Going on a week-long motorcycle tour in June has become a tradition, here at the Team Throttle headquarters. And a second tradition seems to be emerging: making last-minute decisions about our destination. Last year, we headed to Norway because the weather gods thwarted our plans for Spain and Italy. This year, it looked like all of Europe would turn into one big rain zone during our planned week off. Luckily, two days before departure, the Spanish weather maps cleared up a bit, so off we went!
We, that is Jan_F on a Triumph Tiger 900, Shih on his KTM 890 Adventure and myself on a BMW R 1300 GS. Our destination: Picos de Europa, the mountain range in northern Spain, roughly to the southwest of Bilbao.
We had already planned the routes last year, and after a final check this year, our plans looked as follows: Continue reading →
What would you do in this situation? You’re hesitating whether to go to the Dolomites in Italy or the Picos in Spain, so you start planning routes for both trips. Then, a week before the departure, the weather forecasts say: “Sorry guys, rain predicted in almost all of Southern Europe.” Which of these two options would you pick: stick to your guns and get your rain gear ready, or completely change your plans?
Two days before our departure, after one last look at the (not improving) weather maps, we made up our minds: forget the Dolomites, forget the Picos, we’re going to Norway. We had no desire for rain, and besides, Norway had already been on our shortlist for a while. After an evening of track plotting, Continue reading →
It has become our annual tradition, we are once again planning a motorcycle trip for June this year. The concept remains the same: strap a tent on our bikes and off we go!
We had five destinations on our shortlist, of which Norway, Wales and Scotland have already been crossed off. That leaves us with the Picos and the Dolomites. We have roughly mapped out the routes for both trips, and now it’s time to make a decision.
Question: which trip would you choose and why? And for those familiar with the area: are there any roads we absolutely shouldn’t miss?
Option one: Picos
I haven’t been to the Picos before, but I’ve heard enough good things about it to rank it high on our shortlist. The biggest disadvantage compared to the Dolomites is that it’s a bit further before we reach our destination. Although the journey is just as important as the destination of course.
On day 1, we’ll be ride quite a distance into France, just over 1,000 km on the highway. On day 2 (blue), the winding roads begin just below San Sebastian. On day 3 (green), we’ll enter the Picos. On days 4 (yellow) and 5 (orange), we’ll ride loops through the Picos. On day 6 (red), we’ll leave the Picos and head east. On day 7 (purple), we’ll take a detour through the Bardenas Reales, cross the Pyrenees and end the day just across the French border. On day 8, we’ll take the fastest route back home.
The Dolomites are etched in my memory as one of the highlights of my trip to the Alps in 2017. So I don’t mind heading back in that direction again, this time taking more time to explore. Maybe add some Julian Alps too? Why not!
On day 1, we’ll ride to Campitello di Fassa in the Dolomites. Here we’ll stay for 4 nights and take loops on day 2 (blue), 3 (green), and 4 (yellow). On day 5 (orange), we’ll head east. On day 6 (red), we’ll say goodbye to the Dolomites and head into the Julian Alps. Our destination is Kranjska Gora. We’ll stay here for 2 nights and take a loop on day 7 (purple). Day 8: take the fastest route back home.
We already planned to do a tour of the French Alps in 2020, but we had to cancel our plans due to the well-known virus. The routes were already mapped out, but before we could finally depart on our trip in June of this year, a reality check forced us to do some fine-tuning a few weeks earlier. Certain campsites were still closed, and some parts turned out to be too big of a detour for the limited time we had (a week).
In 2018, Jan F went on a trip to the Sierra Nevada with Clubmot, a Belgian organizer of motorcycle trips and trainings, and he really liked it. When he suggested the idea of starting our motorcycle season early and with a lot of miles on a new Clubmot trip to southern Spain, I was sold immediately. Our biker bud Shih as well. Vamos a Andalucia!
The formula
The formula for this trip was the same as the trip to the Sierra Nevada: Fly & ride. Clubmot books the flights and the hotel, and provides you with routes. Your bike travels there and back via truck transport. Nicely arranged.
We left early on Saturday March 19th (so that we could already start riding on Saturday afternoon) and Continue reading →
Planning a motorcycle holiday isn’t easy nowadays. In June we had to convert our trip to the Alps into a staycation. In September I had a week off work, but where would I go to?
The Covid-19 colour code carousel changed my plans for that week more than once. My first idea was to give our getaway to the Alps a second try, but the green zone of France quickly said ‘Adieu’. Next idea: Dolomites. I was already plotting out routes when that green zone turned to red. Arrivederci.
Germany still looked good, but what about preparing a trip on German roads? Not that obvious in my opinion, because of the lack of Google Streetview. Would I spend my time researching to see a green zone turn to red once more? I didn’t feel like doing that.
So I changed my plans. No more figuring out routes or looking for overnight stays myself, I was just gonna go for a last minute all-in package: a motorcycle hotel in a green zone, with gps-tracks in the deal.
That wasn’t simple either. The five days in the Harz mountains which I hoped for fizzled out when the green disappeared just a few days before my departure. So I booked five days in the Moselle with Horizon Motorreizen. Nothing but green over there, or at least when I visited.
Day 1: Off we go
The outward route is 277 kilometers long and starts near Aachen, which is 30 minutes from my home. I leave the highway after a few kilometers of full gas on the Triumph Tiger 900 (test report coming soon).
I’m crossing the Eifel to reach the Moselle valley and even though this is nothing but the ‘route to get there’, I’m having fun. There’s a wide variation of corners: slow, winding, sharp, pointed, fast, it’s all there.
The countryside changes from woods to sloping meadows and fields as far as the eye can see. Add a lot of climbing and descending to this and you can say Continue reading →
Corona is forcing us to stay home, so what else can you do than finish those plans for when we can go ride again? Together with biker buddy Shih, I’m prepping a trip to the Alps. Based on the Route des Grandes Alpes we plotted a week’s trip, that currently looks like this:
On a Saturday – we’re hoping for June – we’ll take the highway from Belgium to just below Lake Geneva. The fun part starts on Sunday. The next Saturday around noon, we’ll say goodbye to the Alps, then ride up to Basel where we’ll spend the night, and ride back home on Sunday.
If you think we’re missing essential roads or you know great campings, good restaurants or must-see spots, drop a line in the comments below or reply to our Facebook post.
Team Throttle 