We've pre-booked some of the accommodation to make sure that we don't have to search when we arrive in a town. Early on, there are few towns and so we want to be sure there is somewhere to sleep. The plan so far is:
Sunday 29th - Mercure Hotel nr Central Station in Sydney - early start on Monday so we will train down with our boxed bikes on Sunday afternoon to Central.
Monday 30th - train from Central to Albury and stay at the Manor House Hotel in Young Street.
Tuesday 31st - ride 45km to Tallangatta and stay at the Motor Inn.
Wednesday 1st - ride 110km to Khancoban and stay at Lakeside Caravan Resort in the motel section. 1 block walk to the pub for dinner apparently.
Thursday 2nd - ride 74km to Thredbo and stay at Candlelight Lodge in Diggings Terrace.
Friday 3rd - ride 33km to Jindabyne and stay at Horizons Resort on the lake.
Saturday 4th - ride 68km to Cooma
Sunday 5th - ride 110km to Queanbeyan
Monday 6th - ride 137km to Taralga via Bungendore
Tuesday 7th - ride 102km to Oberon via Abercrombie
Wednesday 8th - ride 62km to Lithgow
Thursday 9th - ride 82km to home via Little Hartley and Darling Causeway.
Total of about 828km.
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Next ride - Albury to Blue Mountains!
On 29th March we head off again but a little more local this time. We are taking a train to Albury (on the Victoria/NSW border) and then riding home via Tallangatta, Khancoban, Thredbo, Cooma, Queanbeyan, Goulburn, Taralga, Oberon, Lithgow, Winmalee.
Am a little worried about the lack of much civilization along many of the roads - just in terms of having to carry water and food due to the distances between shops etc.
Of course also a little worried at the climb from Khancoban to Thredbo!
Have pre-booked the train ($83.50 each including bike) - the bike has to be boxed and put in the luggage compartment of the train. Leaves from Sydney Central station at 7am on Monday 30th March and arrives Albury at 3:19pm that day. We'll stay in Albury that night and put bikes together etc and head off on a gentle starter day to stay at Tallangatta (45km) on Tuesday 31st. Heading for Khancoban to stay Wednesday (120km) and Thredbo to stay Thursday (80km) and then Jindabyne on the Friday night (33km). After that we will see how we feel.
Since we left our Raceline mountain bikes in Milan, we bought new Trek 6500's and we will ride these with Schwalbe Marathons for rolling speed.
Am a little worried about the lack of much civilization along many of the roads - just in terms of having to carry water and food due to the distances between shops etc.
Of course also a little worried at the climb from Khancoban to Thredbo!
Have pre-booked the train ($83.50 each including bike) - the bike has to be boxed and put in the luggage compartment of the train. Leaves from Sydney Central station at 7am on Monday 30th March and arrives Albury at 3:19pm that day. We'll stay in Albury that night and put bikes together etc and head off on a gentle starter day to stay at Tallangatta (45km) on Tuesday 31st. Heading for Khancoban to stay Wednesday (120km) and Thredbo to stay Thursday (80km) and then Jindabyne on the Friday night (33km). After that we will see how we feel.
Since we left our Raceline mountain bikes in Milan, we bought new Trek 6500's and we will ride these with Schwalbe Marathons for rolling speed.
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
V-Strom 650 Hepco and Becker Panniers fitting
The panniers I ordered and paid for by direct debit were from Motorcycle Adventure in Brisbane (see their website at http://www.motorcycleadventure.com.au/). From ordering by email to receiving by registered post was 5 days - very slick service.
After unpacking the two boxes and checking that all parts were there - I bought the Junior Enduro 40 litre LHS/30 litre RHS set so as to limit the width of the setup a little - I read through the German/English fitting manual to get a feel for what was required.
I found that I needed the following tools:
1 x Phillips head driver
1 x Flat blade screw driver
1 x vise grips
1 x 4mm Allen key - for the rear guard mounting screws
1 x 5mm Allen key - for some of the kit screws
1 x 6mm Allen key - for some of the kit screws
1 x 8mm Allen key - for the Lock-it screws
1 x 10mm socket - to remove the original carrier bolts
1 x 10mm ring and open end spanner - for tensi-lock nuts
1 x 13mm socket - for blinker mounting nuts
1 x 13mm ring and open-end spanner - for exhaust-side mounting nuts to pillion peg
Several cable ties - this was to re-attach my Ventura rack.
Some of the tools and setup are shown here:
Fitting took about 2 and a half hours all up (very leisurely). First thing to do is to take off the seat, rear carrier, Ventura rack (I had one fitted already that I use to carry a Gearsack bag around) and rear guard. All come off straight-forwardly except the rear guard - you have to undo the 2 hex head screws from each side and below the tail light and then pull the whole guard (carrying the blinkers and rear lights) off to the rear. It took me a while to figure this out, but a good pull fixes it - as always!
With the seat off it looks like this:
With the rear guard off, it looks like this:
With the guard off, the fiddly bit starts. The fitting manual is not all that clear but you get the idea OK. You unplug the blinkers and remove them from the guard. They are then reinserted to the given bracket and attached to the new mounting plate with the wires hanging for the moment.
Next I took off the number plate and re-drilled new holes in the guard to match the pannier mounting bracket - make sure the mounting bracket is centred on the guard as it will look ugly otherwise - and then fitted the plate onto the bracket and the bracket onto the guard like this:
After that, you need another pair of hands for a while because you use the given bolts to bolt the rear tail light back onto the guard while holding the whole guard up off the bike so you can access the bolts. Then sit the blinker mounting plate on top of the guard like this:
and lift the plastic above the rear tail light just enough to poke the blinker wires through inside and reconnect them to the wiring harness - brown is left and black is right. Don't be too concerned that the mounting plate seems to cover the rear tail light a bit because as it is tightened onto the guard with the carrier again later on, it lifts it up again off the light. The left hand photo below shows the completed fitting and the right hand photo shows it as you are fitting the guard before the rack is lifted off the light.
Finalise the rear guard by push fitting the guard back into place and bolt the rear carrier back on - this all fitted together quite easily on mine - the trick seems to be to do nothing up tight until all bolts are started in their threads - then tighten all a bit at a time.
Up til now took me about an hour and three-quarters. The rest of the fitting was very quick and easy following the manual - the Lock-it screws in particular are very easy and quick to fit. You need the 8mm Allen key for them and don't turn them more than a quarter turn.
The final setup looks like this:
The original J-brackets for the Ventura rack don't fit once the pannier racks are fitted, but I actually don't mind. I find that they are very poorly designed anyway since the bag rack pushes down into the J-brackets leaving the junction open to water penetration and quick rusting as a result. Mine were fitted by the bike shop from new and so are only about a month old and already I found them almost impossible to take off due to rust at the junction. Anyway, I just cable-tied the bag rack to the original Suzuki rack and it sits very solidly - you can even adjust it forward or back to suit so you don't kick it so much when you swing a leg over when you are riding solo!
Did the test ride thing - all the instructions say don't load them with more than 10kg each and don't go faster than 130km/h. I loaded them as per instructions and tried them up to 130km/h and the bike sits rock solid. They look like they were factory items, they fit so neatly.
I am looking forward to the first tour with Tania on the back and fully loaded panniers and Gearsack.
After unpacking the two boxes and checking that all parts were there - I bought the Junior Enduro 40 litre LHS/30 litre RHS set so as to limit the width of the setup a little - I read through the German/English fitting manual to get a feel for what was required.
I found that I needed the following tools:
1 x Phillips head driver
1 x Flat blade screw driver
1 x vise grips
1 x 4mm Allen key - for the rear guard mounting screws
1 x 5mm Allen key - for some of the kit screws
1 x 6mm Allen key - for some of the kit screws
1 x 8mm Allen key - for the Lock-it screws
1 x 10mm socket - to remove the original carrier bolts
1 x 10mm ring and open end spanner - for tensi-lock nuts
1 x 13mm socket - for blinker mounting nuts
1 x 13mm ring and open-end spanner - for exhaust-side mounting nuts to pillion peg
Several cable ties - this was to re-attach my Ventura rack.
Some of the tools and setup are shown here:
Fitting took about 2 and a half hours all up (very leisurely). First thing to do is to take off the seat, rear carrier, Ventura rack (I had one fitted already that I use to carry a Gearsack bag around) and rear guard. All come off straight-forwardly except the rear guard - you have to undo the 2 hex head screws from each side and below the tail light and then pull the whole guard (carrying the blinkers and rear lights) off to the rear. It took me a while to figure this out, but a good pull fixes it - as always!
With the seat off it looks like this:
With the rear guard off, it looks like this:
With the guard off, the fiddly bit starts. The fitting manual is not all that clear but you get the idea OK. You unplug the blinkers and remove them from the guard. They are then reinserted to the given bracket and attached to the new mounting plate with the wires hanging for the moment.
Next I took off the number plate and re-drilled new holes in the guard to match the pannier mounting bracket - make sure the mounting bracket is centred on the guard as it will look ugly otherwise - and then fitted the plate onto the bracket and the bracket onto the guard like this:
After that, you need another pair of hands for a while because you use the given bolts to bolt the rear tail light back onto the guard while holding the whole guard up off the bike so you can access the bolts. Then sit the blinker mounting plate on top of the guard like this:
and lift the plastic above the rear tail light just enough to poke the blinker wires through inside and reconnect them to the wiring harness - brown is left and black is right. Don't be too concerned that the mounting plate seems to cover the rear tail light a bit because as it is tightened onto the guard with the carrier again later on, it lifts it up again off the light. The left hand photo below shows the completed fitting and the right hand photo shows it as you are fitting the guard before the rack is lifted off the light.
Finalise the rear guard by push fitting the guard back into place and bolt the rear carrier back on - this all fitted together quite easily on mine - the trick seems to be to do nothing up tight until all bolts are started in their threads - then tighten all a bit at a time.
Up til now took me about an hour and three-quarters. The rest of the fitting was very quick and easy following the manual - the Lock-it screws in particular are very easy and quick to fit. You need the 8mm Allen key for them and don't turn them more than a quarter turn.
The final setup looks like this:
The original J-brackets for the Ventura rack don't fit once the pannier racks are fitted, but I actually don't mind. I find that they are very poorly designed anyway since the bag rack pushes down into the J-brackets leaving the junction open to water penetration and quick rusting as a result. Mine were fitted by the bike shop from new and so are only about a month old and already I found them almost impossible to take off due to rust at the junction. Anyway, I just cable-tied the bag rack to the original Suzuki rack and it sits very solidly - you can even adjust it forward or back to suit so you don't kick it so much when you swing a leg over when you are riding solo!
Did the test ride thing - all the instructions say don't load them with more than 10kg each and don't go faster than 130km/h. I loaded them as per instructions and tried them up to 130km/h and the bike sits rock solid. They look like they were factory items, they fit so neatly.
I am looking forward to the first tour with Tania on the back and fully loaded panniers and Gearsack.
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Bicycles and Motorcycles
After having got hold of some new Trek 6500's to replace our Racelines which are now pounding the bitumen in Italy, I traded my Suzuki DR650K7 in at Procycles at Hornsby on a new V-Strom Suzuki DL650 at the end of October. It came with a Ventura rack onto which I sit my Gearsack bag - I find the Ventura ones oddly shaped and leaky.
I also got a centre stand and handguards fitted at pickup - pretty expensive OEM bits with about $450 for the stand and over $200 for the guards!
It is a dream to ride - very smooth and solid handling. I am little concerned that the speedo is a bit optimistic eg. it reads fast and the odometer is inaccurate to the tune of about 2 kms in every hundred!
I took it back to Procycles for its first service ($291.00) for what was basically an oil and filter change - I could probably do it myself next time.
I have just today ordered some Hepco & Becker panniers today from www.motorcycleadventure.com.au - about $1079 delivered. I looked into the Caribou cases but they have no dealer in Australia unfortunately. They looked very good - check them at www.cariboucases.com - but at the current exchange rate they would have cost about $1600 and take a few weeks.
I will post some pictures once I get the panniers and start to fit them.
I also got a centre stand and handguards fitted at pickup - pretty expensive OEM bits with about $450 for the stand and over $200 for the guards!
It is a dream to ride - very smooth and solid handling. I am little concerned that the speedo is a bit optimistic eg. it reads fast and the odometer is inaccurate to the tune of about 2 kms in every hundred!
I took it back to Procycles for its first service ($291.00) for what was basically an oil and filter change - I could probably do it myself next time.
I have just today ordered some Hepco & Becker panniers today from www.motorcycleadventure.com.au - about $1079 delivered. I looked into the Caribou cases but they have no dealer in Australia unfortunately. They looked very good - check them at www.cariboucases.com - but at the current exchange rate they would have cost about $1600 and take a few weeks.
I will post some pictures once I get the panniers and start to fit them.
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
A couple of months on...
We got back after a great flight home with Air Canada on July 7th. We bought a new Trek WSD6500 for Tania from Clarence Street Cyclery 2 days later and a Trek 6500 for me from a Trek shop at Rouse Hill. Unfortunately I've been ill a bit since getting home and haven't been able to ride much but hopefully be OK soon.
Our next trip options include Lisbon (Portugal) to Toulouse (France) over the Pyrenees, Riga (Latvia) to Bucharest (Romania) and lots of others. Look forward to making it reality in maybe 2010.
Our next trip options include Lisbon (Portugal) to Toulouse (France) over the Pyrenees, Riga (Latvia) to Bucharest (Romania) and lots of others. Look forward to making it reality in maybe 2010.
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
Downhilling in Whistler, BC
We left Paris behind (in my case reluctantly - I could easily live there!) and flew with Lufthansa on a very uncomfortable plane for 10 hours to Vancouver. The seats were very hard on the plane and I was well glad to get off in British Columbia (BC). We were pretty jet lagged as BC is about 9 hours behind Paris so we taxied to the hotel in Vancouver and chilled for a couple of nights. Ben and I were still not all that well either.
Bussed up to Whistler (2-3 hours) through 120 km of roadworks getting the place ready for the 2010 winter Olympics and stayed in the village in an apartment in the MarketPlace for those who know Whistler. It was great being right in the middle of things - you can walk everywhere with a fantastic supermarket selling everything you want or need except grog - its at a different 'liquor store' just like home. We had gotten used to the European way of having everything all together in one shop (hypermarche) or everything in all different shops (boulanger, boucherie, patisier, Champion, etc).
Ben rode downhill bikes for the next 4 days - I lasted a day and couldn't go anymore than that. The Bike Park is brilliant with 3 lifts running and over 200km of downhill trails to ride at three different levels - green (easy), blue (medium) and black (hardest). We rode De Vinci bikes (made near Toronto), Norco bikes (made in Vancouver) and Specialized bikes (made I know not where). The place was very busy with both bike riders and boarders/skiers - there was still enough snow on Blackcomb mountain to have better cover than Mount Perisher has in a good season in winter!
Bussed back to Vancouver and caught the 15 hour direct flight home to Sydney - was a great trip home with Air Canada.
 |
| From Berlin to Milan |
 |
| From Berlin to Milan |
Bussed back to Vancouver and caught the 15 hour direct flight home to Sydney - was a great trip home with Air Canada.
The Left Bank
 |
| From Berlin to Milan |
 |
| From Berlin to Milan |
Staying on the left bank in an apartment allowed us a view of the city we hadn't had before - we have previously stayed near the Moulin Rouge a couple of times and so we saw Notre Dame (still lots of gypsy beggars here - watch your monies - a new scam was a lady would seem to pick up a gold ring just in front of you and ask you if it was yours while the kids crowded around you while you were distracted by this and make a lunge for the wallet or similar). Did you also know that Americans pronounce Notre Dame as Noter Dame?
The Pantheon, Jardin et la Palais du Luxembourg, Tour Eiffel, etc - what a great city!
Paris is also a leading example of providing bikes for people to use and encouraging their use with bike paths specifically marked on the roads. On many streets, there are say 25 bikes for hire using a parking meter type of gadget to hire it - first hour is free. You can return it to any of the similar bike stations throughout the city and it is locked into place and the computerised locking system tells the central system that you have 'returned' it and to compute a final price. The bikes have lights front and back, gearbox rear hub and very easy to ride. Roads here are narrow but again drivers are pretty forgiving and everyone 'fits' on the roads.
The Romanian Leg
Sorry for the delays for updates but things happen.
We caught up with Tania's Romanian cousins in Cassano d'Adda, Trezzo sur d'Adda and Crema - all near Bergamo. Found out that Pelligrino mineral water is bottled here as well! I knew I liked it.
We donated our bikes to the cousins and mine was already in use by the time we left for Romania. Bike riding is much more of a way of life here than in Australia and rain, hail, shine as well. The roads are probably not as good in Italy as the general roads in Australia either but the drivers are very forgiving and just wait if they have to in order to pass bike riders on the narrower roads. We were very impressed.
The other thing to note about Italians is how hard they work compared to home. A typical day is 7am to 7pm with a half hour break. Often its 6 days per week and they get 2 weeks annual leave. We have it pretty good at home really.
We (eventually!) flew on to Romania with WizzAir - can't really recommend them if anyone is thinking of travelling cheaply around Europe. We had two flights booked with them - one was delayed for three hours and the other was cancelled due to a pilot strike! Anyway, we flew to Cluj Napoca and hired a car and drove the 339km (which took nearly 9 hours such are the state of the roads BTW) to Tania's Aunts/Uncles in Bogota in Eastern Romania.
This was an emotional time for me as I hadn't been there since 1987 ie. before Ceaucescu was toppled. It was great to see the freedom and general sense of well-being now though there is a vast lack of 18-40 year olds in Romania as they have mostly left to other EU countries for the higher wages. Cluj Napoca though was a university city and was very vibrant and alive though many still said that they would be seeking work in other EU countries when they were finished study.
We rebooked flights out of Cluj Napoca with Tarom Air since our WizzAir flight was cancelled and had a dream flight back to Milan and onto Paris via Zurich. Unfortunately Ben and I had picked up food poisoning - our own fault really I suppose - we were drinking and enjoying lapte (milk) straight from the milked cow until it caught up with us and we are still recovering even now some weeks later.
We caught up with Tania's Romanian cousins in Cassano d'Adda, Trezzo sur d'Adda and Crema - all near Bergamo. Found out that Pelligrino mineral water is bottled here as well! I knew I liked it.
We donated our bikes to the cousins and mine was already in use by the time we left for Romania. Bike riding is much more of a way of life here than in Australia and rain, hail, shine as well. The roads are probably not as good in Italy as the general roads in Australia either but the drivers are very forgiving and just wait if they have to in order to pass bike riders on the narrower roads. We were very impressed.
The other thing to note about Italians is how hard they work compared to home. A typical day is 7am to 7pm with a half hour break. Often its 6 days per week and they get 2 weeks annual leave. We have it pretty good at home really.
We (eventually!) flew on to Romania with WizzAir - can't really recommend them if anyone is thinking of travelling cheaply around Europe. We had two flights booked with them - one was delayed for three hours and the other was cancelled due to a pilot strike! Anyway, we flew to Cluj Napoca and hired a car and drove the 339km (which took nearly 9 hours such are the state of the roads BTW) to Tania's Aunts/Uncles in Bogota in Eastern Romania.
 |
| From Berlin to Milan |
 |
| From Berlin to Milan |
Saturday, 14 June 2008
St Moritz to Cassano d'Adda
The last couple of legs were easy in comparison to the rest of the ride. Little did we know that we had already done the climbing up to St Moritz and the Maloja Pass was in fact not a climb but a 30 km descent through sweeping curves and switchbacks - just climb the roads you see on the Tour de France in the Alps. What an amazing ride - still stunning scenery, good coffee and great riding. The weather was very kind to us and we were very lucky - spoke with other riders who had been camped in the Alps for a week so far and had been rained on for the whole week!
Down to Lake Como and found a hotel at Bellano with our own balcony over the lake - a beautiful place.
Last stage of the ride through to the relatives near Bergamo near Milan was very busy traffic and narrow roads but the drivers were very courteous to bike riders - saw lots of other riders here and all being avoided by drivers and just accepted as part of the everyday traffic on the road. Went through some interesting tunnels along the lake towards Lecco but this too was OK in Italy.
Into Bergamo we got stormed on in the later afternoon before a very kind lady, working in an office next to where we were sheltering from the storm, gave us some coffee and directions to Cassano d'Adda where our relatives lived. Got helped again by a lady on bike when the bike path we were following according to Google Maps turned out to be blocked by a cross European Railway - she was able to show us and in fact rode with us to find the actual street we were looking for.
We had made it - 4 countries, 1200km, lots of tailwinds, no flat tyres and everywhere we went were helped by some very friendly people - touring is really a team effort, even if you don't yet know you are on the team!
Down to Lake Como and found a hotel at Bellano with our own balcony over the lake - a beautiful place.
 |
| From Berlin to Milan |
 |
| From Berlin to Milan |
We had made it - 4 countries, 1200km, lots of tailwinds, no flat tyres and everywhere we went were helped by some very friendly people - touring is really a team effort, even if you don't yet know you are on the team!
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Scuol to St Moritz
Weather was clear and bright today as we headed toward St Moritz. It was up! but with views unfolding with each turn of a corner, it was fairly straight forward riding. It was only about 60km and we got into St Moritz before a storm hit at about 2pm. We were safely in a cafe sipping Kaffee creme at that point!
Staying in Youth Hostels the last two nights has been good value with 3 course dinners and breakfasts to salve some aching hungers. Tomorrow moving onto Lake Como somewhere we hope and out of the Alps - the forecast is for the weather to close in by the end of tomorrow so our timing might be OK. Bikes are all good now - mine had a stiff rear cable for the gears but was able to fix that last night. Our legs are holding up OK too - we climb the Maloja Pass at 1850 metres tomorrow and then we hit some serious downhill to Lake Como I hope.
Have I mentioned how stunning the mountains are? The mountains are stunning! We are at just below the tree line and snow line at about 1400m in St Moritz so the pass climb is ``only`` about 400m, but we`ll see tomorrow. Having a pre-dinner drink at the Youth Hostel (Pinot Grigio no less) and reading a SF6.20 English newspaper - first reading news we`ve had since we left home.
 |
| From Berlin to Milan |
Have I mentioned how stunning the mountains are? The mountains are stunning! We are at just below the tree line and snow line at about 1400m in St Moritz so the pass climb is ``only`` about 400m, but we`ll see tomorrow. Having a pre-dinner drink at the Youth Hostel (Pinot Grigio no less) and reading a SF6.20 English newspaper - first reading news we`ve had since we left home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)