Never been gripped by a RR like this. Whatever you doing, just tell us about it.
Long Way Home
- Thread starter Whethefakawe
- Start date
Whethefakawe
Race Dog
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
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- 621
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- 2
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure S
It's a strange time, picking up many things where I left off...
Not the least of which is my 950. Rode it for the first time in 2 1/2 years today :biggrin:
But it needs work - taking it to KTM dealer in the morning, I'll be eating white bread and water for the next two weeks....bastard grease monkey on this here island wants to charge me 313 Euros for a set of Pirelli Scorpions :imaposer:
I'll post the rest of the story when I get to SA in June. The photos are on my computer in Joburg.
Cheers
Not the least of which is my 950. Rode it for the first time in 2 1/2 years today :biggrin:
But it needs work - taking it to KTM dealer in the morning, I'll be eating white bread and water for the next two weeks....bastard grease monkey on this here island wants to charge me 313 Euros for a set of Pirelli Scorpions :imaposer:
I'll post the rest of the story when I get to SA in June. The photos are on my computer in Joburg.
Cheers
Rbacknz
Puppy
Hi Yuri. Hows that book coming along? I had to bump this back up to the top as it is to good to be going down through the line. Cheers mate
Charka
Pack Dog
This is cool
Lekke ouks!
Lekke ouks!
Whethefakawe
Race Dog
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
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- 621
- Reaction score
- 2
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure S
Hello Patrick,
It's been done for a while, but have had THREE publishers express interest and fizzle out...I know one of them took on too much and is overwhelmed, another agreed but then changed the terms such that i'd carry ALL the costs and sign over all rights etc to them....not THAT dumb!
i'm researching the whole process - will self-publish initial issues (and send you one :biggrin
and see what happens afterwards re. marketing etc.
Howa are things?
Cheers
It's been done for a while, but have had THREE publishers express interest and fizzle out...I know one of them took on too much and is overwhelmed, another agreed but then changed the terms such that i'd carry ALL the costs and sign over all rights etc to them....not THAT dumb!
i'm researching the whole process - will self-publish initial issues (and send you one :biggrin
and see what happens afterwards re. marketing etc.Howa are things?
Cheers
fat b
Race Dog
Now that was a lekker read ! Thanx ! :thumleft:
Whethefakawe
Race Dog
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
- Messages
- 621
- Reaction score
- 2
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure S
The trip home to Joburg on my 950 started almost three years ago. It's back on track now, and if it pleases the punters I'll continue the drawn-out saga. Yes I know it hasn't made any tracks in Africa yet, but be patient grasshoppers....
I was working in America and couldn't handle being there anymore, so I interviewed for a job in the UAE. I sold what I could, gave away what the neighbours wanted, abandoned the rest with a big 4X8 foot plywood sign saying FREE SHIT in front of the house, and left on my KTM via Canada.
My timing for a major life change was slightly off. Because I don't read newspapers or watch news except on rare occasions, I was blissfully ignorant about the world-wide economic crisis. Instead of the promised email with a start date in Abu Dhabi, I got one saying "Dear sir. Fuck off". (This happened AFTER the ride previously documented, btw, while I was lounging on the beach on the Greek island my sister lives on).
What to do?
Have another ice cold beer. Repeat until it hurts.
But even that gets old after a while.
Patrick, my old bike squad bro who lives in Uganda, and I had discussed for several years the idea of starting a small flying company there. It would add value to his lodge and B+B, plus there were all kinds of "stealth" flights to be done for various organisations who preferred to pay in cash. NO - not aaptwak or nose powder or illegal guns, just things that were not very PC - kinda like SAR trains and wagons being seen all over Africa back when the Bush War was going on.
I'd had enough of life as a drone in America, and was keen on living in the bush for a while. I left the 950 in a warehouse owned by a friend of my brother-in-law's, and flew to Kampala via Dubai. Things were looking good, then I got bitten by some unidentified ticks or bugs in a game reserve and became very ill. Then some people died in a plane crash in Uganda and the whole thing collapsed.
After a two-year sabbatical in SA, during which I started doing some seriaas historical research for a book, I received an offer I couldn't understand last spring. I went back to the salt mines in November and resumed the ride home in late April.
I'm in a unique situation now where I have the opportunity to combine research with riding, so I'm back-tracking north through Europe. Some time after August I will head south again from London. I'm fixated now on a ride to Ovamboland next year so want to get the 950 to SA by June or so. Whether over land or sea or by air, don't know yet...
Here is the next installment. I promise it WILL set foot on African soil some time soon....
I was working in America and couldn't handle being there anymore, so I interviewed for a job in the UAE. I sold what I could, gave away what the neighbours wanted, abandoned the rest with a big 4X8 foot plywood sign saying FREE SHIT in front of the house, and left on my KTM via Canada.
My timing for a major life change was slightly off. Because I don't read newspapers or watch news except on rare occasions, I was blissfully ignorant about the world-wide economic crisis. Instead of the promised email with a start date in Abu Dhabi, I got one saying "Dear sir. Fuck off". (This happened AFTER the ride previously documented, btw, while I was lounging on the beach on the Greek island my sister lives on).
What to do?
Have another ice cold beer. Repeat until it hurts.
But even that gets old after a while.
Patrick, my old bike squad bro who lives in Uganda, and I had discussed for several years the idea of starting a small flying company there. It would add value to his lodge and B+B, plus there were all kinds of "stealth" flights to be done for various organisations who preferred to pay in cash. NO - not aaptwak or nose powder or illegal guns, just things that were not very PC - kinda like SAR trains and wagons being seen all over Africa back when the Bush War was going on.
I'd had enough of life as a drone in America, and was keen on living in the bush for a while. I left the 950 in a warehouse owned by a friend of my brother-in-law's, and flew to Kampala via Dubai. Things were looking good, then I got bitten by some unidentified ticks or bugs in a game reserve and became very ill. Then some people died in a plane crash in Uganda and the whole thing collapsed.
After a two-year sabbatical in SA, during which I started doing some seriaas historical research for a book, I received an offer I couldn't understand last spring. I went back to the salt mines in November and resumed the ride home in late April.
I'm in a unique situation now where I have the opportunity to combine research with riding, so I'm back-tracking north through Europe. Some time after August I will head south again from London. I'm fixated now on a ride to Ovamboland next year so want to get the 950 to SA by June or so. Whether over land or sea or by air, don't know yet...
Here is the next installment. I promise it WILL set foot on African soil some time soon....
Plothond
Race Dog
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2006
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- 10
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- Pretoria East - Home of Jameson
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- KTM 1090 Adventure R
Great to see you around again.
It was very entertaining in the early days of the forum to read your lifestory - especially the bike squad days
I remember sitting on a hill in Swaziland sometime in 2007, leaning aginst the bike, and reading about XR's with 23" front wheels :thumleft:
It was very entertaining in the early days of the forum to read your lifestory - especially the bike squad days
I remember sitting on a hill in Swaziland sometime in 2007, leaning aginst the bike, and reading about XR's with 23" front wheels :thumleft:
Whethefakawe
Race Dog
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
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- 621
- Reaction score
- 2
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure S
Until August this year I'm in the lucky position of being able to work a month on/month off schedule. It gets hard after about three weeks of working every day (well - 6 out of 7) but the reward is worth it.
My month off commenced on 18 April, and I arrived in Athens on the 21st. The 22nd was Good Friday. Unlike in northern Europe, where the heathens live, southern Europe basically shuts down for four days over Easter. Bad timing, my bike needed servicing and it would set me back a week by the time everything was organised. The main goal of the ride back up to London is research. I'm busy with a big World War 1 and 2 history project and the only way to get to some of the places I want is by vehicle, in my case....BIKE.
The trolley system in Athens, built for the Olympics in 2004 is now a very convenient public transportation system. I rode it down the coast a few k's to the Athens War Cemetery, where I had to look for one specific oke's grave and see whatever else there was to see. That is one thing I respect very much about the British -they have a serious appreciation of, and respect for, their history. They maintian over 2500 cemeteries from the World Wars in 150 countries, and visiting one is like travelling through the Commonwealth.
This one is in a beautiful location, even though the city has swallowed it up.
The cemetery is beautifully maintaned by full-time gardeners:
Then went back to the port of Piraeus where I was staying till the next morning's ferry, and wandered over to the ferry terminal looking for....BEER. Despite being only April, it was warm and very sunny. The ferry terminal and docks were deserted. I'm used to seeing masses of people, so it was a nice change. But there were no pretty Euro-Punda to ogle, either :BangHead:
After a few ice cold MYTHOS beers (half litre bottles) :biggrin: and talking rubbish with a nice Aussie couple I ran into, I stumbled back to the hotel about 500m away after sunset. I passed a church, where one of the various Greek Easter rituals were taking place. Greek churches (actually, all the Orthodox ones I've seen) are very coulourful inside, and they have elaborate ceremonies accompanied by musical bells.
From the back deck of the high-speed ferry the next morning:
These boats are....awe-isnpiring. I will NOT use that stupid word awesome :violent1: They have beeeg diesel engines and jet drives, run across the Med at 41 knots - that's about 80 k's :headbang: Beautiful vessels
Jet drive. It throws a rooster tail like the giant jetski these things really are. Probably 50m long and 10 or 15m high.
My siter lives in a not ugly place. And they like their dop and beer there :biggrin:
The Tuesday after Easter I fetched the bike out of the warehouse where it had been stored the last 2 1/2 years. My sister had bought me a new battery with the help of a friend on the ilsand who owns a 950, and I had drained the carbs when I shut it down in October 2008. I was hoping it would start without having to pull the carbs. :imaposer:
New battery installed, I put 2 litres of fresh fuel in the left tank, pulled the choke out and and cranked it ...and it fired up almost immediately :blob1:
I mst admit, I was mostly due to my mechanical genius though. I'd learned my lesson with the k*k petrol they have in the US, that turns to paint in two weeks because it's got so many additives and shit in it.
The bike lokked a bit sad. I was shocked to see how much rust had accumulated on the brake diss and spokes and every surface that's not chromes or painted. It took several hours of scraping and rubbing with sandpaper and 3M pads to get it looking respectable. The chain especially l;ooked bad, but after lots of chain lube and riding it looks good as new now.
My previously-mentioned mechanical genius also prompted me to spray WD40 all over everything, especially the rusted brake discs. The ride through the hilly countryside back to my sister's house was interesting.... :laughing4:
My month off commenced on 18 April, and I arrived in Athens on the 21st. The 22nd was Good Friday. Unlike in northern Europe, where the heathens live, southern Europe basically shuts down for four days over Easter. Bad timing, my bike needed servicing and it would set me back a week by the time everything was organised. The main goal of the ride back up to London is research. I'm busy with a big World War 1 and 2 history project and the only way to get to some of the places I want is by vehicle, in my case....BIKE.
The trolley system in Athens, built for the Olympics in 2004 is now a very convenient public transportation system. I rode it down the coast a few k's to the Athens War Cemetery, where I had to look for one specific oke's grave and see whatever else there was to see. That is one thing I respect very much about the British -they have a serious appreciation of, and respect for, their history. They maintian over 2500 cemeteries from the World Wars in 150 countries, and visiting one is like travelling through the Commonwealth.
This one is in a beautiful location, even though the city has swallowed it up.
The cemetery is beautifully maintaned by full-time gardeners:
Then went back to the port of Piraeus where I was staying till the next morning's ferry, and wandered over to the ferry terminal looking for....BEER. Despite being only April, it was warm and very sunny. The ferry terminal and docks were deserted. I'm used to seeing masses of people, so it was a nice change. But there were no pretty Euro-Punda to ogle, either :BangHead:
After a few ice cold MYTHOS beers (half litre bottles) :biggrin: and talking rubbish with a nice Aussie couple I ran into, I stumbled back to the hotel about 500m away after sunset. I passed a church, where one of the various Greek Easter rituals were taking place. Greek churches (actually, all the Orthodox ones I've seen) are very coulourful inside, and they have elaborate ceremonies accompanied by musical bells.
From the back deck of the high-speed ferry the next morning:
These boats are....awe-isnpiring. I will NOT use that stupid word awesome :violent1: They have beeeg diesel engines and jet drives, run across the Med at 41 knots - that's about 80 k's :headbang: Beautiful vessels
Jet drive. It throws a rooster tail like the giant jetski these things really are. Probably 50m long and 10 or 15m high.
My siter lives in a not ugly place. And they like their dop and beer there :biggrin:
The Tuesday after Easter I fetched the bike out of the warehouse where it had been stored the last 2 1/2 years. My sister had bought me a new battery with the help of a friend on the ilsand who owns a 950, and I had drained the carbs when I shut it down in October 2008. I was hoping it would start without having to pull the carbs. :imaposer:
New battery installed, I put 2 litres of fresh fuel in the left tank, pulled the choke out and and cranked it ...and it fired up almost immediately :blob1:
I mst admit, I was mostly due to my mechanical genius though. I'd learned my lesson with the k*k petrol they have in the US, that turns to paint in two weeks because it's got so many additives and shit in it.
The bike lokked a bit sad. I was shocked to see how much rust had accumulated on the brake diss and spokes and every surface that's not chromes or painted. It took several hours of scraping and rubbing with sandpaper and 3M pads to get it looking respectable. The chain especially l;ooked bad, but after lots of chain lube and riding it looks good as new now.
My previously-mentioned mechanical genius also prompted me to spray WD40 all over everything, especially the rusted brake discs. The ride through the hilly countryside back to my sister's house was interesting.... :laughing4:
Whethefakawe
Race Dog
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
- Messages
- 621
- Reaction score
- 2
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure S
The next day, I loaded the bike on the ferry and took it to Athens, where the KTM shop our friend with the 950 hooked me up with, was waiting for it. The Saturday was yet ANOTHER public holiday in Greece, and I was getting irritated with the time lost. Greece is a lot like the new SA in many ways..... :imaposer: never do today what you can put off for tomoorw, any time after lunch, for one :imaposer:
While AGAIN waiting for the ferry back to the island I went on a sight-seeing trip. I had noticed a Mirage F1, like the SAAF used to fly, displayed in a unique way at the big marina down the coast a bit, and wanted o go see it. A brisk 2 k walk to the bus stop at the other side of the port did my irritation level a lot of good. I saw these ferries being de-mothballed at the start of the season and realised getting the 950 back on the road was a minor project :biggrin:
I think I stated before - Athens is where bikes, especially mopeds, go to die. This Chinese POS was parked on the pavement, looks like it had been abandoned long time. Midnight spares had been around, and check the number plate....neatly cut off, evidence removed :laughing4:
Yeeees that's exctly how I want to spend MY holiday......bum to bum with 3000 other sea sick common rotters :imaposer:
I found the Mirage, mounted in the garden of a building that turned out to be something to do with the Greek Air force. Some kind of museum, I think.
Close by is a maritime museum that I'd seen from the trolley and airport bus many times. Cost E2 to get in, best E2 I've ever spent. The ship is an old battle cruiser from 1912, was the pride of the Greek Navy in WW1.
It is maintained in beautiful condition. One tends to forget that the Greeks have always been a major seafaring nation, when you watch the chaos and disorganisation in Athens on any given day....
I can only imagine the amount of scrubbing and varnishing this deck must have needed :imaposer:
Sailors' mess.....
Officers' mess.....
Some things are universal :laughing4: :laughing4:
This is a beautiful boat, a Trireme - shows you how sophisticated the Greeks were 2 and 3000 years ago.....Africa can only HOPE to to build ships like these 2000 years from now :imaposer:
I do like Athens though. It's bike country....if you count scooters as bikes that is.
And the VERY old and the new exist side-by-side
In the old town section, you see sights like this everywhere
I liked this one too
More "bikes" but the important thing to note is how they just take over :laughing4:
Back on the island, I taught three little SA Greeks how to braai properly
Got on the ferry that evening and after another night in the cheap hotel in Piraeus, went to pick up the KTM :ricky:
Besides oil and filter change, valve adjustment, air filter change, new fork seals both sides etc etc, the right lower fork leg had two big rust spots on the chrome :BangHead: The oke found me a used one, and replaced it. E150 instead of E400. They did an excellent job.ccasion14:
Costas and Costas, the two mechanics. Older Costas only has one arm - didn't ask what happened to him, but we got along like a township on fire despite his three words of english and my five of restaurant Greek. My Greek consists of "hello, thank you, goodbye, your daughter has the most AMAZING set of tits, and another beer, mate" Didn't help much in this situation.
I hit the road.....let's rephrase that....I let the clutch out and headed north through the insane Athens traffic at about noon on Wednesday 27 April :ricky:
While AGAIN waiting for the ferry back to the island I went on a sight-seeing trip. I had noticed a Mirage F1, like the SAAF used to fly, displayed in a unique way at the big marina down the coast a bit, and wanted o go see it. A brisk 2 k walk to the bus stop at the other side of the port did my irritation level a lot of good. I saw these ferries being de-mothballed at the start of the season and realised getting the 950 back on the road was a minor project :biggrin:
I think I stated before - Athens is where bikes, especially mopeds, go to die. This Chinese POS was parked on the pavement, looks like it had been abandoned long time. Midnight spares had been around, and check the number plate....neatly cut off, evidence removed :laughing4:
Yeeees that's exctly how I want to spend MY holiday......bum to bum with 3000 other sea sick common rotters :imaposer:
I found the Mirage, mounted in the garden of a building that turned out to be something to do with the Greek Air force. Some kind of museum, I think.
Close by is a maritime museum that I'd seen from the trolley and airport bus many times. Cost E2 to get in, best E2 I've ever spent. The ship is an old battle cruiser from 1912, was the pride of the Greek Navy in WW1.
It is maintained in beautiful condition. One tends to forget that the Greeks have always been a major seafaring nation, when you watch the chaos and disorganisation in Athens on any given day....
I can only imagine the amount of scrubbing and varnishing this deck must have needed :imaposer:
Sailors' mess.....
Officers' mess.....
Some things are universal :laughing4: :laughing4:
This is a beautiful boat, a Trireme - shows you how sophisticated the Greeks were 2 and 3000 years ago.....Africa can only HOPE to to build ships like these 2000 years from now :imaposer:
I do like Athens though. It's bike country....if you count scooters as bikes that is.
And the VERY old and the new exist side-by-side
In the old town section, you see sights like this everywhere
I liked this one too
More "bikes" but the important thing to note is how they just take over :laughing4:
Back on the island, I taught three little SA Greeks how to braai properly
Got on the ferry that evening and after another night in the cheap hotel in Piraeus, went to pick up the KTM :ricky:
Besides oil and filter change, valve adjustment, air filter change, new fork seals both sides etc etc, the right lower fork leg had two big rust spots on the chrome :BangHead: The oke found me a used one, and replaced it. E150 instead of E400. They did an excellent job.
ccasion14:Costas and Costas, the two mechanics. Older Costas only has one arm - didn't ask what happened to him, but we got along like a township on fire despite his three words of english and my five of restaurant Greek. My Greek consists of "hello, thank you, goodbye, your daughter has the most AMAZING set of tits, and another beer, mate" Didn't help much in this situation.
I hit the road.....let's rephrase that....I let the clutch out and headed north through the insane Athens traffic at about noon on Wednesday 27 April :ricky:
fat b
Race Dog
Great stuff ! Keep it coming ! :thumleft:
MrBig
Grey Hound
I read the whole thread again last night.
and I'm not embarrassed to say it... AWESOME!
and I'm not embarrassed to say it... AWESOME!
zetman
Race Dog
Gooi mielies bru when are your army bike book finished would love to buy one pleeze ?
Rice Crispy
Pack Dog
The best ever??
never have I read a report that stirs the wanderlust in me like this. This has to go on the roll of honour
never have I read a report that stirs the wanderlust in me like this. This has to go on the roll of honour
- Joined
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- I would rather be in Great Brak...
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Can't wait for the rest... :ricky:
Whethefakawe
Race Dog
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
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- 621
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- 2
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- KTM 950 Adventure S
MY OMIE??? Jissis boet have some respect man.
I'm on the way to Gernany, to continue the ride. It will go as far north as Birmingham, maybe Scotland in London from where I'll head south again, with the goal of having the 950 in SA for the Ovamboland ride next winter. So I'll be off the air for a month or so.
The book is high on the list of things to get done. Soon.
I'll be in Joburg in 2 weeks, will check to see if there's a beer or two to be had somewhere :biggrin:
I'm on the way to Gernany, to continue the ride. It will go as far north as Birmingham, maybe Scotland in London from where I'll head south again, with the goal of having the 950 in SA for the Ovamboland ride next winter. So I'll be off the air for a month or so.
The book is high on the list of things to get done. Soon.
I'll be in Joburg in 2 weeks, will check to see if there's a beer or two to be had somewhere :biggrin:
Whethefakawe
Race Dog
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
- Messages
- 621
- Reaction score
- 2
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure S
OK back in my shack in the desert.....a bit jet lagged so if I don't make sense please excuse.
The short-term focus of this ride was historical research, specifically old aviation, so pardon the bias. And as much as I enjoyed the weird and wonderful sights, I got tired of TAR. I can already see a flat crown on the new rear Scorpion, and it's time to get the 950 on dirt. But there is little to none of that in the parts of Europe I went through.
I may have to go sell some blood, sperm or whatever I have left and fly the bike somewhere soon...
From the KTM shop I went straight to a petrol station two blocks up the street to fill up. E 1,60 a litre, that's what? R16? A bit more? It varied very little all through Europe, cheapest was in Germany, E 1,50 a litre. I'd forgotten how wide a 950 with panniers is, and pulling out of the garage I squeezed between a delivery van and a car and promptly crashed the left pannier into the van's left rear corner. The young oke came storming out of the driver's seat with a bit of an attitude but when I apologised and he saw there was no damage, shrugged and drove off. I'd gotten off the bike and stood up straight and puffed up my chest a bit, though....another
useful reason to wear ATTGAT, it does make you look a bit bigger and wider than you really are....
Getting out of Athens was quick and easy, the port of Piraeus is close to the freeway that runs north. I'd stopped for interesting things in the area when I rode down in 2008, so I didn't waste time. I did stop at the Corinthian canal though. It's maybe 50 k's from Athens, and was quite an engineering achievement in its day. Hungarian engineers built it between 1881 and 1893, and it's basically a slot cut through rock 85 m deep, connecting the Corinthian Gulf with the Mediterranean.
It was springtime, weather started getting nice but no tourists yet, and the bungee-jumping hadn't started yet.....it amuses me how people around the world associate "zulu" with anything strange or exotic or mildly risky.
World famous nogal. :laughing4:
The highway between Athens and the north is like the N1 between Joburg and Pretoria, a very busy road. In 2008 I rode it south on THE biggest Greek public Holiday, when everybody was heading north for the cooler temperatures of the mountains. It was without adoubt the most dangerous thing I've ever done, and I haven't exactly spent my life in convent.
This time was a pleasure. Because of the season, the road was quiet and I literally went 5 minutes without any traffic at times. I was able to look around a bit and enjoy the spring weather and wildflowers all over the place. This is not the most scenic part of Greece but still very nice.
I saw MANY of these, some more elaborate than others. Fits with what okes at petrol stations had warned me about in 2008.
Just east of PATRA I went over a beautiful new suspension bridge, unfortunately couldn't stop and take photos. It's several k's long and a stunning piece of engineering. The road I was on is in the process of getting a major uograde, there were roadworks all along it.
In a little town called AMFILOCHIA further north I had lunch:
That's water, not ouzo btw.
It seems almost every town in Greece is on the water. EVERY town and city has dogs wandering around. not wild but obviously free agents.
I've seen some hysterical shit in Athens, these dogs get very territorial and if you intrude on their block or piece of city park they get upset.
I took a different route north from Amfilochia this time, along the coast. The area looks almost like the Eastern Cape or other parts of SA:
This part of Greece is very beautiful, especially in spring time:
The coast road north from PREVEZIA was a joy - almost no traffic, sunset along the Med, and good, twisty roads. I got to IGOUMENITSA, the furthest north point in Greece where the ferries leave from, at 8 pm, very chuffed with myself. The ferry to Brindisi in Italy would leave around midnight and I had plenty of time. Or so I thought....
Literally two corners after I'd taken the previous photo, and one k from the ferry terminal, a police blockade:
Something like 200 illegal immigrants from North Africa were rioting, beacause the Greek authorities wouldn't let them onto the ships to Italy. Once they get to Italy, they disappear into the New Europe, where there are no borders anymore. WTF the blerrie Greeks let them in to begin with, is a mystery. But I saw signs all over Europe that the "open arms" policy to "save the poor oppressed peoples of the world" is fading very quickly. They are now learning what people in SA have known for a long time. The welfare states are collapsing....Greece has reached the end of that road, the UK is showing signs of it, and the same in France. Even the DUTCH, known as the tallest people on earth without spines, announced a few weeks ago that from now on, the FEW immigrants they will accept WILL become Dutch. No more seperate schools, language, churches, etc. IE, no more Darth Vaders wandering around blowing up shit. Ha. Reality is a bitch.
The police eventually let traffic go at 11 pm, after the riot had been dispersed and two rioters killed. We heard automatic and single fire and numerous large explosions, bigger than what a stun grenade would make :imaposer: Whatever else the Greeks may do badly or stupidly, when you make them the moer in, you have a problem on your hands :biggrin:
I got my ticket to Italy, only E35 for me and the bike. I slept on the deck for about 5 hours while the IONIAN QUEEN chugged across the Adriatic....
The short-term focus of this ride was historical research, specifically old aviation, so pardon the bias. And as much as I enjoyed the weird and wonderful sights, I got tired of TAR. I can already see a flat crown on the new rear Scorpion, and it's time to get the 950 on dirt. But there is little to none of that in the parts of Europe I went through.
I may have to go sell some blood, sperm or whatever I have left and fly the bike somewhere soon...
From the KTM shop I went straight to a petrol station two blocks up the street to fill up. E 1,60 a litre, that's what? R16? A bit more? It varied very little all through Europe, cheapest was in Germany, E 1,50 a litre. I'd forgotten how wide a 950 with panniers is, and pulling out of the garage I squeezed between a delivery van and a car and promptly crashed the left pannier into the van's left rear corner. The young oke came storming out of the driver's seat with a bit of an attitude but when I apologised and he saw there was no damage, shrugged and drove off. I'd gotten off the bike and stood up straight and puffed up my chest a bit, though....another
useful reason to wear ATTGAT, it does make you look a bit bigger and wider than you really are....
Getting out of Athens was quick and easy, the port of Piraeus is close to the freeway that runs north. I'd stopped for interesting things in the area when I rode down in 2008, so I didn't waste time. I did stop at the Corinthian canal though. It's maybe 50 k's from Athens, and was quite an engineering achievement in its day. Hungarian engineers built it between 1881 and 1893, and it's basically a slot cut through rock 85 m deep, connecting the Corinthian Gulf with the Mediterranean.
It was springtime, weather started getting nice but no tourists yet, and the bungee-jumping hadn't started yet.....it amuses me how people around the world associate "zulu" with anything strange or exotic or mildly risky.
World famous nogal. :laughing4:
The highway between Athens and the north is like the N1 between Joburg and Pretoria, a very busy road. In 2008 I rode it south on THE biggest Greek public Holiday, when everybody was heading north for the cooler temperatures of the mountains. It was without adoubt the most dangerous thing I've ever done, and I haven't exactly spent my life in convent.
This time was a pleasure. Because of the season, the road was quiet and I literally went 5 minutes without any traffic at times. I was able to look around a bit and enjoy the spring weather and wildflowers all over the place. This is not the most scenic part of Greece but still very nice.
I saw MANY of these, some more elaborate than others. Fits with what okes at petrol stations had warned me about in 2008.
Just east of PATRA I went over a beautiful new suspension bridge, unfortunately couldn't stop and take photos. It's several k's long and a stunning piece of engineering. The road I was on is in the process of getting a major uograde, there were roadworks all along it.
In a little town called AMFILOCHIA further north I had lunch:
That's water, not ouzo btw.
It seems almost every town in Greece is on the water. EVERY town and city has dogs wandering around. not wild but obviously free agents.
I've seen some hysterical shit in Athens, these dogs get very territorial and if you intrude on their block or piece of city park they get upset.
I took a different route north from Amfilochia this time, along the coast. The area looks almost like the Eastern Cape or other parts of SA:
This part of Greece is very beautiful, especially in spring time:
The coast road north from PREVEZIA was a joy - almost no traffic, sunset along the Med, and good, twisty roads. I got to IGOUMENITSA, the furthest north point in Greece where the ferries leave from, at 8 pm, very chuffed with myself. The ferry to Brindisi in Italy would leave around midnight and I had plenty of time. Or so I thought....
Literally two corners after I'd taken the previous photo, and one k from the ferry terminal, a police blockade:
Something like 200 illegal immigrants from North Africa were rioting, beacause the Greek authorities wouldn't let them onto the ships to Italy. Once they get to Italy, they disappear into the New Europe, where there are no borders anymore. WTF the blerrie Greeks let them in to begin with, is a mystery. But I saw signs all over Europe that the "open arms" policy to "save the poor oppressed peoples of the world" is fading very quickly. They are now learning what people in SA have known for a long time. The welfare states are collapsing....Greece has reached the end of that road, the UK is showing signs of it, and the same in France. Even the DUTCH, known as the tallest people on earth without spines, announced a few weeks ago that from now on, the FEW immigrants they will accept WILL become Dutch. No more seperate schools, language, churches, etc. IE, no more Darth Vaders wandering around blowing up shit. Ha. Reality is a bitch.
The police eventually let traffic go at 11 pm, after the riot had been dispersed and two rioters killed. We heard automatic and single fire and numerous large explosions, bigger than what a stun grenade would make :imaposer: Whatever else the Greeks may do badly or stupidly, when you make them the moer in, you have a problem on your hands :biggrin:
I got my ticket to Italy, only E35 for me and the bike. I slept on the deck for about 5 hours while the IONIAN QUEEN chugged across the Adriatic....
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Two youngsters I met on the boat who restored my faith in their generation. The oke on the left was an Aussie who was spending the summer riding his 1983 racing bike through Europe in work pants and T-shirts. No "high tech fibres" and fancy stylish cycle fashions needed, thank you. He didn't look like a Lance Armstrong type, lean and chiseled with that steely stare, but he was doing 140 to 160 k's a DAY on that antique. My kinda oke.
The other one was an American high school teacher who had just done the EL CAMINO DE SANTIAGO pilgrimage hike (or The Way of Saint James) in northern Spain. It's 30 k's a day for something like 5 weeks. I liked him, he wasn't a typical yank. He was skinny, quiet, open-minded and respectful of other people.
They both made me feel like a lazy bastard.
In 2008 I had merely made the briefest acquaintance of Italian drivers. I was about to get an edu-macation in fucking insanity. Good thing I didn't know it, would have got right back on the ferry...
Brindisi is located on the back side of the "heel" of Italy, about as far south as you can go, and nothing to look at. All I saw was light industry with some agriculture in between. Instead of heading north right away, I got clever and decided to ride across the heel to Taranto, which is at the "instep" if you can visualise it. In the early days of World War 2, the British navy's old 90-knot Swordfish biplanes gave the Italian navy a serious hiding in the harbour of Taranto. I'd read the autobiography of one of the British pilots, and thought I might get a big picture idea of what he had written. Bad idea - I got stuck in morning traffic on a two-lane road at a railway crossing and had lesson one in driving, Italian style. After extricating myself from THAT mess, I headed north on small backroads through farmlands and small villages. It was fun, but time-consuming so I got back on the regional highway up the east coast to BARI and points beyond. My goal was FOGGIA, where the SAAF flew from in WW2 and some old toppie friends I had from those days told me stories about.
I was starting to understand what I had let myself in for as far as riding went, but I fell in love with Italy almost immediately. The first petrol station I filled up at had this sign:
That opened my eyes, and I swear, EVERY one of the hundreds of petrol stations I saw over the next week, had a bar in them. I'm moving there as soon as I can save enough money for a one way ticket.
Italian highways, and especially AUTOSTRADAS, or freeways, are not for the ignorant or oblivious. The autostradas have very few on- and off ramps, typically 50 or 60 k's apart. I'd learned that lesson in 2008, so I was making sure I knew EXACTLY where I was trying to go at all times. Conversely, they have turn-outs like these every k or two or three, many with emergency phone booths.
It was drizzling on and off, and I stopped to take my rain gear off again. I noticed a farmer right next to the highway, busy tending his lands out of his station wagon. NOT ONE of the hundreds of farmers I saw after that, out on their lands, drove a bakkie. Family saloons, station wagons, even a panel van or two, but NOT ONE bakkie. Now there's a business opportunity for some enterprising boerkie, hey? Go sell bakkies to the Wops. Instant millionaire.
I was disappointed and shocked with Foggia. The small city was a filthy shithole - the new part at least, I never saw the (very) old part. Litter all over, graffiti on every vertical surface, lots of scaly-looking characters lurking around. I went to the airport, knowing that typically there are hotels and other amenities close by. When I parked and saw the lawn out in front, I started having some serious doubts. Check the "lawn".
A friendly oke at the tourist info office inside, who spoke 17 words of English, directed me to a hotel in town. After circling the area three times and seeing street-corner gangs start taking interest in me, the obvious tourist, I rode 30 odd k's to the coast and stayed in a hotel at MANFREDONIA which was undergoing a major remodel. The food was brilliant, and the owner personally came to every table and apologisd for the noise and mess.
My planning for trips like these is simple - I don't. I just ride every day until I either get very tired (ie the KTM seat makes my arse bleed) or the sun goes down, and then find a hotel or B+B or campsite. It never fails, and there is no pressure to get somewhere because I have areservation.
The next morning, heading back west to Foggia. The area is mostly agricultural, with industry around the bigger towns and cities. It being spring, the wildflowers were in full bloom, mostly yellow but also purple, blue, white with swathes of red poppies in every field.
That's Foggia in the distance, looking west. During the war, there were 24 airfields in the area around Foggia where the SAAF, RAF and Americans flew from. One of my late friends, old Pat, had flown B-24 Liberators in 31 SAAF Squadron from Foggia and I had pinpointed the site where their airstrip had been, so wanted to go see what the area looked like.
.
Of the 24 airstrips, only two are still in use - one is the Foggia airport where I had been the previous day, and one is an Italian AF base today. Right in front of the base, I saw this shrine:
Poor 18 year old Michele Falco had obviously chucked his Guzzi or Ducati down the road here in 1956 and wrapped himself around a pole or something.
Riding up the coast from Bari to Foggia the previous day, I was struck by the hundreds of identical farmhouses. The rural roads are arrow-straight, and every few hundred metres is a farmhouse identical to those around it, all numbered ONC XX:
I haven't yet researched what it's all about, but the little I picked up from people I spoke to who understood English, is that it's Mussolini's legacy - the Fascists had built a very organised agriculture sector, with groups of farms managed by a district office. I saw these district offices too, most were deserted and boarded up.
Many farms were, too. note the identical layout, with ONC number on right.
The area was very scenic, everything green and in bloom. And the wind was HOWLING. I got very the moer in at times cause the wind was trying to blow me off the bike, but I finally figured out about 10 days ago (the day before the trip ended in London) that the prevailing winds in Europe are from the West and Northwest. I just happened to have done 5000 k's going the opposite way. I was beginning to think some higher force was trying to tell me something. Approching Foggia again:
I eventually found the location of the wartime airstrip known as Foggia Number One, from where old Pat Egan and his mates had flown bombing raids against Germany and supply runs to Warsaw in 1944. There is nothing left of the airfield today except for some concrete taxiways but I had seen what I'd gone there for so didn't spend time looking for it.
The old airfield is just inside the ring road around Foggia so I stayed on it and soon found myself in the countryside, going west towards Naples. Another abandoned farmhouse.
Within 20 k's of Foggia to the west and southwest, the countryside changes from flat coastal plain to rolling hills and eventually mountains. This was a road on the map, but unfortunately It wasn't going rowards Naples so I reluctantly turned around.
One of the District Offices or whatever they were, all had a sign CASA CANTONERA on the front, then a name and a number. I'll have to look into it and figure out what it was.
The road followed a river and a railroad through the mountains, and after an hour of that I noticed this climb, which I HAD to go do. The photo does not do the slope justice, btw. It was seriously steep, 1st and 2nd all the way up the switchbacks.
It followed the crest of a small mountain range, heading more or less where I wanted to go so I stayed on it and went through several hilltop towns, one more scenic than the next.
I have no idea what this little town was called, would have to sit down with a map to figure it out. Interesting places, lots of old geezers sitting in the sun.
The road eventually connected with the autostrada going west to Naples. For the second time in as many trips, I screwed up the autostrada entrance rigmarole and didn't get my toll ticket. Amazingly, in most of Italy there is NOTHING in English. Up to that point, about the only English word I'd seen was BAR at every petrol station. So, when I got to the big exit tollgate on the outskirts of Naples, the booth boy spoke gibberish to me, waved his arms around then crawled out of his cage, wrote down my registration and gave me a slip for a E75 fine. OK, Guido - I'll rush over to the speedcop offcice and pay it on the spot.
Actually, I smiled, said "Fuck you very much" and rode off. Catch me if you can. :biggrin:
20 k's later I was in Naples, which is another story....
The other one was an American high school teacher who had just done the EL CAMINO DE SANTIAGO pilgrimage hike (or The Way of Saint James) in northern Spain. It's 30 k's a day for something like 5 weeks. I liked him, he wasn't a typical yank. He was skinny, quiet, open-minded and respectful of other people.
They both made me feel like a lazy bastard.
In 2008 I had merely made the briefest acquaintance of Italian drivers. I was about to get an edu-macation in fucking insanity. Good thing I didn't know it, would have got right back on the ferry...
Brindisi is located on the back side of the "heel" of Italy, about as far south as you can go, and nothing to look at. All I saw was light industry with some agriculture in between. Instead of heading north right away, I got clever and decided to ride across the heel to Taranto, which is at the "instep" if you can visualise it. In the early days of World War 2, the British navy's old 90-knot Swordfish biplanes gave the Italian navy a serious hiding in the harbour of Taranto. I'd read the autobiography of one of the British pilots, and thought I might get a big picture idea of what he had written. Bad idea - I got stuck in morning traffic on a two-lane road at a railway crossing and had lesson one in driving, Italian style. After extricating myself from THAT mess, I headed north on small backroads through farmlands and small villages. It was fun, but time-consuming so I got back on the regional highway up the east coast to BARI and points beyond. My goal was FOGGIA, where the SAAF flew from in WW2 and some old toppie friends I had from those days told me stories about.
I was starting to understand what I had let myself in for as far as riding went, but I fell in love with Italy almost immediately. The first petrol station I filled up at had this sign:
That opened my eyes, and I swear, EVERY one of the hundreds of petrol stations I saw over the next week, had a bar in them. I'm moving there as soon as I can save enough money for a one way ticket.
Italian highways, and especially AUTOSTRADAS, or freeways, are not for the ignorant or oblivious. The autostradas have very few on- and off ramps, typically 50 or 60 k's apart. I'd learned that lesson in 2008, so I was making sure I knew EXACTLY where I was trying to go at all times. Conversely, they have turn-outs like these every k or two or three, many with emergency phone booths.
It was drizzling on and off, and I stopped to take my rain gear off again. I noticed a farmer right next to the highway, busy tending his lands out of his station wagon. NOT ONE of the hundreds of farmers I saw after that, out on their lands, drove a bakkie. Family saloons, station wagons, even a panel van or two, but NOT ONE bakkie. Now there's a business opportunity for some enterprising boerkie, hey? Go sell bakkies to the Wops. Instant millionaire.
I was disappointed and shocked with Foggia. The small city was a filthy shithole - the new part at least, I never saw the (very) old part. Litter all over, graffiti on every vertical surface, lots of scaly-looking characters lurking around. I went to the airport, knowing that typically there are hotels and other amenities close by. When I parked and saw the lawn out in front, I started having some serious doubts. Check the "lawn".
A friendly oke at the tourist info office inside, who spoke 17 words of English, directed me to a hotel in town. After circling the area three times and seeing street-corner gangs start taking interest in me, the obvious tourist, I rode 30 odd k's to the coast and stayed in a hotel at MANFREDONIA which was undergoing a major remodel. The food was brilliant, and the owner personally came to every table and apologisd for the noise and mess.
My planning for trips like these is simple - I don't. I just ride every day until I either get very tired (ie the KTM seat makes my arse bleed) or the sun goes down, and then find a hotel or B+B or campsite. It never fails, and there is no pressure to get somewhere because I have areservation.
The next morning, heading back west to Foggia. The area is mostly agricultural, with industry around the bigger towns and cities. It being spring, the wildflowers were in full bloom, mostly yellow but also purple, blue, white with swathes of red poppies in every field.
That's Foggia in the distance, looking west. During the war, there were 24 airfields in the area around Foggia where the SAAF, RAF and Americans flew from. One of my late friends, old Pat, had flown B-24 Liberators in 31 SAAF Squadron from Foggia and I had pinpointed the site where their airstrip had been, so wanted to go see what the area looked like.
.
Of the 24 airstrips, only two are still in use - one is the Foggia airport where I had been the previous day, and one is an Italian AF base today. Right in front of the base, I saw this shrine:
Poor 18 year old Michele Falco had obviously chucked his Guzzi or Ducati down the road here in 1956 and wrapped himself around a pole or something.
Riding up the coast from Bari to Foggia the previous day, I was struck by the hundreds of identical farmhouses. The rural roads are arrow-straight, and every few hundred metres is a farmhouse identical to those around it, all numbered ONC XX:
I haven't yet researched what it's all about, but the little I picked up from people I spoke to who understood English, is that it's Mussolini's legacy - the Fascists had built a very organised agriculture sector, with groups of farms managed by a district office. I saw these district offices too, most were deserted and boarded up.
Many farms were, too. note the identical layout, with ONC number on right.
The area was very scenic, everything green and in bloom. And the wind was HOWLING. I got very the moer in at times cause the wind was trying to blow me off the bike, but I finally figured out about 10 days ago (the day before the trip ended in London) that the prevailing winds in Europe are from the West and Northwest. I just happened to have done 5000 k's going the opposite way. I was beginning to think some higher force was trying to tell me something. Approching Foggia again:
I eventually found the location of the wartime airstrip known as Foggia Number One, from where old Pat Egan and his mates had flown bombing raids against Germany and supply runs to Warsaw in 1944. There is nothing left of the airfield today except for some concrete taxiways but I had seen what I'd gone there for so didn't spend time looking for it.
The old airfield is just inside the ring road around Foggia so I stayed on it and soon found myself in the countryside, going west towards Naples. Another abandoned farmhouse.
Within 20 k's of Foggia to the west and southwest, the countryside changes from flat coastal plain to rolling hills and eventually mountains. This was a road on the map, but unfortunately It wasn't going rowards Naples so I reluctantly turned around.
One of the District Offices or whatever they were, all had a sign CASA CANTONERA on the front, then a name and a number. I'll have to look into it and figure out what it was.
The road followed a river and a railroad through the mountains, and after an hour of that I noticed this climb, which I HAD to go do. The photo does not do the slope justice, btw. It was seriously steep, 1st and 2nd all the way up the switchbacks.
It followed the crest of a small mountain range, heading more or less where I wanted to go so I stayed on it and went through several hilltop towns, one more scenic than the next.
I have no idea what this little town was called, would have to sit down with a map to figure it out. Interesting places, lots of old geezers sitting in the sun.
The road eventually connected with the autostrada going west to Naples. For the second time in as many trips, I screwed up the autostrada entrance rigmarole and didn't get my toll ticket. Amazingly, in most of Italy there is NOTHING in English. Up to that point, about the only English word I'd seen was BAR at every petrol station. So, when I got to the big exit tollgate on the outskirts of Naples, the booth boy spoke gibberish to me, waved his arms around then crawled out of his cage, wrote down my registration and gave me a slip for a E75 fine. OK, Guido - I'll rush over to the speedcop offcice and pay it on the spot.
Actually, I smiled, said "Fuck you very much" and rode off. Catch me if you can. :biggrin:
20 k's later I was in Naples, which is another story....
