We are at that stage where planning has got about as far as it goes. It's now a case of wait and see what happens with Covid and the new variants that pop up every few weeks.
When planning things so far in advance, without a 100% accurate crystal ball, you never know what the future holds.
Currently COVID is on the increase in all the countries I am going to pass through. Plus recently there is yet another mutation in the news.
Their level of vaccinations is way lower than us in the UK. We have had third jabs and many countries have yet to have two.
Fingers crossed that they can get up to speed and all these trips will go ahead.
Otherwise it's another one bites the dust....
Just want to get home!
Always the same with me when I get to the last day of a holiday. Whether it is sitting at an airport in Spain or Florida, I just want it done and dusted.
It will be the same as this trip comes to an end.
A lot of this return leg is on the motorway and mapping has it at a tad over 250 miles. None of it through France! What could be better?
So an early afternoon Shuttle seems reasonable. I could work in some stops but in reality I will jut want to get home.
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| Michelin Map background |
Currently, Day 5 is the Sunday that the Rally ends and everyone sets off for home. I had planned to go back across the Czech Republic and head for Schloss Colditz.
But I got to thinking.
I will have ridden 800 plus miles across Europe to the rally, so it seems odd that I miss out going to see my friends in Brno. Doesn't it?
I am sure I can add a day to the trip and from Vernířovice go south and visit them near Brno. After all. At my age, 66, I have no idea when I will get to go there again. Probably not by motorcycle.
I guess Jiří might be able to get to the UK again for a trip but maybe (Claire and) I will be too old to go there?
So I am changing the end of the trip and making Popůvky to visit Lilka and family, and Jiří and family in Ostrovačice my goal for Day 5!
It does say across the top of the Blog that this is MY trip.
This means cancelling the bookings at Colditz by email and the Hagen date on booking.com. The latter sorted quickly and efficiently. The other waiting for a reply.
I suppose I should let them know at some stage that I am going to drop on their doorsteps! Maybe in their Christmas cards?
The route is pretty straightforward and only around 105 miles via Olomouc.
Here we are again! More changes. This time not anything to do with a hotel change. I am happy with the Hotel Stadt Coblenz in Fachbach. This route supersedes one from last month!
What I have changed is some of the rides between the start at the Bikes Ranch and Fachbach via Bad Münstereifel.
Once I got my hands on the Michelin 718 map of Germany and remembered that Michelin highlight scenic roads with a green stripe, AND, that MyRouteApp also gives Michelin as a mapping option, I have been busy looking both on paper and online at "green roads".
On top of that I have been adding some potential fuel stops along all the routes!
So far Part 2 looks like a pretty straightforward with a many "green roads" as I could fit in. I have a fuel stop after about 175 miles from Calais planned and that is still Part 1 and in Belgium. I shouldn't need any more fuel until I am almost at the hotel in Fachbach. So to make sure I am ready to ride off after breakfast I added a fuel stop near the hotel. An estimated 140 miles between stops!
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| Michelin background! |
From Bad Münstereifel the default route to Fachbach took in a lot of "green roads" but there were so many more I could exploit. Again using Michelin I have added a loop to take in the Mosel/Moselle mostly all of it on "green roads".
It adds another 40 to 45 minutes onto the day's riding but I expect to be away from the Calais around 10am and with lunch and fuel stops this puts a potential arrival at the hotel at around 6pm. Not too bad for a more leisurely ride to avoid plugging along boring motorways. There will be plenty of that during the trip as it is!
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| Bit of a loop to take in the Mosel/Moselle scenic route |
I can't guarantee that there won't be any more changes! But this looks like a nice ride!
Tinkering yet again. Maybe I have too much time on my hands.
Now that I have moved the end of Day 1 hotel to Hotel Stadt Coblenz I have started too look at Day 2.
My first routes have two parts based on a stop in Würzburg hat would have been about lunchtime. But to get off the motorways a little a enjoy some "green roads", I picked up a Michelin National map of Germany. It's the 2021 edition so should be pretty much up to date. It's map number 718 if anyone wants to buy one. Well worth the £5.50 it cost.
I saw on the Michelin maps that they show scenic routes e.g. scenic roads marked with a green strip alongside!
I had forgotten all about that since I became a digital map user and stuck to Google! With a paper map there is so much extra to see but you can't zoom in!
What I also hadn't noticed is that MyRouteApp also has the option of Michelin as well as Google and other mapping systems!
With the two I have made a change to Day 2. Removed Würzburg, and replaced that stop over with a couple of scenic rides. Slower than the A3 autobahn but better for me!
The first will take me back from Fachbach/Bad Ems to the Rhine south of Koblenz and then down the eastern bank almost as far as Wiesbaden, then onto the A3 and the A6 to the border and Plzeň.
The first part will be very scenic and I have done it before, but in the opposite direction, going south to north. I have once again added another stop near the Käthe Wohlfahrt shop in Rothenburg ob der Tauber for a gift or trinket for Mrs D.
The days mileage is about 360 with a lot of it on the motorways and about 6 hours on the road before we factor in stops for fuel and food!
I have a new route from Simmerath and the Bikers Ranch, that I will call my lunch stop, to the overnight hotel stop.
I had thought that maybe I would avoid Bad Münstereifel in case it's no longer open to visitors after the floods and the damage caused in the summer of 2021. In the end I thought that it would do no harm to go and see and if open maybe grab a coffee and take some photos.
The mediaeval centre looks to have avoided the destruction that many other places suffered during WW2. It looks as though the terrible flooding did what the armies and bombs couldn't do seventy plus years ago.
The other reason for the changes (all across the trip) are because choosing different hotels and therefore the planned routes. As more hotels come online for next May, I check the distances and the costs and then make a change if there is a better option. There often is and I make a change!
It is so much easier with booking.com being all done online and no need like the old days to phone or even write a letter to where you want to stay and wait for a reply!
Anyway. The change. Kobern-Gondorf on the Moselle has gone and has been replaced with Fachbach near Bad Ems on the Lahn. It's not much further on and it looks like more interesting roads are in the area as you come down off the mountains to river level.
Hotel Stadt Coblenz in Fachbach/Bad Ems is the new end of Day 1 hotel. I made the change purely as it is a little further east, offer included breakfast (see the photos!) and has onsite parking.
Many of the options simply don't have parking onsite or even nearby. Okay for a car but not for a bike. As usual it has free cancellation and no pre-payment.
I don't mind paying for breakfast at the hotel, or stopping at a nearby McDonalds, but finding those at a reasonable price, I will be a pensioner after all, with breakfast and parking onsite is quite rare these days.
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| Hotel Stadt Coblenz |
Parts 2 and 3 could become just one. It's all dependent on Bad Munstereiffel being able to accept visitors.
After the floods in the summer the town was badly damaged and it needed to be repaired.
I have plenty of time to make a decision. In the meantime I have copied Part 2 and made Part 2B omitting Bad Munstereifel but keeping stops at the two Biker-Treff cafés. It doesn't save much on the way of mileage, about 5 miles, but means not messing about going into the city if it is closed due to the flooding disaster.
I have no idea why there is restaurant waypoint picked out for the Cockpit at the Nürburgring. It is there with all POI's turned off. Maybe as it is a short detour and it is near the Nordschleife it might be worth a slight detour to see if there is any track action.
I am always looking for places to "stop off" on the way when I am going anywhere. And I saw this on the "Visit Czech Republic" website - Rozhledna Doubravka XIV.
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| Rozhledna Doubravka XIV |
This is always the dilemma when you live near the "ports". Eurotunnel's "Le Shuttle" train to Calais or the ferry with P&O or DFDS.
I usually do a fare check and then decided that as I live about 5 miles from Eurotunnel and 15 from Dover, I choose Eurotunnel.
So with over 250 days until departure it may be a little early to look for fares. But. There's no harm in taking a look. 😊
The plan to leave UK around 0820 on the 25th May and returning 1820 on the 31st.
So today's prices:
At the moment it looks as though Eurotunnel wins. As long as the service is running on time and there are no delays the crossing is half the time of the ferry and for less than the price of a coffee more expensive.
There will always be the argument that on the ferry you can find a chair somewhere and have a rest after along ride, or somewhere to eat. On the Shuttle you can't.
As a regular user of the Shuttle (until Covid!!!!) I can be quite critical of their handling on the day of motorcycles and motorcyclists, but at both ends there are shops and restaurants if you want to eat and drink, if you want to.
Maybe I need to get a drinks holder for Vera so I can carry my coffee with me to the waiting queue before departure? I think this deserves another 😉
Whilst I am in the area I thought about checking out some other sights.
I had, with my brother Neill, a trip planned for the beginning of August 2021 on the path of the Dambusters with visits to the three main dams, Möhne, Eder and Sorpe. Incorporating some of the crash sites and memorials to the aircrews of the downed Lancasters. That got scrapped due to Covid when Germany closed the borders to us from the UK.
All three dams are not that far off the A44 run between Dora and Hagen. So I have added a loop to visit all three.
It will be a long old day and plenty of sights to visit, but what else am I going to do?
This is planned as the first stop for me. Once again, a revisit to a place that needs to be seen to remember the horrors of the Holocaust. This is technically not a death camp, but that doesn't mean that hundreds of captive workers died as slave labour for the Nazis.
Once on the motorway it is a quite run westwards from Colditz.
The rally traditionally starts on Friday and ends on Sunday before lunchtime. I have already booked an overnight stop at the Youth Hostel in Colditz Castle. I stayed there with Claire way back in 2011 and we had two nights and did the tour on the morning of the full day we were local.
The tour takes a couple of hours and is in English, but seems at the moment only on Sundays and Mondays. See the website for more details.
Having done the tour a decade ago I am not all that worried about doing it again. The current route (below) takes me back towards Prague on pretty much the same route that I went on.
As I am not that bothered with the Colditz tour I will look at some alternative stops on the way. Dresden maybe?
Is this the last update we shall see? The trip isn't for about 8 months so much could change in that time. Hopefully the overnight stops have been sorted once and for all.
All there is no do is maybe look out some more places to stop off along the route without making too much deviation.
The hotels I have booked are all on booking.com and apart from Plzeň are either doubles or twins. I don't expect to share with anyone in any case. All I will say ids that is because I not only snore badly, but have a few medical needs that might keep others awake. Unless of course it is my brother Neill and then that's okay!
To use a phrase I hate, I have already "reached out" to Rosta about a stop off on the way past Hradec Králové to meet face to face for the first time since 2011. We are so much older that we might recognise each other!
The basic route looks like this:
Plenty of time to add places to stop and be a tourist.
In fact at one point the route passes less than a kilometre from the Polish border and so maybe I can "bag" Poland on this trip too? And there is a very interesting old church in the village of Boboszów just crying out to be visited. ;)
I have an "overall" route for each day that I use as the basis for splitting the day up into chunks. day was ended up in three pieces to ensure that parts could be planned as "no highway" and others to include highways/motorways.
Day 2 "overall" is only 250 miles and so that could be knocked off in about four hours plus a fuel stop. But I want to get off the motorway and visit something.
I have split Day 2 into two pieces. The first to utilise the motorways to get to places I want to visit, and the second, off-motorway to take in what I hope if some countryside.
For part One I am currently investigating Pompejanum, a replica Roman villa with elaborate mosaics and ancient artworks, and Schloss Johannisburg a 17th-century Renaissance palace in Aschaffenburg. With the stops that should be about 3 hours after setting off from the hotel and it will be lunch time.
Looking for "biker" style cafes seems to have become more difficult once you get into Bavaria. I posted a note on the "Stromtrooper" V-Strom forum in the Europe section in case someone knows of places but so far no response.
Searching about on Google and Google maps looks equally futile.
Parking in cities is also a problem. Usually there is street parking.
I emailed one of the parking garage operators in Würzburg and they replied to say that there are no spaces reserved for motorcycles at all. I have tried the Tourist Board as well. In desperation I even posted the question on the Bavaria Tripadvisor Forum.
The Tourist Office in Würzburg have come up trumps. They said that they didn't have a list of places themselves but suggested I try this link - https://www.kilometerfresser.eu/motorradparkplaetze-wuerzburg/
See http://invictamoto.blogspot.com/2021/09/kilometerfresser.html for more info on Kilometerfresser.
So after Würzburg and the Castle I might get a chance to visit the old town. The "off-motorway" route here takes me down from the Castle to the Main riverside and the old bridge over the river. There may be time and space to stop for the photo opportunity or a coffee!
Whilst I am working from home and waiting for someone to log a call on the MIS Helpdesk, I have turned my attention to places to visit on the way across from Calais Eurotunnel to Vernířovice.
With a longish day from Eurotunnel to the first overnight stop in Kobern-Gondorf, a break other than at the motorway services might be nice.
When my brother, Neill, plans our trips and those that he goes on every year with his mate Patrick, he includes fuel stops as Patrick's Shadow has a lot lower tank capacity than his BMW. I tend not to do that but maybe once I know what sort of mileage I can expect from Vera's tank, then I can add that into my planning.
Anyway, I digress. Places to visit/stop on the way across Belgium and western Germany. Where to look? The internet I guess! Or maybe for POI's in MyRouteApp? Success.
I have started to split to overall routes into bite sized chunks, by day and parts of days.
Day 1 Part 1 is Eurotunnel to the Biker Ranch Eifel near Simmerath. This will be all on motorway into Germany and then exiting for Simmerath.
Day 1 Part 2 is a ride through the Eifel Naturpark from the Biker Ranch to Bad Münstereifel. I chose this as it cuts off the corner that would be the motorway routes. Bad Münstereifel is also the twin town of Ashford in Kent near where I live.
Sadly, in the massive floods or "hochwasser" earlier in July '21 many buildings in the town centre were badly damaged. Hopefully things will have improved by May.
It's not that far and I was sent the route by a friend in Germany as a "tasting" as he put it. I have driven in this area before in my old Fiat Panda!
Day 1 Part 3 takes us from Bad Münstereifel to the hotel in Kobern-Gondorf. Once again this is off motorway.
Waypoint 2 is another biker stop at the Haus Waldfrieden Biker-Treff. Depending on what is consumed in Bad Münstereifel this looks like another watering hole for both ends.....
That adds another hour and a half and some more decent looking miles under the wheels.
Day 2? Work in progress.
All the rally dates have been confirmed and Roman the Rally Organiser has said that he needs to know the number of rooms that the UK contingent want to book, and he needs that by the end of March 2022.
Roman will also give me a run down of the rally inn, Hotel Reoneo, regarding rooms and prices.
Once I know the rooms that are available and the cost per night I can start the booking process with Roman. As I said earlier, although I can share I prefer to pay a bit more and have a room to myself. Medical reasons are all anyone needs to know!
I had an email from a German friend who said that Troisdorf is not the sort of place to stay overnight and especially not around the station area. As a result I have changed my booking. I have cancelled B&B Hotel Troisdorf.
Instead have booked a guesthouse/restaurant a little further south.
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| AACZ - Invader - Calais to Vernířovice |
I have booked two overnights on the way out and two on the way back. With two overnights at the rally this gives a total of 6 nights in hotels/hostels.
Currently the plan is to leave on May 25th AM and return May 31st PM.
They then reply with a booking form they want signed. This will need to be printed and scanned in and returned ASAP.
Nothing to pay until you arrive. The only caveat is that we have to arrive before 6pm. We should be able to do that from Vernířovice.
It also takes my mind off having to go to DFS and buy a new living room sofa and chairs....
Today's update is the the entire DJH network is now reserve-able online. What is also superb is that it is a reservation system with payment on arrival.
I should be able to get from Vernířovice to Colditz by 6pm when the reservation expires. Although I am sure payment can be made in advance to make sure it is not lost.
Well, here we are. Another update on the trip to the Czech Invader Rally in Vernířovice and only a few days after the last post.
This is Plan C Outwards!!
How things can change. I was using Google Maps rather than MyRouteApp to try and chop the journey into three more equal parts. This is not as easy as you might think considering accommodation and doing the trip on a budget.
I start all the routes from Calais Eurotunnel's "Avenue to France" and there is a waypoint that's clickable in Google Maps. From there to the Vernířovice Rally site in the Hotel Reoneo is around 835.35 miles.
Having a fuzzy brain after months of working from home, I used the calculator on the laptop to chop it up into three parts.... it comes out at 278.45 miles.
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| AACZ - Invader - Vernířovice OUT Plan C |
So using Google Maps I tried to find somewhere around that distance for the first hotel stop. I chose the B&B Hotel in Troisdorf. It has parking and a restaurant on site. I don't know if I really want to overlook the railway though!
Apart from the rally itself, I am booking single or double rooms (if they are the same price) with private bathroom! I don't mind sharing if I have to but given my health problems being solo or with my wife id best all round.
It's maybe a little short at 268 miles. But there was nothing further on in my price range. Or rather what I was interested in paying.
I have kept the second stop at Hotel Reif in Königstein in der Oberpfalz, I just had to change the date to a day later. This is another with restaurant attached. Food and beer and no walking or need to ride the bike.
The Prague stopover is gone. A shame but it does mean I will be away from my family a day less.
The third day is a little over the 278 average. That is simply because hotels nearer the Czech border are more expensive or if comparable in price, don't have food and drink nearby.
Plan C could easily be Plan D though...
Homeward Plan A
No changes here except that I have managed to book the DJH Hostel at Hagen for the second night after we leave Vernířovice.
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| AACZ - Invader HOME Plan A |
I have emailed the DJH Schloss Colditz to see when they are open to take booking and they have yet to reply.
I saw on the main DJH.de website that there was a relaxation in Germany due in August, but that may be up in the air as they have had killer floods in the Rhein/Ruhr and Covid is on the increase as well.
I have been looking at the route back. For the route out I will stick (I think) with Plan B and the southern route via Frankfurt and Nuremburg.
The return looks like this.
Two nights and both at Youth Hostels. The main event being the Colditz Castle Hostel (2) and then at Hagen in the Ruhr (3) on the way back. Three days on the road and each about 250-275 miles. Easily and comfortably do-able on a modern bike. Plus allowing time to stop on the way and look at something!
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| AACZ - Czech Invader - Home Plan A |
There's plenty of time to refine and book.
Now that Vera has joined the Devall Family (or at least will have in time for this event) I have been looking at my (tentative) plans for the trip across to the Czech Invader in May 2022.
I had been looking at taking the newly rebuilt Kettle aka Suzi Triplo but even after all the time (and not to mention money!) spent to bring her back to life, a 2000 miles trip might be a journey too far.
I have a couple of Plan A's. I checked with the new secretary of the Czech Centre and he has confirmed the dates of the rally as May 27-29th 2022. In fact that is the traditional date. That's what I had gambled on when I began to plan earlier in the year.
Those plans are on Suzi Triplo's Blog site.
With Vera taking over the long distance and more arduous trips from Suzi, all updates will be here. With a modern bike I have been able to plan for longer days in the saddle.
I have so far stuck with the Plan A outwards from the UK. Although there is already a Plan B!!!
Plan A is what I call the "A4 Route" and goes across the top of the Ruhr and a first stop at the DJH Hostel in Kassel (2 on the map). The second stop on Prague (3). The shorter distance between Prague and Vernířovice would allow me to maybe make a short stop in Hradec Kralove and call in at my friend and former student's house. I've not seen Rosta since 2011 when Claire and I were in the car.
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| AACZ - Invader - Vernířovice OUT Plan A |
Plan B OUT has shorter days on the way to Vernířovice, with stops at Bingen (2) and Königstein in der Oberpfalz (3) with a final stop in Prague (4). This gives fewer hours on the road and most of that will autobahn, and maybe give me time to "see" something". In the end I could of course reduce the overnights to two from three. The overnights are all (cheap) hotels.
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| AACZ - Invader - Vernířovice OUT Plan B |
Plan A HOME is still to be decided, but I would love to stay in the YH at Colditz Castle again just as a reminder of the 2011 trip we did in the car. But that is still to be decided.
The current problems with both Plan A's is that they both take the former East Germany route and much of it is retracing steps.
Both outward routes share the same Prague Hostel Plus in Holešovice which is cheap and comes with off road parking at a small cost
I have created a new blog to keep all the details and the plans I am making for a ride over to Czech to attend the Czech Centre SOC rally.
I have some posts on my GT750 blog as that was where I first thought of a last ride across Europe to attend the rally.
I decided to bring everything to its own place so that I can plan and share.
