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 [...]
Tour Reports
Posts from the 'Readers Stories' Category
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
By Dave Daniels I’ll start off with the overall plan. Leave the east coast of Lincolnshire and head for Holyhead, catch ferry to Dublin and stay there over night. Next day head for Cork and then stay there the night. After that pick up the Wild Atlantic Coast road and go until we fancied stopping [...]
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.
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.
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 [...]
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.
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 [...]
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 [...]
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.
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 [...]
Ride Out to Inishowen and Malin Head
Denis Smyth Feb 26 2016
By Bernard Mc Dyre Irish translation: Inis Eoghain, meaning island of Eoghan. Eoghan Mac Neill was the son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, once High King of Ireland.
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.
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 [...]
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.
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.
By Eddy Smyth Day 7: 230 miles traveled Hours in the saddle: 8 Day 7 – Chateaugiron, Rohan, Josselin, Ploermel and off and away to Plélin-le-Gran We decided to head east today. Chateaugiron got rave reviews in several reference books so it seemed a good choice for a nice run along more of [...]
By Eddy Smyth Day six: 70 miles traveled Hours in the saddle: 3 Isthmus on the Cȏte Sauvage to Quiberon A relaxed breakfast before setting off in brilliant sunshine to the very tip of the Isthmus on the Cȏte Sauvage to Quiberon. Once we were out in the open the ocean on both [...]
By Eddy Smyth Day 5: 179 miles Hours in the saddle: 7 Another clear morning despite last night’s rain. We had planned several stops today. Keeping ahead of gathering clouds was part of the plan; heading ever southward might achieve that aim. Amongst all the other nice memories and sights we’d taken in at Huelgoat [...]
By Eddy Smyth Day 4: 87 miles traveled Hours in the saddle: 3 Paimpol and onwards to Perros Guirec on the Pink Granite Coast We spotted a staircase that led down below the reception of the hotel to a breakfast room. It was very cloudy outside but dry enough to encourage us on [...]
By Eddy Smyth Day 3: 107 miles Hours in the saddle: 5 Exploring Dinan After a light but perfectly adequate breakfast we wandered around the town once more, marvelling at the classic buildings and sharp squares that always look tidier than their UK counterparts. The older buildings in the old centre of town [...]
By Eddy Smyth Day 1: 172 miles Hours in the saddle: 5 You’ve heard of the tale of the Owl and the Pussycat. Well, this is a tale of somewhat different creatures but it seems appropriate that since it involves a Bulldog and a Blackbird, certain parallels can be drawn. However, it might be dishonest [...]
By Cedric TwistyRide.com As it so happens, Denis’s recent change of heart on the BMW R1200GS was echoed by a similar experience within the Twisty Ride crew. Two members took on the GS this summer and became… well, changed men. Really.
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