Gwilym's Adventure Blog

6.45 on the road and yet again very cold at 6 degrees. After about 50km of Czech roads and another 100km of German countryside, I pulled over, stuck a few extra PSI in my tyes and hit the Autobahns heading for Brussels. After 6.5 hours and 3 fuel and toilet stops, I entered Brussels and rode through the centre and past the EU Commission building on my British bike, however being 4.30pm on a Friday afternoon, no one was there anyway. I met up with Andy (who I met on my last tour) at the hostel and after a quick shower, we headed out into town to get some food and chat about our different journeys. The 2 of us have had some amazing adventures and successfully navigated our way around Europe on two wheels. The Brussels underground system however was somewhat challenging but we managed to get back to the hostel with only one stop in the wrong direction.

I don't normally carry passengers but today, when I stopped for breakfast in Belgium I noticed a grasshopper was on board. I tried to remove him but he dropped into a gap in the fairing. So off we went through The Netherlands and he re-appeared as we entered Germany. By now we were on first name terms and I called him Graham. Unfortunately Graham made a very poor decision as we were on a derestricted part of the German Autobahn. His obituary is at the bottom of this thread. Nearly 900km through Germany (700km motorway and 180 km b roads) today to put me here close to the Polish border for the real adventure to start. The first of some new countries and defo no trunk roads for a while. The sat nav took my down some interesting b roads though. I have seen better surfaces. It was very hot today with temps around 32 so it was visor up, screen down and jacket half unzipped just to survive. The next few countries have much cooler forecasts so it is heading North and Ea...

Back Home after a painless ferry crossing. It was taken over by 200+ bikers with The Chopper Club on their way back from a meet in Germany Only 250 miles needed today but after an epic 5500 miles (even google maps can't show it all on one plan and doesn't account for some of the extra roads I did - this just shows the shortest possible route) I am back home, tired but happy. Going to Nordkapp via motorbike has been one of my goals for some time and it did not disappoint. Of course, being on the M25 at 8am was a bad as expected with a lot of filtering and sitting in queues. I have ridden through England, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden. I have experienced cold (4 degrees), horizontal rain, gales (50mph + crosswinds on bridges) and heat (28/29 degrees). I have spent over 110 hrs on the bike, used 12 ferries, over 200km of tunnels and spent 13 nights in a tent. Roads were a mix of motorway, A r...

After saying I was looking forward to warmer weather after my time up north, it was 29 degrees today and I felt like I was a Boil in the Bag meal. I had 600km to cover today and although I did most on the motorways, I did come off for a few hours through The Netherlands for some fun. Back on the motorway, was horrendous traffic and I must have filtered for best part of 50km until I arrived at the ferry port in Hook of Holland. I was very pleased to have been able to dry my tent this morning so one less thing to do when I get home tomorrow. It is fair to say that I am pretty worn out now, I have covered well over 5000 miles and have spent over 120 hrs riding the bike. I will be sleeping on the ferry tonight (no more tent for me for a few weeks) and then should be home by lunch time tomorrow.

A slightly damp and overcast start in The Netherlands saw me munching a quick breakfast bar before hitting the road. 440km later, in Germany I was having lunch (and filling up for the second time). Another 320km I arrives in Kolding in Denmark where I have pitched at a campsite and will be cooking dinner shortly. Not the most interesting of days as this was just about getting North so I can make the ferry tomorrow so it was motorway all of the way. There is very little difference between driving in The Netherlands and Germany (in fact, I have no idea when I crossed the border but a some point I realised the signs had changed). Germany to Denmark was a little different with a bored chap in uniform waving cars though a chicane. I didn't see anyone get stopped though. Although I am heading North, it has got warmer and warmer all day and is a very pleasant evening here in Denmark. One of my longest journeys on the bike for this whole trip (in distance) of 760 km but ...

I have just arrived at a campsite in Delft (Netherlands) after committing fashion crimes on the Stena Line Norwich to Hook of Holland Ferry. It was well worth upgrading to the "plus" lounge with free drinks and snacks as well as a comfy seat. Shame it is all booked out for the return journey With only a 2 min ride from the B&B this morning and a 30min ride to the campsite this side, it hasn't really been a biking day but looks like I will make up for it tomorrow with a long day in the saddle getting into Denmark. Todays Lesson - Do not leave your trainers in the panniers when on a ferry as shorts and boots is not a good look.