No idea how they do it but P&O know when I've packed ratchet straps. And whenever i bring my own, they have them onboard. Whenever i travel without, they give me a crappy piece of blue rope.
They've also replaced the proper bars of soap in showers with those plastic squirty soap dispensers. The type that break after 6 months and can be seen in all their useless glory in Premier Inns throughout the country.
Woken at 5am this morning. Or 7am, as P&O liked to call it. Need to get my head around time difference. Bright sun, thin curtains, loud tannoy.
Hit the motorway for the usual long dull slog outta Belgium. Headed south east towards Luxembourg. By Brussels, or Luxembourg at the latest, you can usually get a handle on the weather and aim for the good stuff. No concrete plans but as far as i was concerned it was always gonna come down to koblenz/mosel or black forest or south east France this year. Weather looked good all round so decided to split it down the middle and head to the black forest. Providing the weather is kind, it's guaranteed laughs.
Loads of roadworks in Belgium. Actually, most of holdups were caused by tractors cutting grass in central reservation of motorway. Saw one car nearly twat into back of a tractor but thankfully he clocked it at the last minute. Big holdup just before Luxembourg. A lorry had gone into back of another lorry and then apparently caught fire. Most of the stationary traffic parted to let me through. A few Belgians didn't see me but i guarantee every single French driver threw themselves in the gutter, including lorries and buses.
Stopped for a tank of cheap fuel in Luxembourg. Right hand was completely numb from vibrations and i was feeling the chill long before i stopped. 17 degrees is usually right enough, but factor in several hours of 90mph wind chill against unlined leathers and it takes its toll.
Jumped off the bike, ripped gloves off, pulled woolly hat and several layers of clothing out of panniers and quickly layered up. As i was jumping around trying to get some blood flowing through my hands again, a German bloke came over to chat. He was sat in the sun, soaking up some rays when i pulled up and he thought I was having a fit or something. Had a nice little chat that ended on the lines of:
'Where you heading?'
'Black forest'
'You'll love it'
'Yes i will!'
He said Baden-Baden is a good place for supplies. Tools, equipment, biking stuff etc etc. Thankfully I'm good but it's worth remembering. He also said the black forest is where lots of Germans go on their jollies if they can't be arsed to travel further afield.
Lots of other motorists in service station taking advantage of Luxembourg's cheap prices. The services was like a cash n carry. I didn't want a huge bucket of rolling baccy for 30 euro, but i did want some food. A P&O breakfast takes you a long way, but that was hours ago. Picked up a rather sorry looking ham, brie and walnut sandwich but thankfully it was delicious. It certainly tasted far nicer than it looked.
The toilets were completely open plan which was quite a surprise. I'm reasonably well travelled so I'm familiar with squat & drops in Europe, open pits in the mountains of Canada and tiny saloon doors on cubicals in the States. Urinals in full visibility of everyone in the service station were a new one on me though. Anyway needs must. Bear in mind the French have no shame and go wherever and whenever they need to. At least i make the effort to find a tree.
Suitably refreshed i cracked on to the black forest. Motorway to sarre-union, including two short stretches of paege totalling 2 euro. I noted last time that getting past sarre-union was a chew on but couldn't recall how bad. It's not tricky, just tedious. You've gotta ride past it then double back and try to avoid sat nav forcing you back onto motorway. Once you're on the back roads it's quite pleasant. Lots of pretty little villages and old rusty tractors. A nice way to chill out after a day of motorway though.
There's a few speed cameras though and they're rear facing ones so bikers beware. We Brits paint them bright yellow and put them high on poles for all to see. The French paint them grey and hide them in bushes. There was a lot of coppers out on the roads today too. Catherine recently warned me that a French copper catching you at more than 40km/h over the limit will confiscate your licence immediately at the roadside. Fingers crossed i wasn't a naughty boy today. I triggered smiley faces at every speed sign in the villages, which is what counts as far as I'm concerned.
Crossed the Rhine on that cute little roll on roll off ferry. I rolled up as they were about to leave and the pilot pulled away as soon as my wheels hit the deck. I felt like kitt pulling into the back of his trailer.
Stopped a few clicks short of the campsite for provisions. A handful of cold stubbies from the beer fridge and some sausages, cheese and bread would make for an easy tea. I grabbed a big punnet of local strawberries too. They turned out to be lovely. I gave the local white asparagus a miss though. I love asparagus but tonights tea doesn't have any fresh veg on the menu.
I used Adam camping plaza again. Same lady on reception. I recognized her. She didn't recognise me. She's as lovely as always though. Friendly, but uber efficient.
'One bike?'
'Ja'
'One person?'
'Ja'
'One small tent?'
'Errr... ja!'
Well i guess it's small compared to a marque. The tent's fine. The basha is huge but i think i got away with it! 10 euro.
Pulled up next to four other bikes and bikers. Brits, although the one lass lives in Amsterdam. Parked up, helmet off, pulled a cold beer out of the pannier and had a beer with them. They've just come from Lake Constance and they're on their way home. They've had crap weather and been eaten alive by mosquitos. I'm hoping for better.
They went for showers. I put the tent up and cracked on with tea. I brought my little battery radio this year so i cooked tea to German radio. It's quite listenable, but not up there with French rock radio.
Noticed the dog wash while i was washing my pots. There's a dedicated room next to one of the two toilet blocks. It's got a huge sink and a shower hose. Great idea, especially when you're staying on a site with a huge lake.
The room is labelled hundsbad, which looks an awful lot like 'bad dog' to me!
356 miles
They've also replaced the proper bars of soap in showers with those plastic squirty soap dispensers. The type that break after 6 months and can be seen in all their useless glory in Premier Inns throughout the country.
Woken at 5am this morning. Or 7am, as P&O liked to call it. Need to get my head around time difference. Bright sun, thin curtains, loud tannoy.
Hit the motorway for the usual long dull slog outta Belgium. Headed south east towards Luxembourg. By Brussels, or Luxembourg at the latest, you can usually get a handle on the weather and aim for the good stuff. No concrete plans but as far as i was concerned it was always gonna come down to koblenz/mosel or black forest or south east France this year. Weather looked good all round so decided to split it down the middle and head to the black forest. Providing the weather is kind, it's guaranteed laughs.
Loads of roadworks in Belgium. Actually, most of holdups were caused by tractors cutting grass in central reservation of motorway. Saw one car nearly twat into back of a tractor but thankfully he clocked it at the last minute. Big holdup just before Luxembourg. A lorry had gone into back of another lorry and then apparently caught fire. Most of the stationary traffic parted to let me through. A few Belgians didn't see me but i guarantee every single French driver threw themselves in the gutter, including lorries and buses.
Stopped for a tank of cheap fuel in Luxembourg. Right hand was completely numb from vibrations and i was feeling the chill long before i stopped. 17 degrees is usually right enough, but factor in several hours of 90mph wind chill against unlined leathers and it takes its toll.
Jumped off the bike, ripped gloves off, pulled woolly hat and several layers of clothing out of panniers and quickly layered up. As i was jumping around trying to get some blood flowing through my hands again, a German bloke came over to chat. He was sat in the sun, soaking up some rays when i pulled up and he thought I was having a fit or something. Had a nice little chat that ended on the lines of:
'Where you heading?'
'Black forest'
'You'll love it'
'Yes i will!'
He said Baden-Baden is a good place for supplies. Tools, equipment, biking stuff etc etc. Thankfully I'm good but it's worth remembering. He also said the black forest is where lots of Germans go on their jollies if they can't be arsed to travel further afield.
Lots of other motorists in service station taking advantage of Luxembourg's cheap prices. The services was like a cash n carry. I didn't want a huge bucket of rolling baccy for 30 euro, but i did want some food. A P&O breakfast takes you a long way, but that was hours ago. Picked up a rather sorry looking ham, brie and walnut sandwich but thankfully it was delicious. It certainly tasted far nicer than it looked.
The toilets were completely open plan which was quite a surprise. I'm reasonably well travelled so I'm familiar with squat & drops in Europe, open pits in the mountains of Canada and tiny saloon doors on cubicals in the States. Urinals in full visibility of everyone in the service station were a new one on me though. Anyway needs must. Bear in mind the French have no shame and go wherever and whenever they need to. At least i make the effort to find a tree.
Suitably refreshed i cracked on to the black forest. Motorway to sarre-union, including two short stretches of paege totalling 2 euro. I noted last time that getting past sarre-union was a chew on but couldn't recall how bad. It's not tricky, just tedious. You've gotta ride past it then double back and try to avoid sat nav forcing you back onto motorway. Once you're on the back roads it's quite pleasant. Lots of pretty little villages and old rusty tractors. A nice way to chill out after a day of motorway though.
There's a few speed cameras though and they're rear facing ones so bikers beware. We Brits paint them bright yellow and put them high on poles for all to see. The French paint them grey and hide them in bushes. There was a lot of coppers out on the roads today too. Catherine recently warned me that a French copper catching you at more than 40km/h over the limit will confiscate your licence immediately at the roadside. Fingers crossed i wasn't a naughty boy today. I triggered smiley faces at every speed sign in the villages, which is what counts as far as I'm concerned.
Crossed the Rhine on that cute little roll on roll off ferry. I rolled up as they were about to leave and the pilot pulled away as soon as my wheels hit the deck. I felt like kitt pulling into the back of his trailer.
Stopped a few clicks short of the campsite for provisions. A handful of cold stubbies from the beer fridge and some sausages, cheese and bread would make for an easy tea. I grabbed a big punnet of local strawberries too. They turned out to be lovely. I gave the local white asparagus a miss though. I love asparagus but tonights tea doesn't have any fresh veg on the menu.
I used Adam camping plaza again. Same lady on reception. I recognized her. She didn't recognise me. She's as lovely as always though. Friendly, but uber efficient.
'One bike?'
'Ja'
'One person?'
'Ja'
'One small tent?'
'Errr... ja!'
Well i guess it's small compared to a marque. The tent's fine. The basha is huge but i think i got away with it! 10 euro.
Pulled up next to four other bikes and bikers. Brits, although the one lass lives in Amsterdam. Parked up, helmet off, pulled a cold beer out of the pannier and had a beer with them. They've just come from Lake Constance and they're on their way home. They've had crap weather and been eaten alive by mosquitos. I'm hoping for better.
They went for showers. I put the tent up and cracked on with tea. I brought my little battery radio this year so i cooked tea to German radio. It's quite listenable, but not up there with French rock radio.
Noticed the dog wash while i was washing my pots. There's a dedicated room next to one of the two toilet blocks. It's got a huge sink and a shower hose. Great idea, especially when you're staying on a site with a huge lake.
The room is labelled hundsbad, which looks an awful lot like 'bad dog' to me!
356 miles
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