Transalpina and Transfagarassan

No pictures today but a recommendation. @The skitz , I don't know if you've ridden the 40 miles of coast road between Karlobag and Rovanjska but this is my new favourite world class road. Smooth new tarmac, at 3.30 pm I had it to myself apart from 2 cars. There are no straights worth mentioning, simply 2nd 3rd and 4th gear flip-flops. The corners just kept on coming fan fucking tactic. Wholeheartedly recommend this. BTW 2 other roads that fight for this accolade are the road from Nyons to Serres in S France and the Perth to Breamar road.
 
BobTheBounder said:
Yup, that's China alright, they fund and build huge infrastructure projects all over the world, then a couple of years down the line, they ask for the capital to be repaid, knowing the country cannot afford it, so the do deals, buying land, mostly farm arable land or utilities, energy water you name it they'll have it. Even the UK
Chinese and Hong Kong-based investors have amassed a portfolio of UK infrastructure, with stakes in UK Power Networks, Heathrow airport, Northumbrian Water and Hinkley Point C Nuclear Plant.
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China, Russia or the Rothschilds......
 
Topbox said:
No pictures today but a recommendation. @The skitz , I don't know if you've ridden the 40 miles of coast road between Karlobag and Rovanjska but this is my new favourite world class road. Smooth new tarmac, at 3.30 pm I had it to myself apart from 2 cars. There are no straights worth mentioning, simply 2nd 3rd and 4th gear flip-flops. The corners just kept on coming fan fucking tactic. Wholeheartedly recommend this. BTW 2 other roads that fight for this accolade are the road from Nyons to Serres in S France and the Perth to Breamar road.
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I
Topbox said:
No pictures today but a recommendation. @The skitz , I don't know if you've ridden the 40 miles of coast road between Karlobag and Rovanjska but this is my new favourite world class road. Smooth new tarmac, at 3.30 pm I had it to myself apart from 2 cars. There are no straights worth mentioning, simply 2nd 3rd and 4th gear flip-flops. The corners just kept on coming fan fucking tactic. Wholeheartedly recommend this. BTW 2 other roads that fight for this accolade are the road from Nyons to Serres in S France and the Perth to Breamar road.
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I've been down the whole road but only the once, the 3 other times I bailed at a place called marcaska.. I've had much better roads in Slovenia and northern Spain that were stunning and deserted .. I've been lucky to do many super trips but for me Croatia is a bit touristy and busying general but very beautiful... My favorite trip for roads and solitude is bilbao to Pamplona to Andorra and down the spine of Spain to Ronda in Granada and bail out through Malaga... I don't know if you are getting the vibe I don't like people 😆😆 enjoy TB I very f****** jealous 👌
 
Noobie said:
👀👀 :unsure:
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Robarano Gerry.webp
 
1720878162770.webp

The view from 2500m up the Grossglockner. And I think I've captured my best smile and it only took one take. Now for the 2 day ride home. All targets hit. Auschwitz, Bratislava, Budapest, Transfagarasan, Sarajevo, Croatian coast, and finally Grossglockner :) :)
 
TB, are you gonna do a costing/write up of the trip, need to do something similar before I get too old, would be interesting to hear how it all went, ups and downs and the gory bits :love:
 
@BobTheBounder

Where the eck do I start.

Solo travel. It isn't that I don't enjoy the company of friends and the craic that goes with it but there are some trips that if I waited for someone to come where I want to go I'd be waiting forever. Also, I like just being on my bike and I don't think others would want the motorway miles I put in to get to where I want to be. So I go solo to get stuff ticked off my list.

My last big trip was to the North Cape, Norway, which didn't create the anxiety that this one did cos as we all know the Scandinavian countries second language is English. This trip had me twitching a bit 14 countries mostly ex Eastern bloc all different languages. It isn't like I could impress them with my failed O level French like I do in France. So I knocked up a quick list of my most used words and phrases that I would use in France and translate them for each country on this trip, and put them on a small paper crib sheet, to cut down on typing into google translate. Used it a couple of times but impressively even in the back of beyond, for each country the servers mostly knew English good enough to deal with me.

Sadly, I like to plan my trips to death and attached is a copy of a spreadsheet which I used to coordinate all the dates and refer to when on the move. I can do this because as time has gone by I have accrued a list of places I want to go/see and so all I have to do is join the dots. Wandering day by day and ad libbing it is not for me. So I join the dots and then find the cheapest hotels I can (with parking, wifi, and half decent rating) after every 5/6 hours riding along the route. On this trip that equated to 21 days,

Having pre booked my hotels, and knowing the mileage and MPG ish of my bike I can make a stab at costs. And the scientific guesswork and educated guesswork both come out at about about grand a week = £3K. total. Which is how it turned out.

Ferrys. The cheapest tickets don't come with refunds or amendments so I usually get one way tickets, last minute, and then I get the cheapest ticket going out and then I can be flexible coming back. Who knows what can happen over 3 weeks. Only on this trip the outbound ferry to Rotterdam was £238 and when the time came to book the return they were asking for £500. Well that wasn't going to happen so I decided to wing the last day and return from Calais.

The ups were it all went to plan, no surprises everything as it should be. Apart from the return ferry costs, mis reading a junction and some roadworks where I had to ride for about a mile on a twisting hilly road over 3/8 loose gravel. Fuck me I thought I was off every 10feet. I hated every inch of those road works. 260Kg bike + sport touring tyres + 3/8 gravel = shitting myself.

I really enjoy the planning, I do enjoy doing the trip although I get a little bit of anxiety, but when I get home I really enjoy the memories and sense of having done it.

Hope that helps

TB


Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czech Rep. Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, France. 14 countries

1721612679281.png
 
Topbox said:
@BobTheBounder

Where the eck do I start.

Solo travel. It isn't that I don't enjoy the company of friends and the craic that goes with it but there are some trips that if I waited for someone to come where I want to go I'd be waiting forever. Also, I like just being on my bike and I don't think others would want the motorway miles I put in to get to where I want to be. So I go solo to get stuff ticked off my list.

My last big trip was to the North Cape, Norway, which didn't create the anxiety that this one did cos as we all know the Scandinavian countries second language is English. This trip had me twitching a bit 14 countries mostly ex Eastern bloc all different languages. It isn't like I could impress them with my failed O level French like I do in France. So I knocked up a quick list of my most used words and phrases that I would use in France and translate them for each country on this trip, and put them on a small paper crib sheet, to cut down on typing into google translate. Used it a couple of times but impressively even in the back of beyond, for each country the servers mostly knew English good enough to deal with me.

Sadly, I like to plan my trips to death and attached is a copy of a spreadsheet which I used to coordinate all the dates and refer to when on the move. I can do this because as time has gone by I have accrued a list of places I want to go/see and so all I have to do is join the dots. Wandering day by day and ad libbing it is not for me. So I join the dots and then find the cheapest hotels I can (with parking, wifi, and half decent rating) after every 5/6 hours riding along the route. On this trip that equated to 21 days,

Having pre booked my hotels, and knowing the mileage and MPG ish of my bike I can make a stab at costs. And the scientific guesswork and educated guesswork both come out at about about grand a week = £3K. total. Which is how it turned out.

Ferrys. The cheapest tickets don't come with refunds or amendments so I usually get one way tickets, last minute, and then I get the cheapest ticket going out and then I can be flexible coming back. Who knows what can happen over 3 weeks. Only on this trip the outbound ferry to Rotterdam was £238 and when the time came to book the return they were asking for £500. Well that wasn't going to happen so I decided to wing the last day and return from Calais.

The ups were it all went to plan, no surprises everything as it should be. Apart from the return ferry costs, mis reading a junction and some roadworks where I had to ride for about a mile on a twisting hilly road over 3/8 loose gravel. Fuck me I thought I was off every 10feet. I hated every inch of those road works. 260Kg bike + sport touring tyres + 3/8 gravel = shitting myself.

I really enjoy the planning, I do enjoy doing the trip although I get a little bit of anxiety, but when I get home I really enjoy the memories and sense of having done it.

Hope that helps

TB


Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czech Rep. Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, France. 14 countries

View attachment 113644
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Cheers TB, that's excellent, you done a propa job mate, failure to plan is planning to fail, I need to have that info in my head, hotels route mileages fuel stops etc.
Well done chief, that is a proper european tour, cap is well and truly doffed (y)
 
BobTheBounder said:
Cheers TB, that's excellent, you done a propa job mate, failure to plan is planning to fail, I need to have that info in my head, hotels route mileages fuel stops etc.
Well done chief, that is a proper european tour, cap is well and truly doffed (y)
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Traveled from Germany thru Italy thru Slovenia thru Croatia into Bosnia into Montenegro and back... 3 times full maps and plans the last time nothing but a loose idea in our heads of where we wanted to head and just put it into calimoto for winding roads every morning at breakfast .... I will never plan a route again in europe too much stuff to discover if you head off the beaten track.. It helps that I absolutely hate the tourist traps sites but would rather stop on a deserted road in the middle of nowhere in complete solitude.. Strokes for folks really... If you are planning a big trip just watch you don't overdo the daily mileage as you end up see fuck all 👌
 
Topbox said:
@BobTheBounder

Where the eck do I start.

Solo travel. It isn't that I don't enjoy the company of friends and the craic that goes with it but there are some trips that if I waited for someone to come where I want to go I'd be waiting forever. Also, I like just being on my bike and I don't think others would want the motorway miles I put in to get to where I want to be. So I go solo to get stuff ticked off my list.

My last big trip was to the North Cape, Norway, which didn't create the anxiety that this one did cos as we all know the Scandinavian countries second language is English. This trip had me twitching a bit 14 countries mostly ex Eastern bloc all different languages. It isn't like I could impress them with my failed O level French like I do in France. So I knocked up a quick list of my most used words and phrases that I would use in France and translate them for each country on this trip, and put them on a small paper crib sheet, to cut down on typing into google translate. Used it a couple of times but impressively even in the back of beyond, for each country the servers mostly knew English good enough to deal with me.

Sadly, I like to plan my trips to death and attached is a copy of a spreadsheet which I used to coordinate all the dates and refer to when on the move. I can do this because as time has gone by I have accrued a list of places I want to go/see and so all I have to do is join the dots. Wandering day by day and ad libbing it is not for me. So I join the dots and then find the cheapest hotels I can (with parking, wifi, and half decent rating) after every 5/6 hours riding along the route. On this trip that equated to 21 days,

Having pre booked my hotels, and knowing the mileage and MPG ish of my bike I can make a stab at costs. And the scientific guesswork and educated guesswork both come out at about about grand a week = £3K. total. Which is how it turned out.

Ferrys. The cheapest tickets don't come with refunds or amendments so I usually get one way tickets, last minute, and then I get the cheapest ticket going out and then I can be flexible coming back. Who knows what can happen over 3 weeks. Only on this trip the outbound ferry to Rotterdam was £238 and when the time came to book the return they were asking for £500. Well that wasn't going to happen so I decided to wing the last day and return from Calais.

The ups were it all went to plan, no surprises everything as it should be. Apart from the return ferry costs, mis reading a junction and some roadworks where I had to ride for about a mile on a twisting hilly road over 3/8 loose gravel. Fuck me I thought I was off every 10feet. I hated every inch of those road works. 260Kg bike + sport touring tyres + 3/8 gravel = shitting myself.

I really enjoy the planning, I do enjoy doing the trip although I get a little bit of anxiety, but when I get home I really enjoy the memories and sense of having done it.

Hope that helps

TB


Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czech Rep. Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, France. 14 countries

View attachment 113644
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Super write up TB and glad it all went to plan 👌
 
Thanks for the write up TB. How many miles did you do in all?

I like to have the hotels booked up so I know I've got a bed for the night, and then pick routes on the day.
 
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