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Perspective of a motorcyclist – A travel diary

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Category: The Everyday Italian

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The Everyday Italian: 38000km Tyre Change

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The Everyday Italian: 1199 hits 30000kms

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Day 49, 17/07/2018. A heavy heart in Cologne, as I spend the last night in Europe. So much done in these 7 weeks, travelling from Germany to Greece, then to western Russia and the Arctic Circle region of Scandinavia. But just like my first Panigale trip around Australia in 2015, I feel that this trip is half-done. I still haven't fulfilled routes that I'd love to do in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the rest of the UK/Ireland region. Similarly as what happened in 2016 when I completed the rest of Australia on the Ducati, I think it's fair to say that I'll be back on this continent some time in the future. Going to miss Europe so much! 🇪🇺🇩🇪🇨🇿🇭🇺🇷🇴🇧🇬🇬🇷🇦🇱🇲🇪🇧🇦🇭🇷🇸🇮🇦🇹🇨🇭🇮🇹🇵🇱🇱🇹🇱🇻🇪🇪🇷🇺🇫🇮🇸🇪🇳🇴🇩🇰🇳🇱🇧🇪🇫🇷🇬🇧 #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #motorcycle #motorrad #roadtrip #camping #travel #adventure #scenery #nature #landscape #europe #cologne #german #germany
Day 48, 16/07/2018. Fine weather here with a high of 28°C and low of 15°C in Gummersbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. Enjoying the village niceties of suburban Germany, spending time with friends by the lake and just enjoying the best Summer that central Europe can offer to a lazy person like me who ain't keen to walk to explore. Regretful that I failed to bring my Omni Cruise for the long tour around Europe because my right wrist muscles ain't liking the rides I am doing around town, so I'll be looking forward to my 4-day break back in Australia before I return to work. Just checked the weather forecast in Sydney for this weekend. Just a chill 1°C on Saturday. If I were blind, I would think that I was back in Norway. Can I please stay in Germany for another month?! 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪 #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #touring #motorcycle #motorrad #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #forest #lake #night #camping #campfire #bbq #gummersbach #cologne #aggertalsperre #deutschland #germany #europe
Day 47, 15/07/2018. In the wee hours of Sunday morning, I arrived at Cologne, Germanised as Köln (pronounced "Coeln" as one syllable), thereby ending my Europe trip as a homeless motorcyclist. A well deserved day of relaxation with mates at Gummersbach, a small German town to the east of Cologne that I call my home in Europe. Spent the arvo hiking up a local mine, mindful to avoid stepping on the dynamite wires that lined the perimeter of the plot of secluded land, to look for a place with @konrad.dng to record @tommyleedepp Tommy Lee Depp's next bass cover. Great to be back, with all limbs and fairings intact! 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪 #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #touring #motorcycle #roadtrip #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #woods #forest #landscape #sunset #bass #guitar #cologne #köln #deutschland #gummersbach #europe #home
Day 46, 14/07/2018. Crossed over the English Channel overnight back to France after staying less than 36 hours in the UK. Slept on the floor of a carpark at some random French highway stop so that I could spend as little time dithering about with accommodation decisions. By morning, I made it to Paris. It wasn't the best idea to visit the French capital this weekend, at least for riding around the city. Due to Bastille Day, many of the ideal places that I wanted to ride on were inaccessible due to road blocks, which exacerbated the notorious Parisian traffic situation further than it already was on a normal day. It's okay, though. I got an oh-so-cliche selfie of me and that steel lattice tower to start and end my very brief stint in France. I am sufficiently content with this all. The last thing I wanted at this point was for more time on the road. It is all finished; home is now calling. #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #caferacer #motorcycle #motorrad #touring #roadtrip #camping #adventure #bikelife #biker #travel #scenery #nature #city #landscape #bastilleday #paris #france #europe
Day 45, 13/07/2018. The beauty of Brighton. Escaped the clogged roads of London, opting to go to the southern coast of the UK, where Londoners themselves love to go in the weekends for a brief sea change away from their comparatively frenetic city. Brighton had long been a town that I've had in mind, as it was featured heavily in the Kitchen Nightmares TV series that I used to watch frequently. So happy to have visited this splendid British town because I thought that I would never be able to visit the UK, let alone the rest of the European destinations that I've covered throughout this trip due to previous personal circumstances. This had all taken some huge sacrifices for me to attain this opportunity, but I am so grateful for these experiences 🇬🇧 #bmw #rninet #racer #caferacer #rninetracer #motorcycle #motorrad #touring #roadtrip #camping #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #city #beach #brighton #brightonbeach #brightonpalacepier #london #uk #england #europe
Day 44, 12/07/2018. Reached Calais in France to board the Eurotunnel le shuttle service, arriving at Folkestone for my overnight stay in the UK 🇬🇧... Watched on as political opponents in London raised up a large balloon that symbolised a leading figure of an allied nation. Time to escape this juvenile lunacy. Extreme political polarisation brings the worst out of people. #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #caferacer #touring #roadtrip #motorcycle #motorrad #adventure #biker #bikelife #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #city #politics #brexit #protest #trump #trumpballoon #trumpbaby #london #uk #unitedkingdom #europe
Day 43, 11/07/2018. Amsterdam, the city of many canals, windows and coffee shops. This place was almost given a miss, until I randomly met a rider at a servo on the outskirts of the city who offered me to show me Rijksmuseum, one of the most well known museums. Ended up being encouraged to stay overnight on his couch, and given an awesome ride-along tour in the main parts of the city centre, and found that Amsterdam is quite a liberal part of the world; a place where things that may be taboo elsewhere are completely alright in this haven of hedonism 🇳🇱 #bmw #rninet #racer #caferacer #rninetracer #motorcycle #motorrad #touring #camping #roadtrip #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #city #landscape #canal #redlightdistrict #coffeeshop #amsterdam #netherlands #holland #europe
Day 42, 10/07/2018. Back in Deutschland, bleary eyed and tired as hell as I sit around in this industrial metropolis officially known as the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. I am literally pulling on my face and groaning in agony as I keep myself alive and conscious. With still some destinations to cover for the remaining few days as a homeless motorcyclist, I must press on with it. If I don't complete these few routes that are outstanding on my mileage balance, I will feel that this fast-tracked Europe tour is incomplete and therefore a failure. That's something that I need to avoid so that the critical urgency to plan another round in Europe will not spring up any time soon. You see, child, grown-ups have a thing called money. In my case, not so much of it. Moving on to the shores of Western Europe. See you soon, Germany, I'll be back before not too long! 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪 #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #caferacer #touring #roadtrip #camping #motorcycle #motorrad #biker #bikelife #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #city #night #hamburg #deutschland #germany #europe
Day 41, 09/07/2018. My last stint on the Nordics as I reach Copenhagen, home of Princess Mary, the Aussie commoner turned Danish royal 🇩🇰... I couldn't help but notice the Copenhagen Opera House with its elongated peak-like eaves and rounded frontal glass exterior, partially resembling the top half of a dual sport motorcycle helmet. From here, the race is on for me to reach Calais in France on time. I have a little plan in mind that I really wish to fulfil! #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #caferacer #motorcycle #motorrad #touring #camping #roadtrip #biker #bikelife #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #city #copenhagenoperahouse #amalienborg #copenhagen #denmark #europe
Day 40, 08/07/2018. Slowly returning back to normalcy as I head further down south and approach the end of my speed date with Europe, but not to shun any further opportunities for beautiful places as I arrive at Scandinavia's answer to Venice. Stockholm is a lovely city; just like Duloc, very clean. It certainly is when waterways and green spaces dominate the Nordic metropolis, and leading solar technology that allows its electricity grid to obtain power from it even during its gloomy winters. With a high of 25°C during the day and a low of 13°C at night during summer, it's also perfectly mild for an easy stroll around the city without feeling too hot or cold. In fact, what I notice is that these people in the north have a tendency to go shirtless around town when temperatures hit the 20-somethings. I guess when winter is dastardly dark and depressing, you'd want to make the most of every summery ray of warmth ☀️🇸🇪 #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #caferacer #touring #roadtrip #camping #motorcycle #motorrad #adventure #bikelife #biker #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #city #river #bridge #summer #scandinavia #stockholm #sverige #sweden #europe
Day 39, 07/07/2018. After the Trollstigen of yesterday, the route turned south to Geiranger, where the perfect example of a Norwegian fjord can be seen. Simply put, Norway is just inconceivably stunning. A breathtaking landscape that beggars belief as the scenery changes dramatically within sections of one region, you'd be hard pressed to continue riding without stopping for a better glance at the impossibly gorgeous views. Try it for yourself, and know that a ride of just 100km in a day would be a massive one in this part of Norway. I wish I had camped here for another night, but I now only have a week left until I must return to Germany. These monumentally palatial creations of Mother Nature will be sorely missed, and I can only hope that there will be another opportunity in the future to explore Norway in depth, because it simply is that astonishingly awe-inspiring 🇳🇴 #bmw #rninet #racer #caferacer #rninetracer #touring #camping #motorcycle #motorrad #roadtrip #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #mountains #fjord #geiranger #geirangerfjord #nordic #scandinavia #lake #river #norge #norway #europe
Day 38, 06/07/2018. The Troll's Path. That, right there, is the Trollstigen, one of Norway's many national tourist routes. Inevitably, this designation renders it to be an oasis of caravans, buses and a whole lot of four-wheeled objects, if that's your thing anyway. It's always busy during peak tourist season, with approximately 2500 vehicles travelling daily across the mountain pass that rises to an elevation of 850 metres. That's as much as the traffic volume of Galston Gorge going one way, but at least the Norwegians are mindful enough to not drive their semi through it, so it's just a slow climb up and down from the peak without any major jams. Gotta love the massive land/population ratio of Norway, though. Just like its neighbouring nordics, there's plenty of space and opportunity to camp out with a view of the mountain ranges without having to rub shoulders with anybody... or see anybody at all 🇳🇴 #bmw #rninet #racer #caferacer #rninetracer #touring #motorcycle #bikelife #motorrad #camping #roadtrip #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #mountain #trollstigen #norway #norge #europe
Day 37, 05/07/2018. Finally got to visit the Storseisundet Bridge along the Atlantic Ocean Road, known locally as the Atlanterhavsveien. A route made famous by the interweb for being dangerously windy, it is built over a row of small islands that forms a break between the Atlantic Ocean and the Kvernesfjorden. The weather between all those Norwegian fjords vary drastically, so my day was a mix of the best and the worst that the Nordic east coast can offer. What a relief it was when I reached Ålesund in the evening with its absolutely stunning scenery of clear skies, made phenomenal a step further with the best vantage point of the whole region where I decided to camp out, overcoming the separation anxiety that I had for the BMW just for the night. It was worth it 🇳🇴 #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #caferacer #touring #camping #motorcycle #motorrad #roadtrip #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #storseisundetbridge #atlanterhavsveien #ålesund #norge #norway #europe
Day 36, 04/07/2018. Woke up in a Swedish forest, travelled from the east to the west coast of Scandinavia, crossing borders to Norway once again, making it to Trondheim by evening 🇳🇴.. Those never-ending nordic sunsets of summer will never get old, but it's very much destroyed my body clock. I keep getting up too late in the morning as my normal sleep time recently have devolved to 3am, basically when the sun begins to rise again. I'll need to overhaul my schedule as I continue to ride back down to the south, where nights are actually dark like the rest of the world 🌃 #bmw #rninet #racer #caferacer #rninetracer #touring #motorcycle #motorrad #camping #roadtrip #bikelife #biker #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #sunset #nordic #scandinavia #trondheim #norge #norway #europe
Day 35, 03/07/2018. I initially regretted missing out on the whole north-west of Norway, opting for the flat landscape of the Scandinavian east coast. The land of Mother Svea deserves some attention too, I thought. All wasn't totally wasted, though. Sweden is a country with a proportionally small urban population, so rural living is a major part of its culture. The term, Allemansrätten, refers to everybody's right in Sweden enshrined by law to roam freely across the land that is not specifically private property, which makes the country a haven for wild campers. Wherever you go, a forest suitable for camping is not too far away. With its mild temperatures and a sunset horizon that never quite goes away over the night during summer, I think it's just beautiful; beauty in simplicity of landscape and mindset 🇸🇪... Now, to head to the west. The fjords are calling 🇳🇴 #bmw #rninet #racer #caferacer #rninetracer #touring #roadtrip #camping #motorcycle #motorrad #adventure #bikelife #biker #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #midnight #country #forest #örnsköldsvik #sverige #sweden #europe
Day 34, 02/07/2018. Making my way back south out of the Arctic Circle and on to Swedish soil 🇸🇪.. I never expected to do much riding on unsealed surfaces but, with harsh winters that make repairs and maintenance a tough job, I guess there is not a better time than now to demolish large sections of roads for redevelopment. Arrived in Luleå by evening to check out the heritage listed Gammelstad church town, very much as Scandinavian as a town can be with its traditional wooden houses, built in the 15th century by the Swedes out of spite against the Russian border dispute. #bmw #rninet #racer #caferacer #rninetracer #touring #motorcycle #motorrad #bikelife #camping #roadtrip #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #arctic #scandinavia #gammelstad #sweden #lulea #luleå #europe
Day 33, 01/07/2018. From the top of Norway, the only way is back is down towards the south. The weather improved greatly from the previous day between Alta and Honningsvåg so I could afford to go a little slower than yesterday to embrace the surroundings that I had passed by without a second glance. The skies cleared up for the sun to grace the Nordic landscape at midnight. It was 1am when I set up my camp, furnished with a small woodfire for a homely atmosphere. Counting the many mozzies that flew around outside of my tent to get myself to fall asleep in broad daylight, I suppose there are countless other ways that life can be made more difficult. There's still more to see as I return back to Germany. Crossing my fingers for more fine days like these. #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #caferacer #touring #motorcycle #motorrad #adventure #camping #camp #roadtrip #campfire #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #midnight #midnightsun #nordic #forest #honningsvåg #alta #norge #norway #europe
Day 32, 30/06/2018. Midnight at Nordkapp, Norway. I've now run out of road, reaching the northernmost region of this part of Europe. There must have been something in the reindeer steak that I had earlier in the day at Finland, because I didn't want to end the day without reaching the North Cape, a dramatic cliff standing 307 metres above sea level that juts into the ferocious waters of the Barents Sea. The unrelenting arctic winds ensure that it's not supposed to be a pleasant place to hang around, sending high speed misty particles into your eyes like millions of sharp pins, whereas closing your helmet visor renders it a futile remedy as the fog clouds up your vision. But, for the moment, it was the greatest feeling ever to believe that I was on top of the world of what seemed like a parallel universe; a moment that will always be remembered 🇳🇴 #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #caferacer #touring #camping #roadtrip #motorcycle #motorrad #adventure #scenery #travel #nature #landscape #cliff #mountain #rain #nordkapp #northcape #skarsvåg #norway #europe
Day 31, 29/06/2018. Midnight in Finland. Chasing that undying sunset, across the land whose light never fades during the pinnacle of summer. With the perpetual sunlight that shines in northern Finland, my circadian clock is now well and truly messed up. With a bad habit of riding til dusk and setting up camp in the dark, I am emboldened by the arctic horizon to keep on riding, to the point where my spine cannot take any further saddle time. With 24-hour self serve fuel availability, sparse population density, minimal traffic and a seemingly eternal road that rebukes the conventional notion of night, I think I may have found a piece of riding heaven. Too tired to continue? Hit up one of the back roads and pitch your tent to rest up for another epic ride. If you don't mind the overnight chill, northern Finland holds the key to one of the most beautifully rustic motorcycling experiences that Europe can offer 🇫🇮 #bmw #rninet #racer #caferacer #rninetracer #touring #camping #roadtrip #adventure #bikelife #biker #travel #scenery #nature #forest #lake #river #nordic #country #landscape #oulu #kaaresuvanto #finland #europe
Day 30, 28/06/2018. Spent the day going up the north of Finland, riding through a popular motorcycling route that runs along the banks of Lake Päijänne, the second largest lake in the country at 119km in length, located between Helsinki and Jyväskylä. Such is the prominence of inland lakes across the whole of Finland that you'll be hard pressed to not see a body of water beside a country road. It does get frequently rainy here in Finland, however, as I found later in the evening as I rode up towards Oulu, the northern Finnish coastal city. Those lush greenery and millions of lakes aren't formed out of nothing. When it rains, it pours in Suomi! #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #caferacer #german #motorcycle #motorrad #touring #camping #adventure #roadtrip #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #lake #forest #jyvaskyla #jyväskylä #päijänne #paijanne #helsinki #finland #europe
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