Auch nach dem Brexit zieht es mich wieder nach Großbritannien. Dieses Jahr zum 10. Mal. Das versuche ich mit einer Fahrt durch den Tunnel zu würdigen. Bisher habe ich die Fähre genommen; einmal bin ich geflogen.
Anfangs wollte ich Zeit sparen und die Strecke bis Calais in zwei Tagen zurücklegen. Ich bin froh, dass ich mich anders entschieden habe. Aktuell sitze ich in Liége auf der Terrasse vor meinem winzigen Zimmer und tippe gerade an diesem Block.
Aber zunächst einmal von Anfang an.
14. Juli 2023: Von zu Hause nach Koblenz
Die Fahrt nach Koblenz war ohne besondere Vorkommnisse: Ganz normal auf Nebenstraßen angenehmes Dahin-Cruisen. Meine neue Routing-App hat mir allerdings einen Streich gespielt. Es können Tracks ebenso wie Routen exportiert werden. Allerdings fehlen in den Routen die Wegpunkte, so dass ich mit Routen-Navigation auf der Autobahn gelandet wäre. Da das nur bei starkem Regen eine Option wäre um eben Strecke zu machen, musste ich auf Track-Navigation umsteigen.
Das hat jedoch den Nachteil, dass es keine Hinweise zum Abbiegen gibt und ich mich selbst darum kümmern muss. So wirds nicht langweilig und es wird mehr meine Tour als eine nachgefahrene Anleitung von „links, rechts und geradeaus“.
Ein paar Eindrücke von Koblenz: Am Abend war ich in der Fußgängerzone lecker Tapas essen. Dazu gabˋs Straßenmusik-Geklampfe mit spanischem Touch und ein weiterer Typ hat dazu auf Bongos getrommelt. Von dort aus bin ich noch zum Deutschen Eck spaziert, wo sich Model und Rhein treffen.
15. Juli 2023: Von Koblenz nach Liége
Beim Frühstück konnte ich noch draußen auf dem Balkon sitzen. Das Bepacken des Tigers war jedoch – wie gestern auch schon eine kleine Odyssee. Kaum war alles fertig verstaut, regnete es in Strömen. Die zusätzliche Regen-Kombi habe ich anfangs noch weggelassen, weil das ziemlich schweißtreibend sein kann. Sie soll ja regendicht sein; das heißt sie ist es auch von innen nach außen. Nach einer Weile hab ich mich dann doch dazu entschieden, dann rinnt das Regenwasser nicht dauernd in den Nacken 😉
Wie anfangs schon gesagt, sitze ich vor meinem Mini-Hotelzimmer in der Sonne und tippe gerade. In der Zwischenzeit darf das Zimmer ausdampfen. Nach dem Duschen war es zum Dampfbad mutiert. Aber soweit so gut. Ich bin da.
Mal sehen was es heute Abend noch so gibt…
Der Abend ist dann buchstäblich ins Wasser gefallen. Gerade noch eben hatte ich mir bei Aldi was zum knabbern geholt, ging das Gewitter los. Von dem Sonnenschein und der Sitzgelegenheit in der Wiese gleich vor meiner Zimmertür war nichts mehr zu wollen. Außerdem scheint es sich bei den Hotelgästen herumgesprochen zu haben, diese Wiese zum Picknicken zu nutzen. Als der Regen los ging, sind sie dann alle in Scharen geflüchtet – samt Essen, Kühltaschen und Hunden. Nur der Krempel ist zurück geblieben, aber den hat dann der Wind weg gefegt. Alles in allem hatte das Hotelzimnmer Wohnwagen-Feeling.
Beim Frühstück stellte sich heraus, dass Roquefort nicht nur Käse herstellt, sondern auch allerlei andere Milchprodukte: Das eine, was ich geöffnet hatte, war tatsächlich Käse – es gab aber tatsächlich auch Butter. Neben verschiedenen anderen Übersetzungen hat mich ˋburroˋ dann zur richtigen Verpackung geführt.
16. Juli 2023: Weiterfahrt nach Calais
Ob ich für diese Etappe tatsächlich einen Track hinterlege, muss ich mir noch überlegen. Alles in Allem: Sowohl Belgien als auch Frankreich haben in Punkto Straßenführung und Verkehrs-Leitung starke Defizite. Es geht ehlends lange gerade aus – zig Kilometer. Alle Nase lang werden Fußgängerüberwege eingestreut mit Zone 30.
Insbesondere in Belgien: Sie erlauben 90 km/h zu fahren – ggf. auch innerorts – sieh zu, wie Du mit „rechts vor links“ oder in den Weg gestellten Pollern zurecht kommst. Ich hab mal ein paar Kilometer mit der Gopro gefilmt. Einige der Poller haben schon deutlich was abgekriegt. Vielleicht ist ja eines der Bilder so gut geworden, dass ich es hier zeigen kann.
An dem Verhalten der Einheimischen konnte ich auch keine konkrete Verhaltensweise ableiten. Sie fahren 70, trotzdem haufenweise 30-Zone auf die Straße gepinselt wurde. Ein anderes Mal wird bei eben diesem Zeichen ohne Vorwarnung eine Notbremsung eingeleitet. Einen Reim konnte ich mir darauf nicht machen. Anscheinend achten die Leute Gegenden, in denen „Reiche“ wohnen, durch Befolgen der Schilder – und sonst scheint es eher egal zu sein. Auch in Calais – nach Sonnenuntergang gibts keine Zone 30 mehr.
Mein Fazit: Es lohnt durchaus die Maut auszugeben, dann kommt man wenigstens zeitnah an. Nebenstraßen zu befahren – insbesondere durch Städte – ist zeitaufwäbndig und nervig.
Wer sich nun denkt – was nervt der Motorradfahrer hier, der hat ja vorne kein Nummernschild. Jede der Kameras kann auch Bilder von hinten schießen 😉
Der Abend in Calais hat mir dann aber sehr gut gefallen. Ich bin mit dem Tiger in die Stadt gefahren. Die Bilder folgen noch, wenn ich mal WiFi habe (wehlan sagt, außer in Deutschland, niemand).
17. Juli 2023: Tunnel, Linksverkehr – auf nach Salisbury
Erstmal war recht früh aufstehen angesagt. Die Erfahrungen am Vortag haben gezeigt, dass es in Calais nur sehr schleppend voran geht. Aber zum einen scheint das nur tagsüber zu gelten. So beachten die Einheimischen Zone 30 nicht mehr nach Sonnenuntergang und zum anderen war morgens um halb acht praktisch noch niemand wach. Ich konnte somit den Zug eine Stunde früher nehmen. Also nicht 9:30, sondern 8:30. Das ist übrugens die Check-in Zeit. Los geht es dann auch um 9:00.
Der Zug an sich ist schon beeindruckend – aber Sitzplätze gibt es keine und ich bin der einzige Motorradfahrer und alleine im Wagon. Anders als auf der Fähre musste ich das Bike nicht verzurren. Hat gut auf dem Seitenständer gehalten.
Out on the other end it’s an hour earlier, so I arrived at Folkestone Terminal shortly after 8:00 o’clock. Keeping with the status, I was greeted with a shower of rain. I was riding for a while when I reached a little town called Rye (which I mistook to be Hastings – sorry for that ;)). There I had a little look around, went to the supermarked and tried a laundrette for the first time in my life. Having had a nice talk to a local redident, I took off with still damp clothes. You see, the advertisement on the dryer said, it took 15 minutes to get a kilo of laundry dry – I can say, it doesn’t.
They guy I was talking to, went to a ride to Denmark, Netherlands, and northern Germany, just a week ago. He was riding a BMW GS Adventure-Pro, while in his group were two Triumphs and a KTM. The only bike that broke down was the KTM. I don’t know what that was supposed to mean 😉
My trip to Salisbury was too tighly packed with sights to see, so I had to skip a few. I have been to Hastings, though. It looks nice from the far, but if you want to keep that thought, don’t look too closely. I should have went around Brighton. The whole city gives a worn-out feeling, but they are trying to improve that – all at once ;). There’s loads of construction sites and traffic jams. You see, in England it does not need much to build up a traffic jam – they’ve perfected it.
18. Juli 2023: Stonehenge und on route to Exeter
The route to Exeter was OK, but not that exciting as I had thought or planned. I had to skip another few cities, I was going to visit: Portsmouth, for example. It was also raining, again, and there’s nothing to be gained from an excursion to a city with traffic jam, rain and slippery cobblestones. And for a biker, vision will also be impeded at low speeds – there’s no windshield wipers, you know.
When I arrived in Exeter, wheather was fine, again – and raining again, when I was ready to see the city. Fotos of Exeter will follow when I’ll be back home and have them sorted out.
19. Juli 2023: Dartmoore National Park to Plymouth – aslo revisiting old places
Dartmoore was a mixture of surprises. The narrowest farm tracks you may ever have seen: Just a bulge in the middle and to ditches on either side. And to top it all, on this bulge was a build up of gunk and gravel to make it as slick as possible. On this streets you have to be careful, if you want to stop the bilke: You have to drive down into the ditch, otherwise you would not be able to get your feet on the ground without inclining the bike to much.
Obviously not everybody was amused that I was coming, but gratefully every oncomming vehicle went backwards to a location where the street was wider, so I could pass. So after a while, I decided to skip these roads. There were still still narrow and rather steep ones, but way better managable.
Back in 1991, I was in England for the first time – on student exchange – together with my brother (we didn’t stay with the same families, though). After a few thoughts, I decided to revisit the town of Paignton. Holding on to that thought, I was also trying to find/see the streets of our guest families, again – but sadly no: Clifton Road (where my brother stayed) still was there on the map, of course, but the steet was blocked by yet another construction site and I was not willing to take another 30 minutes to turn around. Oyster Bend (where I stayed) was also there on the map, but at the location, where I was supposed to turn left, was not the street but a house. I tried a few times, but the other streets were all marked with dead-end signs. Finally I gave up. But eventually, I found a parking spot near the beach (free of charge for motor bikes ;)), changed clothes and took a few steps into the water.
At Plymouth: Great scienery, great place. Wait until you see the fotos. Actually, that would be a place for me to be.
20. Juli 2023: Cornwall with stop near Newquay
On this route I’ve also made different decisions as planned. But all for the best. The day began once again with probably the narrowest roads on planet earth (wait until you see the fotos, what is called a „street“ these days).
Around noon I had enough of this and skipped again a few waypoints. I said it before, those – supposed to be sights – are more or less yet another heap of stones or another cliff. I took a few pictures of rather nice ones though.
Inspired by the nameThe Lizard, I did not skip this waypoint and that was a good decision. It was a good decision and also quite an adventure. Right at the mouth, the street turned into a 14% slope with no turn-around point. I could not have turned around my Tiger without a helping hand – but gladly there was one. However, I had to remove the luggage, otherwise the bike would not have been manageable.
Leaving The Lizard, I went straight to Newquay where I had booked my next stay. Great scenery, great place – just to be there. I took a lot of pictures.
21. Juli 2023: Back to Devon – waypoint in Shurton
Unexpectedly, I’ve arrived early here at „The Babbling Book“ in a little settlement called Shurton. It’s near Burton, if that’s telling you something 😉 I chose this place, since the whole way to Bristol was just too long for me. A good choice, though. Following a notice from the owner, I found my room and key ready waiting for me. Right now I’m sitting out in the garden of this pub enjoying the evening sun and writing today’s blog.
Today’s trip was exciting again and partially I’ve filmed my ride. It will be cut and prepared, since no one wants to watch a 2 hours ride mostly behind other vehicles.
On my route was Tintagel Castle, but unfortunately, I could not see it 🙁 and I tell you why:
I was there in town, found a car park and a slot for my Tiger, changed clothes (took me 20ish minutes), and then had to see, that motorcycles are not welcome on these private grounds. I ignored this – for now, paid and went to see town and castle. But then I found, that you cannot „just see the castle“, you have to book a castle-tour for 18 pounds and it will take 2.5 hours. A bit much for just wanting to take a picture of the castle and also more time consuming than expected – parking was paid just for 2 hours. At this point, I still would have done it.
But just as I reached this conclusion, one of the campers (who saw me park/change) tipped me off, that the manager of the car park will have my bike towed. He had a bike towed, yesterday, I was told. That’s said, I changed back I putting my riding-gear back on and was about to leave, when another biker informed me, that around the corner, he could leave his bike on another car park for just one pound per day. However, this whole forth and back annoyed me so much, that had no desire to see the castle anymore and drove off.
I hope there’ll be something coming from the GoPro, since this ride had it’s ups and downs – and I mean that geographically.
22. Juli 2023: Shurton to Barry
Having enjoyed the nice weather since I arrived in Shurton, I could spend the night in a little room in the backyard of the pub. I have to say staying in a pub was quite nice. One can have a pint or two without the need of driving anywhere and my room gave me the feeling of camping but with the convenience of a hotel room. Also breakfast was fine – again outside in the backyard. It wasn’t anything special, just cereal and french-press coffee, but fine for me.
As soon as I had my things packed and was ready to go, it started raining – and I mean a downpour that no movie prop could have done better. I could not use those farm-roads in this weather and decided to take the highway to Bristol. As the rain lightened up a little, it was simple to get near to the cathedral of Bristol and I had a short walk in the grounds aroud it.
I should not have stopped for a cappuccino at Costa’s, though. My stomach did not agree to it at all – now I had rain and stomach ache to entertain me. I have to say, in this situation, I think the world shrinks to the inside of your helmet and rain-overcoat. You start to convince yourself: it’s warm in here – and outside there’s only water – just let it drain away. This may work for an hour or two, but sooner or later you’ll find that your feet are ankle-deep in water and that your gloves are also full. Not even for a second, I thought of having a detour to Cardiff (Caerdydd) in this weather. Soaked wet tho the bone I arrived in Barry. After having had a hot shower and put on dry clothes, a walk into town as in order. The rain had ceased meanwhile.
I went to a superstore and bought water and nibbles. On my way back the smell of a barbecue grill caught my attention. It was an Indian restaurant, but anyway, I went in and had a very delicious dinner of lamb chops. Well, I was starting to consider this day saved, when it started raining, again. Drenched again, I had two pints in the hotel bar and went to my room to zap through the TV schedule. But not before I had every wet piece of garment spread out or hung up – and miraculously the vital things got dry enough to be used on the next day 😉
23. Juli 2023: Detour back to Cardiff and ahead to Carmarthen
The motto of this day was seeing the Brecon Baecons National Park of Wales. I had a shorter version of it, since the farm-roads still were muddy and slippery. A lesson learned from this years trip in total, but for side/farm-roads in particular: These roads are lined with man-high hedges on either side. So driving through or in a tunnel became kind of a motto – not only for getting to the island, but for many day trips as well. Anyhow, the English are a curious bunch of people. Every now and then you can see someone in the passenger seat in the car in front of you brushing trough the hedgerows with their hand out the window … and eventually getting caught on blackberry bramles growing in those hedges.
What I learned is, these farm-roads are highly frequented – not only by cars, but also by vans, motorhomes, and even lorries or double decker busses. Next time I’ll do a National-Parks tour, it will be with a motorhome. There are many locations, where it is allowed to stay in the park – even over night. You can pass the tunnel and be ready to enjoy the great view and environment wherever you like. While driving in the tunnel you’ll loose any sense of orientation, soon, and will only get glimpses of the scenery from time to time.
On the other hand – especially for bikers, there are also great rides and roads. It was a great trip whatsoever, if you just don’t trust your satnav (no one says navi or gps, here), but take human sense and pick up your own route: Any A-labeled road is like a Bundesstraße in Germany. B-labeled roads are like Staatsstraße, while roads without any lables can turn out as a surprise packege: Well paved or full of potholes in a size you should consider children might be playing in.
There’s another thing to keep in mind. The older roads have been built when they still had horse-drawn carriages and wagons. Building curves or bridges was expensive in these days: Hence, they are narrower than you may think. This can clash with modern cars/SUVs/busses/etc. Oncoming traffic usually requests some good portion of your lane. As I have said before, the British have perfected any way of building up a traffic jam.
24 Juli 2023:
25. Juli 2023:
26. Juli 2023: Ramsgate to Folkestone
Today’s ride has been a short one of 60ish km, only. I planned this last day in England as a recreational day with sunshine, beach, and leisure. And – though many things didn’t turn out as planned – this did, ineed 🙂
On the beach I had a glimpse of the clouds on the horizon. That’s where France is; and what’ll await me tomorrow, after exiting the Le Tunnel. Let’s hope, it won’t get too wet.
When you see England from the Sea, it appears raised on a shield of chalk rock. So, anytime you want to go to beach, there either will be loads of stairs to cover – or it will be a descent with quite a few serpentines. That’s why they built a lift here and there. So, it happened that one of the out-of-order lift houses was turned into a little café. I had a cappucino and a bratwurst-roll there. The cappucino was fine, but I definitely still can’t get to grips with the English sausages.
27. Juli 2023: Folkestone through the Tunnel and back to France.