A Life in Waiting

Yup, my baby was still there!  After walking for what seemed like hours while on the downswing of a caffeine high, I finally found the place where I parked my bike.  Rounded the corner and breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the glint of my silver cover!  Not only was it still there, but nobody had messed with it.  I was so happy I did a happy dance!

Now as I was quite rushed at the time of departure in February, I didn’t leave the bike in the best of conditions.  It was quite filthy, a mixture of six weeks of airport traffic, but also from a previous ride from La Alberca in the rain to Madrid.  Not only that, but I left it with an empty tank.  But minor issues compared to the fact that IT WAS STILL THERE!!

So I spend a good half an hour getting re-acquainted with my bike and putting everything back into place.  She started right up on the first attempt, but blew out a bit of smoke at first in a fit of distaste for me leaving her there for so long.  Either that or just the result of sitting for six weeks without being started. 

I head out of the airport with my focus to find a gas station but that objective quickly changes as the sky starts to open up and dump a gallon a minute of rain on me.  I estimate that I have plenty of gas and just bee-line it to the hostel.  After about a half an hour ride in the rain, I finally arrive at Plaza de Santa Ana and park my bike in a familiar spot.  Remove my gear and head over to the hostel right around the corner.

Rain is the one factor that I hate about riding a bike.  It just makes everything so miserable.  Visibility is lessened, confidences decrease, and it’s just plain miserable riding while wet.  It’s been something that I had planned on avoiding as much as possible, but like the ride from the airport, sometimes it’s unavoidable. 

After I get myself settled, I head out in the evening rain to find a cozy spot to eat.  I stumble upon a cool looking pub that brews it’s own cervesas and serves tapas gratis (free Spanish finger foods typically consisting of a slice of bread with a variety of toppings on top.  Highly recommended!).  After two grande cervesas and a few tapas, I head back to the hostel to finish off the night with only a minor dent in my wallet.  What would’ve cost close to 20€ in Helsinki was only 7€ here. 

As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get myself to write about my past experiences.  Given, my time in Helsinki was rather stressful and busier than one might expect, but I still should’ve had time to write about my five week journey from Munich to Madrid.  But every time I sat down to write, I was overwhelmed by the amount of things that happened and the lack of being able to remember all the details.  And as hard as I tried, I couldn’t find a way to summarize.  It seemed pointless to write sparingly about certain events that I had such detailed memories and experiences. So here we are yet again with another attempt to chronicle my journey through Europe and keep it from being (constantly) referred to as “A Post in Waiting”.  Thanks Ria!

So here’s the skinny of my last motorcycle trip broken down into a cute little timeline.

Jan 28^th-Flew out of Helsinki to Munich where my bike was patiently waiting for me.  Stayed with Klaus who had hosted me last time I was in town.

Jan 30^th - After picking up my bike from the BMW dealership and getting it prepared for the first time, I headed off to Cologne, Germany in near freezing wind and rain.  Also first experience on the Autobahn!

Jan 30^th – Feb 7^th – Partied in Cologne for Carnival, one of Europe’s largest week long parties.  Stayed with about 40 other Couchsurfers, most of whom were on average ten years my minor.  Spent one night in Belgium and a day in Maastricht, Netherlands to see a different style of Carnival.

Feb 7^th – Feb 8^th – One night in Paris.  Didn’t see the Eiffel tower, didn’t go to the Louvre.  But man, did I have a blast driving through the traffic of Paris.  One of the most exciting things I’ve done so far.

Feb 8^th – 12^th – Bordeaux, France.  Man what a beautiful, fun city.  I would live here.  Large city atmosphere, with a small town feel.  Plus some of the most amazing architecture.  Stayed a few nights in a 200+ year old home and then another few days with an 8person family just outside the city.  Drove through miles and miles of vineyards and took a daytrip out to Europe’s largest sand dune, Dune de Pyla.

Feb 12- Daytrip to San Sebastian, Spain.  Such an amazing costal city.  Absolutely amazing.  Wish I spent more time here.

Feb 12^th – Feb 14^th – Bilbao, Spain.  An hour past San Sebastian.  Very cool industrial city turned artistic center.  Did some riding along the coast and a good hike out to an unforgettable point with 270deg of ocean view.

Feb 14^th – Feb 15^th- Madrid, Spain.  Scheduled lunch with the group for Pueblo Inglis, the English language immersion course I taught at for a week.  Had Spanish paella for the first time and got to see a private showing of Spanish Flamenco.  One of the most difficult cities to drive in.

Feb 15^th – Drove out to La Alberca, Spain just outside Salamanca.  Wow.  Some of the most amazing mountain roads I’ve ever ridden.  These roads were designed with motorcycles in mind.  Drove through countless olive groves, and villages with populations of under 100.  Beautiful.  The trip took twice as long as I kept stopping to take pictures that do little justice to the area I was in.

Feb 15^th – Feb 22^nd – Pueblo Inglis in La Alberca.  About the most fun one can have while working for free.  Had a semi-private villa with maid service, 3 excellent meals a day and an endless supply of Spanish wine for the price of… talking.  Excellent program designed to help Spanish business professionals gain more confidence with their already high level of English by forcing them to speak and listen to English 24/7.  Made some great friends, some of whom I will be visiting with very shortly.  The afterhours were spent dancing and singing and just having a great time.

Feb 22^nd – Feb 24^th – La Alberca, Spain.  As I was quite exhausted from the previous week, I spent two nights in the quiet village of La Alberca. 

Feb 24^th – Feb 25^th – Drove back to Madrid and met up with a few Australians that I had befriended in La Alberca.  Went out for some oxtail and drinks.  Following day had difficulty finding a place to store my bike for my upcoming trip to Finland.  Last minute decision to leave it at the airport.  Madrid is still holding strong as the most difficult city to drive in.

Feb 25^th – Flew from Madrid to Helsinki as funds were running low and had some business to attend to.

Feb 25^th – April 8^th Helsinki

Now that wasn’t too hard.

As I am not using a GPS for this trip, I have been using a mixture of Google maps and a European mapping software on my computer for my directions.  So after I find the route I want to travel, I handwrite the directions in large print and place it in my tank bag, which has an enclosed map pocket on top for viewing while riding.  The directions so far have been working quite well, my biggest stumbling block is the lack of street signs in some areas, or the occasion mismarked directional sign.  Following my written instructions, I navigate the bike through the streets of Munich and head out on the Autobahn towards Cologne.

I once thought that the Autobahn was some magical stretch of highway where Germans paid a fee and rode on the only highway in the western world that had no speed limits.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  The Autobahn is all the A roads in Germany, or otherwise known as an Autostrada.  And on each of these roads there are sections where you can go as fast as desired.  Pretty unbelievable. 

So I head out on the A8 towards Cologne, where the speed limit is 120KPH, or 75MPH.  A nice comfortable pace as everyone pretty well follows the set limit on the road.  After a few miles, the speed limit signs that were every 500 meters or so disappear.  At this point, all the cars around just take off.  And I’m not just referring to the sports cars, everything from vans to station wagons to well you get the picture.  But as fast as everyone is driving, there are no cars that are reckless.  All cars keep to the right except to pass and not one car attempts to pass another on the right side.  It’s all very orderly.  But very, very cool!  It’s a crazy feeling getting passed by a car when you’re doing 200KPH.  (Don’t worry mom, it was only for a moment just so I can say I did). 

Once the excitement of the Autobahn wore off, I settled in with the middle paced vehicles who were hanging around 90-95MPH or about 150KPH.  It was a comfortable pace, and one that helped speed up the process of getting to Cologne for the brief times that you could drive that fast.  Whenever the Autobahn neared a town, the limits came back to 120KPH and sometimes ever 80KPH and during all of the construction (there was a lot) it went as low as 60KPH (~40MPH).  So the moments of limitless driving helped keep the overall average speed to where it would’ve been sans construction.

The overall trip from Munich to Cologne is 360miles (580km).  It’s approximately a five hour trek, not including any breaks for food or fuel.  Well about 150kms into the ride, it starts to rain.  Now mind you, it’s about +1C outside (34F).  So I’m already a bit chilled, but the rain just makes it ten times worse.  Now as I originally never planned on riding much in cold weather, I never bought proper winter riding clothes and I figured it was an expense that wasn’t needed.  I still think I’m correct in not buying them, but I wasn’t so convinced during that rain storm.  Fortunately I did at least have my skiing pants which did help in some of the wind protection, but as it turns out, are not completely waterproof. 

The rain does not let up at all during the ride to Cologne.  400+ KMs in the freezing cold rain.  I ended up giving myself 100mile goals to complete before stopping for fuel and a 15minute hot chocolate break.  You would be surprised how many weird looks you get riding a motorcycle through Germany in January, not to mention the rain. 

I was aiming to arrive at the Arche (the gathering place where over 40 different Couchsurfers were to spend the next 6 days partying for Carnival) around 17.00 (5pm) that evening.  But with my late start and the unexpected rain (I did check the weather before leaving, and not one word of rain) I ended up arriving a bit after 19.00.  So as the organizer of the Arche gathering was running late as well, I had no warm place to wait for his arrival.  I wander the streets for a moment, trying to keep moving in the hopes of warming up as I run into another Couchsurfer in waiting.  Carlos from Brazil, the other wandering Couchsurfer, tells me of the pub where we are all to wait for Ulf, the organizer.  We head over and meet up with the other 6 or 7 Couchsurfers awaiting Ulf’s arrival. 

We all introduce ourselves and begin the Carnival celebration right then and there.  It is at this moment I realize that I am heading into one long and crazy week and it couldn’t be with a better group of people.  As it turned out the few of us that arrived early became a quite tight knit group that spent a lot of good times together the next few days.  I was not prepared…