London to Lisbon in early April

[neos]

Hi All

I will attempt my first 1300 mile tour in a couple of weeks, leaving London on a Tuesday and hoping to take only two days to reach Lisbon. As the weather may be less than predictable I have all the wet/cold gear ready and will have the bike checked before hand. Hoping someone out there will have some advice for a rockie.

Thanks

Neos

 

[deeptekkie]

Now 'thassa' ride! Take everything you need but nothing you don't need. Good luck! (Get lots of pics)

 

[simonwb]

Neos, what route are you planning? I guess to do that distance in just 2 days you'll have to stick to the motorways? Do you have the time to take the more scenic roads on the way?

Simon

 

[Davey]

Neos, what route are you planning? I guess to do that distance in just 2 days you'll have to stick to the motorways? Do you have the time to take the more scenic roads on the way?

Simon

Yeah motorways are boring - in France they are expensive as well! I recommend getting off them to see some nice things on the way. It makes it soooooo much nicer! It'll take you a lot longer though.

I took a ferry from Plymouth to Roscoff in Brittany, and then rode to Lyon. Only about 7 hours a day off the motorways but still took 2 days.

Things I found helpful:

GPS
Music
Tankbag (I had a full soft luggage set but you can take a tankbag off so easily so use it to store all your expensive things)
Good gear that keeps you comfy and warm makes a huge difference
I had a backpack with a 'Camelback' type water thing so you can drink on the go - makes it easy to keep hydrated and avoid fatigue

Enjoy it!

Davey

 

[neos]

Hi guys

I will be going down the west coast of France to Bordeaux, San Sebastian, Valladolid then crossing into Portugal. I'm also trying to avoid most toll roads so will be using a mix of A roads and free-autoroutes.

Does anyone know if there is an 'adhoc' breakdown assistance the continent? ie. who does one call if he has not purchased breakdown cover and needs to be rescued?

Cheers

Neos

 

[neos]

Hi there

This is the route I'm currently looking at. It will be mainly on free Autoroutes and secondary roads. If anyone has taken a similar route, would love to hear about it. Preliminary I am looking at staying overnight in Tours and Burgos.

london
Dover
Calais
rouen
chartres
tours
poitiers
bordeaux
biarritz
st sebastian
burgos
valladolid
ciudad rodrigo
guarda
lisboa


Thanks

 

[neos]

Just got home a couple of hours ago. Had a splendid time and rode just 11kms shy of 5000kms. It was very tiring but not as bad as I expected, the only 'malaise' I really suffered from was a very painful right wrist, which two paracetamols every 4 hours sorted out. The bike performed as expected and at an average 130km/h it burns around 6-7L per 100kms. If anyone else has experienced different mileage please let me know.

Cheers

Neos

ps. the French have some of the best roads, but why do they always build service stations on top of a hill and about 1 mile from where my tank runs dry? ... coghhh. humh.

 

[Dunno]

Fantastic. Im green with envy mate. What a great ride & I hope you took lotsa pics :thumbup:

 

[Norbert]

pics
pics
PICS!!!!
PICS!!!!

 

[neos]

Just posted a couple...

 

[BusyWeb]

Just posted a couple...

Where the photo would be?
I don't see here ^^;

 

[neos]

Hi guys... silly me, just realized I had uploaded the photos to my profile not to the thread.. here you are!

 

[neos]

In September I will spend one week in Rouen, taking a French language course. Has anyone toured Haute-Normandie and the Rouen area? Any ideas on good spots to visit?