A short ride south...

Not a lot to tell you today,   I left Postira and rode for about half an hour to Bol in the south of the island.
As soon as I parked up outside the hotel, a shopkeeper, Tomo, came and started talking to me about bikes.  He then asked if I was here for the Moto party and when he found out I was he started telling me all about it.  In fact in the morning he is going to introduce me to a butcher nearby who is one of the organisers from Brac Moto Klub.  They expect about 5000 people to attend and it's supposed to be a really good weekend.  The motto for the party is 'Come in Peace or stay at home' so that bodes well I think.  There will be bands playing, bars obviously and lots of food.  If you attend on a bike it is free entry and also if I go to a little village nearby tomorrow afternoon on my bike I can eat the local food for free so I may try that.  The hotel I am in is pretty good but not a patch on last night.  I actually wish I had come here first and camped at the party location as there is an area set aside but at least all my stuff is out of the way here.
Just the one photo tonight of the view from my room again.  I will be taking my camera to the party but I can't promise they will be in focus.

Bed early tonight as I want to get up early and go for a run so I won't feel guilty if I eat and drink too much.  Have a great weekend everyone.

Robert

The isle of Brac....

I have decided to go to Brac to chill before the moto party of Brac which I have now found out is organised by the Brac branch of the Croat Moto Klub.  The ride from Dubrovnik to Split was pretty uneventful other than the fact that I followed a sign for the motorway to Split and was surprised that I was the only one using it, that is until 3 miles later I ended up at a quarry.  I can only presume it is still being built.  The sign had said Split 76 km.  I found my way back to the road where I was greeted with a sign Split 108 km.  Now I know I didn't go that far out of my way!

The other day I mentioned a view that was just too vast to photograph but I felt guilty about depriving you and so when I passed it today I took some photos and I hope that they do it justice, but I did try.

I arrived at Split port and booked my return tickets to Brac and was quite surprised it only cost about £24 return.  I then went to an internet cafe and booked a hotel for four nights, thinking I was going to chill and plus it would give me a nice place to rest my head if I'd been partying.  The hotel I chose was the hotel Vrilo in Postira.
I arrived at this really pretty fishing village and found I'd chosen a brilliant hotel.  My room on the second floor has a balcony overlooking the harbour. ( see sunset picturefrom the room further down) .
That was the good news, the bad news was that when I arrived I was told the hotel's internet had been down today and when I made my booking they were unable to show that they were fully booked :(
The receptionist Paola said that I could stay tonight and have breakfast and wouldn't be charged which I thought that was really decent of her.    She also then spent ages trying to help me find a hotel and even told me about the bike party and where it is. In fact my new hotel is nearer to the party so that's a bonus but I bet there is no way it can be as lovely as this place. I will definitely be back.
 Anyway time for more photos of scenery, blue sky and sea. Sorry...

Three views from my room

Dubrovnik...

Before I start today I want to apologise for the fact that I am going to inundate you with photos of Dubrovnik, blue sky and the sea. (internet allowing of course).  What a beautiful place!  I would recommend it to anyone.  I stayed in Dubrovnik for two nights and on Tuesday night I went to the biker cafe to try and find out about this gathering on Brac this Friday.  I spoke to a biker there called Tony and his wife.  Once again they were really nice, he wants to go to the island to see the TT,  although I have found on my travels that no one else calls it that.  It goes by its proper name of Tourist Trophy.  Say that and they immediately know where I have come from.  Tony checked up and this party is supposed to happen on Friday so I have decided to go to Brac on Wednesday, spend a few days chilling and seeing the place ready for Friday and Saturday night.  Just as I was leaving the cafe another biker pulled up and started talking to me.  His name was George and he had travelled from Athens, through Albania and was on his way to Saltzburg where he was going to spend 5 days with the girl who was his first love and he hasn't seen her for 23 yrs.  cute eh?   We ended up having a drink and were the last two to leave the place, making another good night out.

There is even a picture for you here Nick.  I trust you will spot it.

Onto to Dubrovnik...

Today turned out to be a really good day with me meeting a few nice people.
I started off waiting for the recovery guy to turn up and he took me to a Yamaha dealer about a mile away from the site.  The owner didn't seem overly impressed that I had turned up with a Honda that wasn't feeling well and in the end they directed us to an auto electrician about 10 mile the other side of Split.  I must admit I was a bit dubious but I couldn't have fallen luckier.  He is called Ante and as soon as he checked out my HID he explained that the ballast had gone.  Getting a bit complicated here I know but I think that is the brains behind the light.  He said he had some new ones and when I asked him how much he said 50 euros.  I asked what about fitting and he said that there was no charge and this was Croatia!  I couldn't believe it, that is an absolute bargain and bearing in mind an empty box in France was going to cost me 27.5 euros!  Anyway he spent about two hours working on the bike and we had a really good chat.  When he had finished he looked at my headlight and decided that the positioning light could be improved so he explained he was going to give me a present and fitted and L.E.D in there for free.  I couldn't believe it looks really good.  Whilst he was doing all this work he made a phone call and all of a sudden the top biker from the local chapter of the Croat Moto Club turned up.  When we shook hands he crushed my fingers he was very strong and looked quite scary but he was a nice fella and we got along fine.  

Here are a few photos for you.  The first is Vini, the receptionist at the site who was really helpful and very useful translating what the problem was with my bike.  Then we have Ante who did a brilliant job and finally we have me with the biker Davor.  Hope you like them.

After I left the garage I went back to the campsite as Vini had said I could use the wifi to find somewhere to stay at my next stop.  I booked a guest house in Dubrovnik and set off.  The road there was really good, bit bumpy in parts but it ran right next to the sea and the view was brilliant.  I stopped for some fuel just near the turn off for Sarajevo and got talking to a Bosnian biker named Su-ed.  He works for the UN in Bosnia and he told me about a big bike party on the Isle of Brac this Friday.  Apparently it is held on the 1st July every year and thousands attend.  I must admit it sounded pretty good and I'm tempted to tweak my plans and go.   I arrived in Dubrovnik but not before going through border points as you travel in Bosnia for about six miles before re-entering Croatia.  I was struggling to find the guest house and so I called in a bar/restaurant.  The owner spoke good English but wasn't sure where I needed to go so he turned on his laptop, found the site and then rang them up for directions.  I said thanks to him and he just replied 'it's for a fellow biker, have a good stay here'  he was also called Ante so I'm guessing its pretty common here.  Just a couple of photos with a view in them for you.  I could of taken loads as some of the views were amazing but I just thought there is no way I can reproduce what I can see so I'm sorry they are in my head just for me.

More of today..

A good photographer apparently is never without his or her camera.  That is why when I went for a run this afternoon I didn't have mine, well you wouldn't would you when you are running.  Typical there was this huge fire up in the hills.   Every trumpton around was there and then a plane and army helicopters appeared dropping water on it but alas as previously stated I didn't have my camera.  Luckily for me it was still going on when I returned to camp and so I have two photos for you.  They're not great but it's all you are going to get!  I hope you like them.

I also saw a lad riding a blue ZX9R in a t-shirt, shorts and trainers.  He wasn't wearing a helmet and wasn't using his hands whilst riding on a dual carriageway.  Crazy!!

Poor Blackie..

Well the verdict is that the H.I.D bulb had blown in my headlamp and this had taken out a fuse in the process.  the bulb is not standard and so the bike is going to a garage tomorrow to be checked out.   Had a problem when I rang the AA back as I have taken out parts and labour as well. They decided I wasn't covered as my bike is registered in the Isle of Man even though I explained this when I took the policy out.

Thankfully after I threatened them they rang me back and said it would be ok but I won't be happy until I am riding away from the garage with her fixed and my money still in my pocket. Only a couple of photos today.

Feeling Blue

Croatia..:-(

Hi thought I better update you all with what is happening.  I am still at the campsite just outside Split,  my stay here has not been great for one reason or another.  My latest problem is something that I had hoped I wouldn't have to write on this blog.   My lovely bike is not well, she stopped working last night and has some sort of electrical problem.  I have breakdown recovery and am at the moment awaiting the arrival of a Croatian mechanic but until such time as he arrives I don't know what is going to happen re the bike, myself and the rest of the trip.  I will endeavour to keep you updated.

And so to Croatia...

Last night I went into Bologna centre and found the Piazza Maggiore.  This is a square surrounded by beautiful old buildings and last night it had been transformed into a free cinema.  The square was full but I managed to find a seat outside a cafe and whilst I didn't understand a word of the film I really enjoyed people watching and eating ice cream, It's a hard life this touring you know.

This morning I had the bright idea to ride to Ancona ( the opposite direction to where I wanted to be) and take a chance on catching the eleven o'clock ferry to Split in Croatia.  This would cut out a lot of riding but first I had to do the 120 miles through busy morning traffic and roadworks.  As is becoming the norm for me I arrived 15 minutes before it was due to sail and managed to book a ticket, find my way to the police office to show my passport and make it to the terminal which was about 2 miles away in time to board and set sail on time!  Good job really as if I'd missed it I would have further to ride to Croatia.

It was a very pleasant crossing and I'm now staying at a camp just outside Split.  I will be here for at least three nights and hopefully tomorrow I am finally going white water rafting.

**Update**

No longer going white water rafting as there is only me wanting to do it and you need at least two people.  Don't suppose anyone fancies it do they ?

Thought I better get some pictures for you so this is what is next to the campsite, oh and it's 35 degrees at 8pm!

All the best

Robert

Bologna....

Hi, sorry that I wasn't able to post for the last two days for some reason I was having internet issues!
Anyway yesterday I was in Bologna, there is nothing to tell you about the day before as I slept most of it. I specifically went to Bologna to visit the Ducati museum and factory and I'm pleased to say I wasn't disappointed.  Whilst waiting at the factory gates I was joined by a family from Denver, Colorado.  They had driven up from Florence without booking onto the tour and amazingly for them the got on it.  The guide said that the tour was full and it was practically unheard of for anyone not to turn up but it happened yesterday and so Daniel, Ashlyn, Drake and Regan came round with me and a couple from Australia.  It was very interesting and we also had a laugh, I thoroughly enjoyed their company and hopefully we will keep in touch.
You will see a rare picture of me on this blog and I'm stood next to Mike Hailwood's 1978 TT winning Ducati.  He later crashed it at Silverstone and it is in the same condition as when he crashed.  A couple of things that  I found interesting that most of you TT afficienados will already know.  On the petrol tank there is a stripe that is clear and allows you to see how much fuel is in the tank.  He also had a tennis ball attached near to the clutch.  The top had been cut off and it was filled with water and a sponge.  Whilst racing around the course he used to take out the sponge and wipe his visor.  Just like that !!  One final bit of info about his bike that until now has remained unknown to all.  He was sponsored by Sports Motorcycles, Manchester as can be seen by the decals on the bike.  In 1978 I passed my bike test and bought my Triumph Bonneville from Sports Motorcycles, Manchester.  They were based at the bottom of Deansgate in an area known as Knott Mill.  It was where all the motorcycle dealers were but sadly they have all gone.

Ashlyn, Daniel, Drake and Regan

Rossi bike

It's hot....

This morning as I was getting the bike ready to set off, the hotel owner, Oscar, who had kindly washed my bike yesterday turned up on his Suzuki GSX 1400 to show it to me and wish me well. Last night I received a request for a picture of Oscar from Chris so just for you Chris, here he is:

I set off for Portofino with the intention of staying there but it wasn't that far away and once I'd had a look round I thought I may as well start heading for Bologna.  I have to be there on Thursday as I have booked to go around the Ducati museum and factory.  I thought that if I could change the appointment to tomorrow I could head to Slovenia early which would ultimately give me longer in Croatia.  I'm not sure it was a great idea as it's been really hot today and it has taken me about six hours in total to get to where I am now; about 30 km from Bologna.  That's two days of long rides in a row and I'm pretty tired.  If I can't change my appointment I think I'll just chill tomorrow and have a look around Bologna.

Some of the roads were really good again today although the motorways are horrible.  Basically the one that runs along the coast is just a series of tunnels linked by high bridges.  My tinted visor was up and down more than a tart's knickers!!

Well that's it today,  I've taken a couple of photos of the scenery to show you.  I hope you like them.

Cheers Robert



Italia...

Well I finally did it.  I left my comfort zone of France where I can at least hold a bit of a conversation and headed towards Italy.  I will try not to overkill with photos of views today but it is difficult when you see some of them for real. 

Before I set off I had decided to send a couple of things back home, two books that I had read and the thermal lining for my bike gear.  I know I'm taking a chance but I figured I could just wear more t-shirts when it gets cold again :)  I packed the bike up and then walked into the town with the stuff to send back.  I thought I could buy a box in the post office and actually I could but it was 27.50 euros for a cardboard box !! an empty box at that!  Well stuff that so I set off back up the bloody hill to my hotel when I remembered an English girl I had met on Friday.  She is studying French at a university in the south of England and working at the tourist information for the summer.  So I popped in there and lo and behold she gave me a box, tape and scissors to make the box smaller.  Stuff packed, back to the post office and hopefully I will see it again.


Once I got going I headed onto the Route Napoleon, so called because it is the route taken by himself on his return from Elba in 1815, impressive eh?


Route Napoleon

  Again the road was brilliant with some amazing views and curvy bits.  I did wish sometimes though  that they would drive on the left as I was against the edge all the way to Grasse ( some more info, Grasse is where the majority of perfumes are made )



Grasse taken from the Route Napoleon

I joined the motorway at Nice and thought I'd nip into Monaco, big mistake, the place was gridlocked, after about half an hour and getting incredibly betty swallocks I did a U turn and headed to Menton and then the motorway again, but not before putting myself in great danger and keeping my balance on a kerb with my right toes whilst stopping the bike rolling downhill with the heel of my right foot on the brake just to get a picture of a bit of Monte Carlo for you.



No sooner was I back on the motorway and I was in Italia.  I was going to try and get a picture of the sign but at 140 km/h it was a bit difficult, sorry :)  I hadn't stopped since starting from Castellane three hours before and I was dying for a drink, I stopped at the first service station I came to and whilst I said I didn't want to put too many views on, just one more today;  this is the view from the service station and as service stations go, pretty cool I thought:



I arrived at Genova during rush hour and I can only describe it as madness, just like the wacky races.  There was scooters everywhere, red lights didn't mean stop as far as I could see and to top it all it was about 30 degrees.   I checked for the nearest camp site and there wasn't one so I had to take the awful decision to stay in a hotel, yeah right.really awful.  I found the Hotel Iris and they have given me a really nice room.  I tried to impress the receptionist by asking if Genova was the place where Romeo and Juliet was based but she politely pointed out that, that is Verona! Ah well it sounds similar :)

They also supplied me with a garage underneath the hotel for my bike and when I went down there I met a guy washing his car.  It turned out he owns the hotel and is called Oscar.  He is also a biker and we got talking bikes and whilst we did so he washed my bike!  I couldn't believe it and I mean really washed it, she is pretty much sparkling again and he didn't want any payment either.  amazing !!  

I'll be going out after to check out the place but I promise no more views .

Apparently...

It's fathers day today and so once I'd decided that I was staying put for another day it was an easy choice to do nothing all day except sit in the sun and listen to all the bikes flying past on the way to the mountain roads.  Not a lot to tell anyone today.  I will be leaving for a six hour ride to Italy in the morning and so for now I will leave you with the view from my room,  the most exciting thing I had to look at today, oh and a picture of Rigsby!

In readiness for tomorrow:    Ciao!

Well...

I'm in a bit of a quandary at the moment.  What to do next?  I had booked to go canyoning tomorrow but I've been having a bit of stick off my back and so I cancelled it today. The weather wasn't great earlier but the guy in charge of the hotel, bit like a French Rigsby says it will be hot tomorrow.  The quandary is that I'd pretty much decided to leave here tomorrow and go to Italy earlier than planned,(yes there is a plan, well sort of)  but now I don't know what to do. Rigsby says I can decide in the morning.  So I won't decide just yet.

 This morning Jean-Luc from Switzerland showed me his book of motorcycle routes up to the various passes and I decided to have a ride out.  The weather wasn't brilliant but it was dry.  I set off about 10 o'clock and made my way up towards St Julien du Verdon.  I thought it was going to be a bit like TT as there were bikes everywhere but they obviously decided to go elsewhere and so it was quite good for a slowcoach like me.  It appeared it might become a long ride though as I'd only been travelling for about 5 minutes before I stopped to take some pictures and the same again a couple of minutes later.

.

I was heading for the Col de la Bonette which is reputed to be the highest paved road in Europe at 2802 metres.  I headed off up the gorge of Gaillard which was brilliant.  It made me think of motorcycle racers when they are warming their tyres and swing from side to side.  That's what it was like but everytime you swung to one side you went round a bend and then over to the opposite side for the next bend was upon you.  I actually nearly got my knee down but I just don't have the bottle but it was great fun.  Didn't want to get it wrong as it was a long way down to the river.

I finally got to Guillard and there was a memorial service going on with Police, Fire and Army veterans there.  I pulled up to watch and towards the end they had a minutes silence; the whole village came to a standstill and then everyone sang a verse of the La Marseillaise.  It was very moving and quite surreal because when they finished everything just started again as if we had been put on pause.

I carried on for about another 20 kilometres of more of the same but then the cloud came down, it was raining and quite slippery.  I decided to turn back and retraced my steps.  The Col de la Bonette will have to be another day.

I'll be shortly going out for tea and will more than likely go to the same restaurant as last night.  When I was there I was sat next to a couple who started chatting to me.  The girl Elisa, whilst French was brought up in Venezuela and  apparently English is spoken quite a lot; as such her English was excellent.  She could also speak German and some Spanish.  Pretty impressive really.  She was eating snails, they were huge and actually looked and smelt okay but thankfully we didn't start chatting until after she had finished them so I wasn't offered any. :)

Well that's it for now,  I'm going to try and get a sneak picture of Rigsby and who knows I might be writing from Italy tomorrow.  Only time will tell.

PS no more explosions so hopefully I'll be okay.

Castellane..

After seeing the gorge I arrived at Castellane and decided to treat myself to a bed for the night.  That was easier said than done but eventually a French couple told me of a hotel that specialised in renting rooms to bikers.  Having just been reading a book about the Mongol outlaw motorcycle club in America and the places they hang out I was a bit worried but it's actually ok.  In the next room to me are a couple from Slovenia and they are going to tell me some places to go when I get there.  They only decided to come to France today and had travelled 1700 kilometres in one day,  I must be a right wimp, the most I can manage is about 400. :( Another guy I met from Switzerland has told me about a pass that goes up over two thousand metres so all being well I'll give that a try tomorrow.   I've booked myself in for canyoning on Sunday afternoon, I wanted to go white water rafting but apparently there isn't enough water in the right parts to do it, but Franco from Slovenia says he will tell me a place to do it when I get there so that's pretty cool.  I've put one other picture of the gorge on and you can probably understand what they mean when they say there isn't enough water?

Well that's it I'm up to date.  I'm actually sat outside the now closed reception so I can get wifi and as well as being bit all the time I can hear lots of explosions going off and I don't mean fireworks so if by any chance it's something I need to worry about  will someone let me know.  cheers Robert

At last....

The ride to Verdon and in particular the town of Castellane started off pretty boring,  I was stuck at a level        crossing waiting for two trains to pass for about 25 minutes and was getting very hot!  The first part was motorway but eventually I got off onto some lovely A roads.  They started heading up into a mountain pass and went on for about 30 kilometres.  They were brilliant and I probably I had this huge stupid grin on my face.  And then at last.... I saw the Verdon Gorge, to me it looks great.  I have taken a picture of my first view and hopefully you'll like it too.

Time to catch up

I am seem to be running about four days behind with this blog so I am going to whiz through a bit to catch up.
After Il de re I rode to Carcassonne, the ride was pretty boring as it was mostly motorway but it was broken up at one point when I overtook another bike.  I noticed that it then tucked in behind me and kept with me for quite a few miles.  I wasn't going particularly slow and eventually when I needed some fuel I pulled in at a service station and so did the bike.  I was starting think it might be a cop but then the biker took the helmet off and it was a girl.  We got talking and she said that she has family in Bordeaux and she lives in Toulouse so she does that motorway run quite a bit and every now and again she'll follow a bike to ease the boredom.  It just so happened that we both needed fuel at the same time.   After filling up we had a drink and a chat, she had visited the island in 2007 for the centenary TT and so we had a bit to chat about. We then set off again.  I was turning off shortly but she was carrying on.  One thing she did tell me that is worth knowing, if you are on a bike on a peage or toll motorway.  when it is time to pay go to the furthest booth on the right possible and you pay less for being on a bike, definitely handy to know.

Carcassonne was ok the weather was good and the cathedral is very nice but I decided to head to the south coast.  I went to Frejus as I had been there years ago and stayed there until this morning.  I had an early start so I was up at quarter past nine and away for eleven :) which wasn't bad as last night was the earliest I had been to bed whilst I was there and that was one o'clock.   It was actually difficult for me to drag myself away as I'd had a brilliant time, the weather was brilliant and everyone was so friendly but I have wanted to see the Verdon gorge for about twenty years now so I forced myself to get going.

France...

Just noticed the woman with the video camera on the first wedding photo.  Not quite sure what she went as, I'll leave that for others to decide :)

France...:-)

After a brilliant sleep on the ferry I arrived at St Malo at about 08:30 on Saturday morning.  Headed off towards Ile de re, a small island off the French coast near to La Rochelle.  The first person I spoke to in France was a fella from Birmingham who parked next to me at a service station on a Blackbird. After that a French biker started talking to me and told me a quicker route on the motorway, rather than just following the signs.  I told the Brummie this but he obviously didn't trust the French (not a great way to be in France but eh!)  He left ages before me, I went the other way and ended up in front of him as he came flying past me eventually.

I left the motorway and started headed through on the French equivalent of our A roads.  This was much more fun and interesting.  In one village I saw a wedding taking place and had to stop because all the guests were in costume from the Medieval times and the bride and groom were in a horse drawn carriage.  It looked great although it did remind me a bit of Crommies' birthday party last year and I could actually see his wedding going down like that but he'd probably need a karaoke in one of the carriages :)

When I got to Ile de re I made my way through to St Martin and stayed at the municipal campsite.  Everyone was really friendly, there was a cafe on the site and when I went for tea I asked the waitress to only speak to me in French and I was really chuffed that I could hold conversation.  I stayed for two nights and one evening whilst walking past a tent a French couple offered me a drink with them and again I chatted in French.

St Martin was a lovely little place with a fortification that was built to keep out the English, didn't work this time though, I sneaked in under the Manx flag.  I was amazed at the size of the moat, I may be being a bit thick here but I always thought they were about 10 foot wide, they were on Robin Hood.  This one was massive and hopefully the photo I took will show this.

There is a lovely harbour surrounded by bars and restaurants and there is a little park which has donkeys taking kids around.  They look different to our Blackpool ones, they are bigger and furrier and they wear culottes.  They do this because originally they were used in agriculture and because Ile de re has salt marshes there are more insects around.  The culottes were to stop the donkeys being bit whilst in the field.