- 178950 km on the bike
On Sunday I check out of the motel in Maple
Ridge and then drive to Vancouver.
I do a stopover at the cinema once more and watch The
Brave One, a quite fascinating film about American suburbia.
By 5 pm I return the rented
monstrosity and the rental guys drop me off at the airport.
I have plenty of time, as my plane does not leave before 10.50
pm.
When I check my baggage in, the cute Japanese clerk is unable
to find me on his passenger manifest. I am rather surprised, because
I have used that Tourbec
travel agency in Montréal
on several occasions in the past and they were always perfectly
reliable.
I find an info stand where I can print out my e-ticket. I present
it again to that young hunk from Nippon,
but again he can not match the ticket against the passenger manifest.
I try my luck at the main Air
Transat desk, just 100 yards away. The elderly lady working
there finds me immediately on the manifest. It appears that my
British passport and my accent (Asian
Canadians have profound difficulties with European accents)
led this chap to assume that I want to take their midnight flight
to London,
though I clearly stated Frankfurt
as my destination - it also says so on the printed e-ticket I
showed him. The guy offers lots of apologies, and finally all
is under way.
The aircraft leaves on schedule, and after an uneventful 9.5 hours
flight we touch down at Europe's second-biggest airport.
Other than in North America, this airport immediately beams an
aura of efficiency and orderliness to the weary traveller from
the other side of the big
pond. Clear signposting guides me through passport control
and to baggage reclaim. The belt is yet empty, but within two
minutes of my arrival the luggage appears - and my motorcycle
baggage roll comes out as the very first item. It has a large
"priority baggage" label stuck to it. It seems that
the guy from check-in in Vancouver was so embarrassed, that he
gave me a bit of a special treat here. Well, I could have come
up with some alternative ideas of a special treatment he could
have given me, but then I shan't complain.
I steam out of reclaim ahead of everyone else and find the information
desk here at terminal two. The two ladies working there are totally
upset; their computer system just has gone down, so they can not
provide any hotel reservations etc. While one is on the phone
to emergency support, the other lady is busy giving us travellers
advice on how to get to terminal one via the free-of-charge rail link and
where to find the information booth there. 10 minutes later I
am there and get myself a room at the InterCity
hotel, located within the cargo centre south of the airport.
The hotel shuttle bus picks me up and by 9 pm local time I have
my first decent wheat beer in quite a while, celebrating my safe
return to the Old World. Tomorrow I will find out if Kitty made
it just as easily.
I am up early next morning and at 9 am I reach the cargo centre
after a relaxing 20 minutes walk. The proceedings are always the
same; go to the bonded warehouse, pay the fee for a day storage
(€29), then walk over to the customs building next door
and have them release the bike.
By 10 am the bike is ready. I drive back to the hotel, load my
baggage and then head straight for the next petrol station and
fill up the tank.
Now the fun part of the day can begin. I head south into the scenic
Odenwald
region and enjoy biking on those smaller and much more winding
European roads.
Then comes the beautiful valley of the Neckar
river. A quick lunch at a Kebab
shop and then I ride on until I see a black wall of clouds ahead
above the Swabian
hills. It is obvious that this biking day is over, so I stay at
a quiet hotel near Welzheim
- 179150 km on the bike
After raiding the breakfast buffet this morning I set out at 10 am, riding south-eastwards deeper into Swabia. The countryside is very nice and I am always using quiet backwater roads through small villages, avoiding all large towns like e. g. Ulm.
After lazy ride of 250 km I reach my target, the town of Wangen.
The business of having my tyres replaced has become a kind of
routine in the last few years, but this time I am fully aware
of the high quality craftsmanship I receive here - because I have
seen all these entirely skill-free morons at work in North America.
As usual during most of my stays in the area I book myself into
the "Rössle" hotel near the town centre.
- 179400 km on the bike
This morning I ride those five kilometers to Hergatz. The mechanics start right away to replace both tyres of my bike. After dealing with all those mechanical amateurs in North America it is great to see real professionals working on my bike for a change.
Before noon the job is done - and costs me 228 Euros instead
of the 510 dollars they charged for this kind of job in Calgary.
Now I can start the fun part of today; biking. But first I have
to get around lake
Constance. Most people wishing to head into Eastern Switzerland
would just skirt around the eastern shores of the lake via Bregenz.
But there is a much more scenic route into the Austrian
Vorarlberg
province through the Walser valley. Here is an impression of what
one would miss out on when taking the shortest route:
In spite of my scenic mountain diversion and the giant traffic jams in Feldkirch I reach the Liechtenstein border before 3 pm. Liechtenstein just takes a few minutes to bike through, then I cross the Rhine river which forms the border to Switzerland.
Next follows the scenic ride through the Swiss mountains, until I reach my motorbike dealership in Eschenbach. I just confirm that everything is ready for the big 180000 km service - alas, the bike hasn't had a proper service for 40000 km. Of course all is ready, so I ride into Jona-Rapperswil where I have booked a hotel room. What a nice change from North America; four different countries passed through while just covering 130 miles of distance.
- 179600 km on the bike
This morning I drop off the bike at the workshop and continue
on a loan bike, a Triumph Thruxton 900. Now nearing the end of
this voyage I have to get settled again, so for today I am looking
for securing a job and find a flat to live in once I am done with
this bike journey.
By 6 pm I am in employment from next month onwards and have also
secured a nice flat in a quiet cul-de-sac
just a few miles away from my new job - how very convenient.
6 pm is also the time when Roman, the mechanic, hands me back
my bike. He has discovered plenty of evidence that the "mechanics"
at Reno Triumph
are just as incompetent as all the other spanner monkeys I encountered
in North America; when they took off the tank to replace the spark
plugs, they managed not to put back a staggering 10 different
screws and nuts. They also forgot to put back into place the air
filter cover gasket. Roman is quite shocked by the incredibly
bad craftsmanship of his American counterparts. How can they make
that many blunders on such a simple job? Needless to say that
he meticulously replaced each and every one of the missing nuts
and bolts and also installed a new gasket.
The bike runs perfectly now. The new clutch is crisp, the slight
valve train noise is gone and even the moderately corroded handle
bar bolt covers have been replaced with shiny new ones.
Next day I seal the deal on the flat, get me new waterproof boots at the nearby Motorama in Hinwil and then hang out at Hans place for a while.
I have decided to finish this journey with a quick trip into France to visit Nick & Nouria in Clermont-Ferrand again.
- 179650 km on the bike
The weather is great the next day, but the weather forecast predicts
a constant deterioration on my route westwards, and later lots
of rain.
So I set out early at 9 am and take the motorway through Switzerland
just until I reach Geneva.
From there I follow parallel to the French A40
motorway on country roads into the Ain
département - which is truly one of the most underrated
French biker areas.
Soon the Rhône, the Ain and the Saône are behind me. The weather is slowly closing in and by the time I am roaring along the chateaus and palaces of the Loire valley, the scenery looks a bit gloomy;
But I ride on and at 6 pm I arrive in Clermont-Ferrand after a delightful 650 km ride - just when it begins to drizzle.
- 180300 km on the bike
Next day I ride to Lauressergues and visit that famous barn in France once more to collect some of the belongings I left here during my last visit. In the evening Nick and Nouria invite me to diner at a stylish restaurant in town. What a nice way to finish my journey.
- 180700 km on the bike
The weather is pretty grim this morning when I set out for Switzerland
- just the right kind of weather to end my journey. It is cold
and rainy and not really pleasant, though my raingear keeps me
completely dry.
On the way out I drove these 650 km all in one day, but in these
conditions I stop overnight near Nantua.
After a good nights sleep I head on into Switzerland. Just after
noon I arrive at my new home - it is Friday, and I have to be
back at work next Monday. I can't deny it, this journey is well
and truly over.
- 181300 km on the bike
The next page shows a summary map of the entire journey through North America.