Just got back from a weeks trip with my daughter. We’d actually planned this trip a year ago, but had to turn back after the first day when I got a call to say my mum had had a stroke. She sadly passed earlier this year, so it seemed fitting to do the same planned trip, on the same weekend a year later. It also coincided with my daughter getting her GCSE results, so a nicer way to say ‘well done’ than just giving her cash!
The destination was Lake Como, somewhere my daughter really wanted to go to, with stops along the well trodden path of Cochem, Staufen, then later Bussang and Moussy. I really wanted to avoid the motorways as much as possible - I’d rather spend more time on the bike, especially where the roads are quiet. It's more of a holiday than an adventure, and certainly isn't Mongolia haha, but to a 16 year old it was still quite an adventure when most of her friends were doing a couple of weeks in a holiday resort.
I’m not going to write every day up with pictures, as there’s a video to watch (with an eclectic music track! You may find it boring but hopefully you’ll like at least one of the tracks (actually probably just the middle one!) and recognise a few places.
Highlights
Spending some quality time with my daughter. Having Sena comms was nice to chat through the day and talk about the scenery etc. Unfortunately one of the units died on the last day, possibly killed by torrential rain! A week away with a teenager and didn’t have a single argument! I hope it’s a trip we will both remember in years to come,
Germany - I always love visiting Germany. It’s always very friendly with good food (Pork and Spaetzle!) and stunning scenery. We did the obligatory B500 but as it was a Sunday afternoon it was frustratingly busy, and I actually enjoyed the roads off the B500, and those around Staufen more.
Switzerland - This was probably the highlight. I’ve never actually been before, preferring the southern, warmer countries like Spain for previous trips. As I’m sure most of you know the scenery is breath taking and difficult to ride and admire at the same time. We did a few of the passes and tried to stay off the motorway, although as motorways go they are a lot more interesting than the M1!
The route from Bussang to Moussy (near Reims). I hadn’t planned this in advance, so relied on the satnav’s ‘winding roads’ function set to the middle option, which gave a good combination of windy Vosges roads, and later on faster D roads. To be honest theres no way I couldn’t have plotted that route as well myself. Whilst the scenery beyond the Vosges wasn’t anything special, the actual roads were awesome to ride. I usually only use satnavs for finding the hotel at the end of the day, but this function worked better than I imagined it would.
Roubaix - We’re both big cycling fans, so the opportunity to detour to the Roubaix velodrome and even ride a few cobbles was too good to pass up. Had a nice chat with a Belgian whilst there, who was having his collection of over 100 signed World Champions jerseys photographed on the finishing line for a magazine. The cobbles were brutal on the GS - god knows how they ride 28mm tyres over those without constantly puncturing and falling off - much respect!
The bike - This is my 5th ‘holiday’ on the bike and it was faultless again It did need a bit of oil after a thousand miles (popped into a french version of Halfords and bought some unbranded stuff - will do a full change now I’m home.) Fuel economy was close to 50mpg, which two up with luggage is pretty good. It went down a fair bit on the bit of Paege that we did though!
Annoyances
The bikes 5th gear! For some reason I’m getting a resonant whuur whuur whuur in 5th gear at 3500rpm. It became really annoying to the point I avoided 5th gear. I’ve found other people with the same issue and it seems to be tyres related. It started after I switched to Tourances, and its so annoying I might just ditch them and try something else.
Lake Como was a bit of a disappointment to be honest. I think it was partly after riding through Switzerland it made Como a bit underwhelming. The weather was overcast too, and the traffic, especially around Lugano was awful, taking over an hour to do the last 40KM. On the plus side the food at the hotel (homemade pasta) was pretty amazing.
The weather - to be fair we were pretty lucky on the way down, but it rained almost solidly on the way back. It seems a long time ago since I last did a trip to europe with good weather the whole time!
Boots - new RST adventure boots let in water on the first proper downpour. Not impressed
Petrol stresses - only a couple, one in Germany where, due to a road closure (there are lots of them at the moment!) we ended up burning 30 miles of the 40 reserve on a road we couldn’t get off! Then a moment on the D roads in France where it got into single figures before a supermarket automated station came out of the mist like an oasis in the desert! It’s the only thing that stresses me out on trips, and the only time I think I’d like the reassurance of the ADV extra fuel range.
Overall a fantastic trip - now to plan next years with my son….he fancies Norway
Few pics:
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
Untitled by sagalout, on Flickr
The destination was Lake Como, somewhere my daughter really wanted to go to, with stops along the well trodden path of Cochem, Staufen, then later Bussang and Moussy. I really wanted to avoid the motorways as much as possible - I’d rather spend more time on the bike, especially where the roads are quiet. It's more of a holiday than an adventure, and certainly isn't Mongolia haha, but to a 16 year old it was still quite an adventure when most of her friends were doing a couple of weeks in a holiday resort.
I’m not going to write every day up with pictures, as there’s a video to watch (with an eclectic music track! You may find it boring but hopefully you’ll like at least one of the tracks (actually probably just the middle one!) and recognise a few places.
Highlights
Spending some quality time with my daughter. Having Sena comms was nice to chat through the day and talk about the scenery etc. Unfortunately one of the units died on the last day, possibly killed by torrential rain! A week away with a teenager and didn’t have a single argument! I hope it’s a trip we will both remember in years to come,
Germany - I always love visiting Germany. It’s always very friendly with good food (Pork and Spaetzle!) and stunning scenery. We did the obligatory B500 but as it was a Sunday afternoon it was frustratingly busy, and I actually enjoyed the roads off the B500, and those around Staufen more.
Switzerland - This was probably the highlight. I’ve never actually been before, preferring the southern, warmer countries like Spain for previous trips. As I’m sure most of you know the scenery is breath taking and difficult to ride and admire at the same time. We did a few of the passes and tried to stay off the motorway, although as motorways go they are a lot more interesting than the M1!
The route from Bussang to Moussy (near Reims). I hadn’t planned this in advance, so relied on the satnav’s ‘winding roads’ function set to the middle option, which gave a good combination of windy Vosges roads, and later on faster D roads. To be honest theres no way I couldn’t have plotted that route as well myself. Whilst the scenery beyond the Vosges wasn’t anything special, the actual roads were awesome to ride. I usually only use satnavs for finding the hotel at the end of the day, but this function worked better than I imagined it would.
Roubaix - We’re both big cycling fans, so the opportunity to detour to the Roubaix velodrome and even ride a few cobbles was too good to pass up. Had a nice chat with a Belgian whilst there, who was having his collection of over 100 signed World Champions jerseys photographed on the finishing line for a magazine. The cobbles were brutal on the GS - god knows how they ride 28mm tyres over those without constantly puncturing and falling off - much respect!
The bike - This is my 5th ‘holiday’ on the bike and it was faultless again It did need a bit of oil after a thousand miles (popped into a french version of Halfords and bought some unbranded stuff - will do a full change now I’m home.) Fuel economy was close to 50mpg, which two up with luggage is pretty good. It went down a fair bit on the bit of Paege that we did though!
Annoyances
The bikes 5th gear! For some reason I’m getting a resonant whuur whuur whuur in 5th gear at 3500rpm. It became really annoying to the point I avoided 5th gear. I’ve found other people with the same issue and it seems to be tyres related. It started after I switched to Tourances, and its so annoying I might just ditch them and try something else.
Lake Como was a bit of a disappointment to be honest. I think it was partly after riding through Switzerland it made Como a bit underwhelming. The weather was overcast too, and the traffic, especially around Lugano was awful, taking over an hour to do the last 40KM. On the plus side the food at the hotel (homemade pasta) was pretty amazing.
The weather - to be fair we were pretty lucky on the way down, but it rained almost solidly on the way back. It seems a long time ago since I last did a trip to europe with good weather the whole time!
Boots - new RST adventure boots let in water on the first proper downpour. Not impressed
Petrol stresses - only a couple, one in Germany where, due to a road closure (there are lots of them at the moment!) we ended up burning 30 miles of the 40 reserve on a road we couldn’t get off! Then a moment on the D roads in France where it got into single figures before a supermarket automated station came out of the mist like an oasis in the desert! It’s the only thing that stresses me out on trips, and the only time I think I’d like the reassurance of the ADV extra fuel range.
Overall a fantastic trip - now to plan next years with my son….he fancies Norway
Few pics:
Untitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on FlickrUntitled by sagalout, on Flickr
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