Tour Reports

Posts from the 'Eddie Smyth' Category

Spain by Motorcycle Pt. 6 Cáceres to Bilbao by Eddy Smith

Mar 14 2019

I felt good for another long ride today. I had a great night’s sleep. The storm has passed and hopefully took the wind with it. The sun was already up when I weaved the bike out of the car park and the day time staff arrive. I’m back on the E-803 and looking to sail [...]

Spain by Motorcycle Pt. 5 Antequera to Cáceres by Eddy Smith

Mar 14 2019

There are lots of options for places of interest I could visit from here. Lovely beaches are due south. Córdoba, an ancient city with Roman, Moorish and Jewish influences is 70 miles north. Gibraltar is half a tank of fuel to the south-west and the Algarve would cap a star-studded ride west via Seville and [...]

Spain by Motorcycle Pt. 4 Hellin to Antequera by Eddy Smith

Mar 14 2019

I needed to sharpen my wits to avoid any early morning mishaps on loose, chalky rocks as I left the hotel grounds. I also need to revert to a closet sized room with articulated lorries backing up outside before I get too accustomed to all this finery. I’ll be wanting sheepskin padding for the seat [...]

Spain by Motorcycle Pt. 3 Caspe – Fuentes Calientes – Hellin By Eddy Smith

Mar 14 2019

I’m up nice and early again, raring to get on the bike and go despite having less than 100 miles to cover to reach my bed for tonight. It’s a fairly direct route too, with nice open roads to begin with, ending with a steep climb and some squiggly bits before the plateau, to one [...]

Spain by Motorcycle Pt. 2 Los Arcos – Pedrola – Caspe by Eddy Smith

Mar 14 2019

Stocked up and packed up, I’m ready to go. It’s a beautiful sunny morning and only 09:00 as I pull away from the fuel stop. I would have been away five minutes earlier but a guy went into the store to buy his bread and then came over to ask about my bike. He then [...]

Spain by Motorcycle Pt. 1 Bilbao to Los Arcos by Eddy Smith

Mar 14 2019

It’s all very well sitting comfortably in your favourite armchair, reading tales of leather clad bikers riding top of the market machines with matching accessories, off to conquer the mountains that separate countries, as they brave altitude sickness, sub-zero road temperatures and hairpin bends that make your bald spot tingle. It’s inspiring when they grind [...]

Shropshire’s Hidden Treasures by Eddy Smyth

Dec 21 2017

By Eddie Smyth For a day ride in the West Midlands you only need a little knowledge of escape routes from the cities and ring roads and before you realise it you are chomping along lovely quiet roads with vistas to the west promising verdant hills and vales, tucked away villages with more character than [...]

Getting a Bit of Wild Atlantic Way – Day 8 by Eddie Smyth

Nov 24 2016

By Eddie Smyth Snow. It covered the hill tops, lawns and cars. It was freezing as I stepped out of the door into the blinding sunlight. I don’t fancy crossing the moorlands on two wheels to get to Dublin in these conditions, there was ice aplenty. Good job my ferry is not scheduled until 14:30.

Getting a Bit of Wild Atlantic Way – Day 7 by Eddie Smyth

Nov 24 2016

By Eddie Smyth Today I changed back to being a lone rider following a route plan of my own making as I set off for County Wicklow for an overnight stop in a Mountain View retreat before meeting up with the ferry that brought me here to take me back to the UK.

Getting a Bit of Wild Atlantic Way – Day 6 by Eddie Smyth

Nov 18 2016

By Eddie Smyth It looked very much like the weather would hold today. Denis had worked out that a trip to the lesser known and more remote parts of this fabulous region would top off the trio of trips. There would be little coastline to work along and I was warned that some of the [...]

Getting a Bit of Wild Atlantic Way – Day 5 by Eddie Smyth

Nov 17 2016

By Eddie Smyth It was seriously raining after breakfast today. The view towards the hills were obliterated by low cloud and curtains of rain sweeping across the valley. We left it an hour or so hoping for the forecasted break to appear. Thankfully, it did.

Getting a Bit of Wild Atlantic Way – Day 4 by Eddie Smyth

Nov 11 2016

By Eddie Smyth After taking three days to get from Worcestershire to Killarney, via Dublin, Westport and Kilrush I now have three more days in the company of my good friend Denis who runs the biker website www.roadtrooper.com, with the promise of riding some of the most glorious touring roads you could hope to imagine [...]

Getting a Bit of Wild Atlantic Way – Day 3 by Eddie Smyth

Nov 9 2016

By Eddie Smyth It rained so had during the night I thought the TV had switched itself on and was blaring out static. I slipped out to check the bike at 08:00. It looked like a miserable puppy caught in a downpour. If only I could get it inside the hotel side door and up [...]

Getting a Bit of Wild Atlantic Way – Day 2 by Eddie Smyth

Nov 4 2016

By Eddie Smyth It was very cold outside but the sky was clear and I was optimistic that the original forecast for day would be wrong. The forecast I’d noted every day for this coming week before I set off said it would be 100% miserable.

Getting a Bit of Wild Atlantic Way – Day 1 by Eddie Smyth

Oct 18 2016

By Eddie Smyth The excitement, to be loaded up and leaving at 07:00 on a cold grey Saturday morning was not dampened in any way because it wasn’t damp, despite a whole week of pouring rains and icy cold mornings. Spring is very late this year and April 10th felt more like February 10th except [...]

Zipping Up My Boots and Heading Back to My Roots

Jan 11 2016

By Eddie Smyth The journey according to Google maps would cover 130 miles and take me around 2 and a half hours. But that entails all but 30 of those miles to be on the M5. I had arranged to visit an old friend in Somerset that I had not seen for almost 10 years.

Battle Sites of Picardie and Belgium – Day 3

Nov 30 2015

By Eddie Smyth I took the bike out from its personal garage for the final time and loaded up my belongings with enough straps and bungees to foil Houdini. The two cars set off for Vimy Ridge via the main roads. I pointed the bike to the back roads towards Arras where Vimy Ridge sits [...]

Battle Sites of Picardie and Belgium – Day 2

Nov 17 2015

By Eddie Smyth The next day was spent visiting several sites around Albert. There are so many that an attempt to stop at every one you pass will take you months. To visit them all in Northern France would be a lifetime’s work.

Battle Sites of Picardie and Belgium – Day 1

Nov 9 2015

By Eddie Smyth A trip to the battle sites of Northern France is always a good topic of conversation for bikers as they sip ale in the cosy confines of the local pub. It’s not as far away as the Alps and certainly not as risky as a trip across the Andes.

The Brecons – August Trip 2014 – Day 2

Jan 9 2015

By Eddie Smyth It’s a bit tricky finding the correct road from the West end café but we made it at the first attempt. It’s the A483 which is the road all the way to Builth Wells. This road takes on much more rugged terrain and the gullies, drops, summits and tree lined avenues have [...]

The Brecons – August Trip 2014 – Day 1

Jan 3 2015

By Eddie Smyth A day ride out, from the west midlands, down lovely roads to Abergavenny and then north and west through some beautiful Welsh countryside with two target destinations, and home in time for tea. What better way is there than to spend a day on the bike. This journey would suit folk residing [...]

Yorkshire Dales – Trip 2014 – Days 3 and 4

Dec 26 2014

By Eddie Smyth The following morning we wiped the night dew from the seats on the bike and set off once more. A clear, crisp sky, full bellies from the cooked breakfast and the anticipation of another great day’s rising in these amazing dales. Our first target was the pub at Tan Hill. Not for [...]

Yorkshire Dales – Trip 2014 – Day 2

Dec 19 2014

By Eddy Smyth It was dry and cool when we loaded the bikes and set off for Malham Cove just after breakfast. We retraced our steps from the day before on the A65 until the narrow road for Malham to our left took us up and into twisting lanes along dry stone walls, remote farmsteads [...]

Yorkshire Dales – Trip 2014 – Day 1

Dec 14 2014

By Eddy Smyth We set off an hour earlier than planned. Waking up to clear blue skies and the temperature being a few degrees warmer than usual does that to you. My Bother in law, Gareth taking his sparkling new Suzuki GSX 1250FA on its first long distance run and me with my much loved [...]

The Brecons – Alternative Destination for a Ride around the Welsh Hills and Dales

Dec 12 2014

By Eddie Smyth Route: 50 miles For an alternative destination the border town of Hay-On-Wye is a terrific ride with a reward at the end of an olde worlde town known for its scores of bookshops. Leaving Abergavenny on the A40 north, head for Crickhowell.