Francois_Dumas Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 D-Day : we made it I am typing this on our balcony, Tuesday morning 10 a.m., in a scorching sun, getting sunburn already. So we made it ! ;-) To be honest, I was pretty apprehensive of this trip. Because of the heavy load the RT had to carry. Fortunately it turned out to go pretty well. Here's the day-1 trip report. We had the alarm set for 6:30, all was packed, nothing to do really, and yet we didn't leave until 7:30. We are NOT fast movers! I had a long-sleeved outdoor shirt and my new mesh trousers and jacket. It was 'chilly'. A display in Amsterdam showed 15 C, and indeed, 'mesh' means the air can go right through it ! We filled her up once more at the 'Makro' (sort of Walmart), for 1.45 E/liter. Gulp. I had decided to take our 'classical route' towards Nancy (we've been doing this for 10 years now, often up to 5 times a year!), and then head east towards the city of Colmar in the Vosges. (Alsace wine country!). I had also promised myself and Nina to stop regularly (every hour), and drink a lot. As usual We weren't wildly successful in both..... still have to analyse why..... one day. We did have our P-Pauses though.... I even took pictures at one time! The skies were clear..... no clouds, but unexpected fierce winds! We had our ear protection in and it was still pretty noisy! The RT chugged along, but no spirit in the throttle! But we did one thing right.... we DID take a few longer rests. We HAD to.. it was so hot!! The first two hours took us through The Netherlands, via Maastricht, then into Belgium to circumvent the city of Liège. From there is was due south through the Ardennes, over the 'Autoroute du Soleil'. This route runs from Belgium all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and in summer time is chockful with Dutch people dragging their bloody caravans along for some reason or other. A Dutch comedian calls them 'drag-huts'. We managed to reach Bastogne running with my yellow fuel light on. I wanted to ride the extra 15 km to the Luxembourg border where there are 4 petrol stations gathered. In Luxembourg the tax on fuel is MUCH lower than in the rest of Europe. But I had the yellow light on for some time already. The RT clearly had a 'problem' with the extra weight AND the fierce headwinds. I remembered a petrol station near Bastogne center and we headed there. Taking in 5 liters, and then 'ran for the border'. By now it was already noon. Temps had risen to well over 30 C by now and we were leaving the Ardennes. where it was a few degrees cooler ! Next part was the dreary and ugly trip to Thionville, Metz and Nancy. We filled the RT again just before leaving Luxembourg. Petrol in Luxembourg (octane 98) was 1,20.7 Euros. Wow !!!! We also sat down there to have coffees and get some rest into our bums !! All in all quite a few more stops than with the car ! And associated longer travel times of course. Temps were now over 34 C and I would have DIED had I not bought the mesh suit hours before leaving. I'd have worn my BMW all-seasons trouser and jacket...... NOT GOOD. NOW I was sooooooooo happy! The (warm) wind blew through the suit and gave at least SOME relief. Oh, and the new windscreen made this a quiet ride, in spite of the warm summer storm blowing! We found the way around Nancy without problems (although I did check the map a few times), and headed east towards Colmar. All the while on FREE French highways (the toll part runs just south of Nancy!). I wanted to ride the last part towards Colmar over some smaller roads and crossing Col de Bonhomme..... our first 'pass' this trip. And we found it without problems. The traffic had become much lighter after we left the Dutchies barreling south at Nancy. The pass is nice! Good asphalt, broad road, fun to ride. But.... we were getting worn out by now. I found an almost deserted parking and we lay down on a bench for some time, ate our last sandwich, drank some lukewarm water and rested for 45 minutes or so. I then made my PDA+TomTom to recognize the bluetooth GPS receiver, and had it point me to the hotel I booked via the internet. I put both in the transparent map compartment of my tankbag and hoped it would not fry! Then we took off for our last part. The TomTom did its job, although it was VERY hard to see (somewhere near my belly and with the sun shining on it). I need to get me a Garmin! Bloody money!! We reached the hotel, and saw why we could not find it a year ago. But that's another story. It took us 10 minutes to unload the bike and get the bags, clothes and helmets to our air-conditioned (!!!!) room! Then it took me 30 minutes to stop sweating before I coud take a shower. The the higlight of the day: half a liter of really cold 1664 BEER !!! ( I only drink the occasional glass of wine because Nina wants me to, but at times like this a beer is heaven. Even though I know it will give me a headache 9 out of 10 times). We had a simple meal following the beer... and I had me another one... and then went to sleep early at 10 p.m. Pretty beat ! I'll upload the photos tomorrow!!! Link to comment
azkaisr Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Great tale! You have to tell me about the roads around Bastogne as I want to ride there in Sept Link to comment
Whip Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Great tale! You have to tell me about the roads around Bastogne as I want to ride there in Sept Nuts!!!!!!! Whip Link to comment
azkaisr Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Great tale! You have to tell me about the roads around Bastogne as I want to ride there in Sept Nuts!!!!!!! Whip Hey remember my family played for the other team on that one. But I have never looked around that town even when I lived close by. Tom Link to comment
kcscout Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Looking forward to the pictures. Um, except this one: We did have our P-Pauses though.... I even took pictures at one time! Link to comment
Francois_Dumas Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 Looking forward to the pictures. Um, except this one: We did have our P-Pauses though.... I even took pictures at one time! Don't worry..... I keep pasting sentences eh? Link to comment
Francois_Dumas Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 Here are the pictures I could not post last night...... dial-up is hell for Internet Freaks ! Also very UNLIKE me is that I only took FOUR pictures during the trip to Colmar. That was a +750 km leg and basically too hot to stop, too hot to fumble with Nina's small camera, too hot for anything really. And I had packed my Nikon in the top case so I would not have to take it off the bike at every stop. Here is Nina at our first stop, stil in Holland. Our first coffee, too. And one of the (MANY!) Dutch families dragging their household behind their a.., still amazing to me. I must be the only one NOT liking to pull a house and camp on sites with a azillion countrymen..... just like being HOME!! :-) Somewhere on a parking, after passing the Col de Bonhomme, not too far from our destination that day. Nina is floored...... (so was I, to be honest).... Fast Forward a few hours! We found the Ibis Hotel outside Colmar, thanks to my TomTom/PDA. We unpacked, showered and then sat in the small hotel lobby to have a COLD BEER !! (Still didn't catch how to use the flash on Nina's digicam). Yup, you caught me ! My SECOND COLD BEER that day !! Nina hasn't found the flash button either....... (No, this is not a scheme to embezzle evidence). Mrs. Navman. The hotel turned out to be quite good........ ANY hotel would have been good after that ride to be honest :-) Room rate 65 Euros, breakfast was 7/person (we skipped that... cheapskates!). I paid only 55 Euros for the room, booked through Internet ! Last one..... Link to comment
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