It's done. After 3 months I am headed home. I must say that it's a bit of a relief. I left Freiburg after I repaired the clutch lever and hit the autobahn at full speed and knocked off the 500 Kms in about three and a half hours. A final kick in the arse if you like. I checked into a hotel and spent the next few hours sorting out my stuff. The bike has been taken to my mates house in Bochum and I got a new duffel bag in Essen to put the contents of the pann...

A s*** day today. It started well with a chat to some old boy over a couple of coffees. Soon I was on the road headed for Bochum. I had not gotten far down the road when the bike started to splitter and miss. I was running out of fuel. Not a big deal, the bike has a reserve tank that is good for a further 50 Kms but it can be a bit of effort getting it going again. So I started scanning for a spot to pull over. As I was traveling behind a truck, my range ...

After a marathon sleep I woke at 9am. After a few goodbyes and a cup of coffee I set off for Colmar. Again the original plan was to stay away from the highways and stick to the rural scenic route. Unfortunately the route that I went was maddeningly slow and industrial. There was only me and slow, tight arsed Dutchmen who did not want to pay the toll roads. Change of plan, get to Colmar and settle in. So - the way toll roads work is this. You get on at a bo...

After the excitement of the bull fights in Bilbao, I needed another day to recover and being it was a public holiday and nothing was open except the odd pizza shop and a couple of bars, that's pretty much what I did. The following day I came out of the blocks clumsily and feeling pretty dusty but still managed to strike a blow at a reasonable hour. I was soon under way headed for the French border, making it up as I went along. The original plan I had was to c...

A highly entertaining 24 hours in Bilbao. It started with an early walk through the old town. The place was busy with deliverers bringing food and drink to the many restaurants. Sat there with a coffee and watched it all happen. After my breakfast I filled in the rest of the day wandering the old town. Got back to my hotel and had my afternoon nap. Feeling rested and a little excited , I headed out the door in the mid afternoon toward the Plaza De Toro to s...