Preparing for the motorbike tour

The actual tour starts well before we ever get on the bike. I personally like to think about the beginning point (in this case Helsinki) and the end point (in this case Lisbon) and then spend some time in a map application thinking about how to go from point A to point B. It is important to define how many Kms (miles) one wants to do per day and based on overall distance then that defines roughly how many days one will be on the road. Another option is of course defining how long one has for the trip and that defines how many miles to do per day.

In this specific trip the following were the givens:

Start and end point
No more than around 500 Kms per day
2 weeks to get to destination
Visit as many countries (and stop at least in one major city) on the way as possible to feel the culture
At least 2 days in Paris (long promise I had to pay on ;-))

Based on the givens above that pretty much defined that we needed to come through the northern part of Europe and cut across as we did. We of course have the advantage of being able to spend a bit longer on way back and thus do the south of Europe option on the way back.

We then had to define which cities we would be sleeping every night. It is important to understand that in a trip like this where you spend one night and then you move on it is critical to clearly organize things before we get there as if you miss a day it is very difficult to catch up due to the distances involved. We then decided for the following places:

Day 0 (Monday 18 June, 2012) - Helsinki, Finland to Stockholm, Sweden on Ferry
Day 1 (Tuesday 19 June, 2012) - Stockholm, Sweden to Gothenburg, Sweden
Day 2 (Wednesday 20 June, 2012) - Gothenburg, Sweden to Copenhagen, Denmark
Day 3 (Thursday 21 June, 2012) - Copenhagen, Denmark to Hamburg, Germany
Day 4 (Friday 22 June, 2012) - Hamburg, Germany to Amsterdam, Netherlands
Day 5 (Saturday 23 June, 2012) - Amsterdam, Netherlands to Paris, France
Day 6 (Sunday 24 June, 2012) - Paris, France
Day 7 (Monday 25 June, 2012) - Paris, France
Day 8 (Tuesday 26 June, 2012) - Paris, France to Bordeaux, France
Day 9 (Wednesday 27 June, 2012) - Bordeaux, France to Santander, Spain
Day 10 (Thursday 28 June, 2012) - Santander, Spain to Burgos, Spain
Day 11 (Friday 29 June, 2012) - Burgos, Spain to Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Day 12 (Saturday 30 June, 2012) - Santiago de C, Spain to Geres, Portugal
Day 13 (Sunday 1 July, 2012) - Geres, Portugal to Guimaraes Portugal
Day 14 (Monday 2 July, 2012) - Guimaraes, Portugal to Lisbon, Portugal

The next step was to define which type of accommodation we would be staying in these different locations.

There were different things we wanted to do in the trip and they defined where we would stay.

Sometimes stay in bed and breakfasts and feel the culture of the people as we share houses with them. This was specially important in the nordic countries where we know less about the culture so we did this in Goteborg, Sweden and Hamburg, Germany
In Paris we wanted to stay right in the center of Paris and live in an apartment like a typical Parisian couple highly in love would do, so we found a great place in Montmartre, very close to the Sacre Coeur and with a Brasserie in the corner where you could buy the baguette and the croissant all accompanied by the cafe au lait
In Portugal we knew we wanted to stay in Pousadas de Portugal properties. There are 41 properties available in Portugal and they offer the very best experience you can imagine at very good prices. They are usually in the most amazing places (old castles, convents, palaces etc) and for the two we chose we went for one due to its magnificent view (the one in Geres) and the other which was inside the walled historical city of Guimaraes and we could leave bike and walk everywhere.
We wanted to spend a night in an old hacienda with lots of vineyards around and did this in Santiago de Compostela, Spain
We wanted to be right in the center of Copenhagen and Amsterdam and feel the city at night, sit in a cafe overloooking a canal and do people watching and got two hotels overlooking the canals and as central as you can get.
We wanted to be at least in one hotel that in the morning you would open the curtains and look at the immensity of a sea in front of your eyes as the Portuguese explorer inside us begged for this. We did this in Santander, Spain.
As during our travels one of the things Paula loves doing is visit churches and just enjoy the amazing quiet and serene experience of being inside a church, we thought it would be great if we could stay as close to a church as possible and may be even look out of the window and be able to see when service starts as you see people going into the church. We got amazingly lucky as in Burgos, Spain we were right in front of the cathedral in Burgos which is a magnificent sight.
We wanted to try the French countryside and the only night possible was after Paris so we used Logis network (great option to find places in France) and rather than staying in Bordeaux city, we drove about 20 minutes and spent night in Salles and were treated to excellent breakfast and amazing service by a young French couple that for the last 6 years, every day wake up early in the morning and take care of fellow travelers like us and ensure we leave happier than when we arrived.

Another chapter I would like to touch on in this part of the blog is clothing to take during a motorbike trip. The first point is that there is never enough space but at the same time you never use everything you take so it is very important to put some thought on this topic. Because our bike is large and quite powerful we took 6 bags

One for bike things like tools, first aid, tire fixing kit, tire pump, etc
One for our most treasured possessions: iPads, Paula handbag, passports, various types of electronic equipment and chargers
One for my clothes
Two for Paula clothes (where at times I may use some space in one of them)
One tank bag for important stuff we need at hand, cameras, phones, wallets etc

There are many lists on Internet on what to take and what not to take. My suggestion is think about the trip and what you will need, most probably you will get it wrong in the first trips but over time you will get better.

Most important is choose clothes that can be easily washed and dried on the road as we found out in Europe the luxury of washing machines and dryers that we found in the US trips are not necessarily as easily available.

Another tip is buy underwear of dark color as if you are lucky to find washing machines and dryers there is usually only time to do one load so it is better clothing is all of same color.

The preparation of the trip is for me very exciting and I love to do it but as planning is not my forte I usually do it at last minute and I am very happy I live in today's age of the Internet that gives the opportunity for people like me to prepare for a trip like this in two days, after all one also has to work and do other things in life.

My final word for preparation goes to the bike you take with. It all starts with choosing the right bike carefully because you will be in foreign lands without much understanding of how things get done and you should minimize the chance of having issues.

We are very happy with the BMW R1200 GSA. She has the size to be seen by cars, the power to carry two people (and lots of gear) very easily up the steepest mountains, she is as comfortable on the alphalt as she is on the dirt (95% of all roads), the boxer engine is very easy to work on and the design of the bike makes working on it very easy.

It goes without saying but I will say it anyway, before leaving for the trip of this size do a full service and put new tires on (your life depends on these). We practice ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time) regardless of how hot it gets and strongly suggest you do the same.

Enough of getting ready, let's get on with the show ...