Last days of PV TouRinki (21 & 22)

Posted by gozamite on 22.9.2016
Posted in: adventure, BMW, Ducati, Moottoripyöräily, motocaching, motorcycling. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Day 21
We rode from the northern parts of Poland through Lithuania to Latvia, like this. It was the longest ride in this trip but it didn’t feel like it at all. First of all it was a great weather!
We made a short visit to the hill of crosses and that made a nice break in the boring ride in those endless straights in Lithuania (and the road A12).
And in the beginning of the day we had some nice small roads of Poland and Lithuania!
559
560
We also stopped for awhile in the tripoint of Poland, Russia (Kaliningrad) and Lithuania. Here’s a short video:

And then about 150km’s later it was time for the “Hill of Crosses” (which I think is a junkyard!)
Here is the link to all the pictures I took in this strange place in the middle of Lithuanian countryside.
Here’s one excample:
924
In Latvia we stopped in Riga dam, it’s a huge reservoir & dam with powerplant and there’s a road going on the top of the dam. The views over the reservoir are quite nice!
568
66
569
We had a room from the nice Hotel Sigulda (my fourth time here!)

Day 22
This was 300km’s from Sigulda to Tallinn (and ofcourse the ferry Tallinn – Helsinki and the final ride from Helsinki harbour to home!)
5698_o
First break was ofcourse in the border between Latvia-Estonia and the legendary Hesburger!
3924_o

After this break it started raining! And we waited about 1 hour for it to stop (in Pärnu). Soon after Pärnu the road was dry again and we had time to visit the sandpit-lake near Saku. And I made some SocialMedia updates there (again!)
0154_o
The final trouble we got in the harbour while waiting the ferry. We noticed that Ducati’s rear tyre is almost empty! But luckily there were many american cars trying to get to the ferry and some of them had the tyreweld-stuff. So Maria could ride her red Monster in to the ferry and then From Helsinki harbour to home!
Thank you for ALL the readers who have been following this trip!! There will be more!

PV TouRinki Day 20

Posted by gozamite on 19.9.2016
Posted in: adventure, BMW, BMW motorrad, Ducati, Make life a ride!, motocaching, Motorcycle Tour, motorcycling. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

After rainy Day 19 this was easy! And it was about this:
7716_oPolish countryside road is like this.
We had 520 km’s to ride and the route was like this. It was raining every now and then but it didn’t bother much because they were only short showers. This day we had mostly only the “bigger roads” and even some new highway (with roadtull).
327_o
It was abaout 1,7€ to ride 30km’s in that highway. Luckily we also had some quite nice road from Olsztynek to Szczytno. It’s road number 58 and it’s a very good choice after many boring roads in Poland!

Here’s a short clip from that road.
We arrived in our accommodation quite early so we had plenty of time to take a walk in a beautiful city of Mrągowo and we had a dinner in Mercure Mrągowo Resort&Spa.

Parlez-Vous TouRinki Day 18 (&19)

Posted by gozamite on 13.9.2016
Posted in: adventure, BMW, Ducati, helmetcamera, motocaching, motorcycling. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Day 18 was a little bit different than other days. We actually had a place to visit and it was going to take at least 1,5 hours. Here’s the route for day 18.
493
This was a break in a small city of Großköllnbach.
I took only 5 photos before we arrived to Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald where we took a walk in a special path or a Sky-Walk in 8-25 meters above the ground among the treetops.
So we rode 300 km’s and we walked 1300 meters.
Here’s entering the Sky-Walk:

I have a fear of heights. In my case it means that I’m not afraid but my body reacts strongly when I’m high! My stomach goes upside down, I’ll start to feel dizzy, my legs feels weak and I might even fall down when loosing all the strength from the legs. I’ve also fainted 2 times when I was young.
So this Sky-Walk wasn’t easy for me (in the beginning!) I felt pretty unsure and unbalanced but slowly it became easier.
503
508
509
At the end of the Sky-Walk there is a wooden tower with a spiral-path to the top. It is 44m high and ofcourse the view from the top is simply amazing!! (Even we had quite cloudy weather)
515
519
524530
I’m not sure if we spent 1,5 or 2 hours in the path but it was quite special experience! I really would recommend it to visit in some of quite many Sky-Walks in Europe (In Finland we have non!)
Couple hours later we arrived in our place to stay in Czech Republic and during the last hour it had started raining…

Day 19

In the night it didn’t stop raining and we had a hard day ahead of us! It was raining all day! The rain was hard and heavy! Maria’s new waterproof riding shoes gave up after 30 minutes (the water came inside the boots!) My boots were a little bit better (It took about 5 hours when the water started to get in).
(Here is some news about the rain in Poland that day!)
We had 475 kilometers route including riding through Prague (That was actually one of the very few “Not so bad part of the day!”) After Prague there was a bad traffic jam in the highway and Maria and I got lost from eachother!
I tried to wait for her in some gas station every now and then but i just didn’t wait long enough! When she took a break it took a really long time for her to find the mood to continue riding! When we finally found eachother she had to have at least 30 minutes break… or maybe even 1 hour! But she is a fighter! She knew we had to continue so she did… And somewhere after we crossed the border to Poland she said “Let’s ride all the way to the end!!!”
It was almost dark and about 8.30 PM when we arrived to our destination, the small city of Bojanovo and very nice Villa Aurora. She had a big portion of Polish duck as a dinner and in the bed the blanket was thick!
6e52b
So in the morning everything was ok again (even the shoes were still wet!)
This was the worst day ever of riding for me too!
Here’s our house in Villa Aurora where we slept after this hard day… in the morning it was easy to load all the stuff in to the bike. They were right in front of the door!
074_o

PV TouRinki Day 17

Posted by gozamite on 12.9.2016
Posted in: adventure, Ducati, helmetcamera, motocaching, Motorcycle Tour, motorcycling, S1000XR. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

This day was riding from Lörrach to Aystetten like this. The weather forecast didn’t promise too much (but the rain) but actually it was like the first half of the day there was no rain and then the rest… yes it was raining. And now it was only me and Maria.
Pretty soon after we started from Lörrach we found the Wehra valley and the road L148. What an amazing road it was!! It’s like from a fairytale…
clipboard01
clipboard02

Some might say that the corners are not too tight here… But I don’t think you can ride like a crazy! Some of them are pretty tight and with no visibility at all!
On the north side of Bannwald Wehratal the landscape was still very nice all around and the road was interesting and not boring at all!

This area has a lot of nature and forestpaths to visit and see very beautiful areas of Germany!
As we continued to east we didn’t know what to expect. So what we found next was a total surprise for both of us!
478
It was just a small city (called Zwiefalten) among many others and I stopped there to have a break. Then we noticed a very big building on the other side of the square and we started to walk closer. Then we thought “Let’s go inside…” -And there was the surprise!
I’ve never ever seen anything like this before!
480
It was an old abbey and this was the church hall. It had German Baroque style interior that looked very expensive with gold (looked like gold!?) all around! I was totally speechless.
485
There was 4 side-altars on the both sides of the church-hall. Then there was the “second altar” (here in the picture) and behind the fence and 2 gates was the first altar. I was thinking to myself “After seeing this I can’t imagine what St. Peter’s Basilica looks like from the inside!! This abbey in the middle of south Germany was already something beyond my imagination!”
When we came out from this amazing abbey/ church it was raining. Finally after 3 hours of riding in the rain we arrived in the small city of Aystetten and we had a room in a small (and outmoded) Hotel that I cannot recommend (Hotel Sohnel).

PV TouRinki Day 16

Posted by gozamite on 10.9.2016
Posted in: adventure, BMW motorrad, Ducati, Honda, Moottoripyöräily, motorcycling, Mountain Road, S1000XR. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

This day we were riding in the Jura mountains in Switzerland and few km’s in France and few in Germany. The 266 km’s route was like this.
First it looked like the weather would be as hot as it had been many days before, but actually pretty soon it was cloudy and +25 celsius felt quite nice!

The views were still very impressive in Jura mountains! It would be nice to spend more time riding here too.
446
449
After couple hours of riding there was a raincloud following us.
453
And soon it was raining.
456
The most beautiful part of this days route it was raining so I didn’t take too many pictures. But that ride very near to Ch-Fr border (Cote-du-Doubs in the north side of La Chaux-de-Fonds) is a very nice road!
After 3 hours of rain it finally stopped and we switched to France to avoid the traffic in Basel. And after a short visit in France we switched to Germany and that was the last time in France in this trip for us!
We had an apartment in Lörrach to stay the night. So we made the dinner and breakfast ourselves! That was nice for a change…
463
Next morning Timo would go on his own way (straight to north and taking the ferry from Travemünde to Helsinki) and me and Maria would go on riding slowly home.

PV TouRinki Day 15 -Leaving the Alps!

Posted by gozamite on 3.9.2016
Posted in: adventure, BMW, BMW motorrad, Ducati, helmetcamera, Honda, Moottoripyöräily, motorcycling, S1000XR. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

In the morning we didn’t think about it. But later in the afternoon it was obvious -The Alps are now gone! Here’s the route for the day 15.
At first it was the big road (but not boring!) to north and Briancon-town and still after that the big road continues until Col du Galibier. We did ride this just few days earlier (Day 10) and I think it was a good idea to come here again! It is a great mountain Pass!

8284_o
4444_o
On the nort side of Valloire we took the highway A43 to the small city of La Chambre and from there the last mountain Pass in the Alps -Col de la Madeleine
2131_o
We had a break in the top of Madeleine, Me and Timo ate some soup!
6068_o
Riding up:

Riding down:

This was also a very hot day… So after mountain passes we had to ride through Albertville and on the north side of the Olympic City there was a valley and quite a lot of traffic when closing the city of Annecy… luckily the Lake Annecy was soon just beside the road and we took a swim in the beautiful clear turqoise water -nice refreshment in the middle of the day!
1982_o
Then after city of Annecy I finally realized the the Alps are now behind!! We had some very nice mountain roads… but the views were quite boring comparing to the Alps. It was in the north side of Lake Geneva and it was the Jura mountains!

This road was very nice… It was mostly in the shadows of the trees and it didn’t feel too hot! Finally we arrived to our destination: The city of Les Rousses, and we ate dinner in very famous burger-restaurant, Chalet Regain!
8987_o

PV TouRinki Day 14

Posted by gozamite on 23.8.2016
Posted in: adventure, BMW, Ducati, helmetcamera, Honda, Moottoripyöräily, motocaching, motorcycling, Mountain Road, S1000XR. Tagged: , , , , , . 1 Comment

Days 12 & 13 we did some riding between Menton – Monaco – Nizza. The Ducati got new chains and sprockets in Nizza and when we got the bike from Ducati Alpes Maritimes service it was only 10km’s when the rear brake caliper was loose!! They didn’t tighten the bolts at all! But ok, we could ride the Monster back to the Hotel and next day we started riding back north!
Day 14 started with very narrow mountain road from Menton towards the small village Peille. It is a beautiful old mountain village in the steep mountain wall!
2375
Then after few more nice mountain roads it was all about Col de la Bonette and Cime de la Bonette! Cime de la Bonette is the highest possible paved road (without dead end) in Europe! At first the road north from Saint-Sauveur-sur-Tinée is very nice and fast ride! It has mellow bends and fast corners until Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée. This video starts about 2 km’s before this village!

Few km’s more and the road is more narrow and the corners get tighter. In 11:10 is the first hairpin… And then starts the real climbing!! I deside to stop for awhile in the place called Camp des fourches
2381
Here is few old and abandoned houses (I think they’re related to Napoleon?) But then the climbing continues…

This video goes all the way to the top of Europe (2802 meters!)
And then some photos!
2383
2385
2386
2387
Timo & Maria, my fellowriders in this tour! (Timo with Honda and Maria with Ducati)
2389
2390
After spending some nice time in heights starts the ride down from Bonette. It is still an endless amount of hairpins and spectacular views. But there’s an interesting old abandoned fortress-looking building quite near… So I stop there.

We went in to see what was it all about?
2395
2396
There was some “drawings” in the mountain-wall too, made of stones!
2393
“My God, it’s full of stars!”
Then we also climbed Col de Vars but at the moment I feel like I don’t remember it at all! It must be because Bonette was so beautiful, magnificent and spectacular so I remember it much better!
But here’s a video from Col de vars:

Right after Vars, we entered the village Eygliers where we had our next accomodation. The only problem was how to find it?? I try to call them but they didn’t speak any English. It was very hot day, Maria and Timo were a littele bit frustrated and they rode to the village to ask if somebody knew where it was. And I found a lady who did speak good English and I asked her… And she told me that the place right in front of me!!
After the shower and changing the clothes Me and Maria desided to take a look of the fortress nearby. We didn’t know anything about it when we went there…
2413
2415
There was walls everywhere! It was almost like a labyrinth. It was also a very nice view to the other side of the valley!
2408
2410
The fortress is Mont-Dauphin, a small village with walls protecting it. It was built in late 17th century by the request of King Ludvig XIV. The fortress is 58 hectares and there’s about 150 people living in the village.
2417
This is the gate to the village from the outside.
2419
And from the inside.
Finally after spending some time in Mont-Dauphin it was 7pm! And usually you can’t get any food before 7pm!!! I think that’s totally crazy! We are hungry after riding all day!!
This was the route for the day 14!

PV TouRinki Day 11

Posted by gozamite on 16.8.2016
Posted in: actioncamera, adventure, adventure bike, BMW, Ducati, helmetcamera, Honda, Make life a ride!, motocaching, motorcycling, Mountain Road, S1000XR, Serpentine. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

From Barcelonnette to south we chose D 908 instead of Col de la Cayolle (this would be actual part of the Route des Grandes Alpes). I think it is more interesting to ride Col d’Allos & Col des Champs (like we did)!
But before it starts to climb to the mountain Pass you need ride a long time endlessly twisting road following the valley. The river below you goes further and further while you’re climbing higher and higher.
313
316
Finally I had to stop and check if I can see the river anymore??!!

Then starts the actual climb to the Col d’Allos:

In the top of this beautiful mountain pass we saw absolutely stunning views and I took the best picture of the whole trip here!
317
Wanna see this picture in bigger size? Click here!
322
When riding down from Col d’Allos I had a very scary moment (03:55 in the video)!! A car came from the opposite direction just behind the blind corner… and the road is very narrow and there are no rails! I think my heart stopped for a second!!! But luckily I didn’t have too much speed.

Then we rode Col des Champs! This was extremely narrow road in the middle of the forest. It felt like a jogging-path or a mountainbike-path! It had bumps and dikes… But luckily no traffic! Also in the top of Col des Champs was very quiet (and beautiful!)
323
324

The road down from Col des Champs (to east) is wider and easier to ride.
Then we rode to Valberg tourist- ans skiresort and from there we rode to Col de la Couillole.
(video here)
From there we were all waiting the final climb for this day -Col de Turini! But before we found the right mountain pass we took the wrong turn!! (Or actually we didn’t make the turn!) After missing the turn the GPS told us to climb to Ilonse… and we did!
335
It was 13 kilometers ride to the wrong direction!! But luckily it was very nice road and we didn’t feel bad to ride it back…
…So we could finally start the way to Col de Turini. It is simply amazing! There are so many tight corners and hairpins that I think I was feeling a little bit dizzy! And also it felt like it’s climbing a lot! Like at least 2500 meters! But actually the summit of the Turini is “only” 1607 meters high!! But gosh! What an amazing ride!!
340
That red spot is Timo with his Honda VFR!
From the south-end of Turini we still had few nice corners to ride (from Sospel to Menton) -or actually our place to stay was Le Relais de Monti few kilometers noth from the city of Menton. We would spend the next 3 nights here! (Nice place, I recommend it!)
The route for the day 11 was like this!

ParlezVous TouRinki Day 10

Posted by gozamite on 11.8.2016
Posted in: adventure bike, BMW, Ducati, helmetcamera, Honda, Moottoripyöräily, motocaching, motorcycling, S1000XR, Serpentine. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Ride from the magnificent Chalet Sul Lago back to France was much nicer than the day before when we arrived.
283
Mt Cenis
284
In France we started riding the endless amount of hairpin corners and mountain passes! First we had Col du Télégraphe then Col du Galibier, Col d’Izoard and finally Col de Vars.
Here’s video climbing up the Col du Télégraphe from the north:

This climb ends in Valloire village and from the southside of Valloire starts the climb to Col du Galibier which is one of my favorites! It has a short tunnel on the top, but to reach even higher you have to take the alternative route and finally reach the 2645 meters.
287
290
Here’s video from the Col du Galibier

Col d’Izoard is more south and it starts from Cervières village (If you ride from north to south). The view on the summit is a little bit different than in many other mountain pass, the mountain walls are mostly gravel and stones! It is a barren sight!
298
Col d’Izoard is 2360 meters high!
Finally we had Col de Vars (2109m) where we had some ice cream!
308
We had the accommodation in the middle of Barcelonnette city. Here’s the route for the day 10.