Paddy's Go On Tour 2018
The Planning Stage
About 12 months ago we first mooted on the idea of a Euro trip. This one would be bigger, better and longer than any of the jaunts to Scotland, France, or Spain that we'd done previously. This was to be a trip of a lifetime kind of thing with more than a few bucket list items ticked off along the way.Pretty early on we decided to ship the bikes and our gear to Memmingen in Germany using a company called Overlanders who are based in Gorey, Co. Wexford. Once that was done, all that would be left for us to do was hop on a Ryanair flight a week later and meet our bikes on the far side. The best thing about shipping the bikes was that we would have the full two weeks in the places we wanted to see and get to skip the whole 'getting across the UK and Europe as quick as possible' malarkey.
Eventually the group was formed - eight peeps on six bikes touring Germany, Austria, Italy and Slovenia for two weeks. Myself and Stuart would have Pauline and Aynsley respectively as pillions, the other four lads, Derek, Wayne Brian and Jim would be riding one-up. Myself and Wayne were both on R1200GS's, Brian rode an S1000XR, Derek on an S1000RR, Stuart had R1200RS and Jim was on a Multistrada.
We settled on the middle of August as our departure date with three of the lads, Brian, Wayne and Derek planning to head home a couple of days earlier than the rest of us.
Next came the route, accommodation and 'things to see' planning. My favourite bit! 😃 Bucket list items were Stelvio Pass and a visit to the Black Forest region of Germany, so that was our starting point. We aimed for approximately 300km riding per day. With an average speed of about 50kph, this would mean six hours in the saddle. Over an eight hour day this would give us time to stop and see things along our route, while still getting us to that day's destination at a reasonable time around 6pm. There's little point in just riding past everything worth seeing, and there's no point in being in the saddle for so long that the enjoyment goes out of it. This trip was to be loads of fun, both on the bike and off it too.
With many hours spent on Google Maps, Booking.com and various European biker websites the plan slowly came together. Pre-booking accommodation was necessary due to the size of the group, this meant we'd have to keep to a schedule each day but so be it. Eventually the hotels were booked, the routes planned out, the sightseeing spots noted - all we had to do now was wait the few months till it was time to go. Little did we know that a series of Ryanair strikes both in Ireland and Germany would have us on the edge of our seats right till the day before we were due to fly.
What To Buy?
Of course no trip is complete without some pre-departure purchasing of kit and gadgets! 😋 For me it meant a new Revit Airwave textile suit, Forma Adventure Short boots, Rukka Forsair gloves, and Rukka Seamless Max top and leggings for under the Revit suit. Sounds like a lot of stuff I know, but it was purchased during the six months before we left and all of the above proved its worth during the trip. None of my existing kit was geared towards riding in serious heat (which we got a lot of) and I struggle with keeping cool way more than with keeping warm. So these were most definitely worthwhile purchases. More about that later...Gadget wise I picked up a few extra Ram mounts for the GoPro and also an X-Grip mount for the mobile phone. This stuff was way cheaper from the likes of BangGood or AliExpress - I wasn't in a rush for them so no issue with the longish shipping time. A dual port USB socket and some decent charging cables finished off the list of bits - again purchased from the far east.
What To Bring?
Luggage space consisted of a vario topbox, vario panniers and a small tankbag for bit n bobs. I must have packed and repacked a dozen times before I settled on what to bring along (and what to leave behind!). Top box was for waterproofs, locks, tablet pc, chargers and cables, DJI drone, puncture kit, spare gloves and visor. I'd put my civvies into the smaller pannier and Pauline would have the larger one. There were a few things that I found invaluable on the trip:- Bluetooth headsets - great for chatting to your pillion or even just to listen to tunes along the way - we had Cardo Scala Q3's purchased second hand
- X-Grip Ram mount for phone - so handy for using Google Maps or controlling the GoPro while riding
- Dual USB port - dead handy for keeping stuff charged while on the move - no low battery worries on the phone etc.
- Chamois cream - the stuff that cyclists use - especially effective when riding in hot weather
- Optrex eye drops - great to relax the eyes if you've been riding with open visor and sunnies on.
