Motor bike trip - making it happen

Published by Matt Polaine | Filed under Motorcycles

WARNING - THE FOLLOWING TEXT COULD SERIOUSLY APPEAL TO YOUR MID-LIFE CRISIS

Thanks to Paddy for emailing me his day-to-day diary and photos, like the one on the left. Little does he know he is driving me insane with jealousy. I expect those I’ve emailled this suggestion to (now put on this blog) have thought about a really great long motorbike trip some day. You know the type - across European mountains, famous cities, mountain passes off another planet. But it only happens to other people right? One of us (Paddy) is doing just that right now. There are lots of reasons ‘why’ it is worth doing, but there always seems even more reasons to not sort a trip out. Mainly; Money, Time, Family - ‘MTF’.

Last weekend I organised three families with six children ranging from 1-11 years old, to travel 200 miles near to where I spent a whole day off-road training in the Welsh mountains. I wanted to test what was possible. It took a fair bit of organising, but it proves that it is possible to combine two wheel fun with family. Admittedly this was only for a long weekend.

I know at least three riders who would love to do The Big Trip but can’t due to MTF factors - you are one of them. Pooling resources and having a fixed goal with other people can make these trips happen, and fit in with family needs.

I am sure you all have friends/family across the UK and Europe, with whom family could travel separately to meet/stay with and riders meet up with travelling by motorbike. I am also sure that you and your partner have said ‘I’d love to visit XYZ’ but the time never seems to be made available. With MTF it all seems too much to co-ordinate. Maybe ‘later’…..

On the other hand, we aren’t getting any younger and yes, when the children have grown up they’ll be more options. Or will there? And if you do find the time/money when you are 55 (once you’ve bought their £500k two-up two-down, £50k wedding, £10k secondhand car) to do a Trans-Americas trip, what experience will you have had in the past?

Of course we can do much shorter trips around the UK, and I think we would need to, to do a shake-down, but all these trips I suggest below have three crucial elements for success: they have meeting points with friends/family, and riders’ family can take holidays to some of these destinations which riders can pass through, sometimes twice. Apart from the Gambia trip, the times also coincide with school summer holidays.

Like all of us I’m sure, for Naisha and I a significant issue is the amount of leave we have, so that even if we used only 10 days leave to create a 14 day slot, if we used that up for just the two of us (Naisha as pillion) then we would need to find an extra two weeks childcare for the summer holidays.I am also aware that one parent taking two or more children on holiday could be unfair, so prior to these bike trips, an equivalent break should be arranged for the other partner :-)

Possible arrangement, as an example: Cambridge to Dover. Calais to Black Forest, then to Prague, and on to Bologna. My family could fly out to Prague and meet up with our friend (Tes) who would then take them around Prague for a day, and then next day a train to Brno. The riders would time their visit to Prague & Brno to match. Steve’s family, meanwhile has flown out to nearby Bologna. The riders leave Brno for Bologna. My family then leaves Brno to make their way to Offenburg, to coincide with the riders travelling back over the Alps from Bologna. Steve’s family could also fly from Bologna to Karlsruhe airport to then meet up in Offenburg with our family and when we pass through.

Obviously the more flights there are the more cost, time spent in airport queues, and CO2 emissions, so this might need to be rationalised, but I hope you get the picture - meeting with family out and return.

Timing - which year? 2009 is out because I’m doing an endurance bike ride in July and will need all the time that year for this event, I’ve also got house repair/move commitments. Plus it’s too close to organise a bike road trip with families too. 2010 is better, as it is near enough to make bookings, and is something to aim for. 2011 is getting a bit too far away, but for something like the Gambia trip (see below) that might need this much time, especially to build up enough leave and favours for! 2012 is the Olympic Games in London. 2013 is getting too far off I think.

So here are a few suggestions to get you all thinking (in order of cost/duration):

BLACK FOREST & BOLOGNA JULY-AUGUST 2010 3,200km, 7 day minimum. Steve rides a Ducati and has a dream to visit the Ducati factory in Bologna, getting there via the French/Swiss/Italian Alps. My brother lives in Offenburg, South Germany, just on the edge of the Black Forest, and 2 hours from the Touratech factory. Cambridge to Dover about 200km and 3hrs, then Calais to Offenburg is 650km and can be done in one day - I’ve done it, but mainly on fast and fairly boring toll roads but only at 80mph cruising. From Offenburg to Bologna 680km could take another day, but I think all those mountain hairpins will be just too good to miss, plus some great food and views en route. Maybe allow even three days. Cost: Ferry + fuel + B&B + food + rescue/medical cover + deposit on Ducati.

TRANS-SPAIN JULY-AUGUST 2010 3,000km, 12 days minimum. We have accommodation in Calahonda, and can arrange for others. Family orientated gated timeshares. Very Costa del Sol, but you can spend time by the pools and chill out. There is an overnight ferry from Plymouth to Santander twice a week, and Santander to Calahonda is about 1,000km and can be done with just fuel-stops in one day, but would suggest at least one stop-over near Madrid or other scenic place. Plymouth takes about 5 hours from Cambridge. The Santander Ferry times are tricky being so infrequent. Riding the whole of Spain North to South and back a few days later would be stunning, especially through the Andalucian mountains. Cost: Ferry + fuel + timeshare rental + food + rescue/medical cover.

BLACK FOREST, PRAGUE & BOLOGNA JULY-AUGUST 2010 5,250km, 12 days minimum. Cambridge to Dover about 200km and 3hrs, Calais to Offenburg is 650km, possible in a day. Offenburg to Prague 620km in one day, just. Prague to Brno 210km in 3hrs, where a friend lives. Brno to Bologna 940km over Austrian Alps would take 9hrs non-stop, so really broken into two days. Return could be straight back over Italian/German Alps to Offenburg, or follow route out back. Also see IAM Alpine Motorcycle Trip. Cost: Ferry + fuel + B&B + food + rescue/medical cover.

TRANS-FRANCE & SPANISH COASTAL JULY-AUGUST 2010 5,800km, 10 days minimum. About 200km from Cambridge to Dover, allowing about 3hrs. We have friends in the Ardeche region, which is about 1,000km from Calais. Possible in a day, but would recommend two days! We’ve driven it overnight twice, but maybe take a more scenic route by motorbike. From the Ardeche we would then take a monster 1,500km coastal ride all the way down to Calahonda. This would take about three days, but possible in two. Cost: Ferry + fuel + timeshare rental + B&B + food + rescue/medical cover.

SPAIN/FRANCE/GAMBIA NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2010 7,900 - 9,300km, 40 days minimum. It would need to be at this time of year because we would be travelling in the hottest parts of the world. The downside is Northern Spain will be very cold - two extremes. Calahonda is a few hours away from Gibraltar, where we can catch a ferry into Morocco. Now I personally would want to be part of a knowledgeable group from here on, and Globebusters could provide just that. Take either SPAIN 2010 or FRANCE & SPAIN 2010 above to get to Malaga or Calahonda, and then meet up with Globebusters. From here on would be a 5 week 6,400km one way trip to Gambia, with the bikes being freighted back to the UK and we all fly back. However, a suitable dual-purpose bike is needed for this sort of trip. There is also the option of flying out to Malaga as described on the website. Cost: Ferry + fuel + timeshare rental + B&B + food + rescue/medical cover + £4,000 Globebusters fee + bought weeks off employer or significant TOIL arrangement.