• Peter Sprot
mai – jun. 2024

Europe

The plan which might change as I go is to ride the BMW from the UK first to Malta via several Balkan countries. Then swap bikes to the 59 Velo for a few days with the classic bike club of Malta to Sicily. Then ride the BMW to Portugal. Les mer
  • Marvão Portugal

    21. juni 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Even while in Praia da Luz people said if you are coming to Portalegre you must visit Marvão.
    I came on the bike up and up to a hill to town which is stunning with a preserved castle and wall around the town.
    Quaint old streets with amazing views are everywhere. It was worth the visit.
    Les mer

  • Salamanca Spain

    22. juni 2024, Spania ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    I didn't really know much about this place before I came and I've been delighted with just how nice it is.
    There is so much beautiful architecture and the churches are amazing. I'm staying at the university campus of one of the oldest university's in Europe It is in a very old part of the city and my rooms are within a quadrant. It's so nice and peaceful. While I was out walking I just happened to come across a wedding as the bride and groom were coming out of the church.
    I also went up a bell tower of one of the big churches. I arrived at around 4pm.
    Take a look at the pictures. Some of them are stunning.
    Les mer

  • San Sebastian Spain

    23. juni 2024, Spania ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    When I left Salamanca it was 25° sunny. It was a lovely day so I wasn't prepared for when I went over the mountains and the temperature dropped to 14° and it began to rain. It rained all the way here to San Sebastian and through the evening it continued. So all these beautiful places I'd heard about in San Sebastian I couldn't really visit.
    When the rain eased I walked through a nice park then later down to the beach. There are a lot of hills here and a lot of beautiful scenery. I hope that one day I will return and make the most of it.
    Les mer

  • Angoulême France

    24. juni 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    I'm not far from Limoges. It was still miserable and wet in San Sebastian when I left this morning, however the weather quickly got better and there were so many trucks on my route. I chose to come on the toll road because the difference was nearly an hour and a half more to avoid them. Unfortunately I had a problem with a bank card today. I think it was copied somewhere and my bank started to contact me to approve €900 transfer. I declined of course. Then I had a message saying do I want to add my card to Google and Apple pay, immediately my bank froze the card. I'm thankful for that.
    I have another I can use.
    Where I'm staying tonight is a pretty hill top town. I don't speak French so the meal ended up being far more than I expected.
    Oof.
    Les mer

  • Alençon France

    25. juni 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    This morning it felt warm I started my ride and got to 32c by the afternoon. I decided to come on roads which did not take me near Paris because I knew that there would be many trucks going that way, I was right, my roads were not busy at all.
    Alençon is a pretty town, as you'll see in the photographs.
    Tomorrow morning. I'm going to set off early and catch an afternoon train to the UK.
    Les mer

  • Wickhambrook UK (home)

    26. juni 2024, England ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Today was a long ride over 680 km at times the traffic was quite heavy, especially when I got to the UK where the roads were not so good. I was on the road before 8:00 in the morning and I was at The eurotunnel for 12 :30. I met an interesting man on the train. I couldn't believe it when he told me he was 83 years old and still riding his bike through Europe.
    Not very interesting photos I'm afraid as I was concentrating on riding.

    The next entry in this series will be the last one and I'll summarised the journey.
    Les mer

  • Summary

    27. juni 2024, England ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    For me it's more about the people I meet and the experiences in a long journey such as this but the first thing people ask understandably is where did you go so last night I wrote it down and I'll paste a copy below.

    The bike performed perfectly as usual even in the strongest wind and rain it never missed a beat nor was it affected by the wind. The oil level remained full when I checked it in Portugal and at the end. I replaced the front tyre in Malta and the rear will be replaced now.

    Thanks for following me.
    Here is a summary of the route.
    I started on the 8th May and ended 26th June.

    I rode From my home near Cambridge in England down to the eurotunnel train and then headed south in France and entered Germany then east across Germany and Austria and Slovenia then continued south east across Croatia to Slovensky Brod where I stayed with some friends for a few days. 
    Then I turned south into central Bosnia and Herzegovina then through Montenegro to Durres on the coast of Albania where I caught a ferry to Bari in Italy. 

    After riding across the foot of Italy, I got another ferry to Messina in Sicily, then rode down the east coast to Pozzallo in the south where I caught yet another ferry to Malta. 

    I had a few days in Malta, then rode my 1959 Velocette and enjoyed a 3-day ride to Ragusa district of Sicily with the historic bike club of Malta. 

    Then back to the BMW and up through Sicily, into Italy following the west coast to just above Rome a place called Civitavecchia where I called a ferry to Barcelona.

    Mandy flew to meet me there and we had 4 days together. Then I headed south to Seville in southern Spain a few days there with a friend and then I headed to the Algarve of Portugal to stay with another friend. 

    From the south of Portugal I turned straight north to about halfway up Portugal where I re-entered Spain because the roads were better and not so many tolls. 

    I stayed away from Madrid to avoid heavy traffic and entered France on the northwest coast. Then continued up the west side again avoiding Paris and came around to Calais where I got the Eurotunnel train then rode my lovely bike back to Wickhambrook near Cambridge.
    Les mer

    Reisens slutt
    26. juni 2024