While the ferry smoothly arrived in Kiel, the sky was clear and no sign of the promised snow. However, due to the weather forecast I opted to not take the ferry at Gluckstad but rather enter the autobahn and head for Hamburg and from there towards Groningen. So far so good, when arriving in Hamburg I entered a snowstorm. It was these nice large snowflakes that you would like for Christmas, not for your motorbike tour. However, the day was to continue like this, a variety of snow, sleet and hail broken up by glimpses of hope in the form of sunshine. It was cold, but I had been prepared for that. What I had not prepared for was to ride on the autobahn in the snow, I slowed as much as I could without risking becoming a hazard due to low speed – but also I didn’t want to slide and risk having an accident. Hey, I’m thinking of all the marathon training as well, with only one month to go to the Leiden Marathon I don’t want to break a leg and ruin my training. Relieved, I arrived at my friend Fokje’s house where I could warm up and rest.
We had a lovely dinner, and talked, talked and talked about riding and travelling in a way that you can only do with biker-friends. We re-lived the Australian rally and post tours via her photos and talked about the upcoming summer.
The following day I managed to avoid a rather large snowstorm and traffic chaos by an hour or so and did not get much rain at all. I rode the dyke and along the flower fields in the north of The Netherlands, I had not planned for this. Actually, I had no plan at all, but this small tour from Sweden to England became “The Tulip Tour” after recommendations from Fokje and her husband and it was ace to take in the view and the smell of the flowers from my bike.
Nevermind the grey sky, the ground holds the rainbow
The following day, I arrived in Harwich with the ferry at 6.30. Needless to say, it was freezing cold at that early hour. I was happy to get home and defrost and relax and even happier to take Christopher to the Ace Cafe the same afternoon – our first ride out together. It snowed on our way home. Fine flakes flying about, but no worries, I’ve been through worse… I would prefer some actual spring weather, NOW – I want to ride.
