have a lot of oomph, indeed. I visited the storm-stricken town of Paderborn, there a tornado had one day before destroyed the centre of the town. I had passed the storm not far from it; it was so scary that I had considered stopping. In the morning, lots of trees were bent. Ironically, the plaque that had to be photographed was still there.

Some places were special and I was riding in the countryside, avoiding the slower parts of the Ruhrgebiet. When do you meet a statue to remember a pig race?

I was way ahead of my plan and soon there would be the mandatory lunch rest. I noticed that the chain had some slack and I planned to tighten it during the break. When I wanted to do. it, I noticed that the rear wheel had some lateral play!! Aaaaargh! What the….!!!! This was it? I still had some hours to go and there was no shortcut to the finish. So I only could hope for the best and continue my plan. Which I did. I rode very carefully for one hour and visit quite some places, but, I was skeptical if I could make it. At a certain point I had to make decision. I stopped and checked the play. It got worse. And the hub of the rim was bloody hot.

Alright. That’s it. This rally was not so important to risk my life for it. I checked my options and phoned a car rental in nearby Siegen. Luckily they had a Mercedes Sprinter left and one hour later I rode the XBR into the van. On the way home, I informed the rally master and went through my options.

I still had an old XBR in the shed that I could cannibalise…I could fix it and return the next day as promised. So I did. After return to Belgium, I pulled the spare XBR out of the shed and removed the rear wheel. Then I did the same with the grey XBR. The wheel play was spectacular. When I removed the axle, removed the wheel and inspected the parts, the problem evident: the wheel bearing cages were destroyed, but the problem had probably started somewhere else: the sprocket wheel bearing. It had given in first which resulted in a play between sprocket base and the rim. Slowly, it destroyed the bearing completely and damaged also the wheel bearings.

With the help of the spare parts bike, I managed to exchange everything, the bike was ready to go again. The next morning, I returned to Siegen and returned to Belgium on the XBR. I learned that that my plan would have been sufficient for first place, but I have won so many rallies that it doesn’t matter. Safety first.

Later, I finally discovered a website that would sell the right rear sprocket with the right geometry. I purchased it and today I replaced the whole kit.

This seems to be the right gear ratio now, the bike seems to ride “normal” in the first short test. All in all, a fantastic bike. My explanation is the the wrong sprocket resulted in a permanent pulling of the chain that made the sprocket bearing surrender. Not a bike for the long haul like the black one, but fantastic for short, intense rides in the Alps. That’s the main purpose.

In the meantime, I had some issues with the K1600GT’s front. But this for another story.

I had not set an alarm and got up at half past seven. In the restaurant hall, the tour groups were already choking down their breakfast. For some strange reason I had to think of locusts…Before leaving, I had an issue to resolve. Yesterday, during a short stop, I received a phone call from booking.com telling that my hotel in Reykjavik had cancelled my reservation. They offered me an altertive that I should confirm. I had a quick look and said yes by e-mail. I sent three messages in increasing urgent tone asking for a confirmation. I received nothing. In the end I called the new hotel myself. Yes, the had received my name, everything was ok. Good, so I had a place to stay. This was important. I had checked the internet and discovered that Reykjavik was sold out! Well, unless you want to pay 500 quid for a nice suite….

I set off at nine and my first destination was not far away: Dyrhólaey, an extension of yesterday’s beach. The sea has formed holes into the rocks, forming arches. The area is also important as a reserve for the local bird population. The was a track to the voewpoint of the great arc, but it was closed for construction…

Today I experienced a more typical Icelandic weather: cloudy with some rays of sunshine and later some short showers. I continued my ride along the south coast. The landscape was changing again. I had not planned a stop there, but the setting was beautiful, so I decided to make a stop at the Skógafoss. Definetely a good idea. The waterfall is very beautiful and I played around with the Halide app if I could change the settings in rhe right way (longer exposure times). I should have tried at home. So I took more or less ‘normal pictures’. Anyway, a very pretty waterfall.

I moved away from the coast and rode inlands. I arrived at the Gullfoss, one of the iconic Icelandic waterfalls. Well, it is big, but I honestly had expected some ‘more’. On the other hand, it would be unfair to compare it with bigger streams like the Niagara Falls or the Victoria Falls that I had the pleasure to visit.
Anyway, when you think that all the water comes from a melting glacier, it IS impressive. In the adjacent shop, I found a country sticker for my pannier that I placed immediately.

The next stop was not far away: Geysir. Yes, this is the mother of all geysirs. I parked the bike and strolled up the hill, surrounded by hordes of tourists. This seems ti he downside of the enormous popularity of Iceland: buses spit out masses of tourists at the touristic spots. In between, there is quietness when riding.

I entered the restaurant/shop complex and acquired two sandwiches for lunch. I never had a lamb sandwich before, a very good idea!

The next stop was again a geological one. Kerið is a crater lake that formed when the magma chamber of a volcano collapsed and a little lake was formed by rhe ground water. In this cloudy weather, the colours were not that strong, but it was good enough for some good pictures. I walked around on the top of the caldera, avoiding too much movement. In this cool climate, a warm gear is great, but when you have to walk, you overheat in no time.
This was the only place where I had to pay an entrance fee.

Now The weather was a mix of of sunny spells and short showers. In entered the Þingvellir National park area, riding through a landscape of bushes and small trees. This is probably rhe closwst you get to a forest here. I arrived at the visitor centre and topk some pictures from the lake. Thingvellir is a special place on Iceland. The lake is the largest in Iceland, home to many species. Geologically, it is located on the rift between the European and the American plate that are constantly moving apart (geologically, but maybe as well politically).

In the centre, I visited the exposition on the importance of the place as a ‘thing’, or better ‘alþing’, the old Germanic place to hold frequent tribunals to settle disputes and to speak law. The ‘Althing’ meant that this was the supreme court of Island for almost a millenium. At this place, the independent Islandic Republic was declared in 1944. All in all, a place embedded in Islandic history.

I only had a lasr descent to Reykjavik in front of me. Close to the city, I filled up and checked my oil. I topped up the chain lubricant and checked the tyre pressure. After 920 km riding in Iceland, I discovered a novelty: red lights!!! And some Friday evening rush hour. I took a little detour through rhe city centre and arrived at the hotel. The reception was very friendly and I was told that the stay was already pre-paid (a gift from booking.com?). I had a shower and lefr for a walk through the small city centre. It is very nordic, but cozy and apparently lively.

I walked to the restaurant I had booked – albeit one hour too early. Luckily, this was not a problem. It was the restaurant ‘Matur og Drykkur’. In Iceland, many places are simply describing what they are. Like in this case, ‘eating and drinking’. Plain, simple. They serve a six course meal and I ordered wine pairing as well pairing as well. All in all, it was very good, using local ingredients. The sea weed tempura was surprisingly good, the roasted lamb divine. I was positively surprised by the Snorri No.10 beer, this is up to the level of a good Belgian Triple! I had the impression that someone must have given a very good recommendation in an American travel guide as almost all guest seemed to be Americans; except the Catalan couple next to me who thought that nobody could understand them. Well, I could. Luckily, the noise increased so I could not overhear their private conversation anymore.

I walked back to the hotel, making a stopover in the centre. In a bar, a live jazz band was performing very well and I discovered that they sold a Talisker 18 years for a reasonable price (considering this was Iceland). I had a dram in front of the bar and continued typing this report.

Reykjavik is the northernmost capital in the world, and a small one. A few minutes later, I was back at the hotel. It’s a small, but nice city.

I’m afraid that tomorrow, I’ll be running out of luck: in the afternoon, some heavy rain will cross my way. The northwest is my destination now.

I had a rather frugal breakfast in the somewhat shabby hotel and set off at a quarter pass nine. I passed the “Men at Sea” like the evening before and decided to join them for a minute.

My plan was to go up north at the west coast of Jutland, riding on back roads next to the sea. My first stop was at the ‘Tirpitz Museum’, a bunker of the WWII ‘Atlantic Wall’. It was never finished, but had it, its cannon on top would have had a range of 55 km. The bunker was spectacular, but the museum was a mixture of the history of the bunker, a very simplified summary of the war, local history and information about amber. Very modern and multi-media, but quite family-friendly and on the light side. Despite the hefty entrance fee, I had quickly done my tour and set off north.

I went mostly near the coast, sometimes only separated from the sea by large dunes. In Hvide Sande, a popular tourist resort, I encountered a sort of traffic jam. 

I stopped and crawled over the dune to have a look the sea. The wind was quite strong today, a good training for Iceland. 

In Thyborøn, I needed to take a ferry to cross that little gap. I passed all the cars and waited in the front to be called, the boarding was already ongoing. I made it on the ferry and parked the bike on the side stand. I climbed up some stairs to have a better view. The crossing is not very long and the sea was rather calm, apart from the wind. Yet the boat started to seesaw strongly – in a worrying way. The captain reduced speed and got it under control again. There was some noise behind the van where my bike was parked. People were calling for a motorbiker. Not good! I was the only one on the ship. Apparently, the bike had dropped and someone put it upright. I could tell by moved mirror, I had to fix it again. Luckily, nothing else was affected or broken.

I continued my ride along the pittoresque coast and decided in Agger to have a small snack. I ordered a Pølsermix, believing it to be a small hot dog dish. I received an enormous plate with chips and sausages, enough to feed an army. I had to leave big part of it, I was not in the mood for that amount of junk food.

I passed Denmark’s largest National Park Thy and stopped in Halstholm to get some needed commodities in a grocery store.

I realized that my chain lubricant consumption was a bit higher and regretted that I left the big bottle at home; I reduced the flow of the Scottoiler and concluded that I could always use motor oil as a second best option. My next stop was Blokhus at the coast, for a particular reason. It’s a nice touristic town and I was surprised that I could ride onto the beach. This was unexpected!

But my real intention was to find the main attraction of the town, I had apparently rode past it, so I had to go back. And then I found it…

Very impressive! Luckily, I could take a picture of the data, so I don’t have to type them 😇

I was considering to make a trip to Skagen, the Northern tip of Denmark but I realized this would get too late today and I didn’t arrive late at the hotel. So my next stop should be the last one for today. It was the Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse, situated in/on a large dune. I had read that it had been moved 300 m recently (!) to save its existence as the waves eat sand for breakfast.

I parked the bike as close as possible to the lighthouse that could be spotted far in the distance. I noticed that there was a kind of tourist trap about to set off to the dunes: a tractor with a trailer to transport lazy tourists. How lame is that, you might think, but it turned out that the 5 Euros for this return trip were the best investment in a long time. During the ride, I realized that the lighthouse was about 2 km away, this would have been a torture in warm motorbike gear. Almost Alpenbutt-esque, haha (this joke is for the knowing).

The tractor set off and it quickly turned out that this was fun: the guy went off-road up and down, criss-crossing through the dunes:

We were awaited by some sheep who were begging for a treat. The farmer would return in 40 minutes, this should be enough time to discover the area. I climbed up the dune and enjoy the fantastic views. I wondered how they could move the entire lighthouse in one go. Unbelievable.

On the bumpy, but entertaining way back in the trailer I realized that any attempt to walk to the dune would have been led to spontaneous self-combustion of my body due to overheating. It was also evident that the detour to Skagen was totally out of question now.

Only 25 km left to the hotel; as usual, watching Shawn makes me smile….

I quickly found the hotel in Hirtshals and the petrol station next to it. I saw the first off-road van and realised that I was at at the hub to Iceland.

I checked into the hotel and was quite miffed when I learned that the restaurant would not serve me dinner tonight. I had reserved the hotel particularly because it had a restaurant, so I didn’t enter the centre of town, and now they wouldn’t be accommodate, asking at 7 p.m. Nope. OK, plan B. I didn’t fancy to take a shower and then to ride anywhere, so I just rode without the hygiene stop. I stopped at a restaurant with a terrace and ordered something that sounded interesting….seafood “tapas”! A massive platter and a lot of work (35 min!)

I returned to the hotel and finally had my shower, after all I rode more than expected, some 410 km in the wind and sun made me feel tired.

This morning, after breakfast, I met an acquainted coupled from my home town in front of the hotel. How probable is that! We had a chat, they take the ferry to Norway. I went to the harbour and waited until it was my turn for check-in. In the hour before that, I chatted with some bikers in the queue. The amount of off-road, hardcore 4×4 cars is impressive. They will go where I won’t: the rough tracks in the interior of the island. I’d need another bike for that.

In the ship, we motorbikes had to strap our bikes, carrying the luggage to the cabin usually lets the sweat flow, but finally I’m in my cabin….only to find out that I hadn’t been cleaned! The receptionist made a walkie-talkie call: “housekeeping, we have a surprise cabin on deck 6, I repeat, ….” I waited sitting on the floor until my home for two nights was finally ready.

I found a relaxing spot where I could rest a bit until the restaurant was opened.

I had pre-booked all my meals, something that I rarely do. But as everything is breathtakingly expensive, pre-booking gets some discount and I need some food anyway. It sounded not like a large meal – “two sandwiches and a snaps”, but it was a good portion and the quality was very good, including the aquavit from the Faroer.

Later I discovered the Laterna Magica Bar with a fantastic view where I am writing the whole time. They have seats and sofas, what a great idea!

In the end, I spent the afternoon in the Panoramic lounge. I have slow internet, but the upload speed is not enough to post pictures. I hope that I will catch some phone signal on Faroer Islands.

(Indeed, after fixing some issues, I could upload it in Torshavn, the tiny capital of the Faroer Islands).

In the evening, I had an unspectacular dinner in the buffet restaurant. It’s a quiet boat trip. 

On the morning of the first day I took it easy, packed the last missing things and set off for a smooth ride on motorways at a quarter to ten. Soon after I crossed the Dutch border, I was passed by three Belgians on BMWs. This is not remarkable as such, I was in a relaxed mood and decided to go at 110 – 120 km/h the whole day. The second rider had a personalised number plate named ‘Siberia’. Was this their destination? I could give them some advice…

I knew that some rain would come in Northern Germany, so I put on the rain gear very early. The predicted rain was not very heavy though and I lost quite some time in road works on the A1 where no filtering was possible. Later I passed Bremen and proper sunshine came back although accompanied by a strong wind. I was joined by my lucky charm – Shawn, the Black Irish sheep. He has joined me through America and Russia, not to speak of many places in Europe. I had washed him in winter and attached him safely behind the windscreen. When in motion, his arms and legs are happily flapping around so it looks as if he’s really enjoying the ride. Every time I look at him, it puts a smile on my face. 🙂

The last 60 km I had to go on nice country roads though the ‘Altes Land’, heading towards the Elbe and the coast. I was about to take off my rain gear when I spotted some dark clouds at the horizon. I left it on and indeed, 6 km before my today’s destination, the rain poured down. When I arrived at the house of Michael and Christiane, I took off my rain suit and….was completely soaked??? This kept me thinking for a while. I couldn’t find a hole….that’s not good news for the rainy climate in Iceland!

My visit was long overdue, for many years actually. So we had much to talk about and the rain did not invite to leave the house. We had a nice meal together, they both are fantastic hosts and I crawled into the bed only after midnight…(there’s a song for every occasion, right, Michael?😄)

I got up not too early the next morning and we had a sumptuous breakfast together. I knew I didn’t have to go far today so I was not in a hurry. I filled up and hoped I would stay dry until I would reach the ferry across the river Elbe. This plan only worked for the first 5 km. Luckily I could pass the long line of waiting cars and roll directly on the ferry. The “Elbfähre” is the only crossing west of Hamburg, connecting Lower Saxony with the Western shore of Schleswig.

At the other side, I did not have to ride wrong very long – a second visit was due. This time it was Ralf and his wife Kirsten. You would think the North of Germany is flat, flat, flat – but they live on the slope of a small mountain that provides them with a view over the low lands.

Ralf joined my first XBR Alpentour in 1994 and was riding a lot with me in subsequent years. He is proof that you can pass many, stronger bikes in the Alps with a heavily under-maintained XBR, failing breaks or many other shortcomings…

The picture at the left is from the epic XBR Alpentour in 2003 when he demonstrated that you don’t need ANY fork oil to master gravel passes in the Alps…

Kirsten made some tasty “Bauernfrühstück” and Ralf and I had a lot to chat about, after all we didn’t meet so often recently. I had never been to this place (no surprise, being up in the North), so it was another, long overdue visit. Much later than planned, I started the XBR again.

Well, the rest of the day was set: going up north on the B5 and crossing into Denmark, leaning into the strong wind. I had enough time left, so I could visit a rapid antigen test centre near Esbjerg. Last week, Iceland decided that a certificate of full vaccination would not be enough to enter the country, I would need another negative RAT (rapid antigen test) result. After some cueing, the testing and 15 min waiting time, I received my certificate. I filled up the bike and topped up the oil, all ready for tomorrow. I entered Esbjerg and check into my hotel. Remarkable here: the receptionist wears a pair of braces and a bowler hat and has a quirky humor. Maybe he’s a fan of Clockwork Orange….(should I be worried?).

In the shower, I tested if the rain suit had a leak, but I couldn’t detect any. I had a good dinner in a nearby restaurant with Tuborg beer from the tap. Rib Eye steak with a freshly prepared Sauce Béarnaise. Being used to Belgian restaurant prices does immunise you a bit when exposed to Scandinavian prices. You realize you’re in Scandinavia when you confess to the waiter that you have left your wallet in the hotel and propose to get it from there and he only replies: “yeah, all right”.

Tomorrow will be another relaxed day along the coast as my destination (Hirtshals) is only 330 km away.

Got up early today, had a shower and packed my stuff. At 6:30 a.m. I met John at breakfast. At 7:10 a.m. we started our day in nice sunshine. The hotel was conveniently located next to the motorway, in no time we were rolling towards Warsaw.

The road to the north east had a nice surprise: all the road works were gone and we could roll on a new dual carriageway. We could make up some time in relation to Garmin’s calculation. I had estimated a 10 hour ride for today. After three hours, we stopped for our first fuel stop. We could go much more, but we decided that this pattern (stops every 170 – 200 miles) gives us a good structure during the day. We met some bikers from Austria that are on a trip to Murmansk and the Norwegian west coast. But what was particularly different about them was the fact that one rider had only one leg! I have never seen this before. We saw them a couple of times today, they rode faster, but we more steady. After a friendly chat we continued our ride. The nice road ended in the north east of Poland and from there is was mostly a normal road to Kaunas in Lithuania. Which means overtaking, overtaking, overtaking. We might be slow on motorways, but we are quick on these type of roads as trucks block a lot of cars. But not us. Not for long. We stopped at the Lithuanian border sign as John did not have that picture. Close to Kaunas, we met a dual carriageway again. Riding was very calm. I didn’t find the time to take a picture of the many picturesque stork nests along the road…

In Kaunas it was time to fill up again and a quick Bratwurst hot dog. The motorway turned into a nomal country road again, but we made good progress. After the first massive bump at the village entry, we learned to enter the towns. A quick stop at the Latvian border. The clock turned forward one hour. In Daugavpils, I decided to ignore the bypass around the city and entered the city. I was simply curious. We saw our first Lenin statue and orthodox church, which golden tops were in stark contrast with the dull city. We arrived in Rezekne and filled up again. I had booked a new hotel that is really nice and well run. Glad I did that. The rest of the city is quite….hmmmm, dull? So finally a shower tonight nd a proper change of clothes. We had dinner together (rabbit liver, quite good) and pork chops. We had for the first time some time for a longer chat. While going through the plan for the next days, we realised what is ahead of us! Days 5, 6 and 7 will be massive! But we are seasoned Iron Butt Rally veterans, if we switch into the right mind set, we can do this. We just need to leave early on these days.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll hit the Russian border after 30 min. After the bureaucratic hassle, Moscow is calling!

Another motorbiking year gone, time to look back. It was a good year with many new impressions. It started with my new bike, the new K1600GT. A true monster bike. There’s plenty of everything. At the end of the year, it has 38.000 km more on the odometer. It could have been more, but more about this later. This is still a good distance, the average biker needs ten years to achieve that. For the first time, I rode quite a lot in winter, enjoying the heated gear.

The first winter trip led me at the end of January (!) to John Young’s bike meeting at his house in Staffordshire. I had never done such a long trip in the middle of winter before, but the heated gear makes winter riding a walk in the park. It was also the start of a series of rides to visit some places as part of the 50-50 Challenge, a 2018 programme to visit many places related to the 50th anniversary of the Triumph Trident triples.

Only three weeks later, I headed over to Britain again, this time with Gerhard and Thomas. The reason was a more serious one: we formed part of the large motorbike group that accompanied Bev Kilner, the late wife of Chris Kilner at her last ride to the crematorium in Aberstwyth in Wales. Bev and Chris had developed some great Brit Butt rallies. The ride behind the hearse through the sunny Welsh mountains at -1 degrees was unforgettable. I rode to Harwich, took the ferry to Rotterdam and attended the European Ride to Eat. Chilly, but as I said, the heated gear makes riding at the freezing point a piece of cake…

On the 28th of February, my ST1100, the bike that successfully finished the Iron Butt Rally 2017, arrived at home. It had taken James Cargo almost 8 months to return it back to me. Eight months!!! But that’s not all. All my belongings that were still in the panniers were mouldy and rotten. AND: James Cargo had lost my bike registration papers not only once, no, but twice!!! As a consequence, I declined the payment of the transport. My expenses had summed up considerably, not considering the reserve bike I had to buy (K1600GT), hahaha! I checked the bike and discovered that it was only riding on TWO cylinders…Resistance measurements showed a problem with one ignition coil. When I wanted to exchange them, I found a broken ground cable of the coil. A new cable later, and everything ran fine! No need to change the coils, as the resistance values were within specs. How lucky I was at the Ironbutt Rally 2017 when I ran the last 50 km on only two cylinders and made it to the finishing line!

At the end of March, I did a long trip to Andalucía in Spain and could test the K1600 for the first time on proper warm roads. It was a mixture between sporty riding and tourism, visiting Granada, Ronda, Gibraltar and the White Villages. I made another holiday stop in Northern Spain near Soria where it was considerably cooler. A really nice trip to welcome spring.

In April, I received an Emergency call from John Young from Holland: his Triumph Explorer had a problem and he feared he wouldn’t make it home. Without a second of hesitation, I wanted to help him to get back home. Hmmmm….this wasn’t easy…the BMW was at the dealer for a service, the Pan was still not running properly on all four cylinders after the IBR17, the black XBR had a small problem I can’t remember, soooo…..this is an example why you need more than one bike! In the end, the newly re-built cafe racer XBR was the only bike at hand….but it took John to his home place where he took his van and returned to pick up his bike.

In late April, I finished my bike preparation: a new Russell day-long saddle, the Maple platform with my old tourtank in the back, wind deflectors on the handlebars, and the Clearwater ‘converts night-to-day‘ Sevina lights. The bike was in proper rally mode now. I did a first test ride to my hometown in Bavaria and everything worked to my liking. I went to Viena, from where I repeated the ‘Viena – Hamburg Triple Run’ of May 2nd, 1968. Fifty years ago, the new Triumph Trident managed to do the distance in one high-speed trip, only interrupted by petrol and chain-servicing stops. As I tried to repeat the original ride, I started in Viena at 5:45 a.m., crossed through Munich and arrived in Hamburg at 2 p.m. after 760 km. In 1968, the testers of MOTORRAD had achieved a riding average of 140 km/h. With the Munich traffic, all the speed limits on the A7 and all the road constructions, it was impossible to achieve this. In the end, my average was 138 km/h, this was quite quick under these circumstances, but it demonstrated the exceptional, venturous ride of 1968.

The weekend saw a short ride to a German Ride to Eat at the end of the river Rhine in Holland. The special thing was that I rode two-up! The test of rider, pillion, gear and new bike in preparation for the common holiday trip in summer was considered successful.

The end of May saw the first rally with the new bike, the Brit Butt Rally 2018. It had a controversial new format, i.e. not claiming points at the end of the rally, but sending the pictures directly by e-mail. Again, apart from finding the best route to get most points, some mathematical puzzle using multipliers had to be applied. The ride was great, the bike performed fantastic, I visited Scotland, mastered a lost flag and found the right spots to take pictures from.

For the forth time in a row, I finished first place. The bike had passed the test.

In the beginning of July, I did my only trip with my old XBR this year, the ride to the yearly German XBR/Clubman meeting. On a short trip in the morning, my old buddy Jo was riding in front of me and overlooked a car that ran right into him! Luckily he could avoid the worst and only some light material damages were the result. A close shave!

At the end of July, it was finally time for some big holidays! First, I went with Gerhard to England again to participate in the Brit Butt Light Rally 2018. The last two years, I could not join and the BBL2015 was the last European rally that I couldn’t win…the bike performed well again and although I had some troubles during the rally, I told me not to give up and was rewarded with a first place. I returned home and started the trip to Kirkenes where I met MJ.

We started a fantastic Hurtigruten cruise from there and explored Western Norway on bike after arriving in Bergen. Really beautiful. Our journey ended in Oslo, from where I rode to Jönköpping where the European Tour 2018 started. After three exciting days, I was declared winner and managed to get home despite some cut-outs of the bike.

The problem came back during the Wolfhound rally. I had planned a winning route, but the cut-outs returned in Dublin, so I had to abandon the rally. I jumped on the ferry to Wales and made it to the house of John with some cut-outs. He offered me his van to return home the next day. What a generous offer, especially when he had to change his plans and picked up the van himself! So much appreciated. The BMW garage still could not solve the problem and when I just wanted to leave for the German Butt Rally in Austria, the bike stalled again. I received another generous offer, this time from Gerhard. He lent me his new GS1200 Adventure! Wow! I went down to Austria and built an easy route that was worth lots of points. What stroke me later was that nobody else saw this simple and quick route worth of lots of points. So I visited Upper and Lower Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Carinthia and Salzburg. I had lots of time left to spare, but the clever route gave me the fourth and last rally win this year.

As I stayed in my home region, I could do finally a nice trip with my mate Stefan, still on Gerhard’s GS. We visited Austria again and discovered nice roads in Styria that even I didn’t know so far. In fairness, the GS indeed is a nice bike for the Alps, no wonder it won most Alpenmaster trophies by MOTORRAD.

At the end of October, it was time for a last long trip: the German Ride to Eat to the Rhine source in Central Switzerland. I tried again the BMW and tested it with my new diagnosis tester: no error recorded. What had the garage done? BMW advised to disconnect and connect the main connector of the central computer ten times. This worked. Strange, but true. All this fuss because of a bad contact in the connector? The answer seems to be “YES!!!”

It wasn’t a motorbiking event, but many biker friends showed up at my big birthday party and covered my with funny presents. Thanks, mates!

The last ride out in 2018 was ‘The Long Ride to Peace’. I had invited British, German and Dutch friends to join me one weekend to visit the Flanders Fields around Ypres to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the armistice of World War One. We met on Friday evening and set off on Saturday to visit places like Hill 62, Tyne Cot, Langemarck, Yorkshire trenches and dugouts, Menin Gate and the Flanders Fields Museum.
On Sunday morning 11/11, we met at 11 a.m. at the Pool of Peace to commemorate the end of the slaughter 100 years ago. A very impressive and touching weekend.

Concluding, a very good year indeed. Kept the rubber always down and had no big issues with the bike (excluding a stupid connector). It was a good rallying year, four starts, four first places. Have seen a number of great places, especially in the Nordic countries.

What’s on tap for 2019? Well, definitively less riding with the BMW, it will be a XBR year again. I haven’t done a long journey since 2011 and I had to postpone my next planned trip many times. Next year, it will finally materialise: a trip to Japan on my old XBR. The one that rode the Ironbutt Rally in 2013. A long ride through Siberia and a ride to the XBR’s origins in Japan. I had this trip in mind for more than 10 years, so it’s time to happen. Three years ago, my mate John Young proposed to join in and to do this journey together. We still had to postpone the project twice, but 2019 it’s time making it happen. Stay tuned!

In the rider meeting, it turned out that this rally had a certain twist. In addition to the usual bonus points and some extra points for combos, there were also extra points for time spent on ferries and there were additional points for so-called “flexi-combos”. There were thematic categories, just like combos, but the more locations were visited, the more extra points could be achieved.This seemed familiar from the latest Brit Butt rallies. The thing was that these extra points were very high in relation to combos or normal location points. This meant that the flexi-combos had to be the backbone of any successful route. There were massive points for 4, 6, 8, 14 or 20 locations of one category. It was clear that 20 locations were not doable or requiring too much time. So doing one or more 14 points in a category would get 20.000 extra points each, that’s quite a lot when normal locations were in the range of 200 – 400 points. I was well prepared to take ferries across the Baltic sea, but it was obvious that despite the ferry bonus, there were not enough locations for flexi-combos over there. The tedious thing was that the locations of each of the flexi-combos were given in a gpx file and had to be imported individually into Basecamp. All 23 of them. I changed the symbols so I could better distinguish them in the bigger picture. And then I became aware of the key element of any good route here: some flexi-combos shared the same points! This meant that the challenge was to visit these points and build a route around them, ramping up the numbers in as much categories as possible. There was another important twist: apart from three documented rest break of four hours each, the participants had to return with three souvenirs purchased in three different countries in order to be a finisher. Tricky, because my first plan envisaged riding in Sweden only. The only options were Denmark and Norway, Finland seemed too far away. So I planned a stop in Copenhagen and just across the border on the Göteborg – Oslo highway where I went on that morning. I selected the two categories with the highest number of locations and added other categories to it. In the end, I had a route of planned 54 hours of riding time in the 60 hours window (72 hours minus 3 x 4 hours rest time). That seemed doable. I had included an option for a 3 hour extra loop to Luleå, but this was a decision for the afternoon of the second day. The plan was to do a loop in Southern Sweden, visit Copenhagen (buy souvenir), go up to the Norwegian border (buy souvenir) and go up North in central Sweden. Then turn to the coast and return to Jönköping. A solid, rather low-risk plan. I prepared my luggage and found some good night rest, as the start was only planned for 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. However, as I wanted to stay in Karlstad the next night, my plan suggested to leave early.

The next morning I left at 7:41 a.m. on a sunny morning. Weather forecast was nice for the first day, wet for the second day and sunny for the third day again. My first stop was not far away, but it gave me a glimpse what was ahead of me in this rally: I had to do a little walk to find the right plaque at the entrance of a national park. But my schedule was still ok, this was also promising.

In the course of the morning, I went south and picked the first locations. For a Saturday morning, this went quite smooth and I was ahead of my plan, providing a buffer for the rest of the day. I saw many golf courses, I even had to cross one to visit the Falsterbo lighthouse. The next stop was a bit uncertain: I needed to buy one souvenir in Copenhagen and I had no idea where. I hoped I would find something in a petrol station near the airport. But first I had to cross the Öresund bridge. This cost some precious minutes, the queue at the toll booth was very slow. For a ridiculously small amount of 30 € I could cross the sea towards Denmark…one way. On the other side, to my delight, I found a small corner in the petrol station with Danish souvenirs….no, the Italian olive oil did not fall under the requirements…finally I spotted a plate with “handmade Danish chocolate”, wrapped in lots of plastic. It was enormous and expensive. But the best suited item. I purchased also some lunch that I munched on the way back to Sweden (another 30 € toll).

The next location was on the coastline again, a steel drum or something like that. Great weather, great view. The next stop was in Helsingborg, one of the few locations in a town. I stopped at a fountain and realised that it was in memory of Tycho Brahe, the great astronomer. I concluded that Helsingborg was a beautiful town and made a mental note about it. My trip along the coast was not finished yet, along some small roads I headed for a tip of land called Kullen. It was announced that there was a 400 m walk. A lot of traffic indicated that the place was very popular. As indicated by a GPS points, a road sign at a large parking suggested to leave the bike and to walk to the place of the “Fyr”, the fire place that served as a beacon in the old days. I left my helmet there, took off the jacket and strolled to the GPS location. After 300 m I noticed that some motorbikes did park near the beach. Hm, lucky ones. As the temperature was close to 30 degrees, my sweat started to flow in streams. Finally I reached the spot and tried to take the required selfie. Maybe I should buy me a selfie stick for these occasions. I had to be in the picture and this required several attempts.

After a sweaty return to the bike I continued my ride, hoping that the indicated petrol station would indeed exist. It did. However, I had a fight with the card terminal and needed to change pump twice to get some petrol.

I was happy when I joined the E20 again, going up north on the motorway now. In a certain attack of brilliance, I exited and hoped to find a Swedish souvenir at a petrol station. My good nose was right: I found a Swedish Elk that I baptised “Erich”. Second souvenir bagged. East of Göteborg, I had to do a little detour to take a picture of another natural park information panel. I was getting cooler know and the ride was more enjoyable. North of Göteborg, I visited the Bohus Castle. Like everywhere else, I had to be very careful. The high points for the flex-combos allowed no mistakes as I was aiming for two big 14-locations-extra-points. I also have my instructions in my tank bag, but in this rally, like in the Ironbutt Rally, I looked up the instructions at every location. This helped me to prevent errors. So here in Bohus, I had to walk up to a panel and I had to be in the picture as well. Luckily, there was a girl I could ask for this favour. That’s why this is one of the “decent” pictures. I was well in time and decided to book a hotel as planned in the town of Karlstad for the night.

For the next hour, I was going up North on the E20. Time to switch on the radio to have some entertainment. Swedish radio can be quite ok at times, though it is often interrupted by lots of conversation that I could only follow in a very rudimentary way. In the westernmost Swedish town of Strömstad I took a picture of the hotel Skagerrak in the centre. From here it was only 15 minutes to the Norwegian border that I had crossed already one day earlier. I exited at the first exit and hoped to find an appropriate souvenir there. I walked into the shop and discovered immediately a furry little bear with a Norwegian flag on its chest. Perfect. I filled up petrol and as I was 50 minutes ahead of my schedule, I decided to have a little break with “dinner”. I ordered a pølse, i.e. a hot dog that I was munching while I put on warm clothes. The day had been hot, but the sun was going down and I expected a cool evening. After a generous 20 minute stop, I hit the road again, but I misinterpreted my GPS and went back south on the motorway. I had to turn around at the next exit for my sat nav had tried to tell me to turn right at the petrol station. Grmpf. Another 10 minutes lost. The evening ride through the Norwegian hilly landscape was a nice change and I enjoyed it very much. But before that, I discovered a Scandinavian phenomenon that was explained to me by a Swedish colleague after the trip. In the town of Halden, there lots and lots of US classic cars from the fifties and sixties with people often dressed in Rockabilly style. This slowed me down a lot as hundreds of cars were promenading through the city. It seems this was an organised meeting, the Grense Treff. Apparently, this is based on the subculture of Raggare. Interesting.

It was slowly getting dark, but I still had to take two pictures. The first one had still enough daylight to make a meaningful picture and the second was already in the dark. I was riding on backroads now but thanks to my illumination (Xenon low beam plus 2 x H7 high beam plus 2 x LED fog lights plus 2 x Clearwater Sevinas with 7500 lumen LED each), I turned night into day. This could be fun, but I have quite some respect for any kind of wildlife at night, and in Scandinavia it can get quite big! (hello Erich). So I was happy to get back on a main road and I arrived in Karlstad at a quarter past 11 p.m., perfectly in the time window to start the night rest. I got my first petrol receipt of the station close to the hotel and checked in. 1300 km on the first day, not bad. Unfortunately, the hotel reception had no proper food to sell, so my second dinner consisted of some crisps, a filled knäckebröd and a chocolate wafer which I had purchased with some discount as the receptionist felt sorry for not being able to provide me some proper food. At midnight, I had prepared everything for the next day and was in bed.

The alarm rang at 3:20 a.m. and after a very quick breakfast with coffee and a candy bar, I left the hotel 15 minutes later and got my second receipt documenting the 4.5 hour rest break. What a luxury! Half an hour more than required, but I thought that I had arrived 20 minutes before schedule the night before so I deserved some indulgence, LOL. But the true reason was that the next location in the morning required daylight so it made no sense to be there too early.

The hotel had been a very strategic location outside town and from here I had to turn north towards Filipstad. The daylight bonus location was an airfield that required riding on gravel roads. Usually, I trust my older Garmin Zumo 660 over the Zumo 590 when the routes diverge, but now it wanted to send me over barred gravel roads. Finally I arrived at the propeller that had to be in the picture. More gravel road and after a combination and applying some common sense in interpreting the GPS data I was back on the main road.

When I review my whereabouts during the next hours, I find some disturbing issues. I thought I had passed the town of Filipstad twice, but indeed I passed it three times. After the first passing-by, I visited a silver mine before I returned to Filipstad where I had to take a picture of a memorial that was located on a hill. When I went uphill, I realised that in was in the centre of a cemetery! But as it was only 5 a.m., there was nobody around to complain. It started to rain heavily in that moment, so I tried to take my picture quickly and leave the cemetery. When I went downhill, I noticed something strange. The bike would not respond properly and when I was back on the road, it had no power and some warning symbols in the dashboard were lit. Confused, I switch the bike off and on and it seemed to work again. On the way to the next location, it happened again. And again. Worried, I stopped at a parking next to a lake. There was little shelter from the rain, so I decided not to take out my bike manual, but to consult the internet about this problem. However, there was no phone coverage! OK, this was serious. I decided to try to get back to Filipstad, there would be a petrol station and better coverage. On the way there, the bike would stop once more, but after 10 km, I reached Filipstad again and parked under the roof of a petrol station. It was almost 6 a.m. now and the station was about to open; I explained the problem to the attendant and he invited me to the warmer inside of the station. I checked the manual and learned that the symbol meant that  there was something wrong with the emission control and that it was not a very serious problem, this would have been indicated by other yellow or red symbols. There was no proper internet coverage, so I used the wifi of the station. However, I didn’t get any more useful information so I decided to continue. If it would get too bad, I could still try to limp back to the HQ, it was “only” some 300 km away…I switched on the BMW…..no warning message! OK, I had lost 55 min now, but let’s give this a try. I sensed that my “extra loop” to Luleå was under pressure. Some 15 minutes later, I realised how close I had been there before when I arrived at the next location. It took me some minutes to find the right spot as my Garmins insisted to send me by a “shortcut” where there was no road. Finally, I found the memorial for John Ericsson’s birthplace and left happily. In retrospect, I almost committed a terrible mistake there: nasty rally masters, me included, have the tendency to choose two locations that are very close together so that one can be overlooked during planning if the route is not checked in high resolution. It was a location just some meters away and of the some category! What a mistake!

For the next 90 minutes, I only had to ride through sylvan Swedish countryside until I reached Mora. The last 50 m to the Langlauf statue I had to walk, obviously preparations for a sport competition were on the way. The statue remembered the famous Vasa Run that ends in Mora. The rain continued and the fine drizzle got stronger and stronger. It was only 13 degrees warm, but the temperature would not rise….I rode another hour through the forest until I reached the old cobalt mine of Loos. It reminded me of the long history of metallurgy in Sweden. Suddenly the forest changed and looked….burnt! I realised that I was passing an area where some days ago the large forest fires raged. All the under-brush was burnt, only some of the high pipe tops were still green. A bizarre sight.

In Ytterhogdal, I took a picture of an iron statue of a blacksmith. Did I already mention that it was raining? The temperature did not want to rise. 40 minutes later at 11 a.m., I had enough of the cold and the rain. I had to stop for petrol and I decided to change the fleece jacket for the heated Gerbing jacket. I noticed that water had already entered the gear, probably by the collar. I permitted myself the luxury of a quick second breakfast, still shivering. But then I enjoyed the warmth of the jacket. What a delight! I still felt very damp, be at least my body temperature and mood started to rise again. I felt content about the fact that I had tested the K1600GT in this kind of weather and bought it also for this feeling of safety under slippery conditions. I made good progress and at 1 p.m. I took a turn from the E45. After 20 km of bumpy road I took another turn. I ignored the Garmin’s advice to use a steep gravel “shortcut” and followed 4 km of even more bumpy road. Then I did have to turn on a gravel mountain road. Did I mention it was raining? Gravel was ok, but partly the track was also slippery. The sat navs told me to stay on this road for 4 km. Fantastic. On the top of the mountain, I knew I had to park the bike somewhere and walk 400 m to the very top. Luckily the GPS locations were very exact in this rally. Very much appreciated in these remote places… I finally reached the clearing where the GPS point was. From the rally book, I only knew that I had to take a picture of a kind of balcony….but then, I spotted this between the clouds and mist…

What??? I had to take a picture on the top??? Bast…..!!!!! The stairs were steep and wet. Did I already mention it was raining? And on a mountain top, you get also the wind. I grabbed the rally flag and rally book in one hand, stored the camera and GPS in my jackets and started the ascent with one free arm. Holy crap, this stuff was slippery! This was impressive. When I finally reached the platform, I was afraid that the wind would blow away my book or flag. I managed to take a decent picture after several attempts. There was no time for enjoying the non-existent beautiful panoramic view….just get down from this bloody tower! But as it is with climbing, it might be easy to get up, but it can be more tricky to get down…

I went down in the same way I went up, facing the stairs. One step at a time. Did I already mention that the stairs were fecking slippery?

Phew! This was done. I strolled back to the bike and went down the gravel road. Veeeery carefully. It would be stupid dropping the bike here. When I rode back on the bumpy road I concluded that under these conditions, this was one of the most tricky locations I ever visited in a rally. I mean, riding up a mountain on a gravel road. And walk to the top. And climb on a tower. But a great memory.

Soon after I was back on the E45, I passed some drenched Italian bikers and then I saw this sign. Lappland? Was I already up that north? The sign said yes. I had the feeling that the rain got stronger and stronger. For the next hour and half: forest, forest, forest. Then finally I reached the next bonus point location near Storuman. It had to be a kind of log hut on a pole. It took a while to find it but then I had found it. It was still raining continuously and although I felt warm, I could feel that I water had entered my gear from the top. My feet also felt a bit wet as I had stopped in places where I had to put down my feet in large puddles. My gloves were totally damp, despite the hot heated grips. I was 70 minutes behind my plan. I had planned to take a decision in Storuman whether I could do the extra loop via Luleå. I decided to look for a petrol station and to assess the possibilities. But first I visited a small location in Storuman. I stopped at the only petrol station and filled up as I didn’t want to stop for petrol anymore on that day. I entered the station and met two other German riders that were also trying to find out what do to. They came from the North and were soaked as well. I sat down, had a sandwich and used my laptop to check the options. After the break, I would be almost two hours behind my plan. The extra loop was based on three buffer hours, I had already spent two of them. This didn’t look very good. But the main concern was that with this weather, I did not want to ride on back roads to Luleå. I preferred to ride on the main road towards Umeå and hoped that the rain would stop at the coast and that temperatures would go up. I just wanted to find accommodation for the night. This turned out to be difficult because all available hotels in the vicinity of Kramfors required arrival before 9 p.m. Impossible. So there was no other possibility than to make a detour and stay in a hotel in Härnösand. Right. Booked. However, as I had to visit one location just around sunset, there was no time to lose. I had decided to play it safe and continued on the E12 towards the coast. Indeed the rain slowly vanished and the temperature went up degree by degree. The fun came back.

After more than two hours, I reached the next location, a place where I had to take a picture of prehistoric stone carvings. However, I was confused. The GPS point was 100 m from the parking and it took a while until I realised that I had to walk down the hill and a wooden runway along a river. The carvings were of course at the end of the long runway. I had lost some time here and needed to speed up now, the location at sunset hung like a sword of Damocles over my head. I needed to bag this point today, otherwise I would lose a lot of time the next day. I needed to go a bit north for the next point (a yellow cabin) and back to Umeå. I was on the E4, the long North-South motorway through Sweden. In this part, however, there were mostly only three lanes so trucks were slowing everybody down. Nevertheless I could gain some time and it seemed more and more realistic that I could reach the next point just around sunset. My sat nav told me that there was a parking position and the GPS coordinates were somewhat away from that point so I deduced that I had to walk a bit. The location was closely to the E4 and I reached the place right after official sunset time. But no problem, there would still plenty of time to take an official ‘daylight’ picture, wouldn’t it?

At the parking position, I looked around….so this was a chair lift….hmmm….the point seemed to be on the top of this “hill”….hmmm….but the rally book said nothing of a walk. Then it must be nearby. I followed the signs “Toppen” (the top), carrying my camera, flag and GPS. It was a steep path through the forest, as it was already late, I was more running than walking. I started to swear…this was clearly not close to the parking position….there could have been a clear message in the rally book! Luckily the blue marks were very clear, otherwise you could get easily lost. At a certain point I was about to hyperventilate. I forced myself to slow down a bit, I needed to get some air in my lungs…after 15 minutes, I stood there panting….this was not possible….instead getting closer to the target, I was moving away from it!

There was something wrong. I was on the wrong track. But there was something going on here. There were no instructions in the rally book. This was no hill, this was a mountain! It started to get dark! I needed to turn around before it was too late to see the track!

I decided to take a selfie with the flag and to return. I had done some 150 height metres in just 15 minutes. This was the double speed of a good hiking pace. In motorbike gear! I was exhausted. I realised I had left my mobile phone in the tank bag. Great. No phone, no light. So, better get down quickly! But better be careful, if you would slip and hurt yourself, nobody would find you until the next morning….if at all! But finally I was back at the bike. I took some additional pictures from the signs and the area. When I could breath normal again, I called the rally master. This was a disaster, but I wanted to have the points! When I explained the situation, Benny explained that there had been an error in the rally book. It should have been mentioned that one had to go with the chair lift inside restricted hours. However this information was missing. …..[…]…..OK, but do I get the points??? The answer was yes, so all of this was not in vain. I noticed that I had lost the electric cable for the heated jacket at the carvings point….superb. I hoped I wouldn’t need the Gerbing jacket any more on this trip.

I was dark now and I was happy that I had a booked hotel room and only needed to ride 50 minutes on the E4. Petrol station ticket and ready for check-in. It was about 11 p.m., just the right time. Another 1500 km ridden. When I entered the lobby of the hotel, I took off my helmet and opened my jacket. There was a stinging smell….where did this come from…slowly it sunk in that the source for this smell pollution was nobody else than me….this was no surprise….I was soaked for half the day and even after drying, I maintained the notorious “wet dog” smell. And then I had run up a mountain and was drenched in my own sweat. An explosive combination. The two ladies at the reception professionally kept their countenance. As the day before, no proper food, my dinner would consist of wafers, apples and candy bars. When I entered my room, I ripped off my clothes and put everything on hangers to dry a bit during the next three hours. I decided to take a full shower, I couldn’t stand the smell of me. ’nuff said. After that, I had “dinner” and checked my route for the next day. The weather forecast looked good. The alarm was set on 3 a.m.

I was on the road by 3:30 a.m. Another petrol ticket and I was going back north to the first bonus point location. Half an hour later I was there. The next location was called Häxberget where I had to take a picture of two memorial rocks. It was the place where in 1675, 71 persons were accused of witchcraft and burnt on this site. Unbelievable.

I needed to go westwards into central Sweden, forest, forest forest. After one hour, I reached another river where I had to take a picture of another rock carvings. When I walked across the site, I realised that I had to find a very specific carving. Tricky! But in the end I found the right place. Up, up and away! I was ahead of my plan, this looked good! The next location was another hour away….more forest! I was a nice morning ride, I made good progress and the landscape was nice. My excursion to central Sweden was not so bad. When I rolled on the parking of the Döda Fallet, an official exited his car to see what bike entered the place so early in the morning. I realised this would be another walk again and grabbed my stuff. I passed the guy with a friendly “God Morgon” and I could see how his brain was trying to process all the information. I had to walk down a hill and take a picture of a platform with a beautiful view.

Back to the bike, pffffff….good morning work-out. From then on the clouds disappeared and now I was riding under a beautiful blue morning sky. Great views! This was compensating for the wet day before! The euphoria lasted for half an hour, until I had to turn from the main road 86 in Liden. Hey, this was a gravel road! It will stop soon….1 km….2 km…5 km…hmmmm…the GPS indicated the next stop in 76 km….I hope this won’t all be gravel???…..10 km….come on!….15 km….bloody gravel!…..tarmac! there’s tarmac! In the end, I didn’t drop the bike, my autosuggestion worked well, it is mumbling “arrive! arrive! arrive!” which means I am virtually kicking myself in the ass reminding me not to do anything stupid.

In the end I followed a narrow road uphill. I parked the bike and walked to the wooden construction on the hill…ah, so this was the centre of Sweden. Sometimes it ‘s a pity not to have time to read the rally book in advance.

Right, now it was time to get back to the coast. I was well on schedule and soon I could join the E4 again. I thought that I had time to fill up and a quick breakfast around 9 a.m., after all, I had been riding for more than five hours already. The traffic was flowing well on the way south. There were bonus point locations to the left and right, but they didn’t fit into my plan. Good rally planning asks for sacrificing time-costly, low-points locations.  It was a nice sunny and warm day again. Close to Gävle, I had to exit the E4 and head for the Fjärnebofjärd. I visited a nice, quiet place next to the river and took my picture of the wooden pier. The rally master was very strict and insisted that, should the rally book not ask for the rider to be in the picture, nobody else should be in the picture. So I had to ask two tourists to leave the platform. Sorry.

The next location was in Uppsala, the famous university town. It was a bit tricky to get close to the picture point as most roads in the university district were for pedestrians only. But finally I found the right spot and took a picture of the university church tower. The temperatures were high now and I was happy that I could take off some of the warm clothes now.

The next target was Stockholm. By that time, I was something like three hours behind my initial plan, but I still had three hours of buffer. However, I knew that some rain would come in the evening, so I wanted to save time. I decided to leave out Ytterby, east of Stockholm. I knew it was part of a smaller combo flex worth merely 1500 points, but I preferred to gain some extra time. I wanted to visit three additional places in Stockholm instead that were next to my planned route. The first stop was an installation in the atrium of the university, the second was a clock in a pedestrian zone in the centre (very tricky to get to), the third a big “ball” building with elevators on the outside. Here I lost some until I realised I had to walk to take the picture. The last stop was a park that is also a UNESCO heritage. Good, this was the maximum “traffic” I would get on this rally. Piece of cake. I went to the south of Stockholm where I took a picture of a place that once had been the first Swedish nuclear reactor. Next was a rune stone. Suddenly I realised that of lot of motorbikers were on this nice road east of Södertälje. And they were not going like typical Swedish bikers…no, they were going at full throttle! Bizarre. Suddenly my journey came to a halt. “Take the ferry”, my GPS told me. I realised that both GPS thought it’s not a good idea to take the easy road around the Himmerfjärden, but a ferry that runs every 30 minutes. Great. A break of 20 min plus the 5 min ferry trip. I felt somehow weak and a bit sluggish. Then I realised that I had no food since my “breakfast” more than six hours ago. I just needed some food, that was all. But first, I had to do another walkie down at the sea: At the Stendörren nature reserve, I had to walk to a bridge take a picture of it. From the correct side. Good, this was achieved, but I needed food. But first a trip to the Uppsa Kulle, a 55 m wide, round ancient grave that I simply took for a hill. But finally I found food in a petrol station. That was better. For a quick moment, I joined the E4 again and went south on the E22 towards Västervik. The weather forecast had been very accurate and just before the Town, the thunderstorm started. When I rolled through Västervik, I remembered that I forgot about the two text-in bonus that were scheduled for that day. When I stopped at the bonus point location and consulted the rally book, I found out that I had missed both time slots for the day. A stupid mistake! Usually I add this in my to-do-list, but forgot to add it last night. Maybe I had been stunned by the smell.

OK, so I took my picture of the beacon’s door and started the my approach to the last important location of today. I “only” had to head west towards Jönköpping with some detour to the north. It was raining, but I knew that my plan had worked, I just needed to get to the rally hotel, spend my rest break there, and visit two more places in the morning before the finish line. Easy peasy, but I had learned that the rally ain’t over before it ain’t over. Hold your horses. I rode through a wet forest when my GPS had me turn on the road to the last BP. I passed a sign that said something of a ferry… looked at the GPS and saw at the top of the screen: “take ferry”, next to the distance of 9 km. WHAT? I stopped and zoomed in and out. Yes, Just before the location, I had to take a ferry! Bloody hell! Had I known this, I had taken a different route (I should have selected “avoid ferries” in the GPS). I turned around and studied the sign….ferry operating until 10 p.m. Hmmm, it was 8 p.m. now…that could work. And it made no sense to go around the large Sommen lake. OK, let’s do it! I arrived at 8:10 at the lake….the ferry was not far away, but on the other side.

Hmmmm, how did this work. “Push this button to call the ferry”. No reaction. Then I studied all the papers on a board. Ferry operates every 30 minutes. Hm, 20 minutes to go. This gave me the opportunity to make a phone call, put on warm clothes and empty my bladder. At 8:30, the boat would start the engine and slowly move to this side of the shore. Finally I got to the other side and visited the bonus point location that was right there, a cow sculpture. The tricky thing was that I needed several attempts, maybe I should buy a selfie stick for this.

Ok, so I “only” had to get to the hotel, maybe pick some two smaller bonuses close to the hotel. This would take me some estimated one hour and a half. It was getting dark, the road was wet and winding.Take it easy, there’s no need to rush. Suddenly, the “emission control” warning lamp came on again and the power was gone. WHAT? I stopped, switched the bike off and on and continued. But only for one mile. The bike stopped again. You feel that Mr Panic has awoken in the cellar and is about to come upstairs. What is the matter??? I repeated this game two more times. It wasn’t raining now….what was in common with the incident the day before?…..Wait, in both cases I was going downhill when it first appeared….and then I also remembered that two times the bike sputtered a bit when I had just filled up and had not closed the shut-off valve of the auxiliary tank. Could this be related? I looked at the fuel gauge…the main tank was completely full. Could it be that it was overflowing? Would it stop again when I closed the open valve? Let’s try…..In the meantime, Mr Panic was already at the first floor….I closed the valve and at the same time, the bike stopped again. Well, this could be coincidence….try again. And from this point on, Mr Panic disappeared and was not seen any more on this rally. This was it! I don’t know how to explain it, but the overflowing main tank must trigger an electronic warning that sets off the emergency programme. What a relief! The root cause was that I had opened the auxiliary tank too early in both cases. Problem solved.

But in rallies, you solve one problem and you encounter another. In Tranås, I ran into another “bilträff”, i.e. car meeting. The same story. But this time, the main road was closed so the old rust buckets could go in circles. I had some trouble to find my way around the city. Finally I arrived at the Vättern Lake and went on the E4 towards Jönköping. Close to the hotel, there were two small locations that I wanted to visit. The first one was an illuminated wooden giant and the second one a sea monster. Unfortunately, I was supposed to take a selfie there, but I didn’t manage in the dark. I decided to come back the next morning. I got my rest break fuel stop receipt and at 10:30 p.m., I rode on the rally HQ hotel parking. To my surprise, many other riders were already parking there. Had they already finished their ride? I still had work to do, for I had to visit two locations that would give me two 14th locations that were worth 20.000 extra points each. I checked in and bought a salad and a sandwich, said hello to other riders and entered my room. What a great idea to stay here! I could just return in the morning, have a shower and have a little nap before leaving for the ferry. I checked again my plan for the morning and prepared my claiming sheet. It made no sense to leave too early, the two locations were daylight bonuses. I decided to go first to the one farthest away.

I left around 3:30 a.m., got my last rest break ticket and went westwards. It was still pitch dark, there was some drizzle and I was happy to have my Sevina lights that turn night into day. I permanently told myself to keep the speed down, there was no point in risking anything such as overtaking trucks. I had enough time and I just needed to stay patient. One and a half hours later, I arrived at this Hornborgasjön visitor centre, however, here in the south, sunrise was later than in the north, so it was still a tad too dark to take a “daylight” picture. I parked the bike and made use of the public toilet.

When I stepped out again, I was surprised to see that it was so much brighter now and I could go and visit the picture point. I found the pier and took my picture. Yes! Now for the last big location. After 30 minutes, I arrived at some stone ring and took my second 20.000 points picture of the morning. My big plan had worked! I just had to ride back to Jönköping. No hurry! Enjoy the last kilometres. I still had time to visit the happy sea monster in Huskvarna and took my final picture. I was one hour early and would even have enough time to push back the bike in the worst case. I arrived at the HQ, checked in and the rally was over for me. I  had breakfast and left my stuff in the room and went with my documentation to the scoring room where I had to present my claiming sheet and pictures to my two scorers Hampe and Jens-Olof. Two strict scorers, gulp! I had forgotten to introduce one mileage for one location and lost 80 points, no problem. The clock in Stockholm was supposed to be a selfie, ok, no points for that. Then there was a discussion about the Hornborgasjön picture. It turned out that the picture in the rally book was taken from a different angle; as the house was symmetrical, it looked almost identical, only the pier in the foreground was somewhat different. I protested, this picture was worth 10.000 points! The rally master took a wise decision: the picture was basically the same as in the rally book and proof that I had visited the place as it was the intention. Phew! Then there was another issue that I had claimed more points for a 8 locations combo flex, however, I had only visited 7; that makes 3000 instead 10000 extra points. I could not visit the 8th one as it was a daylight bonus during the night. Maybe I had also counted with the extra loop on day three. Well, more than 74000 points sounded a lot and I had only lost about 200 points. I had forgotten the text-in bonuses and left out the Ytterby BP, which means I would have had 3000 points more. And then I did not do the extra loop to Luleå. Without the problem in Filipstad and the rain, I would have done it, securing me the 10.000 instead the 3.000 extra points. But again, 74.000 points was something to be happy with.

I went back to my room, had a shower and a nap. Then I packed my luggage, put it on the bike and checked out the room. Then it was a long wait in front of the scoring room. A lot of time to chat with other riders and to exchange anecdotes. Finally we were called in and waited with anticipation. Some riders had crossed the Baltic Sea, some ran into troubles while photographing nuclear installations…

Well the ceremony went quick and in the end, only three riders were left…

Scott on third position, what a surprise! Then there were only two…

What a route! Up to Norway and back! More than 72000 thousand points! Wow!

But then there was only one rider left…

Oops, I did it again….What a nice rally! Thanks to all the organisers, the helpers, the scouts. Well prepared and executed! It was a pleasure.

Epilogue

Right after the ceremony, I had to leave to get to the ferry in Trelleborg. I had more than one hour of buffer, but I preferred not to be in a hurry for a change. I said goodbye and went down the E4 again. More or less half way, I stopped for a fuel stop. Shortly after, the bike lost power and a warning message came on! WHAT!!?? AGAIN??

But this time it was different, the symbol was not the ’emission system’, but the motor symbol itself, plus the yellow warning sign. I switched off and on…and it worked! I accelerated….and stopped. I accelerated more carefully and by using the cruise control, I increased the speed incrementally. It would stop at 105 km/h again. OK, I still had 150 km to go and three hours to the ferry left. I decided to roll at some 93 km/h. A totally different experience. This worked. With some 50 kilometres to go, it stopped again and I lowered the speed to 85 km/h. I was slow, but I was rolling. Please, please, please get me to the ferry and on the boat! Tomorrow is another day, I could visit garages around Hamburg…

I crossed all my imaginary fingers and got closer and closer to Trelleborg. The motorway ended and just before a roundabout, the bike stopped again. It still rolled through the roundabout, but then I tried to do the same thing again, switching it off and on. But this time the error wouldn’t go away and the motor was only turning in idle speed. Aaaaargh! It was only 7 km to the ferry! Well, I had no choice: I started to roll in first gear and switched bit by bit to sixth gear. The bike rolled with some 30 km/h. Like a moped. But I got closer and closer to the harbour. 6, 5, 4, 3 kilometres….this could work!…2, 1….there it is! I checked in and rode through the harbour. This was a challenge, as I had no accelerating power, it had to be done by the idle revs that slowly pushed the bike forward. But the biggest problem was still ahead: the ramp up on the boat deck! However, the bike’s motor has so much torque that it chugged up that ramp without missing a beat. I was on the boat! I parked the bike and carried my stuff to my cabin. There, I immediately called the number of the BMW mobility card. As it was a Belgian number, I could chose between Dutch, French and German. Let’s try German. I had an operator whose first language was obviously not German, but we managed to address the issue. He promised me that the next morning, the ADAC would be waiting for me at the harbour. If they could not help, further steps would be taken from there. Good. That was all I could do for now.

I had my buffet dinner when I remembered that I hadn’t switched off the alarm on the bike. I rushed down to (still open) car deck and brought this in order. Back to dinner. That was it. The next morning, I had an early breakfast and when we were about to reach the harbour, I was called by the ADAC guy and we arranged a meeting point. This time, I was ready when the boat opened its bow. I rolled down the ramp and I saw the yellow car waiting for me at the harbour exit.

He immediately started the diagnosis and connected his computer to the OBD connector. “Faulty throttle sensor signal”….oh dear…..this didn’t sound very good. I saw myself riding back home in a train. He muttered something to himself and checked the throttle. “Is it working now?” yes, YES! But what…?

It was the cable connector between the throttle and the harness, it had some play and did not deliver the ride-by-wire signal of the throttle position to the system. A zip tie solved the issue. Incredible. What a guy. Thanks a lot!

I filled up the bike again and started my trip back home. I arrived well in the afternoon. No problems.

A great rally and some fantastic vacations! We had a great time.

At night, I played around with my camera until I had an acceptable night picture of the Geiranger Fjord. Could be improved still, but the necessary lens would cost more than the whole trip.

The view in the morning was breathtaking again. What a view. We started late and followed the Geiranger road south. After a while, there was the turn to the Dalsnibba road. 25 years ago, I had marked in my travel diary that the road toll was legal robbery and did not ride up. Well, I was a poor student then. Now, the indicated 14 Euros make you blink for a second (In fact it was 10 Euro for motorbikes), but after two weeks in Norway, there is a certain fatalism when it comes to Norwegian prices.

The ride was nice and in the end you are on the top of a 1500 m high mountain. With a fantastic 360 degree view. The blue glaciers. The deep valley. The Geiranger Fjord. The Eagle Road. Top! Luckily it was dry, but I had to note the temperature:

From there on, it was a long ride down. I got warmer and warmer. I had thought of an alternative route for today, instead going down the road down to Oslo via Lillehammer, I thought of a nicer route, more to the west and in the mountains. There should be less traffic and a nicer scenery. So I went up the Lemonsjøen Fjell where we stopped at the Fjellstua house for some lunch. Nice views over a lake. The road south led through a very forested area, with mountains and occasional lakes. Very like. And at times, the sun made its way through the clouds. We went uphill and suddenly we were on a mountain pass  called Valdresflye (1389 m), a part of the mountain plateau of the Jotunheimen. Nice views. From here on, it was all downhill to the sea in Oslo. In Fagernes, the bike needed some fuel and MJ a break. After some rest and two coffees, the battery was charged again and we rode on beautiful roads towards Oslo. Lots of forets first, lots of slow riding cars close to Oslo. Finally we arrived at our hotel where we stay two nights. It is a plush Golf Resort Hotel but the irony is that due to some large discount the place is the cheapest on our whole trip. After dinner we did a little walk and watched all these funnily dressed people practicing their driving, putting etc…interesting.

The next morning we had a late breakfast on the sunny (yes!) terrace. Weather looked good today. We rode casually dressed to the museum island to visit some museums. The first was the viking ship museum, a building that hosts the best preserved viking ships in the word. The ships were buried as a burial object of local chiefs, that’s why they are so well preserved. Very impressive, also the artistic objects that were added to make the chief’s travel to Walhalla more pleasant. Vikings were often depicted as rude barbarians, but this artistic craftsmanship tells a different story. In front of the entrance, we met the Bavarian couple we talked in front of our hotel in Kirkenes. What a coincidence. One kilometre down the road was the Fram museum. It was even better tan 25 years ago.

The Fram Museum  honours Norwegian polar exploration in general and three great Norwegian polar explorers in particular—Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup and Roald Amundsen. The museum also exhibits images of the fauna of the polar regions, such as polar bears and penguins. The Fram Museum is centered principally on the original exploration vessel Fram. The original interior of Fram is intact and visitors can go inside the ship to view it.

The exposition makes you aware of the achievement at the turn of the 19th century – Nansen, Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton… A large part was dedicated to Fridtjof Nansen – the Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. What a life.

The last touristic stop was a visit to the Holmenkollen – the famous ski jump tower and a temple of Norwegian skiing. It hosts also the ski museum. You can get to the panorama platform on the top. It takes somewhat longer when a busload of Koreans has just arrived before you. On the top, there’s a 360 degree view. If you’re in a hurry, you can zooming down on a rope, but we weren’t.

We made a stop at a nice Sushi restaurant and had some very nice plates, a nice farewell to really fresh fish. And to Norwegian cuisine.

In the hotel, it was time to pack the luggage. MJ will take a plane back home today and I will be heading for Jönköping in Sweden.

Today, the ride to Jönköping was not very spectacular. I left Oslo after MJ left with the taxi for the airport. Rolling down the E6, take a shortcut via Trollhättan, and after four hours, I arrived at the rally headquarter of the European Tour rally. It was a 34 degrees hot now, in the middle of Sweden. Luckily my bag with the fuel cell was still in the luggage room where I deposited it two weeks ago. I mounted the tank in the shadow of a tree and went for petrol. I checked in, both in the hotel and the rally, and here I am sweating in my hotel room on the south side with no airco. At 5 p.m., we will have dinner (!) and at 6 p.m., the rider meeting starts. After that, it’s planning time and tomorrow morning we set off for a 72 hour ride. In theory, any of the countries around the Baltic Sea could be visited. I should know more by midnight.

Thanks to the drying room and the Austrian drying/ozonator device, our gear AND helmets were perfectly dry in the morning. Very well, because it started to drizzle again. After our breakfast we said good-bye to this time capsule of the fifties. We headed north and as predicted, the drizzle stopped. It was a nice winding road between steep mountains. We reached the Sunnylvsfjorden and the fjord lived up to its name – a ray of light burst through the clouds. What a view!

We continued our ride through the mountainous landscape and stopped in Stranda and took the rapid ferry over the Storfjord. When we arrived, it started to rain, as predicted. The landscape was still beautiful, although it was raining quite thoroughly. And there was already the next ferry in Vestnes. And an enormous queue. After waiting for ten minutes, the thing moved and we embarked the large ferry. We had come right on time, because we were one of the last to enter the boat, the rest had to wait for the next in 45 min. On the trip we had THE Norwegian snack: pølser aka hot dogs. After 35 min, disembarking also went very quick. I followed the signs for Atlanterhavsveien, the big highlight of today and the reason to go so north now. It is also known under the English name “Atlantic Road“. The signs guided us through farmland and along the coast.

It was less rainy here on the coast, but with some stiff breeze. A very relaxing ride. We finally approached the section of the 8 km that leads over bridges and small islands….and there we go! The Norwegians are very proud of this construction work, it was elected “construction of the century” and is advertised in almost all tourist publications. And I have to say it is…….very disappointing. I’m sorry to say that, but given all the attention, it is disappointing. The first bridge, the Storseisundet bridge, is quite impressive in its shape and twisted angle, but that is about it. the rest are small, short and low bridges. I have seen much more impressive ones, even in Norway.

But ok, been there, done that. Soon after, we reached our destination for that day, Kristiansund. The city is nicely situated on several islands with typical Nordic style houses in bright colours. We stayed at the Thon Hotel, a modern, but functional building, we even had a view on the harbour.

After some personal hygiene, we decided to try a sushi bar in the centre, after all the fish should be fresh here, shouldn’t it? Although the employees didn’t appear Japanese, actually more Phillippinian, the sushi was quite all right, the fish was really fresh. The combination with mango sauce was interestingly savoury.

On the next day, the harbour was filled with sunshine, in the background big black clouds. We had breakfast with a great view on the harbour, again with a very generous breakfast buffet.

The start was very late today, only at 11 a.m., but the weather was rather mixed and it was only a 260 km ride to Geiranger. The ride was very beautiful, although we had a very “Irish” weather first. Riding along fjord shores with great view on the surrounding mountains, there was even a little pass (500 m)! I did not take a lot of pictures, the weather was unfortunately not the best for great photos. There were occasional showers, but we were dry and warm in our fantastic Stadler gear.

We stopped for a late lunch in Åndalsnes (home of “the Andals and the first men”?) in a funny place. Very familiar, very easy-going, very casual and organic food. The food was good though. Interesting place. From then on, the highlights of the day were lined up. However, the weather got worse and it rained continuously. This might not be unusual for Norway, but I didn’t have bad weather for four consecutive days for I don’t know how long.

The Stadler suit hardly had seen any rain, even at the Iron Butt Rally. But I was glad to have it. The heated grips and seats also improved the wellbeing. Posh riders, LOL! The Trollstigen was next. Not gigantic compared to some roads in the Alps, but quite impressive for Norway. A number of hairpins and the mighty Stigfossen waterfall, quite a sight. I had done it in sunshine, so now it was time for heavy rain. Normally, you would stop to take pictures with a view, but in the driving rain, there’s no point. It was chilly up there, only 7 degrees.

One the way down, we passed the waterfall at the Gudbrandsjuvet, but were too lazy to leave our cozy place on the bike. Down in the valley, we rode on the ferry to Eidsdal. Only a few minutes later, we continued on the last ascent for today. Still in nasty rain. The landscape was nevertheless beautiful, without the abundant clouds it would have been magnificent. Finally we got to the Ørnesvingen viewpoint with a panoramic view on the Geirangerfjord, another UNESCO heritage. The eagle road down to the fjord is one of the most spectacular roads in Norway. Some minute later, we arrived soaked on the outside, but dry on the inside at our hotel for today, the traditional “Utsikten Hotel”, or View Hotel, in other words. I had reserved something special: a rook with a panoramic view on the Geirangerfjord. The hotel might be in need of a refurbishment, the rooms are small, but the view on the fjord is fabulous. If you don’t have a room with a mountain view.

Tomorrow, it will be a “long” ride to the capital Oslo. Very likely in nice weather.

We arrived in Bergen at lunchtime, but had to wait until 2:30 p.m. until we could finally leave the ship. As everything else, this very well organised. We rode the 2 km to the Hotel right next to the main highlight in old Bergen: the Bryggen quarter. It was partly sunny and 23 C warm – but in our motorbike gear, this was definitively too hot. We changed clothes and left for a walk through the harbour and Bryggen. The fish market is still there where I last found it in 1993 – not very big, not impressive – but a nice motive for tourists. It seemed that many of the vendors were Spanish (?). There was even “home-made” paella. Kind of. We entered then the of quarter of Bryggen. I want to quote my old friend Wik I. Pedia:

“Bryggen (the dock), also known as Tyskebryggen (Norwegian: [ˈtyskəˌbryɡːn̩], the German dock), is a series of Hanseatic commercial buildings lining the eastern side of the Vågen harbour in Bergen, Norway. Bryggen has since 1979 been on the UNESCO list for World Cultural Heritage sites.

The city of Bergen was founded around 1070 within the original boundaries of Tyskebryggen. Around 1350 a Kontor of the Hanseatic League was established there, and Tyskebryggen became the centre of the Hanseatic commercial activities in Norway. Today, Bryggen houses museums, shops, restaurants and pubs.”

The area is not very big anymore, but it is quite charming to stroll through the narrow passages between the old wooden buildings. Lots of them have been taken over by other merchants now – dealing with jewellery, stones, hand crafted items…you could even buy seal furs there!

We had a break with a small beer and enjoyed the sunny weather, knowing it would not last. After a return to the hotel, we were prepared for the complimentary dinner at the hotel restaurant. We had some expectations as the hotel was not cheap, but had announced this free dinner. Well, our deception was remarkable. Not only ours. Everybody who entered the room had the same look on the face. “This is it?” A little bit of salad, potatoes, a kind of IKEA-kötbullar-hamburgers with gravy and crumble pie for dessert. The biggest disappointment was written in the faces of the Japanese guests. Well, at least it tasted ok.

You can imagine our surprise when we entered the breakfast room the next morning. What a change! Any kind of warm and cold dishes, fruit, juices etc etc. Very, very good and tasty. After that, we set off for the fjord land. Soon it started to drizzle and MJ’s new Stadler gear could prove it water tightness for the first time. Riding in Norway is deceleration…the normal speed limit is 80 km/h, but there are many zones of only 70 km/h or even 60 km/h…..OOOOMMMmmmmm….on the positive side, the fuel consumption dropped to 4.5 L/100 km (63 mpg )!!! I haven’t seen this consumption since I went with my XBR500…..to Norway? LOL. After two hours, we arrived in Gudvangen. We didn’t follow the E16 where the next 51 km would be riding 43 km in tunnels (!). No, I had (luckily) pre-bøøked the ferry through the scenic Nærøyfjord. It took us for 2.5 hours through a fantastic scenery, starting first with the Nærøyfjord and then crossing the largest fjord of all, the Sognefjord.

This was a pleasant boat trip, even in the rainy weather. Some villages are only accessible by boat. Huge waterfalls were falling down the fjells. It seems obvious where Alan Lee got his inspiration from when he sketched his paintings of Rivendell…

From the ferry port in Kaupanger, we only had half an hour to get to our hotel in Solvorn at the Sognefjord. The Walaker Hotell is the oldest hotel in Norway for nine generations now. It keeps a an atmosphere of the 1900s. The interior and the furniture, decoration and even the bed made you feel like your grand- or grand-grandparents. And the situation and view on the fjord is also very special. MJ stayed in the hotel and I made a trip to one of the side tongues of the largest glacier in Northern Europe, the Nigardsbreen. I first had to ride up the valley to the parking at the lake, then I took a little boat towards the glacier. However, in contrast to 25 years ago, I had to walk much more up. It was more than half an hour of climbing and walking over polished rocks before I reached the mouth of the glacier. I couldn’t get to the very last rock for my boots were no climbing shoes and the rock was very slippery. So I used my zoom to get closer to this deafening thunder of the glacier river that came spurting from underneath the ice cap. An impressive sight. At the same time, it is depressing to see how the length and thickness of the glacier has decreased over the last years. Despite the cool temperatures, I was soaked in my own sweat. Three quarters later, I was back at the parking and I rode back to the hotel.

We had booked the hotel together with the dinner so a delicious four course menu was waiting for us. In good old Belgian tradition, we opted also for the wine package that was accompanying the food very well. We were asked if we wanted to meet the hotel owner at 10 p.m. in the hotel’s gallery and curiously we said yes. It turned out to be a very good decision. The owner presented himself as Ole Hendrik, asked for our and the other guests’ whereabouts and started a conversation that was equally entertaining and funny, explaining the history of the family and the buildings, why he doesn’t fancy rich Russian tourists etc. It cumulated in the hilarious story of a prank robbery of raspberries at night together with some rich CEOs from Oslo. The guys from the capital didn’t know the raspberry farmer was informed so the noise of the shotgun was part of the comical plan to fake a kind of adventure. The way it was told was truly hilarious and we all snorting with laughter. Later Ole showed us around in the gallery and, as nobody else was able to play the piano, played some piano music in the background for us. A memorable finish of a great day.

In the morning, we had another great breakfast buffet before we packed our stuff and took the first ferry right in front of the hotel. It lead us to the other side of the fjord where the oldest wooden church in the world is located, the Urmes stave church. We were happy to escape the rain and listened to the guide in the inside explaining the interesting history of the building. Dating back to 1130, the church is entirely made of local pine wood and has some exterior carvings from the 11th century in a Celtic style that survived the weather for almost 900 years. An impressive building.

We followed the single track road along the fjord until we were on the main road to the highest pass in Northern Europe, the Sognefjellet (1440 m). It was raining more and more and the temperature dropped from 19 to 11 degrees. The weather was too bad to stop and take pictures, only on the top the views of the blue glaciers made me stop twice.

We descended eastwards and metre for metre, the weather improved and the temperature went up. We almost saw some sunshine in Lom where we stopped for a long lunch break. We went north-west and in Grotli, I turned left on the old Strynfjellet Road, the alternative to the modern road. However, after riding 4 km on gravel and dirt, I decided to turn around. I expected the rain to come back and going 23 km downhill on mud with a 600 kg flying fortress did not seem the most clever thing to do.

The modern road was mostly in tunnels and it turned out that I had made a very wise decision, this could have been quite nasty and potentially dangerous. The rain was back so we made no stop until we reached the Visnes hotel in Stryn. Normally, the landscape is one of the best in Norway, but rain and clouds covered our view. At the hotel, we put our gear in the drying room (skiing area!), what a good idea. The hotel is again very rustic, but this time it has a 1950s feeling. Our room looks like from the fifties. Funny.

We had an aperitif on the veranda before we had our dinner in the nostalgic dining hall, very much in a traditional Scandinavian style. This is a bit like time travelling.

Going with a Hurtigruten boat is very relaxing. It is basically constant eating, interrupted by sightseeing, taking pictures, cultural and other lectures and excursions.

On the third day on the boat, we entered the Vesterålen, a large group of islands north of the Lofoten. The boat is going always very close to the coast, passing many small and islands to the left and right. The views can often only be called spectacular – pictures often don’t catch the atmosphere.

In the late morning, we passed the first of the Vesterålen bridges that connect the islands with the main land:

The mountain get quite steep with tops over 1000 m, sometimes there’s snow left or a glacier on the top. 

You can spend the whole day on deck or behind the big windows and watch this great landscape. Slartibartfast did really a good job! We were stopping in many little places where the Hurtigruten ship is the most important connection with other ports. In the afternoon, we stopped at the historic centre of the Hurtigruten lines in Stokmarknes. There is also the Hurtigruten museum including the old Finnmarken ship that gives an impression how the journey was in former times.

In the afternoon, we “set sails” for the highlight of the whole cruise: the passage through the Lofoten. We went through the majestic Raftsund, together with many little local boats. Everybody was on deck and people tried to get the best locations to make their shots.

The Midnatsol made a sharp right and a sharp left turn and we entered a very short and narrow side arm: the Trollfjord. Breathtakingly beautiful, but as you go against the sun, it is very difficult to catch this on a picture. Very steep rocks to the left and right and at the end of the short fjord, the small boats are chased away so the big Midnatsol can make one of its impressive 180 degree turns in no time. Truly masterly.

I have taken hundreds of pictures of which almost all are doomed to sink into digital oblivion. But the best scenery will be recorded in our minds anyway. That day we seemed to have many day tourists that just joined for the day and wanted to enjoy this part as well. In the evening we arrived at the capital of the Lofoten, Svolvær. We have booked (or as the tour guide on board would put it: “we have bøked”) only one guided expedition, and this is a special one: a trip with a speedboat! We received some waterproof gear and got on board of the RIB, equipped with two motors and 600 hp in total (!):

Well, this WAS FUN! We zoomed out to visit some iconic places and harbours and even watched sea eagles.

The boat made up to 48 knots (90 km/h) and jumped over the waves. It was cloudy now, but the scenery was nevertheless very spectacular.

After 1.5 hours, this was over and we returned to our ship with a grin on our face. We concluded the day with a local beer on the panorama deck. The Lofoten are really a special place and worth returning. The problem is, it’s quite a long way up here… 

The next day was very relaxing and there’s little to report apart from some great views of the shores of middle Norway. At lunch, we passed an iconic part of its coastline: the Seven Sisters (NOT the ones in Sussex).

In the legend, Botnkrona (3,517 feet), Grytfoten (3,497 feet), Skjæringen (4,202 feet), Tvillingene (the Twins) (3,215 feet), Kvasstinden (3,314), and Stortinden (2,986) were all troll daughters of the Suliskongen, who kept them under strict control far up north. One night he fell into such a deep sleep that all seven maidens were able to sneak out.

But Hestmannen, the son of another troll king on the islands who had been eager for a wife, was lying in wait.  He chased them. The sisters fled south down the coast, with several trolls chasing them, some of whom were trying to save them and some who were trying to capture them. But none of them thought of the sun, which turns all trolls to stone. When night eventually turned to morning, the troll sisters and their pursuers were petrified and became the mountain range that comprises the Helgeland coastline.

Somewhat later we stopped in Brønnøysund which is the middle of Norway; the southernmost and northernmost points are equidistantly apart. I was quite hot, close to 30 degrees and locals seemed to enjoy the good weather. I walked around a bit before I entered the ship again.Soon after we took off the next iconic view was on the list: Torghattan. Rising 258 metres vertically from the sea at Brønnøysundet betweed Brønnøysund and Rørvik. The mountain, with a distinctive hole right through it, is said to be the Brønnøy King’s hat. Remember the story of the seven troll sisters? The sisters were fleeing from Hestmannen, who was desperate to capture a wife. The King heard them and came to the rescue of the young maidens. However Hestmannen, who was infuriated that he could not catch up, shot an arrow towards the last fleeing girl. The King threw his hat towards the maidens to protect them. Just as the arrow pierced the hat, the sun appeared and its rays turned the trolls, hat and all into stone.

There is another, more scientific explanation for the 30 metre high, 25 metre wide and 160 metre deep hole in Torghatten. The mountain may have been pushed upwards after a period sitting at a lower level, during which the sea had gradually worn a hole through its layers of rock. It’s up to you to believe this version. But it seems much more rational to accept the version of an enormous troll knight that bangs an arrow through a hat mountain.

Later we watched the sunset on deck and went to bed early, this cruising is really exhausting!

The next morning we got up early. The boat was already in the harbour of Trondheim. At 7 a.m. we started our walking tour through the city. It was a Tuesday, but Trondheim’s rush-hour felt like a village on Sundays. People commuting on bicycles, few cars and few people in the streets. We walked through the picturesque Bakklandet quarter and crossed the old bridge with the portals of the 17th century.

We walked around the Nidaros cathedral and as it was not open yet, studied its western front. Although the foundations are from the 11th century, it burnt down several times and was totally reconstructed in a neo-gothic style over a hundred years ago. We strolled back to the ship and concluded that Trondheim must be a nice city to live in.

The rest of the day was a quiet cruise with stops in Kristiansund (we’ll come back here in a few days) Molde, Ålesund and Florø. There also time to wash our dirty laundry on board.

We had fantastic weather the last days, but now our luck seems to change. First clouds are coming in and tonight we will have rainy weather. Tomorrow at our arrival in Bergen the weather with be ok, but the following days on the motorbike will be more mixed. But maybe the end of the heat is very welcome!

I had hoped to see the midnight sun and was already disappointed that despite the good weather, there were a lot of clouds on the horizon. When I arrived 25 years ago at the Nordkapp with my little Honda XBR500 after a long trip, some clouds impaired the unobstructed view of the midnight sun. Nevertheless, I went on deck at a quarter to midnight.

Well, this was not so bad after all. It was a matter of playing around with the camera.

Some people preferred to watch it from the inside on the panoramic deck:

After midnight, the sun started to rise again:

At last, a “I’m the king of the world!” moment before hitting the sack:

This morning, we made a short excursion in Hammerfest. Instead of joining other boat people, we went on our own and walked up to a viewing point, overlooking the bay.

Hammerfest still uses the term “most northern town of the world”, although Honningsvåg has been elevated to a town some years ago.

It also used to be the starting point of many famous polar expeditions. We also did a visit to the Ice Bear Club, but did not become a member.

Back on the boat we had lunch and a relaxing afternoon watching the mountains and glaciers rolling by. Fantastic.

I kind of overslept this morning, but this was not a problem. I had found out that a rain front would pass by so the later I would leave, the less rain I would see. This guess turned out to be correct. I had a spectacular breakfast (no picture) and left only at 9:15. I was prepared and had put on the inner liners. Temperature was 20 degrees as I continued my ride on the E4. One hour later I crossed the border to Finland and got aware that the sat nav switched one hour forward. I though that the people along the border must have a ball on new year’s eve: they welcome the new year in Finland, walk over to Sweden and repeat this one hour later. I took the E75 to the north and rolled through Finnish landscape.

Soon I had to fill up and continued. I reached the city of Rovaniemi that appeared much bigger since the last time I passed by (25 years ago). Then I found the place where Santa resides (at least as claimed by the locals):

HO-HO-HO!

Soon after I reached the Arctic Circle. I remembered a memorial there, together with some houses. I think it was also one of the few places on that seven week trip where I afforded a hot meal. I had my first reindeer goulash, how can I forget that. Well, I was a poor student then. You can imagine my surprise when I found no polar circle memorial, but an enormous complex with dozens of shops, restaurants, entertainment, etc…

Horrified, I fled from this place. I continued my ride through rural Finland. Soon after, I had to stop as a big reindeer was quietly walking in the middle of the road. Big antlers! In Sodankylä I wanted to stop for lunch, but the restaurants did not look very appealing and due to the Eastern time it was already quite late. In the end I had a shabby kebab in a shabby restaurant in a shabby petrol station. You could also buy repair sets for car exhausts there. Or fish hooks. Authentic.

I went on and after two hours, I decided to stop for a last petrol fill in Ivalo at the south shore of the Lake Inari. I decided to put on some extra T-shirts for the temperature had dropped to some 14 degrees. Soon after, the best part of the ride began on that day began: the road had bends and suddenly the sun appeared! Instead a dull ride under cloudy skies, this was really impressive now.

The large Inari Lake to the right, the sun to the left and thousands of little lakes or ponds everywhere. This was spectacular.

I still had 200 km to go and when I turned from the E75 to the direction of Kirkenes. I hadn’t seen a policeman the whole trip, so why would there be any on this last stretch to the Norwegian border? I switch the suspension to “Dynamic” and let the horses free. This was fun! Of course, you had to scan the horizon for reindeers.

I arrived at the border and from now on, I slowed down considerably. Norwegian speed controls are notorious. I was riding down to the coast and when I hit the E6, I passed the Neiden waterfalls.

The last 44 km to Kirkenes where bathed in sunlight again and quite beautiful. After a certain point, many boards announced that taking pictures was forbidden for military reasons. Actually, this region used to be the only place apart from Turkey where NATO and the Soviet Union shared a common border.

At 18:30, I met MJ in the hotel in Kirkenes. The 770 km went faster than expected. I looked for an ATM to get some Norwegian money and gave the BMW a good wash. After a quick shower we went to the hotel restaurant and were whacked in the face by reality. You know that Norway is expensive, but when you’re sitting in an ordinary hotel restaurant and looking at the menu, staring, sweating and hyperventilating, you know you have finally arrived there. However we decided that we live only once and that the numbers on the menu are not real. We chatted with the Spanish waiter and enjoyed our dinner, grilled salmon. We had not chosen for the local speciality: king crab. The next time after I have successfully robbed a bank, I will order one.

We chatted with a Bavarian couple at the bike outside for a while and did a little walk through the town. This was very quick as the town is….not so big.

Time for a night rest!

The next morning we left the hotel and rode 1 km to the pier where the MS Midnatsol was already waiting for us. We checked in immediately and after one hour of waiting time, I could finally ride the BMW on board. We investigated the ship for a while. It is the usual postal ship that runs the same route for decades, every day.

It’s also a cruise ship, albeit not a luxury one. Easy going. We soon enjoyed the buffet lunch and had a relaxed afternoon. Soon we visited the first stopover on the boat trip, Vardø, the most Eastern town of Norway. We only had 30 minutes on land which meant we could not visit the witch hunt memorial. It is an impressive memorial for all the women that were burnt as “witches” in the 16th and 17th century. Compared to other places in Norway, the death toll was highest here: Out of 3000 inhabitants by that time, 91 were burnt at the stake. We visited the old fortress instead where two guys dressed as soldiers ripped off tourists by selling them entrance tickets. Funny.

When we returned on the ship, we noticed a sign “upgrade your cabin to a suite” with a big number (representing Norwegian crowns) next to it. They haven’t filled them, so they offered the upgrade for a fraction of the normal price. Naaah, too much money. But MJ had asked already if we could look at them. Yeah, what can I say. When we stood in the room, I knew that the decision was taken. What did we say? You only live once? Absolutely.

So know I’m sitting next to our enormous window in our enormous room watching the coastline drifting by. This is gorgeous.

I had planned to take pictures of the midnight sun, but just like 25 years ago, some clouds on the horizon seem to foil this plan.

This morning I got up early and had the bike ready to go when I went to the breakfast at 7 a.m.

The good selection reconciled me a bit with the dinner experience yesterday. I sat on the terrace and started to sweat already – 25 degrees and high humidity by the shore.

I only had half an hour for I needed to leave for my appointment: after a 20 min ride, I stopped at the BMW dealer in Upplands Väsby, where I had agreed a tyre change for my bike. They had a separate waiting area with a airco device – very much appreciated! I chatted with another customer, asked for advice on regional speeding enforcement habits and studied the current selection of Ducati bikes on sale (it’s also a Duc dealer). Very nice bikes, but the crucial question is: would you take an Italian bike and immediately set off for a round-the-world trip? See?

At 10 a.m. the bike was ready and by wallet was (virtually) a lot lighter. 30 degrees now. But I still had to fill up and what now followed was the most bizarre petrol station workflow ever.

The pump wouldn’t work so I asked inside if I had to do a prepayment. The answer was yes. So I grabbed a bottle of refreshment. However, I had to pay it separate. In cash. Then I had to provide a payment card AND my identity card. These stayed inside while I filled up the bike. Then I was returned the card and the ID and I could make the payment. Very strange.

I entered the E4 again and went north. Little to report there. Occasionally, I passed little lakes with falun red houses, but there was never a possibility to take a shot. That was pretty much the sightseeing of today. I hoped for fresher air, but the temperature climbed up to 32 degrees. While moving, this was bearable, with all openings open at the max.

I stopped in Sundsvall after three hours to fill up again and decided to visit the next-door Pizza Hut. With airco. All you can eat including drinks for only 10 Euros, that’s quite a bargain for Sweden. Don’t expect a pizza a la napolitana though. But fair enough.

I continued my ride, and slowly the temperatures went down a bit. Another three hours later, I had to put petrol again. I had texted a mate from the floorball team in Belgium to meet in Luleå as he was on home leave in the area. However, he told me he had just started to drink Belgian trappist beer and was waiting to meet Thor with his hammer. So this was a non-starter, LOL.

When I arrived in Luleå at 8 p.m., I had barely escaped a thunderstorm on the way. 25 degrees and humidity. Tropical feeling. I had a shower in my windowless room and had a very good dinner in the rooftop restaurant, overlooking the Luleå bay. Enjoying the sunset.

Tomorrow is the last stretch to Kirkenes. I expect a drastic weather change. 15 degrees cooler and occasional rain. The rest of Europe is drenched in sweat.

This morning I got up before the wake-up call and had breakfast with a view. The announcement to go to the vehicles surprised me a bit so I was the last to exit the ship from my deck (everybody else seemed to know). It was before 8 a.m. and 24 degrees with high humidity welcomed me. I started to sweat immediately. I took a while before I had passed the control and I turned north. I know the motorway E4 well from past Scandinavian rallies. Lots of forest. I switched on the radio so the ride got less unexciting. Before Jönköping, I remembered a bonus location I had visited at moonlight: Taberg. As it is close to the motorway, I decided to do a little detour. It is a small mountain overlooking the forest. It is particular as it stands out of the plain for it is a rock that contains a lot of magnetite, together with titanium and vanadium. The high concentrations of the latter lead to its discovery in the ore.

After a few minutes I arrived in Jönköping at the hotel that I had booked. It will be the rally hotel of the European Tour and I had booked a night for today. However, I had to change my plans as I have an appointment for a tyre change the next morning north of Stockholm. The booking is non-refundable, but so be it. At least I can leave some luggage until the rally in two weeks: I dismounted the auxiliary fuel tank and put it in a large bag, together with some other stuff I don’t need until the rally.

It got really hot now and I decided to have some lunch snack inside a petrol station, they had an airco!

I opened all the openings in my gear to get some fresh air while riding. On my way to Stockholm, I had temperatures between 31 and 33 degrees. Along the Vättern Lake, many birch trees had brown leaves. In July! And the heat wave is only starting….

I saw an exit sign to Trosa and I remembered that I had passed by there during my first trip to Scandinavia in 1993. As I lacked the knowledge that I have now, a damaged valve rocker made me cancel my route through the Baltic States to St. Petersburg. I took the ferry from Gdansk to Sweden to have it repaired in Stockholm. Trosa is a cute little town with one channel with many boats. A kind of mini-mini-mini-Amsterdam , so to say.

It was only one more hour to Stockholm. I arrived at the elegant hotel I had booked with a huge reduction….just to find out that my reservation was for the day before (!)….

[…]

Well, this set a new record. Three hotel bookings for one night. Well done.

As it was still early, I visited the Gamla Stan (Old Town) and walked around a bit. Horrified by the masses of tourists, I looked for the quiet streets that have much more charm.

I returned to the hotel and finally had a shower, more than needed. I had dinner in the highly acclaimed hotel restaurant with a view on the like lake. Unfortunately, the food’s quality was rather disappointing. Any good quality Belgian restaurant makes this look like amateurs. But you don’t go to Scandinavia only for the food, do you? ;-)

Tomorrow morning I have the tyre change and then a long ride to Luleå.

On Friday I went to the Eurotunnel train to meet Gerhard. Together we embarked on the train (without delay) and went northwards towards the Midlands.

On the way to Stoke-on-Trent we made a little detour to pick one of John Young’s Triumph Trident 50-50 Challenge. I took a picture to the Mallory race track entrance. We arrived in a relaxed mood at our hotel in Stoke where we joined other fellow riders for dinner. The next morning, we gathered at Rick the rally master’s house and received final instructions. As usual, the had a last-minute twist for us: the option to bring him back a bottle of selected beers was not optional, but compulsory! Luckily, I had this in my plan. My route was ambitious, but left me with enough options to shortcut in cases of problems. So I set off for Wales, picked some locations there; got furious about the Garmin sat nav that lead me over single track gravel farm roads instead telling me to turn around; got stuck in some massive road closure where I lost 30 min riding single track roads again trying to find a proper detour; and had a nice riding. Usual things, you could say.

After having visited the last location in Wales, it was time for some motorway riding to London, interrupted by a visit to Whitchurch, good for some massive points. I visited the Pinewood film studios west of London and assured my compulsory bonus by buying a bottle of “Death and Glory” ale at the Tring Brewery in….Tring. Just one kilometer away I visited the National History Museum where I had to find the greyhound “Mick the Miller” and take a picture of him. A long walk to the right gallery, but I had asked a guard for the way so this could be done quickly. Now I only had to ride back to the finish. I managed to fit in some extra locations – the Santa Pod race track, a statue in Lichfield…to boost my points. close to the finish, I decided to make a little detour a pick another location. Everything went fine, I even could visit one more last point close to the finish. than I discovered that the bike should have been in the picture, turned around, visited the place again and got the complete picture. In Stoke I visited the Titanic brewery for another 150 points and arrived after 11 hours with three minutes to spare at the finish.

After the scoring (I hadn’t lost any points), I joined the other riders in garden for the usual exchange of anecdotes. After some food and drink, the ceremony was due:

That clear result came a bit as a surprise for I had left out 1-2 planned locations. I received my certificate and a trophy and was a happy bunny. Thanks to rally master Rick and his last seven rallies, this one was also very nice! Great job!

I returned to the hotel and spent the evening with the other lads that stayed there. The next morning I went with Gerhard towards Folkestone, but not without visiting three locations of the 50-50 challenge: the old BSA factory, Triumph’s old development centre in Kitts Green and the National Motorcycle Museum. There I took a picture of “Slippery Sam”, the Triumph racing bike that keeps the record of five consecutive wins at the Isle of Man TT in the seventies.

We took the Eurotunnel train and 2.5 hours I was back home, not without some detour due to all the Belgians returning from the coast. I still had to pack most of my luggage for the big trip, but this was quickly arranged.

The next day, I started after lunch. I have mounted the rear crash bars last-minute. They look ugly, but the bike is so heavy with all the luggage, one little slip and a dropping bike would result in a heavy blow to the vacation budget.

I hit the road at 32 degrees which accompanied me the whole day. Luckily I was listening to the radio in my helmet so I was aware that there was a massive road blockage on the planned itinerary on the A1 to Bremen. In the end, the Autobahn was completely closed and the retention mounted up to 20 km! But I had chosen to go via the A2 and apart from smaller traffic jams, I arrived quickly in Travemünde where I embarked on the “Peter Pan” to Sweden.

Tomorrow it will be time for some real, relaxing summer vacations. I think it’ll be some 12.000 km on the BMW and some 3.000 km by boat.

Wait a minute – did you say “boat”???

Yes, it will be relaxing motorbiking and a relaxing boat cruise.

As an appetizer, I will first do the 12 hour Brit Butt Light Rally starting in Stoke-on-Trent in England. I haven’t done it in three years and the BBL2015 was the last rally I haven’t won (in Europe). Sooo, it’s a kind of “unfinished business” although I had won the rally in 2014 on the little XBR500.

As the rally book was handed out one week before the start, I have already prepared my route and printed and laminated my own rally logbook. Sorry, my route is still confidential, but these are all the possible bonus point locations:

After the rally, I will return home for one night and leave for Sweden the next day. Three days later, I’ll arrive in Kirkenes at the Norwegian – Russian border. I’ll meet up with MJ and on the next day, we’ll embark on the postal ship of the Hurtigruten line, carrying the BMW in the ship.

After the arrival in Bergen, we’ll start the bike trip through Western Norway – fjords and fjells. In Oslo, I will continue on my own and ride to Jönköping where this year’s European Tour will start.

This ET will be a three-day rally all over the Nordic countries. I had won the European Tour 2016, but this one will be different. I don’t have the local knowledge that the locals have.

After that, it’s a back to the barn ride. Three weeks in total. Sounds like a plan.

You can follow my GPS track here.

Just a quick message before I set off back home. My eighth Brit Butt Rally was tricky. I started it without enough data volume on my phone to send the pictures, but this was resolved after 2 hours, so that’s why you couldn’t see the progress in the spot track in the morning. I had planned an ambitious route through the North-West and North-East of England and the whole of Scotland. There was no room for larger problems or large delays. In the end I sticked to plan within 5 minutes for both days. The K1600 performed marvellously, what a great bike!

In the end I was rewarded with the 1st place, for the fourth consecutive year now. Now back to the Eurotunnel. More info later when I’m back home.

Some last words….if I can’t find a solution, I probably can’t activate the spot track today. I am short of data volume and need to save the data volume for the pictures I have to send. My provider had technical issues and I can’t extend the volume. Great, isn’t it?

So the technical inspection and the odo ride went well. After that I filled up the bike with 40 litres of petrol and returned to rally HQ. I hadn’t checked the tyre pressure! The built-in pressure sensor indicated only 2.6 instead 2.9 bar. The close-by petrol station didn’t have any pump, so I had to look for a different station. I first had to get some coins for the machine. But instead inflating the tyre, it was more and more deflated. Together with the shop clerk I discovered the source of the problem: the nozzle was too short for my modern valve. With only 1.2 bar in the rear tyre, I limped back to the HQ where Bob Clark borrowed me his little 12 V pump. Thanks, now I’m ok!

The rider meeting was quite interesting…A totally different format:

81 locations, divided in 9 regions and 9 thematic categories. Apart from the points value of each point, you get extra points for more locations in the same region or the same category. A difficult nut to crack….I’ve put together a challenging route, but I don’t reveal yet where I’ll be going…just follow my SPOT track.

I’ll start at 6 a.m. in the morning.

It is quite a while since I last published something. It’s not that there was no material, oh no, quite the contrary. It is just that publishing means a lot of work. Writing a report of the Iron Butt Rally 2017, for example. But as the quote says:”when a man says he will do something, he will do it. It’s not necessary to remind him every six months”.

So I showed up yesterday here in the rally HQ in Leicester after a quiet ride up from Belgium. Had dinner and some chats. This morning I had some extended discussion with John Young about our planned trip to Japan next year. As the registration is not open yet, it still gives me some time to write before the busy afternoon begins.

This year’s Brit Butt Rally is somewhat different. First of all, I’ll be on my new bike, the BMW K1600GT.

It does the same thing as the Pan European – a comfy ride, a very balanced bike, heavy but steady, a great tool to cover large distances. With the difference that the BMW is so much more dynamic – if you want it to be. I’m looking forward to riding the British country roads this weekend.

Then there is a new rally format. Instead taking pictures with a digital camera at the bonus point locations and presenting them at the scoring, pictures have to be taken with a smart phone and be sent immediately by e-mail. This change did not go down well with some riders and I wonder if this a reason why there are a relatively low number of participants. Let’s see how this goes. I do prefer the old, traditional style, though.

The weather forecast is quite good and as every year I hope to be able to go up North to enjoy riding in Scotland – great scenic roads and no traffic. By midnight I should know more. Now, I’ll have to register, present the documents, do the technical inspection, do the odometer calibration ride and return to the room. After that, there will be the dinner with the subsequent riders meeting where instructions will be given, the rally books will be handed out and the files with the bonus point locations will be sent. After that, we will be sitting in our rooms, trying to develop that cunning route that gives the maximum points….

After having won the rally three times in a row, I am in a very relaxed mood. I just want to have fun and enjoy this brilliant bike. There is the usual auxiliary tank and the additional LED lights that make night rides fun, but the only thing that is missing is the comfy Russell Day-Long seat that makes 36 hours of riding absolutely painless. As it is still in production, I will have to suffer a little, but this is nothing I could not handle.

This year, I have decided to provide a public track again, you can follow my GPS track from tomorrow morning onwards (6 a.m. British Summer Time)…

So, let’s see if this registration has already opened….more news later!

The ceremony is over…as predicted, it was a very special event with many stories and stunning performances at the bottom, middle and top of the standings.

As already mentioned, I had a lot of issues and did not ride the rally in a competitive, but rather in a “holiday” mood. I had tons of long rest breaks in nice hotels. I finished one day early and had too chose my route based on the temperature forecast. Considering all this, the 32nd place out of 87 finishers and 106 starters is a very good result. Had I not have to stop rallying so early, a finish around place 20 would have been possible. And this without pushing anything. I can be very happy about this result, it even gives me an unexpected, official “silver medal finish”.

The link to the standings is here: http://ibr.wvi.com/ibr/_2017/finalstandings.pdf

…… as once he’s scored Robert will be able to post on here again.

Thank you all for reading all of my “stuff” over the past 11 days.

Thank you all of your comments and I hope you have enjoyed my (admittedly) light hearted approach to IBR reporting.

But most of all, thank you to Robert, for asking me (and giving me the privilege of ) keeping his IBR blog for him again.

Thank you my Bavarian friend …….

…….. and it was most definitely a limp across the line but who gives a flying f*ck ?

I of course have given him one last piece of advice ……….

Check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check and check one last time all of your paperwork before going in for scoring. (That’ll be in the morning now)

…. and that was 50 minutes ago.

He is still riding because I have just tried to call him, but he must be very close now …..

Stupid, stupid Robert ……

After all of the talking that we did yesterday, he went and ignored it all ……

In his words :

“OK, here it comes:

I WAS WRONG! MEA CULPA! MEA CULPA! MEA MAXIMA CULPA!!!

You told me not to be cocky!

You told me not to do anything stupid!

And you were right!

And was does stupid Robert do?

I thought the Honda overheard our conversation, because “she” ran very nicely afterwards. Really nice. So nice, that I started to make plans….

I could do the detour and go up to Michigan and bag a big bonus at the Lake Superior. Why being 24 h too early at the finish? The Pan was running so fine and I had so much time left …”

And guess what happened ?

He decided to try it, if the bike did not give any problems until the where he needed to turn north at about 3:30 p.m.  As he problems occurred daily always between 2 and 3 p.m. he felt that this was a good decision.

The thing is see, that after 10 days on the road, it’s very difficult to make “good decisions”.  That’s why it’s quite useful to speak frequently with people who HAVEN’T been on the road 10 days, who ARE getting plenty of rest, who ARE getting plenty of sleep and who ARE therefore capable of offering GOOD & RATIONAL advice.  Now if that person has actually ridden the IBR themselves,  then they are definitely capable of giving GOOD, RATIONAL & RELEVANT advice ……

So, everything was apparently going well and at 3.30pm he turned north.

Two hours later, the bike started to misfire badly.

This time filling up didn’t help …..  This time a damp shirt over the tank didn’t help ….. This time even a bag of ice on the tank didn’t help ……

He gave up on the idea of “one last big bonus” and headed west – at 55mph flat out with a badly misfiring bike

He reached the town of  Durand and luckily, Quality Inn had a room. The idea was to continue after 3 a.m. after the rest break.

As it was still early,  he wanted to check plan B – connecting the aux tank directly and let it feed by gravity.  He finally did manage to connect it (leaving a big petrol mess on the car park), but a test ride revealed that the height difference is too small so there is too little pressure. This won’t work …….

He connected the tank and the fuel pump again, rode a short distance and it seemed back to normal simply because it had cooled down for about an hour.

Roberts words again ……

“When you’re riding, you think it’s warm, but not THAT hot. But it is still over 30C. When I touch the motor, you feel how many energy is stored in there. It seems that it’s not the daytime, but the operation hours (8 to 9 hours) that triggers the problems. After that time, the tank (where the pump is located, that’s the problem) is heated up so much that the fuel pressure falls below a critical point.”

So, because of his stupidity, he lost 200kms today and whilst the problem would have still occurred, he would have been 2 hours and 200kms closer to the finish.

He has to be back at 8 a.m. at the finish on Friday. Considering the time difference, he still has more than 29 hours to do the 1100 km, and taking the two penalty hours into accounts, he has actually 31 hours before DNF “ing”.

However, he has wasted the last 17 hours to effectively cover 400kms …….

Oh and he left his “toilet bag” at the last hotel – no great drama, but this just goes to demonstrate how muddled your mind gets after 10 hard riding days

Right, for 10 days I have been nice.  For 10 days, I have been supportive.  For 10 days, I have said nothing offensive towards (or about) Robert – other than in jest.

That now changes …..

Being “Mr Nice Guy” hasn’t worked.  It’s time for some hard cold truths …….

Robert, you spent a lot of money in 2013 for nothing more than a failure.  Glorious as it may have been and “dress” it up however you want, you still failed ……

You have spent another huge amount of money in 2017 to enter the rally again and at the moment, there are lots and lots of people willing you to succeed.  You appear to be doing your very f*cking best to disappoint them !!!!!

GET TO THE FINISH.  IF THE BIKE STARTS TO PLAY UP AFTER 6 HOURS, THEN ONLY RIDE FOR 5 HOURS BEFORE LETTING THE BIKE COOL DOWN.

DO NOTHING THAT PUTS THE BIKE UNDER ANY MORE STRESS THAN IT NEEDS TO BE.

YOU HAVE 29 HOURS TO COVER 1100 KMS.  THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF LESS THAN 40KPH.  IF YOU GET TO THE FINAL CONTROL WITH 1 MINUTE TO SPARE, IT DOES NOT MATTER.  JUST GET THERE ……

Okay, one very last piece of “encouragement”.

You see, at the moment, there’s this fat, balding, middle-aged, accountant from the UK who’s typing these reports.  He’s already ridden the rally and he’s already got his 3-digit number and at the moment he’s laughing at the stupidity of this German guy he knows.

He’s laughing not because he wants this German guy to fail but because this German guy is riding a Honda and this German guy rode a Honda last time too – and he failed then as well ……

This accountant fella, thinks that Hondas are shite and to prove it, when he rode the rally in 2011 he rode his 50 year old Triumph to a finish ……

Robert – please, please, please, wipe the grin of this guys face and get to the finish ……..

I spoke to Robert at 10.00am (his time) on Day 10.

He has exactly 48 hours to get to the finish control before he is classed as DNF.  His Garmin is showing that 1500kms (950 miles) stand between him and his 3-digit IBA membership number.

He tells me that my advice “DO NOT FUCK THIS UP”, is the only thing in his mind.

There will be no more bonus collecting (other than the sleep bonus this evening), there will be no more detours, there will be no more chances taken.

A nice straight forward 1500kms ride over 2 days to glory …….

He is nearly there …..

BUT – he has been on the road for 9 days and he has had constant issues.  950 miles over 48 hours is normally “a walk in the park” for IBA riders and for Robert in particular.  This will be the most difficult and fraught 1500kms he has ever ridden.

In 2011, I was 600 miles from the finish.  I had 30 hours to do it.  I could already “see” the “ticker-tape” parade awaiting me ……

Then I ran into the worst sand storms Arizona had witnessed for 50 years and my world collapsed around me.  Fortunately, I managed to get my bike going and limped over the finishing line with around 4 hours to spare ….

And that is what the IBR does to you.  Like some beautiful siren, it suckers you in.  It lets you believe that you have the measure of it …….

THEN IT KICKS YOU FAIRLY AND SQUARELY IN THE BALLS !!!!!!!!!

So, wish him luck and keep posting those comments (he reads them all)

The morning started well – Robert went to NYC as planned and visited four locations.  One proved awkward – a statute of Alice in Wonderland in the Central Park – but the rest was easy and it was a big points score

To be sure of enough finishing points, he “popped up ” to the Lake Placid area and bagged another big multiplier bonus

It was much cooler today, but the bike now runs rough whether it’s hot or cold – this really has become a limp to the finish

He has bought a few parts to see whether he could get the bike to run better t and put a new filter in, just on the off-chance that might have helped – but, unfortunately not

Robert – just face it, Hondas are shite ……… Lol !!!

As I mentioned earlier, Robert has taken great pains to point out that “he did not say that I was wrong – just that he was not right”  These apparently to a German (oooops !! – Bavarian) are very different things ……. LOL !!

It was day 9 and there is the wall – a soft one, but a wall nevertheless …..

For Robert this means dropping the plan to go to the Lake Superior and instead, plotting a route directly back to the finishing control – he knows that taking the bike up there is too much of a risk.

Physically, he’s fine, but mentally, he’s exhausted and is now starting to experience slight vision issues (he will no doubt explain more when he writes his full report)  However, the main thing is that he knows how to recognise it and then control it so it does not (in his words) “freak me out anymore”  He does comment though that it is strange to see a sloping lake !!!!.

So from tomorrow on he will take his time to get back in a relaxed manner

He will have a good nights sleep – he stopped earlier than planned in Syracuse – but that is no bad thing.

This close to the finish, he should take no chances ………..

…… two quick points for now :

1. He knows that he now has enough points for a finish and is beginning to head for the final control.  There are still lots of points that he could get, but apparently the “Little John” in his head keeps telling him that he shouldn’t do anything stupid ….
2. He also clarified something ….. In his words ”  Btw: I have not said that I was wrong LOL!  I said I was not right which is different ………”

   I somehow knew that a German (Bavarian) couldn’t possibly have admitted that they were wrong …………. Lol !

   Keep those good wishes coming people – he’s nearly there …..

So what happened on Monday ?

Well, it was my first day back a the office after riding in the national rally.  In the morning I had a doctors appointment to finally cure this “ear” problem I’ve had for a while now and then in the afternoon, I had to go down to Coventry to meet with a client to go through some tax papers.

Sonia had a busy day too – gym in the morning, spa in the afternoon. Lol !!

It was the first day of Wimbledon and the defending champion, Andy Murray successfully negotiated the first round.

Yesterday evening, I started booking hotels and ferries for my next trip.

What else happened ?  Oh yeah, over in the USA, the IBR continued …….

So first things first, Robert sent this message :

“No, I will NOT buy a Triumph !!!”

Mmmmmm …… Lol !!

So, whilst I was at the doctors, Robert rode the “Tail of the Dragon” road again, bringing him lots of points.  He is beginning to tire now after 8 days on the road and he was not really awake for the first three hours so rode nice and slowly.

He went eastwards through Tennessee and made a detour through the mountains to bag a big bonus, but that included 8 miles of gravel road – not welcome when you’re tired.

Of course, he had the usual issues with the bike – and it’s now becoming more frequent.  As soon as the fuel becomes too low in the main tank and the pump has to “work hard”, the problem returns.  The “useable” range of the bike before top-up fuel is now needed is down to 100km (60 miles).  He then adds fuel from the auxilliary tank and off he goes again.

He discovered a new “string” of five points on the road, adding more points to the route but it has become very hot again as the USA heat wave moved north. He is slowly “cooking” …….  I wonder what a “Medium Rare Bavarian” actually looks like ?

On the positive side, he doesn’t have to keep stopping to put his thermals on !!!!

It’s around 2.00 p.m. when the bad heat starts and that just slows him down so he stopped for his rest break earlier than expected in Harrisburg

Tomorrow, early in the morning, he will tackle New York (city) before moving north east into New York state.

The extra couple of hours rest time has given Robert the ability to check his planning to ensure no last minute mistakes.  He has less than 3 days riding ahead of him.  He is nearly there ……

Tomorrow (Tuesday), he has one time restricted bonus to ensure he makes and then he begins to head for the finish and the “Holy Grail” of that three digit membership number …..

Nearly up to date again …..

He only has 10 magic 12 rallies to ride now …….

He had an early start to the day and headed back over to Memphis, Nashville & Knoxville where he thought he deserved a 4 star cozy hotel with good bar food ….

WHEN HE GETS THE EXTRA LEAVE FROM WORK NEXT YEAR FOR OUR TRIP, HE CAN TAKE ME THERE.

Who knows, with the relaxing of the German law, we may be a married couple by then ….

As has been the case for the last few days, the Honda worked fine in the cool, but as soon as it became hot, the problems returned – at least he knows how to sort it and be back on the road very quickly. He ran into a huge thunderstorm In Nashville, which was very welcome.

He’s removed the side panels off the bike to try to keep the pump cool and this has helped apart from the fact that his legs are now slowly cooking – I had this in 2011 crossing Texas.  it’s STILL an unpleasant memory, 6 years on ….

And then he helped to further worsen relationships between the USA and Europe ….

He tied the sidepanels onto the luggage rack of his bike – except they had no intention of staying there and nearly hit another rider as they made their bid for freedom ….

I wonder what Donald Trump will “tweet” about that ……

At least the thunderstorm proved that his electrics are waterproof, even without panels.  Of course that’s because no-one had the opportunity to sabotage them (like a “certain Bavarian” did to my Tridents electrics last year …… )

After 1400 km, he called it a day as he thinks he has a cunning plan (who does he think he is, Baldrick ? Lol !!)  that should give me easily finisher status.

Leg 3 is all about the multipliers and if you apply them cleverly, you get lots of points.

With the lack of pressure for anything other than a finish now being the goal, he tells me he feels like he is on vacation – obviously a rather shitty vacation though !!

hey have fantastic cheesecake here! This morning, I just planned for the first two days, I wanted to leave as early as possible.

Right, that’s just about bringing everything up to date other than (and I may have already mentioned this), ROBERT – BUY YOURSELF A TRIUMPH ……..

Keep those messages of support coming (and spread the word).

He is nearly there – just 4 days to go (4 German Butt Rallies, back to back ….. sounds easy doesn’t it ?)

Remember this was written a couple of days ago …..

Robert has decided to go northeast, visiting some points from Leg 1 and he will go to New York – but during the night

He feels after the first two days of Leg 3 that he should have enough points to be a finisher already

New scoring rules : Full House: three of one, two of other category, last one gives quadruple points

But – will the bike survive?

As many of you will already know, Robert has dropped to 50th place

WHO CARES !!!!!!!

He is on course for a finish – that is ALL that matters …..

….. but first a quick and (very) recent update from Robert.

I spoke to him les than an hour ago – I guess it must have been about 5.00am  on Day 8.

He’s fine and the bike is doing “okay”.  He’s still having a few issues with the bike (he’s told me that next time, he’ll be using a nice reliable bike – something like a Triumph … ), but his route for leg 3 has taken that into account.  Now, the sole target is to finish.

Do not be surprised if on day 9 you see him on his Spot starting to move towards the finish.  He’s done the calculations and can probably arrive on Day 10 and still have enough points for a finish.  As soon as he knows he’s got enough points bagged, he will take no chances  as he knows that fuel pump could give up at any time …..

Right, now I’ve told you what’s actually happening now, he’s what’s been happening over the last two/three days (and remember these were written “at the time” so may have been overtaken by events ….)

Day 6 :

His day started well, continuing his trip to the planned bonus point, through Kansas and Oklahoma.  He was more than one hour early at the timed bonus, a gruop picture in a big whale but he had previously cut my sleep bonus by one hour to make sure that he would be thereon time

Then it got hot again …….  Two hours later, the bike “conked” (again) and he had the same trouble as on Thursday.  He did manage to get to the checkpoint on time though

However, the biggest news of the day was this message I received from him …..

“My theories were obsolete….it IS a failing pump at heat….”

No shit, Sherlock – and just as I said …..  But, look at what he said again, he admitted he was wrong ….  A German, no, a Bavarian admitting he was wrong.

THIS IS THE BIG STORY OF THE 2017 IBR.  

In years to come, people will have forgotten who won …..  People will have forgotten about the heat and the storms …..  People will have forgotten the concept of the rally …. Hell, people will have even forgotten who was the USA President at the time of the rally ….  No, all they will remember is “that time a Bavarian admitted he was wrong” Lol !!

Okay, serious stuff again …..

His route did not bring very many points because he wanted (no, needed) to avoid the heat. Going to Colorado area gave him at least a couple of days relief from it.

This rally has now turned into what I faced in 2011 – a battle for survival …..

He did not lose any points again, but he made a bad error in the planning for leg 2 (understandable really as he had “other” things on his mind – a failing Honda …..

NOTE TO ROBERT : BUY YOURSELF A TRIUMPH ……

In short, get four bonuses of different categories and the fourth one counted triple. His route was based on that. However, he overlooked that the first combination had two of the same category….a bitter pill to swallow and cost 2500 points…

The call in bonus however had worked. In total he only got 12400 points, under the finisher mark but his good 1st leg means he is still on target.

Now the task for leg 3 is clear – get just enough points to be a finisher. The issue is the fuel pump, it is clear that is struggles in the heat.  The forecast sees rising temperatures everywhere. He thinks the best is to escape to the Northeast, but even there, temps will be above 30C

At the checkpoint, there were plenty of people offering to help.  Allen Dye thought he had a replacement pump and they decided to change the pump as he assured Robert that he could get one, but it was the wrong model pump.

He has to continue therefore with the one he has fitted …..

Now it is all about survival.  He hopes to “escape” quickly to the northeast, maybe riding at night. He doesn’t want to kill the pump.

He really appreciates your comments and support – so keep wishing him well, but as he says, for all of your kind words, you cannot understand what this is about.

DO NOT LET THIS PUT YOU OFF FROM WISHING HIM WELL THOUGH !!!

Apart from the pump issue, he is fine. Mentally good, physically as well. He knows that he will not get much sleep at the leg 2 checkpoint as he needs to leave early tomorrow

He does have a few health issues – rashes due to the heat and a painful irritation of the outer right ear due to the earplugs and he may have to ride without ear plugs for a while…But in principle he is relatively fit after day 6.

So the next few days will be about disaster management. Just getting out of the brutal heat that will come in the south and the west and to keep the bike running.

It’s not over until the “fat lady sings” ……

He expects to drop considerably in the ranking, but this is no longer a concern. Just get to Minneapolis with enough points, that’s all ……

NOTE TO ROBERT : BUY YOURSELF A TRIUMPH ……

3rd leg planning and day 7 reports later ……

…. I’m back and the latest report will be up will be posted before lunchtime today

Robert is moving – which is good.

Yesterday, the bike had less problems in the cool air of Colorado and the even better news is that the IBA world is now aware of Roberts issues and hopefully, there’ll be answers and a solution waiting for him when he gets to the Leg 2 checkpoint later today

Now, I’m going to go missing for 30 hours or so as I’m off to ride in the ACU National Rally – an 18 hour, 600 mile “ish” very mild scatter rally here in the UK – “easey-peasey” compared with what Robert is facing over there in the USA …..

Well yes, ….. apart from the fact that the bike I’m riding. my X75 Hurricane, has a “useable” fuel range of around 50 miles …..

I will be visiting lots of fuel stations over the next 30 hours or so ….

I’ll update you all on Roberts progress tomorrow by which time hopefully, he will have a bike that works and will be planning his leg 3 route

As Robert has got into the cooler air of Colorado, the bike is not misbehaving quite so much.

I’ve spent most of this months profit for my firm in telephone conversations with him today ….. but I am now trying to get him some technical help at the checkpoint.

The plan is, if possible, to rest during the heat of the day and ride through the (relative) cool of the night, get the bike back to the checkpoint and see what can be done …

Bloody Hondas !!!!

Robert is very tired after the first day of leg 2

His ride was good, but the bike continues to give problems.  The engine has now started cutting out in the cold as well as in the heat

At one stage whilst crossing the Texas Panhandle. he had to push the bike 400 metres to the nearest tree – the only shade around.  In the heat that Robert will be riding through, you cannot imagine how energy sapping that can be.

Purging the fuel pump helps in the heat, but not in the cold.

At the start of the day, everything went well but as the bike began to give problems, Robert began to suffer and worse still, he still does not have any idea of what is causing the problem – there’s just no clear picture

He is struggling but somehow he needs to get through this leg, score as well as he can and give himself as much time as possible once back at the checkpoint to try to solve the issue.  Leg 3 will have very big points value and as long as he is still in the rally and assuming he can get his bike running correctly, he WILL be able to score the necessary points to get a finish by the end of the 11 days, of that I am sure.

BUT – he has to get to the end of this leg, score as much as he can and get to the checkpoint so that he can sort this problem

This is a low point for Robert – he’s tired and probably a little bit angry with both himself and with his bike.  If necessary, he can probably sacrifice any great plans for  “leg 2” and just get to the sanctuary of the checkpoint.  The longer he leaves himself to sort the problem, the better.

He can still get that finish – but, he has to get the bike working properly ……

….. but I’ve just realised that I haven’t given Pepa (Roberts better half) a name check yet in my reports …..

So Pepa – this one is just for you !!

I know that Robert reads this blog each night.  (He doesn’t want his mobile filling up with messages – that is for emergencies only)

Give him all the encouragement that you can.

It might not seem like it to you, but when you are on your own, riding in the IBR, supportive messages really do help – even from 7000 miles or so away …..

So any “lurkers”, hit the key board for him ….

So, lets just review where we are …..

Most of you will by now know that Robert is in 11th place after Leg 1

The moment I found this out, I was on the phone to him, stressing that under no circumstances must he try to either hold or better that position.

It is great that he has had such a good first let, but ONLY because it will relieve some of the pressure on legs 2 and 3.  No-one ever asks WHERE you finished in the IBR, they just ask IF you finished the IBR.  Whether Robert finishes 11th or 111th, IT DOES NOT MATTER.

I know that I am beginning to sound like an old woman here, but I suspect, that no-one currently reading this has ever ridden the IBR.  Most of you will never have ridden a multi-day rally.  A few of you may have ridden a 36 hour rally and some of you will have ridden a 24 hour rally ……

Robert is ONLY 3 days into an 11 day rally. He still has one and a half IBA European Tours to do, he still has five Brit Butt Rallies to do or, he still has eight German Butt Rallies to do …….. Think about that …….Then imagine at the start of one and a half  ET’s or five BBR’s or eight GBR’s you are sitting on a bike that is not running 100% ………

That is the position Robert finds himself in ……

HE MUST PROTECT HIS BIKE !!!!

Right …… so these are Roberts (very sensible) thoughts ……

He knows that this is a very tricky leg to plan.

Key West is massive in points, but also crazy – it’s 1000 miles down and 1000 miles back ….in heat, in traffic, very few places to overtake, lots of cops …….

So he’s not going there.  Instead he’s heading west to Colorado, again planning to have an easy ride with lots of rest breaks.  (Let the rest of the fools burn themselves out)

He does have to go across the pan handle of Texas where he will experience temperatures well into the forties, but it’s going to be hot everywhere in the south and once he’s through that, he can escape some of the worst of the heat in the Colorado mountains

Day one of leg 2 is a very unpressured day for him – just in case (actually probably when) the bike gives problems

He’ll be returning back to the end of leg two on a more northerly (cooler) route

The points values are ramped up for this leg – if four points categories of 4 subsequent BPs are different, the fourth one counts triple …. a tricky calculation to make

Back to me again …..

Earlier, I mentioned that I spoke to Robert once I’d found out that he was sitting in 11th place.  After we’d had a chat, I tried to think of what sound advice and great wisdom I could offer him and leave him with.  I decided on this …..

DO NOT F*CK THIS UP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

….. including pictures of Robert ……

https://goo.gl/photos/zkZPy9xfMftpmRWu8

Well, leg 1 is done and dusted.

Robert arrived at the checkpoint well before the cut off point

He lost no points at the scoring and got what he feel is a good score given that he had a relaxing ride – bike issues apart.  The scores will no doubt be announced in due course on the IBA IBR pages and it would be wrong of me to post them here, but you may be surprised at some of the people who have not scored as well as him …..

Over the course of the first 3 days he’s managed to take almost 15 hours of  rest breaks and tells me that he feels good and not too tired – unlike many of the other riders ……

The day 3 ride itself was good – perfect weather and the bike initially ran fine.  As those of you who have his Spot link will know, he passed through those famous “country music cities” Nashville, Jackson and Memphis and he says that he needs to come back some day (well, Mr Koeber – extend your break next year and you could ride to them with me !!!!!!)

He even managed to pick up BP’s that he hadn’t originally planned to do

But, the “bad” news is that the bike has again given problems – I knew he should have used a Triumph …….

As he crossed the MIssissippi and the bike cut out – again.  He was already riding with the tank filler cap open in case it was an air lock but the bike wouldn’t start

He got himself off the highway, and a friendly Harley rider (is there such a thing ? I thought all Harley riders were “bad-ass mutha-f*ckers” Lol !!) stopped to help.   Whilst he was unable to help, he at least directed Robert to the next gas station.  Robert has noticed that the problem doesn’t happen if the tank is full ….

At the road side, he gave the bike a quick check :

1. Checked the fuel pump – working
2. Disconnected the automatic fuel tap – no change
3. Disconnected the fuel filter – bike started !!

He filled up quite close by was on his way but didn’t use the auxiliary for the remainder of the day

As the main tank capacity dropped to 1/3 full, the bike sputtered again – so he now fills up every 160 miles to keep the bike running

Given the temperatures (32C) – which actually is not that hot given what he’s about to experience – he has concluded that the problem is probably vapour-lock, due to the heat.  There’s little he can do about it, other than try to find “cooler” routes.  If the aux tank works, then he can switch to putting petrol at 450 km instead of 600km which is the only thing that helps.  He has also discovered that the flow from the auxiliary  tank was obstructed which was probably soft tubes due to the heat, but he has managed to get it flowing again

Given the huge range of BP’s available, he should be able to re-plan a route to keep him out of the real heat of either the Mojave to the west or the deep south to the east of Texas – but that obviously isn’t good for scoring – HOWEVER, THAT IS UNIMPORTANT.  THE SOLE OBJECTIVE IS TO FINISH AND ANYTHING ELSE IS A BONUS.   If Robert finishes in last place (and he won’t), then this rally is a success.  Nothing matters other than to come back to Europe with his 3-digit number.  There will be other opportunities to show the USA what he is capable of …..

This next leg may present a few challenges with the bike – it will be the hottest of the 3 legs and so ALL Robert needs to achieve this leg is to score enough points to still be on target for a finish and most importantly, still be in the rally by the end of the leg ……

So, let’s leave on a positive note …….

Robert says that the Pan is so much more comfy to ride than the XBR – not shit, Sherlock !!!

Are you all shy ?

The bike stalled and cut out again today …… thankfully it’s going again

More to follow later …….

Day 2 has gone well for Robert and he is now about an hour into an 8 hour rest break – he is ahead of schedule at the moment.

He started the day after a long sleep in a library in Cincinnati (sorry I was 24 hour early in my report yesterday about when he would be arriving there) where he had to take a picture of a VW Beetle-Dinosaur.  Germans are naturally drawn to VW’s ……

He’s had good weather today as he rode through the Appalachians

He is now in Tennessee and tomorrow he should be at the first leg checkpoint in Texas (visiting Memphis on the way)

There appears to be one rider at least who is following a similar route to Robert as he has met this rider continually over the first two days – I do hope that my favourite Bavarian has not found himself another “partner” as I will be jealous …… Lol !!

So, he’s on target, taking plenty of rest and should arrive at the checkpoint early – which is all good ……

BUT – on the afternoon of day 2 he had a problem with the bike – or rather the bikes fuelling system.

The bike stalled, the cause being low pressure in the tank (again – he’s had this before) but he dealt with the issue and was soon on his way.

Now, this is actually a good thing.  The fact that he’s had this problem and has successfully dealt with it will (even if only sub-consciously) increase his confidence.  I know this feeling as back in 2011, I was almost waiting for the first problem to occur with my bike.  Once it had and it had been dealt with, I can remember thinking “is that the best that you (the bike) can throw at me” .  Now of course it wasn’t as I had far worse later in the rally to deal with, but the point was that having dealt with the (relatively easy) problem just increased my belief in getting a finish.

At some stage over the next 9 days, Robert (as indeed will all of the riders) will ask himself “Why am I doing this ?  Why am I putting myself and my bike through this ordeal ? Can I really get to the end ?”  He is going to hit “the wall” at some stage in day 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or maybe earlier ……. that point when you realise that you been on the road “forever” and against the clock and it seems like that you still have “forever” to go …..  Little victories like solving this fuelling problem, no matter how trivial are then the things that you look to for “moral” support.

So 2 days into an 11 day rally and 1 day away from the end of the first leg.

So far so good ……

However, I am reminded of a story told by Steve McQueen to Yul Brynner in one of the scenes in the film “The Magnificent Seven”.  It concerned a man who fell from the top of a very tall building.  As he fell past each floor, people inside the building could hear him saying “so far, so good. so far, so good ……” Lol !!

I spoke with Robert, late on Monday evening (very early on Tuesday morning here in the UK – yes, it looks like I too am going to suffer during the IBR …. Lol !!).

Day 1 objectives have been achieved and he is now taking a 6 hour break.

Full update later today

This has the “official” daily reports on there (not as good as mine obviously !!)

It also has the public SpotWalla pages

http://ironbutt.com/2017ibr.cfm

Right, he’s finally away …… and so for the next 11 days you’re all mine !!

Seriously though (and this will probably be the last time for a while) I feel very honoured that Robert has asked me to do this again.  It was surprising the first time he asked me to keep his blog for him during the 2013 IBR as I had only known Robert for a couple of years,  but since then our friendship has continued to grow and so it’s a real privilege to be back here “in the hot seat” again.  This blossoming of our friendship is all rather surprising to me as (1) he’s German (well, okay Bavarian) and (2), the biggest crime of all, he rides a H*nda.  Of course, this didn’t stop a Polish hotel receptionist asking last year if we were “partners” (in “that” kind of way) – but that’s another story  ……..

There’s not much to tell at the moment as Robert has only been on the road 4 hours or so, but I did have a long “fatherly” (well I am just about “biologically” old enough) conversation with him yesterday about making sure he finishes.  I know that Robert wrote about this yesterday, but no-one should necessarily expect Robert to be up there near the top places.  He’s right – until you’ve ridden in the IBR (and I bloody well have so there !!) you cannot begin to imagine what it’s like.  Robert has the additional pressure of already having one IBR DNF behind him, so it is really important that he gets a finish and his “3-digit” IBA membership number.  To anyone that doesn’t know about this, the first 999 IBA membership numbers are reserved for riders who have finished an IBR.  After 17 rallies, they are still only up to about number 500 or so – it’s a rather “exclusive” club !!

Anyway, he’s now off on leg one which will take him to Texas.  He’s chosen a relatively safe route for this first leg, allowing himself plenty of time for rest breaks.  If he wants to risk things, leg 3 is the time to do it and not on the first leg.

For those of you that have access to his private Spot link, don’t be alarmed if you see him going in circles, it is part of his leg 1 plan.

Cincinnati is his next planned rest break – but that’s a good 36 hours away at the moment

That’s all for now ……

Perhaps “he” will stop posting on my blog now for a while ….. Lol !!

Well, he’s in the air somewhere over the Atlantic at the moment and should be landing in just over 3 hours.

He’s got his riding gear, he’s got his route planning hard software, the sat navs are loaded with the latest USA maps, credit cards are ready to use – what else can he possibly need ?

Oh yes, a bike …….. but there’s that slight “issue” to overcome – the U.S. Customs …..

Only 36 hours to go before I take off to the US….

After 2013, this is my second attempt to become a finisher of the notorious Iron Butt Rally, the toughest long-distance motorcycle rally in the world. I will leave on Monday morning, 26th June from Minneapolis and will return 11 days later, after some 11.000 gruelling miles, having seen many corners of North America. This time, I start this adventure with a “proper bike”, i.e. the Honda ST1100 Pan European. I bought it in 2014 for very little money with the purpose to ride the Iron Butt Rally 2015, but in the end I cancelled my participation back then.

The bike is optimised for long distance rallying and has an impeccable track record: out of nine rallies since 2015, it came second once and won all the rest of them. A good recommendation for the Iron Butt Rally. In the last months, I optimised many features and spent a lot of money to revamp the bike. With support from Mart!n, Bavaria’s best motorbike mechanic, the bike got a complete make-over: a new (almost new) motor, a new drive shaft, refurbished alternator, new brake discs with brake pads and refurbished pistons, new water pump, new wheel bearings, refurbished fork, steering bearing, a new cruise control, and and and….not to mention all the improvements (farkles) I had installed earlier: the highest wind shield, a day-long Russell seat, a new, smaller auxiliary tank, handle bar risers, heated gear, improved suspension, 14000 lumen LED headlights, 15000 lumen auxiliary Clearwater LED flood lights….

I will write more before the start of the rally, but I want to take the opportunity to introduce my back-up writer for the duration of the rally: my friend Mr John Young, probably the fiercest Triumph fanatic east and west of the Mississippi. He did the blogging four years ago during my first Iron Butt Rally. I will be banned from social media during the rally so he will keep you updated on my adventures. Knowing John, this could be quite entertaining…

and for the next couple of weeks will be reporting on the adventures of my favourite Bavarian, Robert, as he again takes on the challenge of the Iron Butt Rally – an 11 day, 11,000 mile scatter rally ….

Despite my pleadings that he should use a Triumph, he has again chosen to attempt this rally on a Honda, albeit a different one from last time.  For 2017 he is using a Pan-European.

he is attempting to convince all and sundry that this particular bike should allow him the “privilege” of being in the “Hopeless Class”.

Huh ???  It has indicators and an electric start for goodness sake ….. How can that ever be considered a “Hopeless Class” candidate …..

OK, the Brit Butt 2017 is over and finally find some time to write some lines. This is what I had prepared before the rally:

Well, here I am. Sitting in the hotel room, trying to work out the challenge that the rally master of the 2017 Brit Butt Rally has thrown at us.

We left at 6 a.m. as usual and I headed for Wales. In some villages, no signs were available, so I had to take a picture of a town sign, knowing that only a total of five town signs were allowed. In Wales it was cool and cloudy.

After three hours, I parked my bike in front of the Yarpole parish hall. I was sure that the bike was standing safely. Five seconds later the bike had crashed into a railing, smashing the windshield and right mirror. I need the help of two men to get it upright again. I quickly taped all the broken parts and continued the ride, much more chilly without the big windshield.

In Exeter it was clear that I wouldn’t get to the hotel before 3.a.m., so I asked in a Travelodge motel for a room. Fully booked. I checked the booking.com website: In Exeter, 100% booked. OK, let’s continue. I bagged many points near Yeovil, but the fog was very nasty. Finally, I arrived at the hotel at 4:30 and spent my 4 hour rest break there. After a refreshing 2 hour sleep, I had a quick breakfast and continued my ride. I knew that my initial plan to go to Yorkshire was impossible, but I wanted to continue it as far as possible.

I visited Oxfordshire, rode on the M25 and visited Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. I realised that I could not get more counties so I decided to sit down in a Costa Cafe in a shopping mall and did my paperwork, as it had to be presented at the finish before 5 p.m. The scoring was not perfect, despite my double checks I missed to claim one county and some more points. I had visited more than 60 locations. But 13250 points sounded not too bad, should be good enough for the podium. Unfortunately, John Young had to drop out due to an infection, but there were still enough rivals for the top. At the ceremony, I was called with the Horsefall brothers to the podium. They both had formed a team and had obtained about 8200 points….oooops, this meant….I had won the Brit Butt for the third time in a row! Unfortunately, I had no time to celebrate, as I had to hit the road for I had to work the next day.

So 2016 is over…many things happened, but how was my motorbike season? Well, it was a special one, maybe unique. Again, there was no big, adventurous trip. But there were many smaller trips and lots of rallies.

In early 2016, I announced the biggest motorbike project I ever have planned. I had convinced Gerhard, the IBA Germany’s president, to organise the Alpenbutt Rally in 2017 with me as the responsible rally master. It is supposed to be nothing less than the toughest long-distance motorbike rally ever organised in Europe.

Six days of almost constant riding is already a big challenge, but riding the six days entirely in the Alps opens a new dimension. I had planned to visit more than 400 possible locations in the Alps to check if they were suitable to be bonus point locations. In the end, it skipped about 80 places, but still more than 350 were left to be form part of the fiendish rally book that will be handed out to the participants. I had already done a lot of scouting trips in 2015, but 2016 saw again a lot of trips – finally I could visit Slovenia, covered most of Switzerland and did the Western Alps as well. I had seen a lot of the Alps in my life, but visiting many of these places was new to me and I made some great new discoveries.

All the hotels at the start, checkpoint and finish were booked when I finally announced the rally together with the publishing of the Alpenbutt website. Together with Florian, the IBA Germany’s web designer, we managed to establish a professionally looking page that should reflect the high expectations of this event. The response so far was overwhelming. I had arrangements for 50 participants, but in October I arranged to increase the capacities to 75 starters. By the end of the year, 60 participants have registered already and I think there are more to come.

There was only one purely „touristic trip“ this year: the trip with John on our old bikes (86’ XBR500 and 69’ Triumph Trident) to Russia. Actually, we lost one day due to a supposedly dead alternator of the XBR, so we had to skip the plan to go to Moscow.

At least we wanted to make use of our visa and see Kaliningrad and ride over the Curonian Spit. So we did and visited also Latvia and Lithuania and got really washed in a massive thunderstorm on the way back in Poland. It was a nice, very relaxing trip that proved that we can form a good team on a longer trip as well.

And then there were the rallies. In the end I participated in all European IBA rallies but one. I skipped only the Brit Butt Light Rally in 2016 because the burden with the scouting trips and the rallies was getting too high at a certain point. But nevertheless, I participated in five of them. In 2015, I had the crazy idea if it would be possible to win all the (big) rallies in Europe in one year. This seemed presumptuous – nobody had ever done this, it just seemed too difficult.

In May, I went to the Brit Butt Rally as defending champion – in 2015 I had won the BBR as the first non-British with a spectacular ride.

So this year everybody wanted to beat me. Although I didn’t find my way into the rally, I secured the first place narrowly with a high-risk last 30 minute finish. Title defended. Sometimes you need a bit of luck on your side.

The next rally was the Scandinavian Rally. I had some mixed feelings – my last participation in the annus horribilis 2014 brought me my last non-podium finish, but also changed things from then on.

It started and ended in Södertälje and led me through beautiful Southern Sweden. I had my first encounter with a moose at night – luckily I was going very slow so I could admire this massive animal without getting in danger. In the end it was again a very close shave for the first place – turning around to get back to a bonus point location to take a second photo WITH ME in the picture secured another narrow first place.

Then I skipped the Brit Butt Light, but already one week later I did the Magic 12 Rally leaving from home, starting in Brussels and finishing in Krefeld. The rally book was sent one week in advance so everybody had a lot of time to find his own personal route.

Mine started in Brussels early in the morning and led me through the Ardennes, Luxemburg, the Eifel, Düsseldorf and the lower Rhineland. At the rally finish, Gerhard had organised a big BBQ where we awaited the results. My mate John did his best to win his first rally in Germany, but my route gave me more points, so…another first place.

But the most important rally was still to come…unfinished business…in 2014, I dropped out of the five-day European Tour Rally in a virtual top position, so I was eager to do well in the six-day European Tour 2016. It started again in Stuttgart and had Brno in the Czech Republic as the checkpoint. I chose my route via Innsbruck, the Dolomites, Slovenia and Budapest, where I stayed in a hotel for a short night rest. The next day I crossed Slovakia, entered Poland for a short while and arrived at the checkpoint in time.

I knew that the crucial part was the second leg…I had intended to go around the Iberian peninsula, but the numbers in the rally book told me that the place to go was Ireland. So I set off the next morning, crossed the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium and took the tunnel train to Folkestone. Not without a nerve-wrecking two-hour dramatic delay at the terminal in Calais. I crossed England as quickly as I could and took the night boat in Fishguard to Ireland. The next morning I started my adventurous day in Rosslare, went to Dublin at rush hour, passed Cork and Tralee, went to Limerick and Galway, Roscommon and Sligo.

Basically, I toured most of the island in one day and bagged almost all big points there. After a tough day, I decided to have a relaxed stay in Sligo as there was no need for a rush: I couldn’t get the early ferry to Scotland in Belfast anyway. I bagged some points in Northern Ireland in the morning and arrived in Cairnryan around noon. After a few stops around Newcastle and Middle England I boarded on the tunnel train and enjoyed the luxury staying in my own bed that night. The last morning I bagged some more points in Belgium, Luxemburg, Alsace and Germany before I headed aback to the rally hotel. All seemed lost again when the bike stopped some 20 miles before the finish, but luckily it was only some under-pressure in the fuel system. The toughest contenders John and Giel shared my fate of 2014: they dropped out of the rally in Denmark and France, respectively. But as I was the only one to choose the winning route to Ireland, no-one could beat me this time: with a tremendous 30 % lead in points I won the European Tour 2016.

As a last treat in 2016, I joined the short Iceni Rally in East Anglia in September. Instead taking the XBR500 this time, I rode the big Pan European, but as a handicap, I chose to take my mate Johannes as a pillion with me. With an estimated total curb weight of about 550 kg, this should be enough handicap for the small roads in East Anglia. When we the saw John’s rally bike, the Triumph Explorer, and not his clunker Trident at the start, we knew that he took it serious this time, no handicap from his side.

All right, best case scenario would be a podium finish. During the 8 hours of the rally I missed my little XBR when I had to manoeuvre this big battle ship called Honda Pan European over some single track farm roads. In the end, I changed my plan with a smart little move that was quite risky, but gave us 175 more points… enough to win the rally with a 80 points lead over John. Incredible, the first two-up victory in the history of the European IBA rallies!

I really felt sorry for John and the other riders at the end of this year…All these five rallies were won by the same guy! I know that this gets a little boring for the other contenders. During the European Tour I was already wondering if I should take a break from rallying, should I win the rally. The last two and a half years were an incredible achievement – bagging records one by one. Since June 2014, I have won all rallies but two (DNF in the European Tour 2014 with a crushed BMW gearbox; second place in the Brit Butt Light 2015). Winning the Brit Butt as first non-Brit and defending it; winning two rallies on a non-farkled Honda XBR500; winning the first rally with a pillion; having won all four 24 h German Butt/European Road Runner Rallies since 2005; and last but not least: having won all (regular) European IBA rallies at least once (German Butt, Brit Butt, European Tour, European Road Runner, Scandinavian Rally, Brit Butt Light, Magic12, Iceni Rally). There is only one record left that will not be broken: Rob Roalfe’s six consecutive wins of the Brit Butt Rally 2008 – 2013. So what is there still left to do? Shouldn’t this be the best moment to retire and let others have some part of the cake as well?

Yes, it would be the best moment. However, I like this sport too much to renounce it completely. But a break would be a good idea.

And here comes the outlook for 2017. As I see it now, there is little chance that I will participate in a European rally. The biggest thing will be the Alpenbutt Rally anyway where the best riders will fight for the crown of the best rally rider in the Alps. But as the rally master, I can’t participate. Oh, I forgot to mention that I never was beaten when a rally covered the Alps. So this will be a nice hand-over. I have put all my 30 years riding experience in the Alps in this rally, all I can recommend and show to others, this is my legacy to the rallying and motorbiking community. This is as good as it gets.

And then there will be the other big project in 2017: after the drop-out in 2013 and the cancellation in 2015, I want to participate again in the mother of all long distance motorcycle rallies, the Iron Butt Rally in the USA. I feel it is probably the best time to try it again, I have gained a lot of experience and I’m at the top of my rallying performance. The European Tour 2016 was a good test. Unlike 2013, I’m not overwhelmed by this enormous task anymore. There’s still a lot of respect, after all it is a hell of a rally, but I sense it is not as frightening anymore as in 2013 when I was struggling to become a finisher on a small Honda XBR500. At the time being, my bike is refurbished by Mart!n which should give me peace of mind that a technical breakdown will be as unlikely as possible.

There is a small possibility that I might use the Brit Butt 2017 as a shakedown rally before the big Ironbutt to test the bike with all its old and new farkles and upgrades…. But I think I will decide this late in spring.

So there will be a big change in 2017. The last years were marked by intense rallying, maybe it’s time for something else? We will see…

Back at home. Yesterday, I did the eight our Iceni Rally in East Anglia with Johannes as my pillion. We had quite a good plan worked out and started at 9 a.m. from Cambridge. The morning was basically a long ride on farm roads until we reached Norwich in the early afternoon. Here we were enough ahead of the plan to add another big point at the coast. Last year, on the XBR500, this seemed so much easier, but riding with a ~630 kg bike on some back roads is a physical challenge.

I was often not very well focused and missed quite some turns. As a consequence, I could not add two smaller extra locations close to the finish, the was only time for one. And then I had a cunning idea: instead visiting the closer and more obvious one for 150 points, I decided to skip it and get to the other location worth 285 points. Only a small difference, but from my personal experience I knew that rallies are decided in the very end and a few points can make all the difference. The problem was that this route would result in getting four minutes late and thereby getting 200 penalty points. So, if I could catch up two minutes, I would still have a benefit. 30 minutes to go, give it a try! It worked, Johannes was a quick pillion at the bonus point as before and in the end we even arrived before the normal finish time. I counted 12.623 points, that sounded quite a lot; I had been optimizing the route during the last days. In the end there was no extra trophy for the best team (I was hoping for that one), only for the best newcomer. Third place went to Steve Eversfield, and then there were only John Young and us left. The difference between first and second place was a mere 99 points!!! Finally, the risky stunt with the last bonus point location had paid off and we came first! John was very disappointed coming second like this, but he shouldn’t be, because he rode a great rally and missed the first place by only 0.8 %! That’s basically a draw.

After the ceremony, we headed with both bikes to the Tunnel and arrived at 2 a.m. at my place. And interesting experience riding with pillion in a rally, but riding in East Anglia is better done on the small XBR! :-)

After a very successful rallying year, it is time to have some fun. Last year, I had won the new Iceni Rally in East Anglia on my little Honda XBR 500, despite a “veteran” handicap. The rally is the shortest LD rally with only eight hours but is supposed to hook new people to LD rallying. It is a nice day out with the opportunity to practice new things, especially at bonus point locations, because there are many compared to the total rally time.

This year I want to try something special. I have never ridden in a team or with a pillion before – why not trying this? So my mate Johannes will join me as a pillion and we will ride the rally together on the Honda Pan European. I removed the auxiliary tank and installed the original seat again. The idea to ride with the XBR would have been more work and I was simply too lazy. But that is still another option for the future. We rode only two-up once: when after the legendary XBR Alpentour 2003 his XR600 broke down in Liguria, we went back on my XBR with double luggage, crossing the Alps, having big fun chasing much bigger bikes.

The rally book was provided in advance and I have to say that finding the optimum route was a tough nut to crack – a good chance to test your planning approaches and tools. Rally master Mark Fowler has put together an interesting rally for newcomers and veterans.

If you want to follow our track in real-time from Saturday morning onwards:

https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=1263c57e4ddf4f0503

That’s it. I knew it could be a very good result when I realized that nobody had went to Ireland as well. Apart from the problems at the Eurotunnel and the “breakdown” just before the finish, the ride went very smooth. I think it was an excellent training for the “big dance” next year, the mother of all LD rallies, the Ironbutt Rally in the US. I think I found the right balance between riding and resting, I never was really tired and always felt I was under control (after from the panicking moments mentioned above).

So the ceremony came….

3rd place Dave Winter

2nd place Daniel Duvskog

1st place Robert Koeber

A very nice result and congratulations to Daniel and Dave!

I am back in the hotel room and I am waiting for my scoring. I arrived well at the finish in time. That is the most important thing, a clear improvement over the ET2014.

These were some intense 6 days. I’ve ridden 7860 km (4885 miles) in 5.5 days and have seen 14 countries. The name “European Tour” is well deserved. I have taken two ferry boats and two Eurotunnel trains. I have visited 66 of the 400 bonus point locations. I was soaked and I was sweating. I pushed my bike uphill on an Autobahn. I had moments of frustration, panic, and content but above all I was in a very good mood most of the time.

My plans worked very well and I could get the points I wanted to visit. In the end I chose a route from Stuttgart to Brno via the Alps, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. I was caught in a heavy thunderstorm and could not dry my gear for 1 day, riding damp to the checkpoint. From there, I chose the route to Ireland as it seemed to provide much more points and offered rest breaks on the ferries. I had not been to Western Ireland on a bike in 28 years.

But before I was trapped at the Eurotunnel where I lost more than two hours due to broken trains. Luckily I could still catch the ferry boat from Fishguard to Rosslare in the night. On Wednesday, I visited many points all over Ireland and did the rest on Thursday morning before I crossed from Northern Ireland to Scotland. I visited the Eastern coast around Newcastle and headed south via Leeds. I adapted my plan, crossed the Eurotunnel at midnight and spent the next rest break in my own bed. On the last day, I picked smaller points in Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Germany before I headed for the finish. It was 40 km to go to the finish when the bike that went so well during the tour stopped on the Autobahn and wouldn’t start again. I knew it was a petrol problem, but I tried to push the bike uphill to the nearby exit. When I needed a break, I tried to start again, it would fire and I would go very slowly to the finish. What a drama! I discovered that it is an under pressure problem in the fuel system, maybe a blocked tank vent, but nothing serious. But it was enough to start panicking, because I had done so well and now I would drop out???

Luckily I didn’t and this time I am a finisher! Unfortunately, my mates and strongest rivals John Young and Giel Kerkhof dropped out of the rally like I did in 2014. John had a broken final drive bearing and Giel bent his front wheel rolling over a kerb. I can only understand their frustration too well as this happened to me in the 2014 rally. The did excellent routes and it is a pity to miss them at the ceremony.

In one hour, I will be scored and I hope I will keep all of the many many points I have gathered, they seem to be a lot….

At 7 p.m., there will be the banquet and the trophy ceremony….

Today I will start my detour to go to the starting place of the European Tour 2016, the only real multi-day rally in Europe, this time organized by IBA UK. I do have unfinished business here: two years ago, at the European Tour 2014, I was in first place after the first leg and had an excellent second leg, when at the end of the fourth day, the gearbox of my BMW decided to initiate an irreversible, quick process of disintegration in the orange fields near Castelló de la Plana:

In the very second when I put the broken BMW on the main stand I had only one thought:

“That’s it! I’ve had enough!”

I never would ride a BMW again in rallies. The second time I dropped out during a rally in a virtual top position, the third time I needed a towing truck, countless problems with this bike. Finito. Aus, Epfe, Amen.

The statistics are very clear whether this decision was a good one: since that point, I rode 6 rallies with the new (old) Honda Pan European, came second once and won all other five rallies. Ah, and no technical problems whatsoever. No more questions, your honour.

I managed to be back at the rally finish in time, but not without a clear statement:So this time we meet again at the same place near Stuttgart. Rally check-in on Saturday, Start on Sunday morning. After 6 six riding days, we’ll arrive again in Stuttgart on Friday evening. Anything is possible, Ireland to Greece, Estonia to Portugal. More news on Saturday!

If you want to follow my GPS track from Sunday on, here is the SPOT link. I have set up an alternative track based on my phone which I run for experimental reasons. In both cases you’ll need a password that I’ll provide you if you drop me a short e-mail.

In the morning, we did a little walk to the nearby old cathedral of Königsberg (Kaliningrad), a brick-style church from the early 14th century. It was still closed. At one corner of the cathedral, the tomb of one of the greatest thinkers of all times is located: Immanuel Kant.

We returned to the hotel and met a guy from Chemnitz, East Germany who goes around the entire Baltic Sea with his little Simson moped. Chapeau!