Preface.
I just wanted to point out that this is the first time I am attempting to write something of this nature, moreso that I am doing so in a language which is not my own.
I trust that my fellow members (ladies and gents) on this site will ignore both my errors and/or ramblings wherever present.
Remember ... this ain't John Steinbeck!
The Bedouin.
The Going.
Wed 12 July.
As with probably everyone else setting off on a journey, I was in a rush to get things wrapped up and get started. After juggling things all morning and quickly running out of time I started to mentally make alternate route plans.
The initial plan was to get the ferry from Patras (approx. 230 km from Athens, where I live) to Brindisi (in the south of Italy) which goes via Igoumenitsa in the NW of Greece (see map).
I knew I wouldn't make the ferry in Patras so I headed westwards anyway (somewhere along the way I messaged Adey) until just before Patras and veered northwards across the new Rio-Antirio bridge, up along the mostly twisty roads towards Igoumenitsa.
So, in effect I was racing the ferry northwards (it had a few hours head start) towards Igoumenitsa and 7 hours later, I just made it's departure with about 15 minutes to spare.
Once on the ship, I went straight to the dining room where I met 2 Australian girls and had a really nice chat with them.
They were on a Kon-Tiki expedition (apparently an organisation which caters to singles aged between 18-35) which would take them through most of Europe.
These ladies I also met up with a few hours later in the cafeteria but in between I met a guy who couldn't stop talking about sex.
I felt like I was involved in a 2-hour porno movie. He went on and on, so much so that I had to make an excuse and disappear.
He obviously had a problem. Pity, a relatively good-looking guy of 35 years who had probably never gotten *aid in his life.
Thursday 13 july
I got off the ferry in Brindisi and started the run up to Asendorf. I had no idea how much distance I could cover and where I would finally end up.
I had suspected though that with all the extra energy (read around 20 kg - belly area) I had accumulated over the nearly 3 months lying on my back (crushed ankle) that I shouldn't do too badly.
I went up the east coast of Italy past Bari, Pescara, Ancona and the inwards toward Bologna, Modena (Ferrari country), Verona and then turned east to Venice.
Just before Venice I realised I still had a lot of riding time and energy left so I backtracked to Verona.
I then turned northwards from Verona and made a short detour via Garda to say hello to a friend (and have the inevitable double espresso - as is the case with all my stops) then went up through Bolzano and then the Bremmer Pass into Austria.
Once into Austria the sky became overcast and I went through two 15-20 minute stints of rain (in fact the second one contained hail) but I was glad I pushed on as the sky cleared further on and all was well. (At this point I have to reveal my immense dislike for the rain and that I am pretty scared of wet roads - even after over 28 years of riding).
I eventually got to Innsbruck in Austria and started considering stopping for the night.
I booked myself into a room at a motel around 30-40 km north of Innsbruck and after a shower I lay on the bed trying to calculate (I did this a few times because I was feeling a bit like a zombie since I had been on the road roughly 13 hours) the distance I still had to go to Asendorf.
I eventually worked out that I would probably be late in Asendorf (we had provisionally planned being there at 4 p.m. on Friday the 14th.) and was left with 3 choices : a/ Increase my average speed (I had been pacing myself at 110-130 km/h or 70-80 mph - with short bursts at 150 km/h - around 90 mph) b/ cut short my break for the evening or c/ be very late in Asendorf.
Friday 14 July - circa 04:00 a.m.
I decided to cut short my break and left the motel around 2 and a half to 3 hours after entering it.
Another double espresso and I was on my way to Munich.
Picture taken just outside Munich.
Thankfully I was feeling great and the initial night riding presented different pleasures (a lot less trucks - my pet hate).
There were many segments where I was all alone on the road, giving me the sense of a lone crusader (yep, childish, I know, but there it was).
I then locked myself into robot-mode (and crusader after daybreak... fighting the trucks) and continued on through Munich - Nurenburg - Halle (near Leipzig, south of Berlin) - Magdeburg - Hannover and finally ... finally (did I say finally?) to Asendorf - around 29 hours and not 26 hours as I previously thought (including the break and around 13 pit-stops) after I started off in Brindisi the previous day.
My Arrival in Asendorf - my saviour.
Over the years, I generally seem to have developed a knack for digesting map routes etc. (in fact, I think I have probably swallowed a GPS system at some time, as I think I mentioned to Martyn on our ride back from the outing on the Staurday).
Anyhow, my navigation from Athens to Asendorf was perfect without any hitches whatsoever.
Once in Asendorf, this was very nearly about to change, but for my accidental meeting with members Pawel and his wife Beata.
Anyhow, I rolled into Asendorf (sounds good - Yes?) and I headed for a petrol station as I was running really low on fuel. I turned into one and as I stopped at the pumps I saw a red America parked to the side with a couple standing next to it.
I tried to recall who had a red America and had said he was being accompanied to the rally. This was especially difficult as I also didn't recognize Pawel from any of the pictures I had seen on BA.COM.
I strolled up to him and said "Hi, I am Bedouin from Greece" and Pawel replied "I am Pawel from Poland and we are new members".
I then remembered reading some of his posts.
Now, Pawel had instructions to get to Robert's Hostel so I hung around and followed him there.
Only once I got there did I realise that Robert's Hostel was not actually called this but there was something else on the signpost outside.
I had been thinking that once I get to Asendorf, I'll just look or ask around for Robert's Hostel.
I mean, in a relatively small town, HOW DIFFICULT CAN THIS BE???
Can you imagine, after so many miles on the road I get lost in ASENDORF!!!
So, thank you Pawel for being there or I would probably still be asking around.
Disappointment.
Upon my arrival at the hostel all the guys were standing outside in the driveway area. It seems they had heard us (Pawel and myself) coming down the road.
I parked the bike and looked up at the guys and said (whilst struggling to get my helmet off) "I bet you thought I wouldn't make it!" ... to which everyone laughed.
Once off the bike I asked Shaun (Nobby) and Martyn "Where's Skinny? (Adey)" as I hadn't seen him in the group standing in front of me.
They told me Adey's story which was really sad for me, especially as I had touched base (via text messages on our cell phones) with him concerning my progress. I know this sounds dumb but it's kind of like your contact/guardian angel (from the group) when you have almost 3000 km ahead of you.
He had posted on the site on my behalf (I couldn't log in from my "smartphone" but I could read all the posts as an "anonymous" user) and his excitement was very obvious, especially as the Euro rally had officially commenced with my starting off.
Thankfully Ade, there will be "other times".
Also thanks friend for all your combined efforts in organizing this rally as Martyn mentioned on several occasions.
Guilty ...
After we settled in Robert informed us that he had a reservation in a restaurant for us.
The problem that arose was that this restaurant was over 2 km away and transportation was not available.
What may not be generally known is that I am still recovering from a crushed ankle so I generally drag my left leg and use a walking-stick (collapsable) for most of the time.
So, the group started the long walk to the restaurant while I was chaufferred around in Robert's car.
Should I have felt guilty? Well, I did.
Hotdog's (Peter)run.
Hotdog and I had been communicating for a couple of weeks before the rally and had agreed to meet just north of Wurzburg as he would be coming west from the Mannheim area (south of Frankfurt) and we would head north together for the last 400 km of my run to Asendorf.
Destruction struck a week before the rally when Peter's boss got him to drive his truck to Spain on the Monday - load up again and head back to Germany on the Wednesday - arriving in Germany late on the Friday night.
Anyhow, we were talking about it at the table on Saturday morning and I think it was Nick who said to me "don't be surprised if he's just round the corner".
Well, we went out and lined our bikes up in the driveway for a photo shoot when suddenly this crazy German comes flying up the road (and into the driveway).
What a guy! This is a real hero who flew to Spain and back and then came almost straight up to join us in Asendorf.
Thank you Peter for your kind gesture in handmaking (along with your son) the plaque/souvenir (this is the BA.COM patch actually BURNT into the wood) for all of us.
The Kaizer statue.
Following the photo shoot in the driveway we all set off in two directions. The majority of the group headed south while 4 or 5 headed northeast to Hamburg for a HD event.
The southbound group were led (guided) by Robert on his 750 Kawasaki Zephyr. Our first stop was in an area (I am not sure of it's name) where a monument and statue of Kaizer was situated. We had a break in the local cafeteria/restaurant and then commenced up the hill to this monument.
Because of my bad leg I was unable to climb the steps up to the statue as such, so the pictures I have taken are from the bottom. (BTW thanks everyone for waiting for me and putting up with me and my magic walking-stick)
As time went by my leg was deteriorating so I decided to head back to the hostel with Martyn and daughter Megan.
We stopped on the way for some lunch and then continued back to base.
It is noteworthy to mention that the last 10 km segment back to the hostel was one of the most enjoyable for me, as Martyn and I "pushed it" a little in the twisty parts. Thank you Martyn.
The Conspiracy - The inside story.
Ah! The time has come for the truth.
As you will all know, Martyn produced 3 elegant award plaques: 1 for the "Most distance travelled", 1 for the "Best custom bike" and 1 for the "Best Rat bike ".
Martyn asked me if I would like to participate as a judge with him in order to count the votes etc. and to come up with the winners.
We started off with the "most distance travelled" where each member was to write down the mileage the had done from home to Asendorf.
So, I started to sort the paperwork and came across one that mentioned 7815 miles!
Now, for those who don't know, my run was 2.850 km (1.770 miles) to Asendorf in 2 segments - approx. 500 kms over 7 hours (310 miles) in the twisties from Athens to Igoumenitsa and then another 2.300 km (1.430 miles) from Brindisi to Asendorf (with a few hours break in Austria, including a small deviation to/from Venice).
I was devastated! I thought how can this be? I showed Martyn and we realised that the member (unnamed) had actually written his total speedo mileage down instead of the run to Asendorf mileage.
What a relief! The award for longest distance travelled was still mine (Just kidding, of course. It was a "de facto" coincidental situation and not a competitive achievement as such, as were the other awards).
The next award was for "Best custom bike" and after my sorting the votes and a relatively simple process we came up with Johann's (Gooseman's) bike which Martyn dutifully wrote down on his piece of paper with the winners names.
The last award (for the Best Rat bike) however, reeked of conspiracy and scandal.
I yet again started sorting the paperwork (it should be noted that although Martyn was sitting right next to me, he was unable to actually see what the members had written down - and I made sure I kept it that way).
As I paged through the papers I said to Martyn "this one seems to be getting a lot of votes" (trying very hard not to start laughing).
Martyn said "which one is that?"
I made like I didn't hear him until he asked again, prolonging his curiosity.
I eventually laughed out loud and read out the registration number (tag number) and he realised what had happened.
Most of the members had voted his very new Triumph Rocket III as the best RAT BIKE!!!
Being equally guilty I sheepishly admitted to Martyn my participation in this conspiracy.
It should be noted that this charade was entirely (albeit subtely) instigated by Shaun (Nobby).
After very little consideration, Martyn gracefully disqualified his own bike (as it was neither an America nor a Speedmaster) and the award went to the runner-up which was Grzegorz's bike.
Meeting of the Spirits.
That night Robert set up a BBQ for us (yes Robert worked real hard while the BA.Com gang of hooligans was there).
Now if anyone is fooled by the heading of this paragraph, I will attempt to rectify this.
I am not implying any "spritual" ceremony or suchlike event, but the surprise Pawel held for us when he suddenly produced a bottle of "Spirytus" he had brought from his native Poland.
I am unsure but I believe that there was also a second bottle.
Being a teetotaler I am unable to testify to the quality of this beverage so I would direct anyone to the likes of Shaun (Nobby), Martyn and perhaps Johann for a more accurate assesment, as they apparently had moreso of an "expert's" approach in their investigations.
Sound effects.
I need to mention here that I was always been amazed by Grzegorz's somewhat expressive posts on this forum.
Meeting him in person was an experience as the sound effects that accompanied his conversation were overwhelming.
I remember his last phrase on the Satuday night (perhaps with the help of a little Spirytus) was something like "rakatakatakataka, I am going to bed to get away from you cheeky English people" ... or something to that effect.
Grzegorz my friend, it was a pleasure to meet you and I thank you for your tolerance to my own sound effects while sleeping (snoring - we shared the same room in the hostel), but I hadn't slept in 3 days.
Departures.
On Sunday morning Peter, Mark and Steve left for their journey home.
The rest of the group went for a ride to the local McDonald's for lunch and we returned to the hostel and chilled out in the garden until dinner time.
It was around this time that Nick headed home too.
Around 11:00 pm on Sunday night I started my journey back home. I was honoured by everyone gathering into the garage area to see me off. Thank you one and all.
Returning home.
The return journey was pretty uneventful and was along the same routes (except for Italy and in Greece - see "Sidetracked" below) I had come up to Asendorf on.
Only 2 things I would like to mention here.
The one is that just past Hannover and around midnight (approx. 1 hour following my leaving Asendorf), I was alone on the highway and went through a patch of giant electricity-producing windmills. There must have been around 50 windmills on each side of the highway and they were silhouetted against the dark sky every time their red lights (on top) flashed (approx.every 3 seconds and all in unison).
As I approached them it was as if the area had been invaded by these giant "aliens"
A very eerie experience, to say the least.
I was unable to take a picture of these as I couln't find a suitable place to stop but I have added two pictures of similar windmills (although in the daytime) near the Nurenburg area, just to demonstrate the sheer size of these brutes.
The second is that I had left Asendorf just before midnight, secretely hoping I could reach Brindisi in one shot.
Well, I failed miserably! I started becoming very absent-minded and losing focus.
Pictures (above) taken entering the Austro-Italian Alps.
I had gotten past Ancona (eastern coast of Italy - I had already missed the ferries leaving from there) and was on the outskirts of Pescara when I gave up! This was over 21 hours since I had started in Asendorf and just 4-5 hours short of Brindisi in the south.
I decided to stay in Pescara for the night and backtracked to Ancona for the midday ferry from there to Patras.
Leaving Ancona port for Igoumenitsa and then Patras.
Sidetracked!
Although pretty tired, I had been considering getting off in Igoumenitsa (7 hour ride home) again instead of going all the way to Patras (roughly an additional 6-7 hours from Igoumeitsa plus 3 hours ride from Patras back home to Athens).
At this point I should mention that there was a group (from a European country) on board the ferry on their way to Athens for their International annual corporate convention.
I got to speaking to one member of this group.
The pictures below were taken around 05:00 a.m. as the ferry is approaching Igoumenitsa. Now the dilemna. Should I stay or should I go?
Nope ... Sidetracked!
On the ship's deck - The scene of the crime.
Still sidetracked (below) after 3 days near a very old house ... without a roof (built circa. 438 B.C.). Subject kidnapped from a corporate convention.
NOTE: These pictures have been used with full permission of the person depicted (who will also have access to the story/thread). Names, origins and corporate identity have been witheld for the protection of innocent persons (at least from the rest of you - not me
).
The last leg.
The last segment was a short 3-hour ride from Patras to Athens.
I finally got to my favourite watering-hole in Glyfada, the suburb of Athens where I live and had one of the best esspresso ever made.
Inevitably, I had to recite my adventure to the few friends that were there.
I had gotten home safely (despite a couple of near mishaps) yet again, my experiences to include a few new friends with whom I now share several memories.
The Bike.
The bike is a 2005 Speedmaster I acquired in December of 2004 and the only mods and accessories are HD handlebars (model 83T 56085) which come up a bit higher and backwards than the standard SM drag bars (I had to use the America's clutch and throttle cables). They are narrower than the America's handlebars. I also have aftermarket pipes and the tall Triumph sissybar. I highly recommend the Bikersfriend.com XL bag as this is both stable and convenient and also has a cushion for your lower back. This (cushion) coupled with something strapped higher up (I used my leather jacket or other soft items in a bag) locks you in a position (still leaving ample flexibility) whereby the stress on your coccyx (lower backbone area) is a matter of history (even with the sort of mileage I did on this trip!).
I would also change the front sprocket for a 17 or 18 tooth one but this ONLY because at 140 km/h the engine was revving a bit. I must however, stress that it didn't bother me much.
For one-up touring, pacing oneself at 110 to 130 km/h, I really find this bike most enjoyable.
This coming from someone who has had a BMW R1100RT in his stable for the past 9 odd years and has toured most of Europe and Asia Minor with it.
Epilogue.
At some point on my return journey it occurred to me that, following all the drinking in Asendorf, it wasn't the length of the roads that concerned me, but the WIDTH! (Just kidding of course, there wasn't much drinking in Asendorf, nor can I get drunk on Coca-Cola, water and coffee).
In Asendorf, the group decided that our next rally will be held in Bankeryd in Sweden. My initial thoughts were "F, these guys are trying to test my endurance levels" and even more importantly, meteorological aspects (rain etc.).
As is my nature in most aspects, within seconds I saw this as an opportunity to explore new regions, which, had it not been for the presence of Bengt (Piper) and Johann (Gooseman) from Sweden, may never had presented itself otherwise. Such is destiny. Thanks guys (Piper I hope you have your bagpipes with you next year - you know, to justify your handle).
I noticed that Dinqua mentioned in a post that "Maybe some of us from this side can make it next year."
Now, that would be a great example of cross-pollination of members across the Atlantic! Something that Shaun (Nobby) pioneered a couple of years ago (Shaun, if you are reading this, thanks for the tips and tricks for touring the USA).
Finally ... to quote a great man ... "Roll on next year!"!!! (posted by Dave/Hedgehog in the "Euro Rally..... The Story" thread on BA.COM on 18 July 2006).
The Bedouin.
Athens, Sunday 30 July 2006.
