ABR readers get in touch to tell us all about their latest adventures…
Photos from our readers
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| GoPro Man – Rohtang Pass, India | Roar Lorentsen – Norway |
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| Ed Luke – Colorado | Lee Phillips – Lake District |
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| Kevin Birtschi – The Killar-Kishtwar Road | T.R Foley – Puerto Rio Tranquilo, Chile |
A day out in the peaks
I have recently purchased the GS1150 and I absolutely love it, lowish mileage with a full history, great build quality and a quirky ride which is different to any other bike I’ve ever owned.
I live in the High Peak and was lucky enough to have a week off work recently. I saw that the weather was going to be dry and bright on the Friday (11/11/16), so once I’d observed my two minutes silence I donned my bike gear and headed off out.
My journey took in Whaley Bridge and the Long Hill road up to Buxton, through Buxton and up and over to the famous Cat and Fiddle pub, then down through Macclesfield Forest and home for a brew. Only about 40 miles so not really an adventure, but great riding even if it was only four degrees!
Whilst I was taking one of the images in a pretty remote location a white van stopped and asked if I needed any help, I told the two builders that I was just taking some pictures to send in to ABR, they too are adventure bike riders and said that they look forward to seeing the pictures in the magazine because they buy it too!
Fantastic magazine, keep up the good work. Best regards,
Lee Wagstaff
Greece is the word
Mostly she lets me travel solo, but I promised we would do Greece so we were two up this trip. We decided against the islands, so the Peloponnese it was in September/ October (less tourists, cheaper and hopefully not scorchio). From our home near Beziers, France we headed for Bari to get the ferry across to Igoumenitsa. First stop Genoa – in the past we have always ridden by, but it is worth a visit.
The overnight ferry was an old tub – three Polish bikers made interesting dinner companions, but when a third bottle of wine appeared, we retired gracefully. A calm sea and a few hours’ kip later our tour of the Peloponnese had begun.
Some research was done before we left, but with no accommodation booked we were winging it as usual with no pressure to be anywhere.
Our ride took us south to Preveza, Kalamata, Kardamyli, Lemini, across to Monemvasia (the smaller and prettier Greek version of Gibraltar), north to the Corinth Canal (amazing feat of engineering), Delphi for some history, the coast at Chorefto for a few beach days, Meteora to see the monasteries atop limestone pinnacles and west to Praga in readiness for the ferry home – a superfast one which was the business.
Throughout the trip we enjoyed fantastic quiet roads, superb scenery, great food, a warm welcome from friendly people and good weather – apart from one thunderstorm that kept us in a petrol station kiosk for an hour smiling inanely at the attendant who spoke no English – yassus (hello) and efcaristo (thank you) being all we could offer!
The ride homeward up the east side of Italy proved to be a good choice – the peninsular of Vieste is a stunningly beautiful ride, Urbino a good overnighter, Bologna lively and the Spag Bol excellent! Onward to Bra and then over the mountain to drop down to the back of Nice and it was nearly over.
6,000 clicks and 25 days later we were home, wishing we were still in Greece – as Arnie would say, we’ll be back.
Neil Sinclair
Just go and ride
I’ve never written into a magazine in my life, but having been a reader of ABR since issue one, I’ve now felt compelled to finally do it!
Earlier in 2016, my fiancé and I decided that we would go for a trip. We spoke to a good mate and planned a 10 day journey; 2,500 miles across France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Lichtenstein (briefly) and France again.
My plan was to cover iconic roads (the Romantic Road, Stelvio and Fluela Pass) and everything in between. As a result of our experience, I’ve come away with some golden nuggets of advice for others considering their first adventure.
Plan it! I’m fortunate to have the Navigator Sat Nav which is incredible. I spent hours sorting through routes and plotting waypoints. This in turn resulted in an (almost) trouble-free run.
Don’t completely rely on it! I’d spent ages learning how to plan routes, but, on the odd occasion, I needed to ask for help from Bryony on the back.
Don’t overdo it! I’m fortunate enough to be able to ride daily, mile after mile. I’d not taken into account how hard work it actually is though. My route was too long (for a holiday) and it actually became a bit of a marathon.
With hotels booked at approximately 200 miles intervals, we needed to cover a lot of ground; some days it would have been nice to be able to hang about and enjoy the area.
Get the best kit you can! My Dainese Goretex, X Lite X551 lid and Bahnstormer Boots were faultless, comfortable and totally functional.
Enjoy it. It may be the only time you ever get to do a trip like that. I took a million photos, soaked up every view and enjoyed every moment of the trip. Europe on a bike is SO accessible, it creates a confidence in your riding you don’t get here in the UK.
Plan the next one! You’ve done it once, you can do it again. Set aside the time, set aside the funds and start planning.
Barney Andrews
Win a subscription to ABR
Want to see your name in the magazine and win a year’s subscription?
At Adventure Bike Rider we love to hear from our readers, so if you’re planning an adventure, want to tell us about a previous one, or just want to share your thoughts on anything bike related, get in touch!
Send your letters to:
[email protected] and if yours is chosen as ‘star letter’ you’ll win a year’s subscription to Adventure Bike Rider magazine.