DAY 1
Received phone call from Glen mid morning suggesting that we finaly get going. Panic stations! Immediate problem is that bike is still snowed in. Thought of putting bike on trailer and towing to main road. Jumped in car but couldn't move at all due to snow and ice so had no option but to ride bike. Rolled bike out of garage into thick snow at least 6 inches deep. Only managed to move forwards thanks to big efforts of wife Ann and son Martin pushing. A fully (over) loaded GS is not light and took huge effort from all three of us to almost carry the bike to the end of the drive.
Finally it was time to hit the road after 12 months of preparation. Within 200 yards I had literally "hit the road" when the back end slid around and my leg slipped on the iceand down it went. I stood there with one leg either side of my horizontal bike shouting for help to pick it up. It took us about an hour to go the first mile from my garage and by this time I was boiling inside my riding gear.
Once I eventualy got to a salted and gritted main road I was able to speed up a bit. When the cold weather made itself felt, I was grateful for the heated clothing to keep me warm.
I was supposed to be at Glen's house near Shaftesbury at 1.00 pm but instead I rolled up just gone 3.00 pm. His wife told me he had left at 2.00 pm to get to Folkestone before darkness.
Darkess fell for me on the M3 approaching London and the temperature noticeably dropped and it started snowing again. At this point I thought to myself "What on earth am I doing here? Am I completely insane?". Then I rememberedd that I am insane so thats OK and carried on. The sign showingn upcoming servicess dispayed the bed symbol so I was very tempted to stop here for the night and go no further. Only the thick snow and ice on their ungritted carpark changed my mind so I rode on to the M25 in the rush hour at 5.00pm. The M25 turned into M26 and the realisation that I was only one hour away from Folkestone. However,I needed to stop as even with heated clothing I was still getting cold. The services carpark was ungritted and I worried that I would never get the bike out again.The other motorists who trudged into the cafe area looked at me as if I was a complete lunatic being out on a bike in this weather.
At Folkestone, the tunnel staff were very helpful and allowed me to go on the next available train without paying the £35 charge that the auto check-in had demanded. Once aboard the train, I was in a comparment with a large extended Orthodox Jewish family who were amazed when I told the, about our trip and they very kindly gave me drinks from their car.
Disemarking in Calias was a nightmare as there was thick snow that the French had made no effort to clear. Glen had told me that the hotel was a mere 1.5 miles away but in those conditions it took me over 20 minutes to get there. I slithered into the Ibis car park in conditions very similar to that whuch I had started the day in Devon but at least I had made it to France.
Milage total 315 miles but in these conditions it felt like at least twice that.
Received phone call from Glen mid morning suggesting that we finaly get going. Panic stations! Immediate problem is that bike is still snowed in. Thought of putting bike on trailer and towing to main road. Jumped in car but couldn't move at all due to snow and ice so had no option but to ride bike. Rolled bike out of garage into thick snow at least 6 inches deep. Only managed to move forwards thanks to big efforts of wife Ann and son Martin pushing. A fully (over) loaded GS is not light and took huge effort from all three of us to almost carry the bike to the end of the drive.
Finally it was time to hit the road after 12 months of preparation. Within 200 yards I had literally "hit the road" when the back end slid around and my leg slipped on the iceand down it went. I stood there with one leg either side of my horizontal bike shouting for help to pick it up. It took us about an hour to go the first mile from my garage and by this time I was boiling inside my riding gear.
Once I eventualy got to a salted and gritted main road I was able to speed up a bit. When the cold weather made itself felt, I was grateful for the heated clothing to keep me warm.
I was supposed to be at Glen's house near Shaftesbury at 1.00 pm but instead I rolled up just gone 3.00 pm. His wife told me he had left at 2.00 pm to get to Folkestone before darkness.
Darkess fell for me on the M3 approaching London and the temperature noticeably dropped and it started snowing again. At this point I thought to myself "What on earth am I doing here? Am I completely insane?". Then I rememberedd that I am insane so thats OK and carried on. The sign showingn upcoming servicess dispayed the bed symbol so I was very tempted to stop here for the night and go no further. Only the thick snow and ice on their ungritted carpark changed my mind so I rode on to the M25 in the rush hour at 5.00pm. The M25 turned into M26 and the realisation that I was only one hour away from Folkestone. However,I needed to stop as even with heated clothing I was still getting cold. The services carpark was ungritted and I worried that I would never get the bike out again.The other motorists who trudged into the cafe area looked at me as if I was a complete lunatic being out on a bike in this weather.
At Folkestone, the tunnel staff were very helpful and allowed me to go on the next available train without paying the £35 charge that the auto check-in had demanded. Once aboard the train, I was in a comparment with a large extended Orthodox Jewish family who were amazed when I told the, about our trip and they very kindly gave me drinks from their car.
Disemarking in Calias was a nightmare as there was thick snow that the French had made no effort to clear. Glen had told me that the hotel was a mere 1.5 miles away but in those conditions it took me over 20 minutes to get there. I slithered into the Ibis car park in conditions very similar to that whuch I had started the day in Devon but at least I had made it to France.
Milage total 315 miles but in these conditions it felt like at least twice that.
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