Euro bimble 2014 - Romania

Friday 27th June 2014 The two riders saddled up and rode south at a gentle pace down through Westeros towards Kings Landing. The next day they would embark for the short crossing over the Narrow Seas to Bravos. Winter is coming, thought Dave..... Oops, wrong story..... Setting off So of course it rained on the first day. After two weeks of sunshine we got 20 miles down the A1 south when the heavens opened. After an hour of howling wind and lashing rain we took refuge in a Little Chef for coffee and sympathy where we met three bikers from Ipswich on their way home from a tour of the Scottish Highlands who had the same idea. Shelter from the storm Back underway in drying weather for the run down to Crofton Park in South London to the home of my son Jake and partner Val. Stage 1 complete. We enjoy an excellent night in the local Beer Emporium for burgers and real ale, where we are entertained by Peter, a giant Seth Efrican chef, three sheets to the wind b

Saturday 28th June 2014 We are on the road and heading for the Channel Tunnel at 8am. A thumb down signal from an oncoming sports bike rider warns us to slow down and, around the next corner we glide sedately past the copper with the radar gun standing on the central reservation. Thumb up sign from him, a good start to the day.   Buelligans start to gather in Cassel The Eurotunnel experience is a breeze as usual. Our neighbours are a couple on a K1600GT, an enormous bike with more carrying capacity than many a small car. It's not theirs but a loaner from BMW to replace their recalled R1200RT. The new water-cooled RT has a major rear shock problem and all bikes have been recalled to the dealers for a fix. They seemed happy enough as they headed off for the South of France. From Calais we head east for the short run to Cassel near the Belgian border. It's a small historic old town on a hill, with cobblestone roads and fine architecture. It has also bec

Sunday 29th June 2014 We are up and about surprisingly early for a morning after a party, no doubt the hangover will kick in later. So we shuffle back to the farmyard where our amazing hosts provide coffee and croissants. Before long the rain starts to come down again, no respite all morning. So more banter with the coffee. Maybe it will clear in a while. No such luck, so eventually in the early afternoon we depart for, in Mick's words, " the worst day on a bike ever". Camp site at the High Chapparal By the time we arrive at the High Chapparal in Luxembourg everything is soggy except our feet - thank you Altberg, your boots are amazing. The spray on the highway had to be seen to be believed. At times we are aquaplaning. But enough of this. We arrive at the camping ground around 8pm. The sky clears and the sun appears just in time to get the tents up and the gear drying. The High Chapparal is a great biker bar on the River Sure close to the pictures

Monday, 30th June 2014 We are up with the dawn. We are starting to get used to living with the sun. there's no pressure on today, we have no particular place to go. The sky is full of fast moving clouds and it's chilly here by the river at half five in the morning.   Parked up in Esch-sur- Sûre Yesterday the fly fishermen were out in force, trying to tickle trout from the fast flowing river, but with no apparent results. This morning an old fellow arrives and sets up his gear. He is ledgering, and with a minimum of fuss proceeds to pull out 7 or 8 fat trout in less than half an hour. Then back in his van and off for a good breakfast no doubt. At 10am we saddle up and roll into Esch-sur-Sure. The sun is out now and with the luggage off the bikes it's all freestyle riding. We have coffee and cake at the Cafe Eglise where we meet Colonel, the biggest dog in the world. The Colonel Esch is a beautiful little town climbing up two rocky outcrops that

Tuesday 1st July 2014 The mist is lying low over the River S ûre at dawn , the valley cold and ethereal as the coffee brews. By the time we are packed up and ready to go the sun has burned through and the day is warming up nicely. I use the Tomtom 'winding roads' option and it plots a lovely route across Luxembourg to the border with Germany. On the Luxembourg back roads This is a beautiful country with great roads, even the tiny tracks are smooth tarmac with not a pothole in sight. We traverse the Eifel Mountains, all hairpins and sweepers.  We stop for coffee in a small village at the border. It's a pub with a few tables across the road overlooking a river. There's no car park but so little traffic that we pull up outside the door and amble across the road. Coffee stop near the border And so on into Germany. The road takes us to the Nurburgring, running alongside the track for a few miles, but it's empty of speeding traffic. We arriv

Wednesday 2nd July 2014 Up with the lark and away. We follow the Rhine north for a few kilometres to the village of Remagen. Although the bridge here was made famous by the the John Guillermin film 'The Bridge at Remagen', that was a railway bridge and there is no road bridge here. Fortunately there is a ferry so we board and cross the Rhine in style. Having eaten our breakfast prematurely the previous night, we stop off at a village Bäckerie and fill up with coffee and rolls. The sun is shining and all is well with the world. Avoiding the autobahns we cruise across Rheinland Pfalz towards Hessen. Our ultimate destination is Fladungen in Northern Bavaria, in the Rhön National Park which straddles Bayern, Thuringia and Hessen.   Gliders Dropping down into a valley bottom we see an old Gasthof and stop for lunch. It is an Italian restaurant, rather oddly called Jimmy's, and does an excellent tortellini. We are heading for Vogelsberg which claims to be

T hursday 3rd July 2014 Another hot day is in prospect. The early morning mist smokes off the lake and the sun burns it's way through as we pack our gear onto the bikes. We are heading to Fladungen which is hosting an 'Old Timers' festival this weekend. 'Old Timer' celebrations are a big thing in Germany where nostalgia for all things post-war is huge. It encompasses the music, clothes and artefacts of a recently bygone age, especially renovated forms of transport from the 1950s and 1960s. A Germanic take on the American Dream.  It's only a lick and a spit to Fladungen so we are there before midday. We decided to come a day early as we thought the camp site may well be full, and so it proves. The nice lady says they are fully booked as we look over an entirely empty field. However after we explain that we have come all the way from Northern England to experience the unique atmosphere of the Fladungen Classics she relents and we're in. Camp s

Friday 4th July 2014 There will be no riding today, it's time to get into the spirit of the festival. Holding the event on American Independence Day is surely no coincidence. Most of the vehicles, fashions and music is American in nature. Bubble car spotted on our walk into town So we head into town on foot and find breakfast in a central bakery-cafe where we can watch the oldies arriving. We wander around soaking up the growing atmosphere then head to the pool for more swimming. It's very hot. The campsite is filling up rapidly and by the end of the day when we return to our tents we are surrounded by classic cars, Wohnmobiles and tents. Old Fiat roadster Berni's barn is buzzing tonight. The rows of benches in front of the huge screen are full of diehard fans but there are loads of people milling around in the yard sinking vast amounts of good German beer. The game itself is quite dull. The Germans grab an early goal and hold onto the lead throug

Saturday 5th July 2014 Mick's on the MFU bus It's Saturday, Fladungen Classics Day. We're taking a leisurely breakfast at the central cafe when a grand old bus pulls up across the road and close behind there is Charly Kaller. I first met Charly at a biker hotel in Törwang, high in the Bavarian Alps, back in 2008. He hails from Austria way over on the Czech/Slovak border beyond Vienna, but has lived in Heilbronn near Stuttgart for many years. Old train Charly is a member of the MFU club (Motorradfreunde Unterheimbach) and is here with 25 of the MFU many of whom I know from previous tours with Charly. It's lovely to meet up with so many old friends here in the heart of Deutschland.  The MFU has organised a bus and train tour around the Rhön countryside and Mick and I have been invited to accompany them. Charly, Mick and me on the train All aboard and we trundle off up hill and down dale. The old motor struggles to make it over some of the hi

Sunday 6th July 2014 We're packed and on the road at 07:30. We've been in one place for three nights now which is pretty unusual for our trips. It's 500km to our next site in Berchtesgaden so no time to lose. It takes a minimum of one hour to pack up our camping gear regardless of how fast we try to do it. Longer if it is raining. The first 100km are fantastic, swooping through the Rhön province on empty roads as the sun burns away the last of the mist. We stop for a break in a pretty village by a church, bells pealing away to call the faithful to matins. Then onto the autobahn at Bamberg. Serious speed now. We fly past Nürnberg and head torwards München. Now the traffic is building. Lots of Dutch camper vans heading for the Alps. Unpacking at Berchtesgaden camp site There are roadworks on the Munich ring road and the traffic comes to a halt. Filtering is verboten in Germany so the cars don't move over to let us through. Some on occasion will deli