Days 1 & 2

Whilst we have been up to our eyeballs in Covid I have been refining some of the routes from Eurotunnel at Coquelles to the stop in Plzeň. 

It's two days on the road and I have been looking to avoid the autoroutes/autobahns as much as possible.

I have added a few extra loops mostly into Day 2.  Plus a few changes to the Day 1 route to make the stops at Bad Münstereifel.

Day 1

Day 2A

Day 2B

Small changes but on Day 1 a nice scenic ride through the Eifel Mountains and then along the Moselle. The route is just short of 7 hours on the road plus lunch and any other stops then we are looking at along day. But at least most of it will be off motorway.

Routes - Day 1 Parts 2 & 3 - Bikers Ranch to Fachbach

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!

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!

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!

Routes - Day 1 Parts 2 & 3 - Bad Münstereifel to Bad Ems

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.

Hotel Stadt Coblenz

It doesn't look as though MyRouteApp has a "merge routes" function. Otherwise I could merge Part 2 and Part 3 into one route! So I will have to stuck with them.  There are too many waypoints to manually change.

Part 2 is only about 30 miles and Part 3 less than a 100 even with the changes.

Routes - Day 1 - Eurotunnel to Kobern-Gondorf - Plan B

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.

Routes - Day 1 - Eurotunnel to Kobern-Gondorf

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.

Depending on what time I get to France on Eurotunnel, the Biker Ranch should be about lunchtime. Then we reset TomTom with Part Two.

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!

According to Google Maps the total trip should take about 5 hours and is about 250 miles. Add on petrol stops and lunch at the Biker ranch that looks more like 6 hours at least.

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.