Day 1 of the 2014Euro trip had arrived, my bike was fully loaded and fuelled on Saturday night, in readiness for a early start on Sunday morning. At 4.30 am I was awake, but as we were not due to meet until 6.15 am a couple more hours of sleep would be welcome, but at 5.30 am I decided to get up, get geared up and go for a ride before meeting my mate, what a great time of the morning to be out on a bike, sun was shining and f*** all traffic about. As planned I meet my mate (Suzuki Hayabusa) at 6.15am and we set off for Folkstone to catch the 8.30am Shuttle, after a very brisk ride we arrived at Folkstone, just before 7am. We were put on the 8am ish Shuttle and were on our way. And so we arrived in France and headed out on the Autoroute but decided to turn off to visit Ypres, we stopped to pay our respects at the Menin Gate and after eating the worst burger I have ever tasted we set off for Luxembourg keeping to the Autoroutes for most of the journey, after a couple more fuel stops we arrived in Vianden at about 4.30pm. We did find a very interesting section of road, just outside Vianden with some nice bends and tight hairpins, a welcome relief to the Autoroute This small historic town is famous for its Castle, but was very busy with lots of bikers parked up on the river bank. (mainly Dutch and German on BM tourers ) not another Repsol/ Blade to be seen . We stayed at the Hotel Petry which has a large garage for bikes, the accommodation was good. as was the food. especially the home made Pizza’s Today’s mileage about 350 miles. Day 2. The real fun starts today, after a quick breakfast, fuel stop etc we set off to find the 48 on leaving Vianden we set off on the b50 towards Cochem. The 50 is a fantastic fast road with smooth surfaces clear views through wide sweeping bends, vineyards on the side of the hills, a great start to the day. On arrival at Cochem we discovered it was a public holiday and the town was swamped with tourist’s so after a quick drink we set of towards Koblenz. En route I experienced my first Autobahn our speed increased to a rapid pace !! we passed the race circuit at Hockenheim and arrived in Koblenz at lunch time. The temperature was 40 in the shade, so the need to take in fluids was a main consideration so after a quick lunch we set off again to find the 48 but using a totally shite Sat Nav it lead us on to 42 instead of the 48, this was a slow boring road, so we turned off and got ourselves onto another Autobahn en route to Baden Baden. Decided to see what the Blade would ‘top out at’ got it up to 165 mph (that was fast enough for me ) I think she was reving at 11k so some more to go, the average fuel indicator was showing 6kms per litre ! needless to say nothing much passed us, the odd Porsche/Merc gave us a bit of fun but the Blade held its own. We arrived in Baden Baden at about 5.30 pm what a beautiful town with fantastic architecture, massive parks/fountains we stopped at a pavement café for coffee and after much confusion as to the location of the hotel, we set off again to find the Hotel Rebenhof. (anyone want to stay in this area I would recommend this hotel) located about 5kms out of Baden Baden, it is a new hotel with views across surrounding countryside, a beautiful location, albeit a bit difficult to find. We stopped to ask a guy if he knew where it was, and instead of giving us directions, he got into his car and asked us to follow him. On arrival the receptionist gave us both a bottle of water as she could see how hot we were, the room was very good as was the food in the Hotel Restaurant. Got chatting to a group of British guys who were doing a charity bike ride, (14 countries in 14 days.) They had done 150 miles on that Monday and the 3 of them had consumed 40 litres of water between them. Total mileage for the day was 345. Day 3. After the disappointment of not finding the 48 we set off after breakfast to get onto the B500 and it was not a disappointment, again as all the other roads that we had ridden in Germany, fantastic road surface, wide open and fast bends, some 2nd gear hairpins, we were having fun, the sun was shinning and we felt good. http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j397/rewy1/2014 trip/028_zps01321c44.jpg After getting through the first section of the 500 we headed towards Titisee on the 2nd section of the 500, but the weather soon changed and rain clouds appeared overhead, it started to chuck it down, thunder and lighting joined in. It was during this period, that I lost contact with my mate, (after a woman in a Golf decided to drop her mobile phone whilst driving swerving all over the road the traffic slowed ) but my my mate who was leading disappeared into the distance. We had discussed earlier that if we became separated we would stay on the road and wait for the other to catch up, but as a coincidence we had lost each other just before the junction with Titisee and the 500, so I was not sure what way he had gone. After many failed attempts to contact him by phone, I decided to set off to our next destination of Schaffhausen in Switzerland. I had no map, no Sat Nav or any idea where we were staying, but after numerous stops asking for directions etc I reached the Swiss border. I sent my mate a text earlier to tell him I was making my way to Schaffhausen, but still had not had a reply from him. Eventually I arrived in Schaffhausen and headed for the railway station, where again I sent my mate a text, my mobile was running low on credit and battery. I was now beginning to get a little concerned, but after an hour I received a reply from him to confirm he was on his way, after another 2 hours wait he finally arrived.. It was now close to 6pm so we made our way to his mate’s house and had a few beers . Total Mileage for the day was 375. (my mate had done another 130 miles looking for me) Day 4. Didn’t start off very well, my mate dropped his bike (Hayabusa) and had pulled his hamstring in trying to keep the thing up (fairing and can damage) but he was more concerned about being able to ride the bike home, he had also lost his glasses ! all in all this day was not starting out well, he also had a problem with his chain ! We set off at about 9.30 am and provided he didn’t try to walk he was ok, he could see well enough as long we were not going to ride in the dark. From Schaffhausen we made our way out of Switzerland and headed back towards Vianden, riding the b500 again in the opposite direction, but it was closed at the section that we had not ridden before (due to road works) so we carried on rejoining it again further up. Finally we got back onto the B500 (big smiles again as we rode this road) as good as the Route Napoleon ? We stopped for lunch in Baden Baden and set off again for the 48, the shite sat nav advised us it was about 104 miles to the start of the 48, but we ignored it and after crossing the River Rhine we made our own way to Landau where we eventually found the 48 at about 4.30/5pm. This road had been a recco’d ride by Jimbo and Rob, if you haven’t done it put it on your ‘to do’ list its f***ing brilliant, a very long, fast but extremely challenging road, very narrow in parts with massive trees either side with severe drops on either side, other sections are wide and fast, very fast, as has been the case with every other section of road ridden the road surface’s are superb (why cant we build roads like this?) some of the local guys speed past you as if you are standing still ! We stayed on the 48 as far as Bingen, but then had to turn off and head towards Vianden, arriving at our hotel just before 9pm. A tough day, but wow that 48 is some road, how gutted were we that we had not found it before ! Total Mileage for the day 406. Last Day. Blat home from Vianden to Calais to catch the Train home. Kept to the Autoroute most of the way, mate’s leg was giving concern and we took the view best to get home asap. Total Mileage for the day 330 Not a lot more to add, did I enjoy the trip? Too bloody right I did. Would I do it again ? Too bloody right I would, but I would get a better Sat Nav ! B500 v 48 ? For a challenge and distance got to be the 48, the 500 is good but not that long. 2013 (Route Napoleon) v 2014 ? Not a lot to choose between the 2. The Route Napoleon was my first long trip and it made a massive impression on me. Germany is much closer, the people are great, the food is good, cheap beer and brilliant roads, Luxembourg cheap beer, smokes and petrol. Scenery is stunning and everything is so clean, we were very lucky with the weather (other than the shower when we got separated) Roll on 2015. And the Blade……….AWESOME More images on other thread.
Fantastic report Steve! I wonder if the road you found near Vianden was the one from Clervaux? If it was I've ridden it myself. Not that it matters, they're all great round that way. Sounds like day 4 could've turned out worse than it already was but you managed to have a great ride in the end. Hope your mate's leg is better now.
Cheers Rob. Mate has been to see Physio its a dble hamstring pull, going to be out of action for 4 weeks how the f*** he rode that bike for close on 800 miles I don't know.
Sounds fantastic. Great report and pictures on both threads. Thanks. Myself and a few mates are doing a similar route in July through Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland before I head back. Really looking forward to it now....
Good write up fella, booked my ferry crossing for this years trip today. 78 days until I head that way myself. Doing Vianden then a full run of the 500 all the way to Bad Sackingen.
Great write up buddy, enjoyed that. And glad you liked the road... Got to be one of the best kept secrets out there. We stumbled on it by chance then found out its a well known German biker road but dead in the week. Bliss.
Route already planned fella, Zeebrugge to Vianden, then over to Cochem across to Kaiserslautern and down the 48 as far as Bad Bergzaben then across to Baden Baden and down the 500 to either Freudenstadt or Bad Sackingen dependent on time. The points for the 48 are already tapped into the zumo
