Month: July 2012

“Time is always against us…”

I often find myself short of time which is why this quote from The Matrix is one of my favourites. I have now almost finished my packing and tomorrow I head out. Heat is also against me and I just feel like sipping something cold on my sofa in front of the fan, summer is too hot in Spain.

But where I’m going I will for sure meet a diversity of weather and the temperature might be my greatest challenge this summer. Spain, north of Italy and France are likely to be hotter than hell while the mountain passes in the Alps might be cold. Add a bit of rain to that and it will be freezing. According to the weather forecast it is below zero in Grosglockner at night.

Well, despite all preparations and plans there is only so much I can do in advance, time will tell how the journey turns out. Anyway, tomorrow the Forza Åsa tour begins – WIMA Rally 2012 Austria – There and back again”. The name of my tour is also a quote, taken from Bilbo when he wrote his memoirs of his far more adventurous journey. And Gandalf has a good point in saying that you don’t know what a journey will do to you, even if you come back you won’t be the same.

My maps, still no GPS
My maps, still no GPS

The map and the route

So, bit by bit I have managed to sort things out. Now I have finished plotting the route and have put togehter a route of roughly 5000 kilometers riding through Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, Andorra and back to Spain. I will altogheter spend 22 days with my bike and hopefully it wont rain that much.


Visa Forza Åsa Tour 2012 på en större karta

For further details regarding the route and the preparations check out my updates on the pages “The To-Do-list” and “”WIMA Rally 2012 Austria – there & back again”.

I need some rest

So finally, after doing 1000 kilometres during a week hot as hell I was ready to go to Seseña for the service. I left the bike in the morning and strolled off to find a café where I spent the morning sipping coffee reading and being totally relaxed. Whatever needed to be done this day was being done by someone else.

The mechanic had a look at the suspension to see if there coud be some changes done to reduce vibrations and raised the saddle a bit in the front. Useful information I found on the American and British Versys forums. Hopefully this will make a difference for the ride.

I was surprised to see my WIMA Japan and WIMA Sweden stickers had been peeled off the Ducati and stuck to the toilet cistern.
I was surprised to see that my WIMA Japan and WIMA Sweden stickers had been peeled off the Ducati and stuck to the toilet cistern.

During this weekend I have plotted my route and have plans ready as far as 8-9 of August, when I’m going to stay with John and Annice at the Grand Chaume in the province of Allier. Apart from the WIMA rally itself and meeting all the biker ladies this is the big highlight of the trip. John and Annice are the sweetest and those of you who followed my adventures last summer know how much help and support I got there when I needed to take my bike to a garage urgently. I’m very happy to be able to go back this year again.

Apart from this stay, I have done my bookings through hostelworld, hostelbookers and MobikeHotels for motorbike friendly hotels in Europe. The pricee of my stays vary from a 13 euro bunkbed in a 10 bed dorm to a 101 euro hotel room with 5 course dinner. Sometimes I have to spoil myself.

Now what remains to plan are 3 or 4 more stays to finish off the last leg of the journey. I need to buy new boots and contemplate the packing. I’m waiting for the permanent “permiso de circulation” and the confirmation papers from the bike insurance. And also, a recreational stay in Sweden to get well, get fit and rested.

My new cards have been printed
My new cards have been printed

La Grande Chaume

Hostelworld

Hostelbookers

Motorbike friendly Hotels in Europe