In the morning, I packed my belongings and left the hotel as it didn’t provide any. I followed one of their suggestions and visited a café that was open on a Sunday morning. I had a coffee and muffin in a cozy place and could set off already at 8:30. During the night, it rained heavily but now the streets started to dry, the weather would still be cloudy for the next two hours.
I left Lunenburg in direction northwest, riding through a mix of forests and farm land. After a while I passed the little village of New Germany where also large plantations of Christmas trees were located.
Slowly the temperature rose and there were more sunny spells. I remembered that I hadn’t switched on my GPS tracking app and corrected that. During this trip I relied solely on my mobile phone that I charged continuously with a power bank stored away in a fairing box, safely protected by some fresh underwear.
Around 10:30 I arrived the town of Annapolis Royal that was composed of old wooden houses of this Maritime style. A lot of trees and meadows give it sometimes more the feel of a park than a town. I rolled into the ‚centre‘ of town and spotted a ‚German bakery‘. Curiously, I checked the menu at the outside and concluded that this must be a real German baker. Maybe later.
I rode through Fort Anne with the views on the bay and rolled slowed slowly through the mini waterfront before turning around. I stopped at the bakery again and as I was really thirsty, I thought it might be a good idea to consume some quenching liquid. In the bakery, I was attended by an East German waitress and could see that the bakers produced genuine products. So I ordered a salami roll with a Bavarian wheat beer. Unlike back home, I asked for a alcohol free version. In the background, I could hear some German Schlager. Entering customer showed that this place was quite popular. I finished my second breakfast and continued my ride.
I was entering Annapolis Valley, supposedly one of the highlights of Nova Scotia. I avoided the Highway 101 and chose the smaller Highway 201 that lead through lush fields with scattered farms. It has one of the mildest microclimates and is known for its fruit and vegetable crops. I enjoyed riding with the humming ST1300, the sunny weather was also playing along. I stopped here and there, taking pictures. In one village, I spotted a painter that was painting an enormous mural in great details – impressive.
In Kentville and Wolfville, the area got more urban, quite a wealthy area, it seems. My next stop was at Grand-Pré, a national historic site. The Grand-Pré National Historic Site is a park set aside to commemorate the Grand-Pré area of Nova Scotia as a centre of Acadian settlement from 1682 to 1755. The French settlers built dykes to hold back the tides along the Minas Basin. They created rich pastures for their animals and fertile fields for their crops. Grand-Pré became the bread basket of Acadia, and by the mid-18th century was the largest of the numerous Acadian communities around the Bay of Fundy and the coastline of Nova Scotia.
Serving as a kind of museum and memorial site, the Site tells the story of the Acadians that got caught in the middle of the colonial wars between the British and the French. Although French-speaking, they did not want to take sides, staying neutral. After the occupation of Nova Scotia by British troops, they did not want to swear an unconditional oath and allegiance to the British Crown. As a reaction, in 1755 their property was confiscated and almost all Arcadians were deported. Many Acadians died from drowning, starvation, imprisonment, and exposure. By modern terms, this would be considered an ‘ethnic cleansing’.
The “Landscape of Grand Pré” was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2012. The 1,300 hectares of polderised marshland and archaeological sites in the Grand-Pré area were recognized as an “exceptional example of the adaptation of the first European settlers to the conditions of the North American Atlantic coast” and as “a memorial to Acadian way of life and deportation”.
I visited the exhibition, attended a film, visited the park and chatted with some museum guides about remaining Acadian culture. After the visit, my trip was basically over. I rode westwards to Truro and further to the motorbike rental place. I changed clothes, packed my suitcases and waited for the pre-booked taxi that would get me to Halifax airport. The trip was quite entertaining, as I had a lively discussion with a well-informed driver. At the airport, I had quite some time on my hands, as my flight departure was delayed for two hours. Enough time to have dinner and to survive the Air Canada Lounge.
One flight to Frankfurt and a connecting flight to Brussels later I was back home. A nice short trip through most of Nova Scotia!
I was wondering which route to take in the morning in order to avoid a rain front. But as the rich breakfast and the following chat with the owner did take longer than expected, it did not matter anymore – the rain had started. Well, it didn’t matter then. I started off in the rain shortly after nine and headed for Baddeck and further southwest. The rain stopped after 30 minutes and I enjoy the easy ride on highway 105. Just after leaving the island of Cape Breton, I filled up and cleaned the windshield. My plan was to head for the east coast and to cross Nova Scotia at the southern shore. The sky was cloudy and I still had to pass a strong shower, but this would be the last time today. The area was lush with farmland and small forests.
Shortly before noon, I arrive at the small village of Sherbrooke. I had read something about a living museum, looked for it and found it. The internet page of the museum claims: “Sherbrooke Village depicts a typical Nova Scotian village from 1860 to pre-WW1. With approximately 80 buildings, over 25 of those open to the public, most with costumed interpreters, it is the largest Nova Scotia Museum site. Visit the working woodturner shop, blacksmith, pottery shop, and printery. During your visit, enjoy a delicious, light meal at McDaniel’s Tea Room & Restaurant, located within the Village or drop in to Village Treasures and Gifts for that perfect keepsake. Built on an economy of ship building, lumbering and gold mining, Sherbrooke Village reflects Nova Scotia as it was during its industrial boom in of the 1860s. Visit a place where time has stood still… visit Sherbrooke Village!“
It is basically a museum village where you can visit (almost) all buildings and get an idea of the professions that were important at that time. I stopped at the blacksmith and watched him forging an iron bar, turning it into pointy piece. He was a young lad and a kind of apprentice, learning the old techniques. When the real blacksmith arrived, he greeted me with a strong handshake. One of the kind that could squash your hand into a bloody pulp, if he wanted to. I was chatting with the apprentice for a while as I was interested in some chemical details.
At the next house, I visited a printing office and paper maker. I had another chat with the printing lady and some Austrian tourists when I overheard them. She printed recipes with types on a machine from the 1880s and showed me how to make hand-made paper from leftovers.
My next stop was at a drug store with a series of products, herbs an “OTC” products from the late 19th century. I passed by a potter and ended up at a woodturner and chair maker. When I told him about my father and his chairs, another tourist chipped in that her father from Germany had been also a carpenter. She even knew the carpenter university in Rosenheim. What a funny encounter!
I visited a general store, the courthouse and a soap maker, before I strolled back to the parking lot. This was a longer than expected, but very informative visit.
The next two hours I followed the Highway 7 westwards, little civilisation, lets of archipelagos, views on bays, lots of low pine forests, cloudy skies and dropping temperatures. At the lowest point, temperature dropped to 11 degrees, chillier than expected. Ride, ride, ride and keep the pace high. Needless to say that there are no police patrols in rural Nova Scotia.
In Musquodoboit Harbour, western civilisation had me back and I had a snack at Timmie’s (Tim Horton’s) where I also put on my inner liner as the temperatures were still on the chilly side. I swithed to the large highway now and crossed Halifax and rode another 100 km further to arrive in the UNESCO heritage town of Lunenburg.
Lunenburg is a charming coastal town steeped in history and maritime tradition. Established in 1753 by British colonists, it is one of the earliest and best-preserved examples of a planned British colonial settlement in North America. Its Old Town, with brightly painted wooden buildings and a grid street layout, has earned UNESCO World Heritage Site status. Perched along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, Lunenburg boasts a strong connection to the sea, once serving as a major shipbuilding hub. The town is home to the legendary Bluenose schooner, a celebrated racing vessel and Canadian icon featured on the dime.
Today, Lunenburg attracts visitors with its blend of historical charm, working waterfront, and vibrant arts scene. The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic offers insight into the area’s seafaring past, while galleries, shops, and cafes line the scenic harbor. Festivals, live music, and fresh seafood—especially lobster and scallops—enhance the town’s appeal. Despite its small size, Lunenburg has a cosmopolitan spirit, drawing artists, entrepreneurs, and travelers from around the world.
I checked in my hotel, the Lunenburg arms, and went out again to wander through the streets, taking a lot of pictures; as some rain was forecasted, I returned to my room before my reservation at a restaurant later at night. I inspected also the Bluenose II that was in the harbour. A pitturesque town with a lot of history.
At night, I had a good dinner at the Pea Beach Kitchen, where I planned also my last day of the trip tomorrow. Grand finale.
After the breakfast, I set off at 9:30 to do one circle of the famous Cabot Trail, the ring road around the Northern tip of Cape Breton. The owner gave me some good tips that should turn out to be as good ones later. I hoped that the horrible weather forecast would not materialise – and luckily it didn’t, I had no rain the whole day, just mostly sunny weather. I followed the advice to go counter-clockwise and did not regret it. I followed the Cabot Trail to the north and enjoyed some view on the coast.
I wondered when I should plan to fill up petrol, as stations are scarce. But as the consumption is low, I can afford to take it easy. In Neils Harbour, I followed the advice of the landlord to take the side road along the northern coast. In retrospect, this was an excellent idea, as it provided some of the best views of the whole day.
I returned to the main road and decided to fill up to give me some peace of mind for the rest of the day. To my surprise, only 16 litres fitted in the tank which means that the consumption is quite low (5.5 L/100 km; 43 mpg). I headed north to the northernmost tip of Cape Breton next to Bay Saint Lawrence, a small fishing harbour. I tried to ride to a remote lighthouse, but after 2 km the gravel road turned into a footpath. Well done, Google Maps! I turned around and tried to follow the coast in the opposite direction towards Meat Cove. I did not ride the whole way, only until I had enough of the gravel road and had taken enough pictures of scenic views.
I turned around again and went back to the Cabot Trail main road. I reached the west coast which turned out to be very different from the eastern side. The temperature was lower and it was more windy. The aspect was more maritime as the eastern side is more protected. I stopped at a viewpoint that informed me that this was a large geological formation – the Aspy Fault, a large rift that separates the north of the National Park of Cape Breton. Down at the coast. I felt a bit peckish, but food places were rare. Finally I stopped at a souvenir shop, mainly because it said “biker friendly”. I browsed the merchandise and acquired a T-shirt of the Cabot Trail of an acceptable design. I also purchased my lunch, aka icecream.
I noticed again how friendly people were – this is a general observation, genuine friendliness, such as greeting a stranger on the road. Very relaxing and showing a true kindness without pretending. The next stretch was probably the most scenic part of the trail, a great coastal road that went up and down overlooking the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Very beautiful.
I arrived at Chéticamp where suddenly the language switched to French/English. This was the enclave of French speaking arcadians, Chéticamp and Isle Madame are major Francophone centers on Cape Breton Island, with French being the dominant language in those areas. I stopped at a very colourful café and had a real espresso. In the adjacent gallery, many colourful artifacts of the local artist could be studied and purchased. I could have been inclined to consider a purchase, had the prices been considerably lower. The place was idyllic in its own way and I enjoyed the short break.
I rode further south along the coast before the road turned inward again. Soon I arrived at the Bras d’Or lake and decided I would try to visit the Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck. It was still 45 min open so the visit was worth a try. Bell was the famous inventor of the telephone who lived here for the last 40 years of his life. He was interested in many things and invented a series of devices. The museum also celebrates his groundbreaking progress in aviation, for example. Well worth a visit.
Acadia
Bell Museum
Back at the hotel the new daily menu was too tempting to not choose the full monty (aka the full menu). A surprisingly good bottle of Nova Scotia Pinot Noir accompanied the delicious dishes. I had entertaining chats with Holger the owner. I had browsed where to go to tomorrow. My first idea was to go to Prince Edward Island – until I checked the weather forecast. This made me change my mind – I will go for a long ride past Halifax tomorrow, stopping in the town of Lunenburg.
I was quite lazy this year when it comes to blogging – even the successful outcomes of the rallies this spring where I defended my titles (Brit Butt Rally, Magic 12 Rally) I did not consider worthy to report. But now I am on a short trip across the pond – something that does not occur every day.
I had to attend a conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada for a few days. Together with two colleagues, I presented our work at the BERM16, a scientific conference on reference materials that is the core business of what we do. It was a good and pleasant meeting with enriching exchanges and luckily, some months ago, I had a cunning idea to make the most out of this trip. I thought it would be a good idea to add a few days, rent a motorbike and discover Nova Scotia, a region somewhat “off the beaten track” in terms of motorbiking holidays. I had biked in Canada on my on XBR during the Iron Butt Rally in 2013, but I only got as far as Ontario and Quebec.
It was not that easy to find a place that rents motorbikes in Nova Scotia and ultimately there is only one place – Brookspeed Motorcycles in a remote location east of Truro. I reserved well in advance and the challenge was rather to organise the transport from downtown Halifax to there which was 70 min away. In found also a solution for this by arranging my first ever Uber ride. I had an entertaining chat with the driver from Ghana who dropped me off at 9:15 in the morning. Nigel the owner was already waiting and the bike, a Honda ST1300, was already waiting for me.
But before I would set off I had almost one hour of petrol talk with Nigel. I had brought my gear in a separate suitcase and packed my little luggage needed for the four days trip. The weather was great and quite warm for this part of the world. The V4 was humming when I headed eastwards towards Cape Breton, the island to the east of Nova Scotia. I spotted a sign of a memorial, parked the bike and walked to the beach where a memorial for the battle of Culloden was placed. The sign had sparked my curiosity. I had passed Culloden (to the east of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands) twice during rallies; it marked the end of Scottish struggle for independence when the Scottish lost this decisive battle against the English in 1746. It may seem strange to find such a memorial here, but it demonstrates the strong Gaelic heritage of this region, both Scottish and Irish, that still marks Nova Scotia (“New Scotland”) to this day. Many Scottish emigrated to the New World and settled here.
Memorial for the Battle of Culloden.
I followed Nigel’s advice to make a detour to Cape George. Sea views, bays, forests and small settlements lined my way and I enjoyed the views from the lighthouse at the Cape on the shores of Cape Breton on the opposite side.
In Antigonish I stopped at a Tim Horton’s for a sandwich and something to drink. A short break, the plan of this trip is to have a relaxed ride, to have a break from all these rides under time pressure. I crossed the Canso Strait and entered Cape Breton. I decided to ride on the West Coast. In general, there is a lot of nature, few houses and little infrastructure. In a way it is comparable to rural Scotland or Northern Scandinavia. I made good progress as average is decent, despite the low speed limits: as there are no towns and no traffic, riding speed is constant. In Mabou, I decided to fill up early, as petrol stations are scarce. I went up further north until I turned eastwards, I had plenty of time on my hands today, although I had to arrive before 6 p.m. at my hotel today. I passed Lake Ainslie until I reached Whycocomagh at an arm of the Lake Bras d’Or, a large estuary in the centre of Cape Breton, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. The views on the lake are quite nice and when I reached Baddeck, I expected a large touristic town. Well, it is touristic in a way, but much smaller than expected. You see a lot of names in Gaelic on the island, including all the town names. The roads I was riding on today had poetic names – the Sunrise Trail, the Ceilidh Trail…the largest one is reserved for tomorrow/ the Cabot Trail.
I arrived well in time at my hotel, the Chanterelle Inn. I had selected it as it is a small, private-run hotel with exceptional food. A small, but very cozy and friendly place. I had a longer chat with the owner when it turned out he was from Germany! We shared funny expat stories and soon I had to enter my plush room to have a short shower before the dinner would start at 6:30 sharply. There are only few guests and all dishes of the menus are served at the same time. A very familiar atmosphere. Excellent food (I took the degustation menu) with only local wines from Nova Scotia (surprisingly good!). A true gem.
Tomorrow I will ride the Cabot Trail, I don’t know yet if clockwise or counter-clockwise, this depends on the short-term weather forecast tomorrow.
Comme d’habitude, it’s the time of the year to sum up what was going on this year…at least with respect to motorbiking. Not as spectacular as 2023, but not boring either. Some highs and not so highs, but entertaining.
The first motorcycle-related ‘activity’ this year was a sad one. End of January, many fellow motorcycle riders from Britain and beyond joined in Cornwall to pay the last honours to Kevin Weller. Kevin and Lyn were a great couple, inseparable, riding everywhere during rallies and rides, always good for a laugh. After the touching ceremony, we joined Lyn at the wake to celebrate Kevin’s life.
The first European Ride to Eat in February this year was in Northern France, close to the Belgian border. The topic this year was ‘motorcycle statues’. After a cool ride and the obligatory picture, we joined for dinner and a good chat.
My BMW dealer invited for a test ride day in March, but I was too late to realise it, so I could only pick rides with the ‘less desirable’ models. So I had to choose a F 900 GSA and a S1000RR. The downside with these tests is that you can only ride in a guided group. This was not a big deal with the 105 hp two cylinder inline GSA, a solid bike. The 270º firing interval makes the motor agile, but gives it also a somewhat rough character. Very different: the inline four beast. S1000RR. Not one R, bur two RR. A whopping 210 hp.
Riding in a slow group was painful, I could only rev it up to 50 % nominal-speed range. But this was enough for about 100 hp and quite impressive, long before the real music kicks in. The riding position was surprisingly relaxed, not riding on a razor’s edge as expected. But even with ‘the hand break on’, the traction control light in the dashboard was flickering like a disco light. Flabbergasting. Would be interesting to ride it properly.
In April, I was invited by the IBA UK’s president Phil Weston to give a talk about long-distance motorcycle rallying at the IBA UK’s annual jamboree. I gladly accepted and presented my experiences and ‘acquired wisdom’ in front of an interested crowd in Coventry.
As I had planned to do a tour with the XBR in summer, I started to work on the bike in spring. I had ordered a large windshield called Slip Streamer Turbo. It was the largest windshield I could find that had some universal mounts. It was a bit tricky to attach it to the XBR, but in the end I managed. It replaced my old, smaller windshield that I was using for decades. As the saying goes: the better is the enemy of the good. The massive windshield provides me with an even larger surface to cover me of the wind and the cold, two aspects that I deemed important from my next trip. I did some test rides and concluded that the new gadget was stable and should be reliable for future adventures.
Another major improvement was to build a mount for my auxiliary tank to push the bikes fuel capacity from 20 L to 37 L. I had the tank mounted to the XBR in 2013 Iron Butt Rally but I used a different amount in the past. As this amount was not available anymore I had to make a new one. I decided to apply my dodgy welding skills to construct a basis where the tank could be mounted on. The whole thing would go on my rack in the back of the bike where normally my big 80 L aluminium box would be placed. I still had some iron lying around and started to construct what looked like a hashtag and welded it together. In the end the whole thing seemed to work and after I had connected the fuel line to some new connectors that combined the old and the auxiliary fuel line together. I also invested in a few more farkles such as a new GPS holder and was quite happy with the result of all the transformation.
The railing year started early with the 12 hour Brit Butt Light rally. The starting point was near Bristol were all riders met at the same location in the morning. The difference to longer rallies is that the riders get the rally documentation already a few days before the start. In my case I thought I had an excellent plan albeit a very ambitious one. It turned out that my plan indeed was very ambitious as I had to drop a point or two in order to stay on schedule but I had fun and a good weather and ride made it a nice day out. I even got close to the vicinity of Greater London before I turned around, making a detour through the centre of Oxford and Bristol before I arrived back at the finish. I thought that I had done an almost perfect rally as I had to ride really very engaged to make this plan work.
At the scoring I realised that one of my combos that I had chosen so cunningly was missing one location. I went back to my bike to doublecheck. Indeed I had not visited one location? I checked again my plan. Indeed, during planning I had missed one location on the map probably because it was of a light colour and went unnoticed. This was very frustrating as I had double and triple checked my whole route and did not spot that. This meant that I lost a tremendous amount of points as my whole plan had suddenly collapsed. In the end I achieved a second place behind Arian Steiner and was quite miffed with the result. I don’t have a problem that someone has a better performance than I do, but when these stupid errors happen I virtually kick myself in the ass. This was an error not to be repeated.
The next opportunity to make up for this error came already two weeks later. I had decided to join a new rally offered in Europe double point the Celtic rally, organised by the IBA Ireland. This first rally was called the tartan edition and took place in Scotland. This was an opportunity I could not miss. I always love to ride in Scotland and then 12 hours of rallying that was not to be missed. I took the ferry from Rotterdam to Hull overnight and rode up to the Scottish East Coast the next day, a smooth ride without any pressure. I joined some other participants in the Rally Hotel in Dundee and early the next morning we set off for our 12 hour plan that we had designed to ride the days before. We all set off from an iconic point and I still had not really fully understood all the rally rules as it turned out later. Nevertheless I followed my plan and rode first through the lowlands and later up to the highlands all the way up to Inverness and then to the west coast open where I had to walk up to an old castle in Oban. I did enjoy the ride and was not aware that I had not fully understood the rally rules as I passed several locations that I had not considered eligible according to the rules, thereby giving away a big sum of points along the way. This was really a very nice ride even the weather was so-so, still a bit fresh as it was only beginning of May. I returned to the finish in the same hotel and learned only at the scoring of my massive misunderstanding! Did I cock up again? However, I was lucky enough to have sufficient points to come on first place and to be the first winner of this new Irish rally. The next day I rode back through Scotland and England and arrived in Belgium with a pretty much worn tyre.
A little interlude was the German Ride to Eat in May. I picked my old ST1100 for a day out. The meeting point was at the Teufelstisch in the Palatinate and quite a big bunch of riders joined. We met for dinner in Pirmasens and I rode home afterwards. I concluded that the old steed is still a great long distance bike and sponsored a new shock shortly after. I found a place in internet that could replace the contacts of my old Garmin Zumo 590 so the navigation is again up to its job.
I did another test ride day, but this time at a Honda dealer. I had signed up for testing the Transalp and the Africa Twin. The first bike was all right, maybe a bit strained, but ok. But I was really surprised about the performance of the Africa Twin, a bike that I could imagine as a future RTW bike.
Hannes Bagar, who is still riding a test bike with 550.000 km on the clock – without big issues. I had chosen a bike with DCT – the automatic transmission system. To my surprise, I got used to it immediately. The ride was super smooth – both in terms of suspension (typical Belgian concrete roads) and because of the absence of any load changes. Honestly, truly impressive. A test to be remembered.
In June I had everything ready – a cunning, perfect plan and a prepared bike to run the 12 hours Magic 12 rally in Baden-Würtemberg in the south-west of Germany. Just before I set off the news reached me that the rally was cancelled – the heavy rains in Germany had caused a lot of floodings that lead to a declaration of state of emergency. Not some good conditions to hold a rally. It was postponed to 2026.
In early July, I visited the yearly XBR meeting in Franconia – I had missed it for various reasons the last years. Although I had to squeeze in a short business trip to Munich, it was good to be with the XBR500 and GB500 lovers. Lots of fuel talk.
In August it was finally time to take my raucous, 680cc ‘yippie ki yay’ XBR to the Alpes again. I organised another ‘XBR Alpentour’ for the old friends. It was the 30th anniversary of the first one in 1994; I had organised one every August until 2014. Since then, it has only happened two times that we brought the old group together. So it was a special occasion again. But first I had planned a pre-tour with Gernot and Johannes as a warm-up. We met in Tegernsee and rode through the Bavarian Pre-Alps and over the TImmelsjoch to our base for the next days, the Hotel Penegal on top of the Penegal mountain. From there, you have spectacular views over the Adige valley and the Italian Alps. The next day, Johannes and I did a tour over the Stelvio Pass, Umbrail and Ofen Pass to do a lunch break in Livigno. We returned back to the hotel over the Gavia and Tonale passes. The following day, Gernot joined us and we rode to the Croce Domini Pass and back home again. We were warmed up now and left the Penegal the next day to meet the other chaps in a nice, traditional restaurant near Sterzing for lunch. Spectacular food and good company, the secret of the XBR Alpentours. Apart from the great roads, of course. The next three days, we visited all the great places in the area – Southern Dolomites, Pasubio area and Lake Garda area with the Monte Baldo area – bringing back good old memories and making new ones. A great time together!
In September, it was time to do the Brit Butt Rally, finally again as defending champion. As ever, some great trip with lots of memories made. The result was very pleasing, I had to pay many rounds after the ceremony which I did with great pleasure – winning the Brit Butt Rally, the longest, frequently organised long-distance motorcycle rally is always something special. I should know – this was already the sixth time 🤗. The report is here.
Locations of the BBR24
A tricky location. In the end, this was the only BP picture that was recognised and I didn’t get the points. The instructions for the chapel required that the bike has to be in the picture; the rally tean argued that the whole bike should be visible…
In autumn, two articles were published about me and my tours and bikes. First, a whole one-pager in the prestigious ‘Süddeutsche Zeitung’ and somewhat later a paragraph in an article about high mileage bikes in Bike, the largest motorcycle magazine in Britain. Very nice indeed. Links are in the top menu of this page.
End of October, I rode to the European Ride to Eat at the Faaker See in Carinthia in Austria, stayed for the dinner and started a business trip the next day that lead me to the Lago Maggiore and back to Miesbach and Belgium. A relaxed, but most fitting trip to conclude the year 2024. All in all, a more kind of ‘average, good’ year 😁, with the exception of the Nordic trip with the XBR. That was epic, even or because of the outcome.
What’s up for 2025? Well, the usual rallies – BBR, Celtic, M12 – and the six days rally through France, Spain and Portugal. Looking forward to that. And there’s another possible job for the old XBR to visit another, so far unknown country: I heard that it is now possible to enter Algeria on motorbike…more on this channel.
Visit the two furthest points North and South on mainland Europe drivable by road in three days. On a 1986 Honda XBR500.
In the beginning, there was the idea to join the European Ride to Eat in Estonia. A ride to eat is a get-together of IBA riders to meet for a picture on a Saturday at 4 p.m. and later having dinner together. In case of a Europan R2E, this place can be anywhere in Europe. The June meeting is located in Tartu, Estonia. My old Honda XBR500 has been to every country in Europe – except Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and….Estonia! So it was a no-brainer to decide to join the R2E with the old thumper.
So far, so good. Some months ago, fellow IBA rider Arjen had an idea and shared it: is there anybody interested to do a European End-to-End ride afterwards? The website of the Ironbutt Association UK states:
“This ride is a multi-day challenge, with three levels to suit the rides LD riding ability. Planning the route and managing their ride time, sleep and fatigue is an important factor for success.
The two furthest points North and South on mainland Europe drivable by road.
Nordkapp, Norway, 71.169466, 25.783198
Tarifa, Spain, 36.008538, -5.606893
The ride is classed as Extreme at the three Levels which are categorised by time taken to undertake the ride.
End to End (less than 78 hrs)
Insanity (less than 72 hrs)
Insanity Gold (less than 66 hrs)”
When being up in Estonia, you’re almost close to one possible starting point, aren’t you? Not quite. Northern Europe is big. I had this ride on my mind…why not doing it now?
There is only a small problem. The ride is considered an extreme ride, but should pose no big problem for an experienced LD rider…on a modern bike with >1000cc, fairing, high windshield, heated grips, heated saddle, etc…And my choice is…a 38 year old, 498 cc, one cylinder bike with 402.000 km on the clock. Quite an obvious choice, isn’t it?
I last visited the North Cape on July 1st 1993 on the same XBR…at 7 degrees and totally frozen. The forecast predicts some 5 degrees for next Tuesday. As I said, modern bikes are rolling living rooms. The old XBR is not. Another challenge will be my traveling speed. While my 110 – 120 km/h is sufficient for Norway, Finland and Sweden, it is rather slow for the rest of the trip. And no, a cruise control is not available.
The ride is similar to the Finnish North Cape – Gibraltar ride that existed for many years. In the Halls of Fame of both IBA Finland and IBA UK, almost all successful finishers had big bikes and nobody used a bike smaller than 650 cc. Well, that seems like a challenge!
But first, the bike needed some nursing. The last ride was two years ago, the trip to the Balkans. The XBR still carried the dirt of Albania. One idea was to increase the protection. I had bought a large(r) windscreen in the US that should replace my screen that served me over many years and countries. Another plan was to connect my 17 L auxiliary tank of the BMW. I just needed to i) build a mounting base and ii) connect the fuel line to the carburetor. And need to mount a new GPS cradle for the new Garmin Sumo XT. And to connect the tablet. And the heated gear. And a full service with fresh tyres.
Well, what is the plan? Well, first I will ride to the Ride to Eat in Estonia on Saturday and take the ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki on Sunday and ride up to the northern end of the Baltic Sea. The next day, I will pass the Inari Lake and arrive at Honningsvåg, the northernmost town in the world:
On Tuesday morning, I will set off at the North Cape and arrive not later than 78 hours later in Tarifa.
After a relaxing evening and night in Tarifa, I will head back home in a relaxed way in two days. You will be able to follow me via my GPS track that will be active from Thursday evening onwards.
This is my usual writeup of the major events that happened this year. And what a year it was! After four meagre years, long distance rallying had a high tide again. In total, 25 rallying days in the saddle. That’s….quite a lot. Approximately 500 hours of riding pleasure under competitive conditions. The highest number ever which will not be reached again. Let’s see what happens if I use this new “AI button” and ask it to write a summary of this post:
Summary of Motorcycle Year 2023
The year 2023 was an eventful one for the rider, encompassing long-distance rallies and memorable journeys. It commenced with a European ride to the Olympic Stadium and included a switch to a new bike due to unforeseen circumstances. A significant highlight was the Iron Butt Rally, where the rider demonstrated competitive prowess and resilience, earning a Gold Medal finish and securing the title of best European rider. This victory was followed by the 12 Days European Rally, marked by strategic riding and scenic adventures. Additionally, the rider triumphed in the Brit Butt Rally, reclaiming the winning position after facing previous setbacks. Culinary experiences during the rallies added a unique flavor to the year. The post reflects on the impressive achievements, acknowledges room for further growth, and hints at a promising future in motorbiking adventures. With a diverse array of rallies and ride events, the year truly encapsulated the spirit of long-distance motorcycle riding.
Artificial Intelligence provided by WordPress
Hmmmm, pretty good, albeit not perfect. Maybe I should stop blogging and leave this to A.I.? No, I am still here to stay. Let’s start.
Preparations in spring
The year started off easy with an European ride to eat to the Olympic stadium in Amsterdam in February, meeting again many of the weirdos in this sport. A short trip from the Belgian lowlands, just the right distance for a quick winter ride. In March I realized that my once refurbished rear shock of the BMW was leaking which caused a panic attack. As I was an entrant to the Iron Butt Rally 2023, I had only a few weeks until I had to ship the bike to Canada.
This meant that there was no time to fix the bike as the shock had to be removed, sent to the seller (warranty) who would send it to the manufacturer and then the whole thing backwards… This would leave me with no time to test things before the IBR, and probably the deadline could not be met anyway. So a decision had to be taken.
The only logic decision was to get a new bike. Seems unavoidable, doesn’t it? I sold the 65.000 km red K1600GT to my dealer and bought a 7.500 km white K1600GT from him. I had to wait for the registration and the swapping of all the farces from one bike to the other which meant I had to ride to the European Ride to Eat on my old Honda Pan European. My old trusted steed took me to Barcelona and back without any issues. Actually I had a big time on my favorite route at the Costa Brava and around the Montseny. Meeting point was the Olympic stadium of Barcelona, followed by the usual dinner.
Back home I finally could pick up my new bike, just in time to do a test ride to Italy and a Benelux Four Corners Ride that I completed, but I never handed in. In any case, the new K1600 behaved very well and I could ship it to Canada with a optimistic conscience.
But before that, I had to do my first rally this year; the Magic 12 Rally in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Everything went well and I could book my first win this year. After the debacle of the previous year, this was quite satisfying. The bike and the new rugged tablet worked perfectly; All of this above and more can be read in this post.
During a week back home in Bavaria, it was the only time to do a proper ride with an XBR this year: a ride along the Bavarian Alps reminds me how beautiful this area is. Especially in May.
With 680cc in paradise.
The Iron Butt Rally
And then it was time for “the Big Dance”, aka the Iron Butt Rally. This time, my objective was a different one: as I had achieved a finisher status in 2017 at the second attempt, I planned to do more of a competitive rally this time, although I planned to hold my horses in leg 1 and 2 to get used to the competitive pace of the IBR. I am still preparing a report about this adventure, it will be published at a later stage. For the time being, I give only a short summary of this epic ride.
After some interesting pre-start days in Pittsburgh, we set off on a Monday morning (see 3:38 min) to be 11 days on the road. I played it very safe in leg 1 and did not dare to ride at night through the forests of Vermont. And indeed, the first riders ended up in hospital when they crashed into some deer there. I visited Boston area and New York City by night instead. After a quick visit to Atlantic City and Baltimore, I headed west for the first checkpoint in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I had indeed taken it slow, as I was only on 37th place of 110 riders. For the second leg, I had to ramp up the effort a bit. In order to increase my points, I had to go to L.A. via El Paso and Phoenix. From there, I crossed the Nevada desert and blinding Las Vegas to end up in Utah. The next day, I crossed the Rockies and arrived early in Denver for a tyre change before the arrival at the second checkpoint in Denver. I climbed up 10 places in the ranking to the 27th place with this leg, but the biggest chunk was before me: the third leg with five riding days. In order to improve further, I had to go west to San Francisco, down to San Diego and back to El Paso. From New Mexico to Kentucky I rode 22 hours without any bonus point location. I went to Delaware and up again to NYC before I turned west and rode the last stint to the finish in Pittsburgh. I had done it again! This time, with a “proper” ride with 11.100 miles and without any problems, enjoying many rest breaks. I lost some points due to a missing picture and a malfunctioning SD card, but my final standing was quite good under these circumstances: Gold Medal finisher and best European at 16th place! I knew I could have done better, but this was a kind of apprenticeship in competitive IBR rallying, so I was quite happy with the result.
IBR ceremony
Arizona
Gilroy, garlic capital
San Francisco
Road closure? – use the flag method!
Group picture, leg 1
The trophy
Arrival at Denver checkpoint, leg 2
At the start in Pittsburgh
Before the start
Find the right corn cob among a hundred!
Katz’s, New York City
The first bonus point location visited
The parking lot at the start
Final standings. 16th out of 108 starters and 94 finishers
Total mileage during the 2023 Iron Butt Rally (17196.4 km)
Philadelphia cheese steak
After the rally, I returned to Toronto and flew back to Paris. I used July to relax and to prepare the next big thing: the 12 Days European Rally. Nominally even longer than the Iron Butt Rally, it was an event that would lead you through the whole of Europe.
The 12 Days European Rally
One advantage was the location: the start and finish was in Eindhoven, only 25 min away from my place in Belgium. The participation was unfortunately rather low for such an event, many people in Europe felt probably overwhelmed by this task to compete 12 days, interrupted only by one checkpoint in the Alps. Without going into details, I was not happy with the layout of the rally and how the interesting locations were distributed over Europe: Northern Europe, the British Isles and South-Western Europe was basically not worth visiting through the layout of the combination bonuses that were mainly located in Central Europe. Additionally, at least 19 countries needed to be visited which meant that all the smaller states including the Balkans were high on the list.
I figured out that the key was to combine combos for maximum efficiency. In terms of riding style, I applied the same focussed, but rather relaxed approach as in the IBR, leaving room for rather long rest breaks.
As described in the dedicated rally report, at the checkpoint, my mate Stefan organized a fantastic pit stop that included a wheel/tyre and oil change. On the second leg, I visited the whole of Italy, crossed by boat to Albania and worked my way upwards back to the Netherlands, overcoming some critical situations that should not form part of any rally on purpose. As mentioned in the report, I will not speak about these incidents in public. I tried to make the best out of it and maintained my steady pace, having fun on many of the twisting roads such as the Dalmatian coast road in Croatia. Although my execution was not flawless (I rode past a huge combo location in the rain on the first day), I had most points at the finish at won this probably one-time rally by a large margin. In the end I had visited 22 countries in 12 days: The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Andorra, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, San Marino, The Vatican, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. The report can be found here.
Climbing up 255 stairs of a former blast furnace in Duisburg.
Croatian coast in Zadar.
Group picture in Dobrun, Bosnia. Worth 8000 points if five riders are present. Not.
Drina River, Bosnia.
Tara Bridge, Montenegro.
Iconic Castel del Monte, Puglia. Built for Friedrich II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
At the tip of the Italian boot: Calabria.
Salerno by night.
I had no time to receive Pope Francis. Never mind.
Hutzlmandl’s Service Team in action.
Simmerl and Stefan at the pit stop.
Getting caught in a hailstorm on a mountain in Switzerland
Casino in Monaco
Col de la Bonette, highest pass in Europe, too windy to take a picture standing
Time for a chat with Eric after a veeery quick ride together
Peine del viento, San Sebastián
Soaked at “Land’s End”of Bretagne, France
12 Days Rally statistics
Something I had not stressed so far this year how I turned the second leg of the 12 Days Rally into a nice example of “how to rally in style”. In contrast to the IBR, I took the time to check in early (as the mandatory rest breaks had to be started before midnight) and to have a good dinner…every night. Let me use this opportunity to put a bit of gastronomic touch to this blog 😇.
Autogrill road food, Calabria, Italy (delicious)
Fried seafood, Bari harbour, Italy
Grilled octopus, Montenegro
Lamb chops, Serbia
Mixed Grill, Slovenia
Wild boar goulash, Croatia
Sea bass, Salerno Bay, Italy
The Brit Butt Rally
Only two weeks later, I set off for the last rally this year: The Brit Butt Rally. After my golden period between 2015 – 2018 with four consecutive wins, I faced a series of setbacks in 2019 (DNF, leaking tyre and leaking oil sump), in 2021 (hiccups due to electronic scoring and total road closure of the M4, 6th place), and in 2022 (choosing the wrong route due to a tiny planning error, 3rd place). So I was happy to perform perfectly on a challenging route through the Midlands, Wales, Devon, London, East Anglia and back to Coventry. I had some issues with my malfunctioning auxiliary lights, but the new BMW performed perfectly like the whole year, a truly perfect rally bike as long as gravel roads can be avoided. So I received my fifth winning trophy, properly challenged by 2nd and 3rd places Arjen Steiner and Scott Lloyd who will be tough competitors in the future to be reckoned with.
Epilogue
As this year was composed mainly of rallies and Ride to Eats, I concluded the year with a business trip to Munich and the Lago Maggiore and a later Ride to Eat in Paris where we met in front of the Eiffel Tower and had dinner afterwards.
In total, I rode about 48.000 km on the BMWs, 3.000 km on the old ST1100 and 200-300 km on XBRs. A totally different year from 2022….and probably from 2024 as well, as I plan to use again more the old XBR500 with 402.000 km on the clock next year. The new BMW K1600GT behaved very convincingly and I hope it will continue like this.
After all these successes, there is of course a kind of void. Three wins and a gold medal finish in the IBR, how much better can it get? There will probably be no other European rally over 12 days, I have already won every major LD rally in Europe, so the remaining challenge could only be to perform better in the Iron Butt Rally. The 16th place was very good, but I know that there is still room for improvement, especially now that I know how to compete in the IBR. With more efficiency and longer riding days, I guess a potential finish in the high single digit places could be possible if everything works out perfectly. Anything better than this is basically impossible for an European rider IMHO, after all, rallying in America is fundamentally different from Europe. But when I will do another IBR, who knows…
So next year will be a “small” motorbiking year again, but I already have some ideas to make it interesting…stay tuned!😉
The year 2023. Not all trips were recorded, but most.
Hutzlmandl On Tour 