Dutchblog

Just returned from my 58th overseas motorcycle trip since 1983 which went something like this:

• Images may be found here.

Day One::Edinburgh to DFDS North Shields 121 miles

Day Two::DFDS Ijmuiden (NL) to Herzberg-Sieber (D) 375 miles
After leaving the ferry at Ijmuiden a little after 10am I made use of the extensive Dutch motorway system to head east into Germany as quickly as possible.

My idea was to stay in a pre-booked Gasthaus in the Harz mountains after visiting the famous dams at Mohne, Sorpe & Eder en-route.

However delays caused by roadworks & frequent stops to re-hydrate because of the extremely hot weather meant that I was running about 2 hours late by the time I arrived at the the first dam, Mohne.

The roads in the area were very congested & a fair crowd of visitors meant I didn’t bother to stop for photo’s or at the second dam, Sorpe, some 10 miles away.

I decided to skip Eder altogether as I still had over 170 miles to my first night’s stop at Haus Iris.

Day Three::Herzberg-Sieber (D) to Erding (D) 310 miles

A much better biking day, although still fairly hot, accomplished almost entirely on minor country roads, through great scenery. I’d booked another Gasthous for tonight at Erding, about 20 miles to the east of Munich.

Day Four::Erding (D) to Kahl am Main (D) 238 miles

After an early start I visited BMW Welt & the newly refurbished BMW Museum in the northern suburbs of Munich before heading north & west through Dachau (without revisiting the POW camp memorial site), again mainly on minor country roads to my last overnight stop in Germany at Kahl am Main, a small town to the south east of Frankfurt.

Day Five::Kahl am Main (D) to DFDS Ijmuiden (NL) 307 miles

With over 300 miles to cover in time to catch the afternoon ferry back to Newcastle I relied mainly on the motorways in Germany & the Netherlands to ensure I arrived in Ijmuiden in plenty of time. Again the temperatures were in the mid 30′s(c) and humidy very high.

Day Six::DFDS North Shields-Edinburgh 121 miles

The uneventful return crossing arrived back in the UK on time and I was greeted by damp misty weather which didn’t clear until well into Scotland.

My first overseas trip on the RT ended in brilliant sunshine some 1472 miles & six days after I set off.

The bike proved itself once again as the most versatile long distance tourer and hopefully I’ll be able squeeze in another decent trip before packing Tim off to uni in September, who knows!