BMW R1200GSA vs Moto Guzzi Stelvio NTX

Thursday 22 November 2012

Europe is small on a map, until you start plotting routes.

20/11/12

I spent a lot of time on scouring Google maps, tourist web sites, government websites, and entering data into spreadsheets today. The rough plan so far (which is always subject to change) is to head to Holland then down through Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, to Morocco and this...



I'm not sure about the sand dunes two up on the fully loaded BMW, but we can do everything else.

After Morocco we'll head back up through Gibraltar, Spain, Andorra, France, Monaco, Italy, Greece, Turkey (visiting Gallipoli), and Bulgaria. That's just over 10,000 kilometres without any side trips. 

From there we'll zig-zag our way up through eastern Europe, including Ukraine again I hope, and then across the top through the Scandinavian countries. I'm hoping that by the time we get there it will have warmed up a bit. All up that's about 25,000 km. That's the loose idea at the moment anyway. We'll see how it goes.

As for Christmas, we have absolutely no idea where we'll be. It will be the first ever Christmas Suzanne or I have ever spent away from our families. I'm guessing the mobile and Skype will get a work out on Christmas day.

We struck a blow today and packed a heap of stuff that we no longer need and will freight home. We need to do a little shopping for some warm gear for Suzanne, and we need some shoes. Sneakers take up way too much room on the bike. When you're trying to fit two pair in a pannier, they are HUGE! And anyway, Suzanne lost her's on her Scottish adventure. Our friends Sam and Claire had some great Nike shoes that were ultra light, waterproof, and pack almost flat. Unfortunately they are a 2009 model and the colour choice appears to be limited to yellow or green, Urgh, and they are hard to find now.

Now the bike is ready, the load has been lightened, and we're nearly ready to roll down the road. I'm getting excited.

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