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Thursday 29 May 2008

More roads...

Maybe less dramatic landscapes but certainly not any less fascinating...





Sunday 25 May 2008

Austrian roads

They might not be in the right time order but it might not matter after all. Glorious sites, great rides.






The morning after...

I don’t seem to grasp the concept of thermal comfort the same way sleeping bags manufacturers do... This is my first (early) morning after my, again, first night as a camper in a very long time. That is, after about 30 years, I slept again in a tent. Well, what I can tell you now is that these years weren’t wasted. My stiff body, my aching joints and my general feeling of fatigue tell me I was right all this time after my first experience as a tent camper when I was a teenager. So don’t think I disliked every minute of it because I’m old and less fit... I had the same response to it when I was more elastic and energetic than a mattress coil! (get where the simile draws it’s inspiration from?)

So going back to sleeping bag manufacturers, I wish I could be told what the fuck they really mean by that temp. graph indicating the degree of thermal insulation, that any normal person would read like this: high temperature figure (in the case of my bag, +9 C) next to color RED – would normally mean being steaming hot inside if confronted with outside temperatures above that figure, I mean like pig sweating; the graph continued by lower numbers and colors changing towards the cold side of the spectrum to reach blue (on my bag, -9 C) when one can assume that although well tucked into your sausage like outdoor sleeping gear, you’ll get frostbite. Reasonable reading, isn’t it?

Well, all that decent interpretation of what otherwise seems like a rather intuitive way of presenting CRITICAL information about a product (not to mention that the vendor confirmed this when I bought the damned thing) was blown to hell by last night’s +14 C temperature that saw me, completely cocooned in the treacherous sac, uncomfortably cold to this very moment. That is, not even after tucking my head in as well, risking asphyxia for the sake of a bit of comfort thinking that breath warmth will improve my “thermal comfort”, I did not reach that elusive sensation of wellbeing. I presume that by confessing that instead of going out, enjoying the place, having a nice HOT cup of tea, or anything else a happy camper would do, I am still shut in my tent writing about all this, will give you an idea about how unpleasant the whole overnight experience was.

But let me not be unfair for picking only on equipment when reporting on this, I wish singular, camping experience. Yes, I was cold and uncomfortable on my high-tech slim air-mattress, all wrapped in my mico-fiber sleeping bag, but the “delights” of camping did not end here. Some ignoble jerks kept kicking a ball next to my tent until about 11pm, small and very upset children cried their way to sleep deep into the night, low grunt diesel vehicles (I presume more camping gear, this time on wheels) kept coming and going all night and to top it all, in the very early morning, when I was praying for a bit of sleep, THE BIRDS! All the singing birds of the world came to life in an unbearable chorus of chirps and whirls and twirps...
Lovely creatures, after a good night’s sleep I so much would have enjoyed their singing instead of savagely whishing them all stuffed!

Tuesday 20 May 2008

First days - only just a few pictures

I couldn’t get myself to take a lot of pictures in the first days. Still confused and trying to mentally adjust to the change in... well, almost everything. Nevertheless some views caught my eye.

Despite that local people don't seem to care for it, by who knows what miracle, Romania is a beautiful land.







Get a load of this wide space. Not long after I entered the country I understood why one of Hungary’s flag colors is green. I should have filmed the scene for the sensuous waves answering to the whispers of the afternoon wind where just a continuous flow...



... with a hypnotic effect and I just couldn't stop and just lay in the fragrant and vibrant bath green for a while.

Sunday 18 May 2008

We’re on! Me and my beemer, that is...

So yes, daaa, da, daa, dadaaam! From now on this has all the reasons to turn from the rather stale, new post once in a blue moon blog, into a true lively motorcycle travel journal. We’ll see how well I’ll be doing with it over the following weeks... While on the blog written in Romanian I will try to put into words more personal and general in nature thoughts spurred by this trip, in this one I will have more of a factual approach, consistent with the more pragmatic Anglo-Saxon reader...

I left Bucharest on the 15th of May heading towards what should be an inspiring European tour. But if you read the previous posts you probably know by now the initial “blueprint” of this journey.

As a short introduction, here are some of the bike preps I made before departure:
- BMW GS Vario top-case and side panniers. Too early to comment on strength or reliability but unexpectedly crap key barrels. For what the GS12 stands for and for how much the bike itself and everything for it costs, BMW should show more German interest for quality, because if a part, no matter how small can ruin a trip by braking, deserves as much attention as the frame or the engine. So, for now I hope a bit of light lubricant will do the trick...
- Touratech windshield extension – worth every penny. The x-tra 7-8 cm in height work wonders in reducing wind noise and turbulence, at least for my height and riding position.
- Cylinder heads aluminum protections – good investment at least for the cosmetic damage it prevents from minor mishaps like the one I had by now: dropping the bike on stand still because forgetting to lower the side stand before leaning the bike over on it (silly, I know...)
- Although not a bike accessory, I want to make a LOUD note on how bad a 550Euro (800USD) Schuberth C2 helmet can be. How can one still trust the otherwise sound principle that the price of a (technological) object reflects the manufacturer’s effort and investments in research and development, investments translated in the end quality of the product? How can one explain the air current that blows into a C2 through the seal of the visor hard enough to make you risk safety and ride with one hand over the leaky area in order to avoid serous facial paralysis? I had a few years ago a 100Euro Airoh enduro-type full face helmet that had the same unacceptable flaw... but I had it for about 150USD so I did not suffer to much on separation... But 5 times the price on a Schuberth makes you expect if not 5 times more quality, at least the absence of major flaws. Well, in what the C2 is concerned, these expectations are in vain! And to think that BMW branded helmets are made also by Shuberth is also a tell tale sign that probably Germans are not that concerned with the quality of their products any more... shame.

And now to the epic.

I left in good spirits and touched by the surprise made by the presence of a few friends that I found standing next to my bike when I came out of the house totally unaware that someone would come to see me off. Cheers guys.

After a relaxed 100km from Bucharest to Pitesti when I first probed and nested my butt in the thicker cushion of a Baeher front saddle lent by a friend who decided for a second after-market model (thanks again Stefan), riding the new ring section of the highway around the later city, Romania appeared to me for a brief moment like a semi-decent place. Needles to say, the impression didn’t last long. Piles of filth on the side of the roads, horrific traffic control, oh no, sorry, the total absence of any traffic control whatsoever specially in the areas afflicted by the so called “works” and the ubiquitous moronic drivers, all brought me back to the usual routine of annoyment sprinkled here and there with disgust that I go through when riding in my home country.
But, with a few heavy showers on the way (if you ride a vehicle in Romania on tarmac roads in the rain it will end up looking like you crawled out of a pile of mud, yes, although you never left the asphalt) that tested the grip of the “Anaqees”, I managed to pass Deva and enter the magnificent landscape of Transylvania. The places here are so exquisitely beautiful that one almost forgets the litter on the roadside and the rather precarious state of the road surface. How on earth they manage to blow away this incredible natural potential by simultaneously failing to capitalize on it’s significant touristy potential and systematically destroying it in the meanwhile by suffocating it in filth or savagely chopping it down for lumber, will always stun me. But, by the admirable resilience of nature, the places, as I have said, still remain awesomely beautiful.

After paying way too much for what it was worth for a night’s sleep in a shabby roadside inn, where the woman in charge had the annoyed expression like she was making me a favor by accepting my money, the next day I left as early as I could for the Hungarian border. Not that I didn’t longed for a good refreshing shower, but the water (warm or cold) was barely dripping. That’s how things tend to be when accommodation alternatives are scarce...

After about another hour on a twisty and picturesque piece of road, penalized only by the poor surface quality on some bits, I was through customs and into Hungary in a blink and a few lighthearted jokes with the Hungarian customs officer.

It was already hot and the exercise of pulling documents out of the “safe” crevasse of the luggage made me even hotter and sweaty. And here I will give for the ones that might be tempted to do the same thing a strong piece of advice: DON’T VENTILATE THROUGH YOUR SLEEVES BY NOT CLOSING THE FASTENING ZIPPER OR VELCRO BANDS AT THEIR END. The funnel effect that leaving them open provokes might very well be an effective way of cooling down but also a major risk. I might well have the habit of getting accidents in pairs, as that time when riding off road with a friend in the mountains when I got both tires flat simultaneously, but this time what happened was a bit more “stingy”. As I left the zippers at the end of my jacket’s sleeves open to enjoy the breeze that was rushing in, in a matter of no more than a few minutes of riding I felt a rather sharp sting in my right forearm and then in a matter of seconds one almost as intense one in the left one. I kept on riding for another few minutes almost in disbelief. I thought I might be imagining things or that they might be a new kind of cramp, but when the burning sensation became obviously suspicious I stopped fearing the worst. And yes, my fears proved right. By taking my jacket off and turning it’s sleeves inside out I could see that my cooling system had funneled in beside the air in both of my sleeves 2 large bees that doing what every one of us in such a circumstance would have done, stung the shit out of each of my forearm. I felt sorry for the little critters as they agonizingly crawled out the sweaty sleeves leaving their needles in me. After pulling the stingy little spears out of my skin I instinctively licked the injured spots but then I had also the decency to rub them with an antiseptic wipe. None the less, at the time I write this, about 36 hours form then, the large aching lumps have shrunk leaving in their place two palm size itchy red blotches. But I don’t complain because if I would have been allergic to bee stings I could have very well gone into shock and swollen to death on the side of a Hungarian road. So, a lesson well learned: When too hot or sweaty, stop, take equipment off, relax, dry and cool off and then gear up PROPERLY and continue riding.

My first destination was Gyomaenröd where I had in plan to visit a motorcycle museum I have read about on the net. Halas, when I got to the tourist information office in the above mentioned city, I have been told that that museum closed about 2 years ago. I could not refrain asking why in such a long time no one had the common sense decency to update the internet information (it was found on an official Hungarian tourist site) as not to let silly buggers like me come all the way for a thing it’s no longer there. Fortunately the kindness of the lady at the tourist information office and the genuine charm of the place made up for the loss and I decided to stay for the rest of the day there for a good relaxing swim in the large outside pool, a good walk around the very peaceful and welcoming surroundings and few rehydrating Czech light beers... Good choice!

There is a saying that goes that Romanian people are ingenious. Well, as much as I don’t feel comfortable being part of that bunch I had a pretty good idea the other day. I pushed a bit o string inside the rubber seal of the helmet around the area where the visor rests when closed and by doing this I managed to almost stop the air flow that was leaking in and that I told you about before. Once again shame that expensive, top of the range brands like Shuberth can’t be bothered to put more effort and care in the quality of their products. That reminds me of a friend (the same who lent me the comfy saddle) that had a System 5 Shuberth/BMW helmet that he painted black because he did not like it the original white and white was the only color available at the local dealer (I remind you he is in Romania...). Not long after that he gave it away for nothing because air was blowing in when the visor was closed and he blamed himself for damaging the rubber seals by using an improper paint that might have affected the seal. Don’t worry Stefan, you did nothing wrong, Shuberth helmets suck ass and blow air (in your face) as they come from the manufacturer. The only mistake you made was paying top price for one of their products. At least you should have ridden with it before painting it as you could have spared the extra expense for the paint job and the later guilt of ruining a presumed good piece of kit. I really hope that western equipment dealers or representatives of higher profile/cost brands offer test rides for helmets as well as at least what I am concerned I will never give my money on a piece of equipment I can’t try before. And bugger to all who said on forums that Schuberth’s are good. Don’t believe what this or that tosser is saying. Trust your own judgment and ask for a test ride!