Hi guys,
Fed up with being caged in my Vienna apartment I decided the South of Spain, its sun and warm weather was worth a little pain for some R&R. Yesterday I left Vienna Austria at 6am. It was a mild 9oC and dry. Getting to Spain means crossing the Alps or taking a very long detour through Germany and France. The Alps was the pain of choice. Temps kept descending to -2oC, snow kept building up to a metre or so on the road side though the roads were dry and clean. Welcome to Austria, snowy roads are swept multiple times a day and well gravel/salted. Once on the south side of the Alps and at lower altitudes in Italy temps started to warm on virtually empty Autostradas (zero Covid control or any control whatsoever at the Austrian/Italian border). Before arriving at the Italian Coast near Genoa you have to transit some mountains, most through tunnels (20+) and across very tall bridges spanning ravines. By this time it was dark and then the real fun began. Temps rose by 10oC from one side of a tunnel to the other then a further 5-10 degrees once the other side of the mountains following the coast road toward France. Everything on my bike which had been cold soaked for 8-9 hours steamed up, mirrors, TFT, visor, windscreen etc and so did the weather, producing a dense fog. Exiting one tunnel the temp climbed to 21oC before settling down in the mid teens, heavy rain then started for a few Kms clearing the fog and washing the condensation of my bike, I've never welcomes rain so much, then hey presto clear skies arriving at my first nights hotel in a little coastal Italian town called Andora.
As you may imagine such a ride is not doable, well at least not for me at 66 years young without specific kit. The mainstay was a 'Warm and Safe' heated shirt and a pair of glove liners from the USA, plugged directly into the bike via an SAE plug to the heated gear battery controlled by a remote bluetooth twin channel controller velcroed on top of my Nav6 for easy access. One channel for the shirt, one for the gloves allowing independent temp control. A pair of Alpaca socks, Daytona Boots, thermal base layers all round and a Klim Hardanger Suit. All of which in combination performed flawlessly save the glove liners which semi burnt between my fingers unbeknown to me until I took the ensemble off at the hotel. No damage done though. The tenderness and redness had disappeared by morning. Other essential kit, again for me, is an RDL riders seat, which is utterly superb, worth every cent, allowing 1,000 mile days without so much as a pinch. A Puig Touring Screen with factory aerofoil, lower pegs 300mm, a full set of Bumot aluminum luggage with a Wunderlich Top Case Elephant bag on the top box and a BMW rack bag (which also acts as a back rest secured to a CyMarc luggage rack replacing the pillion seat.
Today is a day off whilst a rain front goes through then tomorrow the Cote d'Azur and a hotel in the Camargue for some fresh seafood. The weather forecast is for weeks of sun and temps rising to 15-20oC in the south of Spain. Happy days and worth the dash through the cold etc. Happy New Year........
Fed up with being caged in my Vienna apartment I decided the South of Spain, its sun and warm weather was worth a little pain for some R&R. Yesterday I left Vienna Austria at 6am. It was a mild 9oC and dry. Getting to Spain means crossing the Alps or taking a very long detour through Germany and France. The Alps was the pain of choice. Temps kept descending to -2oC, snow kept building up to a metre or so on the road side though the roads were dry and clean. Welcome to Austria, snowy roads are swept multiple times a day and well gravel/salted. Once on the south side of the Alps and at lower altitudes in Italy temps started to warm on virtually empty Autostradas (zero Covid control or any control whatsoever at the Austrian/Italian border). Before arriving at the Italian Coast near Genoa you have to transit some mountains, most through tunnels (20+) and across very tall bridges spanning ravines. By this time it was dark and then the real fun began. Temps rose by 10oC from one side of a tunnel to the other then a further 5-10 degrees once the other side of the mountains following the coast road toward France. Everything on my bike which had been cold soaked for 8-9 hours steamed up, mirrors, TFT, visor, windscreen etc and so did the weather, producing a dense fog. Exiting one tunnel the temp climbed to 21oC before settling down in the mid teens, heavy rain then started for a few Kms clearing the fog and washing the condensation of my bike, I've never welcomes rain so much, then hey presto clear skies arriving at my first nights hotel in a little coastal Italian town called Andora.
As you may imagine such a ride is not doable, well at least not for me at 66 years young without specific kit. The mainstay was a 'Warm and Safe' heated shirt and a pair of glove liners from the USA, plugged directly into the bike via an SAE plug to the heated gear battery controlled by a remote bluetooth twin channel controller velcroed on top of my Nav6 for easy access. One channel for the shirt, one for the gloves allowing independent temp control. A pair of Alpaca socks, Daytona Boots, thermal base layers all round and a Klim Hardanger Suit. All of which in combination performed flawlessly save the glove liners which semi burnt between my fingers unbeknown to me until I took the ensemble off at the hotel. No damage done though. The tenderness and redness had disappeared by morning. Other essential kit, again for me, is an RDL riders seat, which is utterly superb, worth every cent, allowing 1,000 mile days without so much as a pinch. A Puig Touring Screen with factory aerofoil, lower pegs 300mm, a full set of Bumot aluminum luggage with a Wunderlich Top Case Elephant bag on the top box and a BMW rack bag (which also acts as a back rest secured to a CyMarc luggage rack replacing the pillion seat.
Today is a day off whilst a rain front goes through then tomorrow the Cote d'Azur and a hotel in the Camargue for some fresh seafood. The weather forecast is for weeks of sun and temps rising to 15-20oC in the south of Spain. Happy days and worth the dash through the cold etc. Happy New Year........
i'm at home.
