Gwilym's Adventure Blog

After a 2 hour blast from the hostel in Brussels to the Calais Ferry Port, I didn't even stop, I flashed my passport and rolled straight onto a ferry. 5 mins later after strapping the bike down I was in the club lounge drinking coffee and eating a sausage sandwich. Doing a quick google check I discovered the M20 was closed from Dover so I had to take a longer way round before getting onto the M3 and 303, and it was raining. Good old UK! I spotted a broken down bike and did a quick U turn and went back to see if I could help. He was a Swiss biker riding a BMW GS 1200 (this bit is important) that had run out of fuel. I went off and bought 5 litres of petrol and brought it back to him.  The bike started straight away and when he offered to pay me, I refused his money and made him say "Triumph bikes are needed to rescue broken down BMWs". Very silly I know but it made me laugh and he smiled so all was good. He took my picture and we went our separat...

Another European bike adventure started today. I am aiming to fill in the gap on my pannier with all the flag stickers of the European countries I have not yet been to. I am currently near Ghent in Belgium having covered over 500km from home. The time in the saddle was interspersed with the "club lounge" on the ferry. £12 upgrade fee for quiet lounge with comfy sofas, no screaming kids and complimentary coffee/biscuits. Well that was a no brainer. Off the ferry, switch GPS into kilometres and "no motorways" and it was straight into French countryside towards Dunkerque. At some point along the route I passed into Belgium but the problem with "frictionless borders" is I often don't know what country I am. Anyway, I am now chilling here at a nice little (and cheapish) campsite looking at my options for tomorrow, I have to get across Germany (or at least most of it) tomorrow to fit in with my master plan - I will be honest, the first ti...

After and early start to catch the 7:45 ferry from Calais to Dover I was home by 1pm. The bike and all my clothes have been washed and sorted ready for my next adventure Some trip statistics 4757 miles / 7655 kilometres - The original estimate for the trip was 8000km so not far off 99 hrs and 59 mins riding - Should have one round the block to get the perfect score 56.3 mpg / 20km per litre - Best I have ever had must be the tyres Average Speed = 37.5mph / 60.3 kph5 mph - There were some very slow roads at times All the countries with stars are new ones I had not been to before. I have recommended a location/road for some of the countries France Belgium Luxembourg Germany Austria Hungary * Serbia * Romainia * - 67C (Transalpina) Bulgaria * North Macedonia *  Greece North Macedonia -  Road between the two lakes and CampRino Albania * = SH23 - This is not to be taken lightly Kosovo * Montenegro * - Durmitor National Park Bosni...

Well that is it nearly done. 7 hours through rural France with a few coffees in village squares and I am camping less than an hour from Calais for an early boat back tomorrow. After 17 days on the bike I have finally achieved the holy grail of motocycle touring which is to synchronise my bladder with the fuel tank. There will be a technical blog tomorrow with bike statistics and recommended roads for anyone who fancies do a similar trip.

Camping at around 1000m last night was great as it was a cool night. I may even say it was almost cold but I was very happy with that. A full 2 hours of rain this morning as I made a quick exit from Switzerland via a small bit of Germany and into a warmer and drier France. A number if coffee and patisserie stops to break up the very flat and extensive French countryside but I refuse to pay money to get bored on a motorway. The most excitement was the 600m Col du Bonhomme which at least was hilly and had a few nice bends. Nice campsite i choose due to location but sadly a swimming ban in the river so can't have my dip as planned. Last night's campsite in Andermatt cost me more than the Macedonian, Bosnian, Serbian and Romanian ones put together but I guess that is about right for Switzerland Lucky to get a campsite on low season here in France though. They go to high season prices  on Friday.

After 520km of riding from home I ended up camping somewhere in Belgium. I am honestly not sure where. But anyway, it was cheap and cheerful and I am getting some miles done on my way south to warmer climes.

Last night I had a lecture (in French) from the well meaning elderly campsite owner about the perils of missing my ferry due to road closures, accidents and punctures (and yes, apart from a few words I understood the conversation fully). So, not wanting to ignore him I left early this morning with a Sat Nav arrival time of around 4pm for a 7pm check in Well, sods law, all went very well, here by 2.30 and just received a text saying the ferry is delayed by 2 hours due to wind. I am now at in the local Mcdonalds on the free Wifi, I wonder how long I can pretend I am still drinking this coffee? Anyway, a misty start to the day and I finally broke though the cloud just in time to ride the Col de Pourtalet (photo 3 is at the pass) at 1794m before dropping down into Spain again and eventually picking up some country roads heading toward Bilbao. At this point, it was time to jump on the Motorway and head for Santander and a long wait.  Other than the ferr...

Interesting experience trying to get food last night. Andorra is known for 2 things, skiing and having more fuel stations per 100m than any other country in Europe. This is mainly because the fuel is so cheap, visitors come in from both Spain and France to fill up so near the border they are just right next to each other. Apparently it is not know for serving food before 8pm. We (the Danish biker and I) tried a number of restaurants at 6:30 to be told, not until 8pm but we eventually found a place that looked somewhat questionable and staffed by a waiter who spoke no English. However, the food that turned up was both very good and very well priced so it turned out well. Out of Andorra and up and over the El Pas d la Casa (2408 m - the highest pass in the Pyrenees and with 3 petrol stations only 50m apart) and then down and back into France for the day. A mix of mountain passes and faster trunk roads let me cover 320km in just under 6 hours before I arrived here a...

Made it to Spain after a few hours of French driving and a quick boulangerie stop for a mid morning snack. I actually missed the sign saying "Welcome to Spain" (maybe there wasn't one) but once I had cleared the first Spanish town, it was onto a mix of fast single carriage roads and then onto the 634 coast road and what a road that was. It hugged the coast and the view from the cliff tops were amazing. There is defiantly a chance I will come back and ride that road again or even if I have time at the end of this trip going  back to Santander. Only about 5 1/2 hrs and 260km today as I was looking to have a relaxing afternoon so I arrived in good time and headed down to the beach for a few hours to have a nice relaxing swim and a chill out before returning to the campsite for some grub. This is where I am tonight. Think I am going to break my "no motorway" rule again tomorrow and use one to bypass Bilbao and Santander as I really don't fanc...

Not Happy! Woke up to torrential rain at 6am, still raining at 7am and still going strong at 8am. Realising it was not going to stop, I got my gear on, packed the bike and dropped the tent leaving at 9am. Water was inches deep around the site so I decided to get away and jump on the motorway to Nantes as the forecast said it would be sunny after there. Well, once it (and I) and dried out, I peeled off the motorway and took some of the French countryside roads, stopping occasionally at a bakers for a pastry and drink (no idea really where I went) until I ended up at Royan jumping onto a ferry to get across to Soulac-sur-Mer and then it was a nice couple of hours ride into my campsite at Arachon (clickable map here ). A long day today (longer than the original plan) but the forecast is for a mega hot day tomorrow so I want to be able to cut tomorrow short if I need to. 625km and 9 hrs in the saddle.