Limbimtimwim bites the legs off Europe [Archive]

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limbimtimwim

9th August 2009, 07:45

Bit puzzled* to do serious writing.

I gots me a POS rattly Aprilia Pegaso for ￡620. Needed a new tyre. How bad can it be? I've nearly done 2000km on it so far with no problems. It's essentially the same as the original model BMW F650. Plan is to ride to Italy, where I plan on WWOOFing ( http://wwoof.it/ ) for a few months.

But first, a quick squiz around the UK and Europe. Suffice to say, Scotland has some excellent roads and weather for riding a bike. This was a little unexpected.

I did this over the course of a couple of days http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Dundee,+Angus,+UK&daddr=Cock+Bridge,+Aberdeenshire,+UK+to:Helmsdale, +Sutherland,+UK+to:John+O%27+Groats,+Wick,+Caithne ss,+UK+to:Kinbrace,+Sutherland,+UK+to:Tongue,+Lair g,+Sutherland,+UK+to:Laxford+Bridge,+Highland,+UK+ to:Inchnadamph,+Highland,+UK+to:Fort+Augustus,+Inv erness-Shire,+UK+to:newtonmore+to:perth+scotland+to:Dunde e,+Angus,+UK&geocode=&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=57.521723,-4.075928&sspn=2.714113,7.064209&ie=UTF8&ll=57.509922,-4.075928&spn=2.714991,7.064209&z=7 . First night in Helmsdale, second in Inchnadamph (Try saying that...) and then back to my friends in Dundee.

I took some photos.
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*Pissed off my face

limbimtimwim

9th August 2009, 07:49

merv

9th August 2009, 09:07

Perfect scenery, you are having a good time.

DMNTD

9th August 2009, 09:20

Wow! Jealous as hell man

Madness

9th August 2009, 09:40

Hoots man! That looks like a bonnie wee place to ride indeed.

I dare you to post a pic of you next to the Ape wearing a kilt.

Kendog

9th August 2009, 09:44

Loch Ness..
Did you see the monster?

Awesome trip you are on, keep up the reports as we love reading them.

Hitcher

9th August 2009, 18:32

Some seriously good scenery there. I see Cock Bridge has an erection problem.

MaxB

9th August 2009, 22:02

Great pictures. Good story, keep it coming.

Morcs

10th August 2009, 07:04

Dude make sure you go through the lake district on ya way south, and hit the passes on the way to wastwater - a truly epic, earie and beautiful spots with knarly roads :)

vifferman

10th August 2009, 09:25

Awesomeness, Limbimtimnimbimfinwinrintintin!
I hope you continue to have a really great adventure. :niceone:

kiwifruit

10th August 2009, 13:58

Cheers for the pics :cool:

shafty

10th August 2009, 23:50

Cracker stuff LBTW - great pics. You bagged a bargain with the Peggy-aso!

Gareth51

12th August 2009, 21:10

That Lighthouse looks the same as when I was there in '74.

shafty

23rd August 2009, 01:30

Whats happening LimTim? I'm missing the posts!! :banana:

limbimtimwim

4th September 2009, 02:59

Aye, sorry.

Apologies for not writing more.

Please note I am under the influence of german beer in Germany and may be insane. Especially this bockle stuff with the drunken boar. €0.65 and it's good shit.

I didn't take too much notice about what happens in the middle of the UK, I only stopped at Boggle Hole because it was on the coast, about half way and was cheap. It was at Boggle Hole I dropped peggy the rattly ass pegaso and broke her clutch lever on the steep road as I was turning her around.

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POO.

A new one cost ￡18. The new one is a genuine Aprilia part and looks to not be made out of cheese like the one I broke so perhaps this is for the better and it won't break so easy next time I need it not to break in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, mad props to 'Petité and France' in the big town/small city of Redcar who found one and had it the next day. It appears they were once Aprilia dealers and still maintain contacts with the supplier, so were able to sort me out quick.

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English/Scottish border
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Being broken down is not the end of the world. Being broken down can convert places you would otherwise not be interested into places you get to know and love for their charms.
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That is a chocolate fountain.

So yeah, from Boggle Hole I was able to catch a bus to Whitby. Not the Whitby near Porirua, the one on the East coast o' blighty ya know what I mean? Anyway; Whitby is what I guess is the typical English 'seaside resort'. In other words, a bit a a trashy poop-heap. True, there is sand here, I give them that, so it's not terrible. What Whitby has is a smashed up old Abbey and Captian Cook's ye'olde hang out back in the day as a claim to fame. Yes that Captain Cook. 'Discoverer of New Zealand' and cartographer of some other minor continental landmasses who beat us at sporting pursuits. Otherwise it is a mass of English people looking dumbfounded walking around and queuing for fish and chips. This is what they do best, so if you can weave you way around this semi-(most are overweight)-mobile-black-holes-of-common-sense-group-of-people-otherwise-known-as-the-English you can appreciate this is in fact a town where fishing and sea-bound vehicle maintenance is a good trade to be in. There is a natural harbour plus a seawall festooned with lighthouses.
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Whoa, this 'Julius Echter hefe-weisbier hell' is also damn good. Also €0.65. This is cheaper than Coke.

shafty

4th September 2009, 04:04

Good shyte; :niceone:Festooned is definitely THE word of the day!

Charlied1

4th September 2009, 16:52

Pleased you took the time to go to Robin Hoods Bay and Staithes. Even if Whitby wasnt your cup of tea.

limbimtimwim

6th September 2009, 01:16

London to Calais

So back down south to London after that and then away to France via a boat from Dover to Calais. Which was a very pleasant journey. Dover isn't much, just a castle on the hill, a rather brown town (As opposed to a beige one) I didn't manage to see anything worth stopping for until I got to the ferry terminal check in.

These guys run a slick operation here, you only have to show up 30 minutes before departure and the way your bike gets secured is great. You roll on, and two guys swoop in and tie down your bike with you still sitting on it. Tres magnifque! Interislander / Blue Bridge take note.
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GOODBYE ENGALAND

I headed South East with the intention of finding a camping ground later in the evening in France. Turns out the camping ground I stayed it was in fact in Belgium.
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Heading South-ish again I crossed the border between France and Belgium a few times. This is a reasonably hilly part of France and Belgium, so the roads are good for motorcycling
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scracha

6th September 2009, 08:57

Wait till you hit the biking roads in the Alps....you'll never leave.

I'm so jealous.

I think we all are.

rosie631

6th September 2009, 09:26

U lucky bugger. I'm so jealous. U are living the dream.

Pussy

6th September 2009, 10:26

A pic of the Millau bridge if you get anywhere near it, please Simon!

limbimtimwim

7th September 2009, 23:10

Wait till you hit the biking roads in the Alps....you'll never leave.
I'm so jealous.Oh those were good. But quite busy. I did leave, right now I am taking lunch/siesta at the organic farm I am working on at the moment.

limbimtimwim

7th September 2009, 23:12

A pic of the Millau bridge if you get anywhere near it, please Simon!At some stage I want to visit a friend in Paris, and I plan on making the trip go via that bridge. So I should get a photo or two.

ajturbo

7th September 2009, 23:33

good to see your alive matey...

and looks like you have lost even more weight?

limbimtimwim

7th September 2009, 23:38

Next breakdown happened in St Hubert, Belgium. Actually I had seen this one coming, but didn't think it was bad enough to be such a problem. I knew the front sprocket was a bit tired, but it started to make a 'cloonk-cloonk' noise as I moved along. Lucky for me, the only guy in town who spoke perfect English also had a KTM/Yamaha shop. He got a new set of sprockets and chain in the next day and fitted them. Hurrah! So thank you Jean-Claude Pecheur of Saint-Hubert! If you are ever in Walloon Belgium and need something done on your bike (Or even buy one, I thought the prices on the stuff in his store were pretty good) say hello: www.pecheurmoto.be .
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NOM!
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Naughty Augustienus!
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Anyway, Saint Hubert wasn't a bad place to be stuck really. It was very quiet and had a basilica, which was amazing. Actually, it wasn't that quiet because it is one of those really weird towns that plays music in the town centre. I guess that is to keep the ruffians away.

2much

8th September 2009, 04:38

It´s not quoted now so fuck off bitch...<img src='http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs195.snc1/6569_147411845759_696495759_3355839_2698232_n.jpg'>

Heading South-ish again I crossed the border between France and Belgium a few times. This is a reasonably hilly part of France and Belgium, so the roads are good for motorcycling

That there would be the Ardennes, my coro loop nowadays.

If you need a place to crash n drink beer in the south of holland, gimme a yell.

limbimtimwim

9th September 2009, 06:20

After Belgium I went to the small country of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is weird. There are some old castles, but the people's houses are not so old. What is going on here? Maybe the people were very poor until recently. Everyone's house looks post-war. Actually, post 1970, in a plain but not tasteless way. Well, hmm, un-inspired. Luxembourg city is set in a great way, but something is missing. I think maybe noise and excitement. What is awesome is the western border. The roads here are excellent. The surface is wonderful, the roads not-too-thin, not too busy and there are plenty of curves and relief to make things interesting. Motorcycling appears to be very popular here, and rightly so as the roads are good fun. Even on old peggy the overloaded pegaso I was enjoying myself.
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My fail at taking a photo of a thunderstorm.
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Lightning in there, I promise!
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A Château!

I went for a walk around Luxembourg city, which is perched on a cliff. A river runs through the middle of the town, down at the bottom of the valley. It's quite picturesque.

So after Luxembourg it is Germany. Last petrol station in the little L is pretty busy because fuel here is cheaper than in the big DE over the border. This station's pump understood my card and could take my PIN. First in Europe!

Quasi

9th September 2009, 10:07

ahhh - traveling man regales us with his tales again. Lots of purty pictures and nice words. Thanks LB for this entertaining and enlightening post:niceone:

limbimtimwim

11th September 2009, 02:32

Autobahns are not all unlimited speed. There are plenty of speed restrictions. Quite often when a curve appears there is a sign restricting you (Not suggesting...) that you do 100, Again when a lane is added or removed from the road, same thing. People are not doing the crazy speeds you would imagine given a lack of restrictions. Perhaps this is has happened in places where drugs are legal; people use their lack of restrictions wisely. I saw one motorcyclist going a 'crazy' speed on the autobahn. That's it. Quick, yes, but only one stupid quick person. I think he was trying to find out how fast his GSXR went. Which isn't really that stupid, kinda fun really. And I went right across Germany.
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Solar panels beside the road are not uncommon in Germany. These ones were part of a plant still under construction.

So the plan this evening was to stop in either Bamburg or Würtzburg for the evening. So when I got near it, I went into Würtzburg to check it out, and yes, it looked pretty good. So I found a campground, got some german food and beer and relaxed by the river.
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The next day I enjoyed walking around a historic city that had being fire bombed rather unnecessarily by the allies in world world two. Fire bombed as in incindary devices filled with cordite to burn the city to the ground.
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This odd former church is in the main square.
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The town has a nice river.
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And the bridge is lined with stuff like this. It's cool.
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The town has a fortress.
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View of the town from the fortress.

Remarkably the city's most amazing art work was spared: the ceiling of the Prince-Bishop's residence. Alas, no photos of the interior by me. They do not allow it. You must go see for yourself.
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The website does not do it justice. http://www.germanplaces.com/germany/wurzburg-residence-pictures.html
After Würtzburg on the 'bahn I passed some American Army types in their HUMVEEs and I saw fighter jets in the sky*. Looked like fun.
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So do these Yamaha YZF-R125s which are all over europe. Not much bigger than bicycles and not much louder..

ajturbo

11th September 2009, 06:21

wow... with a pipe like that , no wonder it would be quiet... you would only hear the chain clatter..!!!