Pie man

The penultimate breakfast, not a great selection of meats and breads, poor to say the least. I opt for a croissant, jam and a yogurt. A couple of cups of coffee and I'm ready for the off. I pay my bill and mademoiselle opens to garage door with the remote, ahead of me are the Germans. I eventually leave and stop for fuel a few hundred yards up the road on the Rte de la Schlucht. Today its low cloud with light rain on and off. For those that know, the Rte de la Schlucht twists and turns and is a great road and route to Gerardmer and Epinal. I make my way to Bar le Duc, as I recall having a hot dog from a roadside van back in 2005, sadly I could find it this time The weather picks up a little but it doesn't last. I stop at a little shop, the owner was a small chap, the shop was a bit like Arkwright's. I opt for two cans of coke and a packet of crisp, he not speaking any English, me with pigeon French, he offers me a cup of coffee, a free cup, I'm grateful as it was starting to get cold. I sit outside while I drink my coffee before saying Merci, Monsieur et au revoir. As I'm coming out of the Vosges I see this fellow up there not got a clue where is came from or was going. I don't take many pictures now as the weather turns and the rains arrive, not heavy but enough to make you trap on. I arrive at my Hotel and Garage parking I unload my luggage, check in and a quick shower and out for a walk. I don't think this place requires an intro. Being a Surveyor I take interest to the façade supported by the structural steelwork, the rest of the building has been demolished. I call at a shop for some supplies. I have a bite to eat before heading back to my Hotel. Tomorrow the long slog home.

I have a good breakfast at Hotel Geiger, yet again smuggling two cheese and ham rolls back to my room, I pack up and check out I set a route which takes me back past the cafe and along part of the Bavarian Alpine Route and back across the Rhine Passing this tiny little 3 wheel pickup, pootling along the road. Poppies along my route The roads widen out as I make my way to the vosges. I have a reservation at Hotel La Cigogne, located on the main street in Munster, it has a large garage at the rear for motorcycles. staff are very friendly and once I checked in and took my luggage up to the room, they opened the garage door, where I see another 6 Bikes, a mix of German and Italian and me, one Brit. My room is nice enough, nothing special but clean and basic. Munster is a sleepy town, not much going on and not many restaurants, when in this area I have usually stayed in Colmar, more touristy but I like the Alsace architecture, a blend of French and German influences. I opt to eat at the hotel, I'm not a big red meat eater but I just fancied steak au poivre and a beer, I retreat back to my room, tired but sleep well.

As @Gerontious has noticed, they were Pickled Peppers. When I saw the pizza I thought at first they were chillies too. I must admit my German isn't great, thank goodness for google translate. I know this is being lazy, whereas my wife is quite well versed in the German Language.

I concur the area & roads around here are something else. The following morning, my two Danish friends were due to set off for Italy, however; a slight delay, the weather had changed dramatically that evening, all within an hour. I say goodbye to the Danish Riders as they head off for Italy. I have a lazy morning mooching about for an hour, allowing the weather to clear up a little, although hanging clouds made it difficult to see any mountain views. But I did see this tourist hot spot. I head over to Garmish, I would have liked to visit the Alpspitze/ Zugspitze, but low cloud. There is a cable car in the picture. Garmisch is too busy so I don't stop. I make my way back to the Hotel and head off out for a Pizza and a Beer. I prepare for the following morning, a long ride to Munster.

I know several high alpine passes are still closed, so I decide to stay here for a couple of days and meander around the Zugspitze, Alpspitze and lower Austrian and Bavarian Passes. My Hotel is positioned on the edge of Lake Hopfensee and my room is facing the lake. I meet a couple of Danish riders who have travelled down with their bikes on a trailer, the owner of the hotel kindly agreed to keep their trailer and car on his property while they head off to Italy for a week. Little did they now at the time, many high passes were closed, so we sat at breakfast looking at routes they could take, they wanted to go to the Guzzi Factory. The owner of Hotel Geiger was a friendly chap who told us to put the bikes under the covered area, next to his van, it had a chain stretching from wall to wall to stop cars parking in there. I head out for a ride over the Hahntennjoch pass and Oetzal Strabe to the Top Mountain Motorcycle Museum at the Timmelsjoch, the museum and toll station are closed and although you could ride through, which many bikes did, they never got any further than the large barrier that was across the road and reports of Snow as deep as 8 meters and it would take the evacuation team another week or possible two to make it passible. I head back over the Hahntennjoch. I purchased an Austrian Vignette for 4.60 euros just in case it was needed. I arrive back at the hotel and go for a walk along the waterfront. You can just make out a property on top of the mountain range. Does anyone know why they have the large wooden pole and what looks like coat of arms attached

Good Morning

The following morning, up early and in for breakfast, croissant and coffee, made a ham & cheese roll for later . Packed up and set off for fuel, within a couple of minutes I'm staring at the automated payment system at the Total Station. This way of paying for fuel is in abundance in Europe. A cool morning 15c, but a couple of obligatory wrong turns to get out of the town sets the mood for the rest of the day. I follow the D424 and cross the Rhine at Marckolsheim then picking up a small section of the B500. I soon made my way to the L112 and the L191 and the infamous Hegaublick, a place where many German Bikers gather, along with the Polizei who were stopping bikes. The View from the Cafe/Restaurant Hegaublick, Just about see the Swiss Alps looking towards the Rheinfalls. Then the dreaded Umleitung. This was the first big mistake, I was on nice smaller roads with flowing sweeping bends then one hell of a detour down the side of Lake Constance on the B33. Great Views of the Swiss mountain range, but traffic was horrendous, I played the ignorant Englishman and filtered past the traffic, to be fair many many cars moved over. I meander my way towards Nesselwang then arriving at Hopfen am See for the night.

I know you only get what you pay for. I have a Kreiga R30 backpack and it is, IMO, the best on the market, however; after shelving the Bumot panniers this year, I purchased the Rhinowalk 30l and 10l Tailpack, basically a copy of the Kreiga, and yes, definitely nowhere near Kreiga quality. They were brilliant for the money, very easy to fasten to the bike and same with the 10l connecting to the 30l. I doubted their waterproofing but after hitting heavy rainfall in the south yesterday I can say the contents remained dry. Also made my filtering through traffic on my long ride home less stressful. Not bad for £60

We have Green Flag with the bank, Cant be any worse than the RAC. Took them over 10hrs to pick my bike up, sending several have a go technicians after my repeated calls to say it needs to be picked up and for the umpteenth time its a bloody motorcycle. That reminds me, I need to purchase a cable kit. Good to have along side with the puncture kit

Or so the saying goes. Well this year has been a shite year so far, woes you don't need to hear, and leaving me with not many options for travel. So, I had a break, a week to myself. Last Friday I headed off to the Chunnel and headed down to my first overnight stop in Nancy, big miles covered on Day 1. 623 miles to be exact. I took the A26 toll to Reims then headed off on the smaller roads. I had booked the Revhotel in Nancy, set back from the main road, and located close to the centre, it was quiet, it also has its very own secure underground parking for the bike. Rooms was small but OK for me, nice and clean with a good shower. A short walk to the centre for a nice cold pint of Guinness.

I wouldn't worry to much, I've been over the Hahntennjoch (Twice this week) and many more passes without encountering any issues .

Happy Birthday Have a good un

We refurbished our offices a couple of years ago, all the toilets are for the use of anyone, there is no male/female/penguins or what ever you want to be known by toilets, they are just toilets. Each toilet was like a personal changing room, no cubicles. Large in size with plenty of room to get changed. They cost a fortune, but well worth it.

OY, I thought you were describing me there for a minute

Its the Toll at the top of the Timmelsjoch, between Austria and Italy, a fantastic road, part of my planned trip (hopefully) I should add its also the motorcycle museum too

Good Evening. Clearing has begun

I will give it a go thanks

I plan routes/trips with Calimoto, save them as GPX files, then import to Basecamp then send to the Garmin XT.

Well the dealer has come up trumps, new LCD replacement screen has arrived. Bike gone in today for an intermittent fault on the cruise control. Hopefully both will get sorted (however its KTM, so will be fookin busy )

Not a bad old site, hardly been updated, but does have some good reading Adventure Motorcycle Guides - Mad or Nomad

I hope they all enjoy it. Its a great biking area,

Its the BBC, another garbage report that doesn't even resemble being newsworthy.

@Fish Brilliant. I really like the bike, I thought exactly as you say, its missing something. Having said that, I'm still thinking about it, I have the KTM 890 and that engine is wicked.

I would be interested in What you think of the F900R I Nearly Bought One.