France and the Kiwis 2017
After the dismal weather I had had to endure of my two previous UK trip, I was already considering going to France at some time in Early September for a spot of respite and hopefully some better weather.
So it was time a plan was hatched, armed with the Campbell's travel itinerary I plotted and schemed ways to get Sandy into St Georges care home, Chalky off to the neighbours and me and the fat arsed KTM of too France for 8 days
The basic route was from Portsmouth to Caen, on Brittany ferries overnight on Monday 18/09 then ride down to St Malo to join Colin and AnnaMeika for a couple of days, after which I would ride off towards Tours, camp for another couple of nights, have ride around that area, then ride to Nantes and Vannes rejoin them for another couple of nights before making my way back to the ferry in Caen and the UK.As usual Sandy would be going into St Georges for the duration of my trip albeit rather reluctantly, but she understands the need for me to have a break, Chalky on the other hand couldn't understand why I was leaving her with Mike and Tracy maybe one day I will get her a dog carrier so she can come with me for the odd trip.
Monday the 18/09 was a lovely bright sunny day although the forecast warned of the possibility of a bit of rain that evening. As I was getting dressed and ready to leave it started to rain rather heavier than expected, and so it was on with the wet weather gear for the ride to Portsmouth. Thus began a horrendous ride my visor kept misting up even though I have a pinlock that is supposed to keep the visor clear at all times, cars being were driving with headlights on full beam, I even had one fucking muppet pull out across the road in front of me and stop blocking my lane truly what a "fucking C*£t" and he just sat there looking at me like some gormless twat.
God I hope he doesn't breed..................................
Honestly nothing worse than trying to stop a fully laden 200kg plus bike in the lashing rain on greasy roads, hoping you can stop in time without skidding and going into a low side slide. Had it happen to me many years ago when in similar circumstances me and the bike slid across two lanes of traffic at a roundabout where i slammed into the curb before being sent flying into the undergrowth smashing my ankle in the process.
The misting of my visor and glasses got that bad that i pulled into the services removed the pinlock and glasses and rode the rest of the way to Portsmouth with my visor sightly open, not ideal but it was better than before.
Made it to Portsmouth and the ferry "Normandie", boarded with no further incident, although the rain had now been replaced with drizzle (Gootie to my Mom), checked the bike was securely strapped down, before going up to the passenger decks, I had booked one of the reclining seats to try and get some shut eye but they are so uncomfortable and with people walking around it does get very noisy especially with dickheads leaving their car alarms on despite constant reminders prior to sailing for owners to leave their alarms off. and yet we still had them going off every now and then.
So not a wink of sleep was slept.
The Ferry docked in Caen on time 6.45am, on a wet miserable dark and dreary morning, and I was bloody knackerd having now been awake for nearly 24 hrs, but hey the adventure begins. First port of call was to be the Ibis hotel in Caen to meet up with the Campbell's have some breakfast before we made our separate journeys to St Malo, them on the train and me by KTM
Coming up to the passport control booth I get my passport out ready to hand over and just clip the crash barrier and me and the bike go sprawling across the road, only fucking typical of me, and those that normally ride with me know what to expect, yup the occasional mid ride lie down.
As this was before passport control was this technically an accident in France or in no mans land, therefore was it technically an official lie down
Luckily for me another biker came to my aid and helped me pick the bike up, the passport officer came out of her booth and checked my passport before wishing me bon voyage.
Made it through Caen to the Ibis Hotel with out any incident apart from going round the block twice and being stuck at a red light for an age, I don't think the motorbike is big enough to trigger the change, still at 7 o'clock there weren't any coppers about so a sneaky jump through and what the hell the guy in the car behind me followed suite, no flashing lights no sirens so good to go.
Met with Colin and AnnaMeika at the hotel Ibis, really good to see them again even though it had only been 12 months since we last saw each other.
Had a continental breakfast in the hotel, Colin tried to get me a room at their hotel in St Malo, using the Ibis chain internal booking, but it was fully booked,
I had tried a couple weeks earlier but had just missed a room by a few hours, it would of been easier to stay with them then maybe I could of had a drink or two, but really those long drinking sessions especially with Colin are long passed now. I have no chance of keeping up with even the youngest Campbell these days.
Plans were made to meet up that night, once I got camp set up and had shower I'd make my way to the hotel in St Malo, then it would be out for a meal.
The way out of Caen was fairly easy and although I was a bit daunted to be riding on wrong side of the road it was all okay . The roads were good and not much traffic compared to the UK, a couple of times I had to ride through a rain shower, but I could easily see a few miles ahead and as it looked clear I decided to ride through the rain rather than stopping to put my waterproof trousers (My Buffalo waterproof motorbike trousers were not very waterproof definitely wont buy again), besides putting my waterproofs over my trousers would of given me major sweaty bollocks, so i would just continue riding and let the wind dry me out.
Got to St Malo around 3.30 pm found the campsite I had picked out and man what a total shit hole sign up saying no toilets and no showers and this had had pretty good on line reviews, good job it was closed. So time to look for another campsite the nearest one was 5km further away from the Ibis Plage so I wouldn't be walking from the site to meet the Campbell's would have to take the bike down.
So Camping La Fontaine
www.campinglafontaine.com
A fairly nice site was probably pretty decent in summer and would be full. I was a bit shocked communal toilets and showers although you did have separate cubicles still when in France and only 26.30 Euro for the two nights. Reception were very helpful as we tried to work out if there were any buses available to take me straight down to the the hotel, there was a possible connection but the return would of been more difficult, so by bike it was.
With camp set, a quick shower and then into town to meet up with my fellow travellers.
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| Replica ship used for film and corporate events |
It was a pleasant warm bright evening so different to the previous night, We took a stroll into the Old Town
The main gate of Old Town St Malo the flower beds were very well kept and overall it was very clean. only my first day in France and already I am impressed at how clean and well kept it all is, not one bit of litter yet.The old walled town of St Malo was all cobbled streets ad stone buildings, there was an abundance of restaurants all of which seemed to have the very similar menus and it would seem that Oysters were order or catch of the day much to Colin's delight..
I woke Wednesday morning and a quick check of the KTM revealed that the radiator expansion bottle was empty, I had had a slight issue the day before whilst riding around St Malo with the bike heating up but I just put it down to city riding and being fully laden and the ambient temp must of been in the low 20'sc.
A bit concerned I filled it with water and decided i would need to keep an eye on temp that day and it was only a short ride to meet with Colin and AnnaMeika, but by the time i parked up at the hotel I had water pouring out of the expansion bottle again.
Nothing I could do now time to go and do the tourist thing we spent the day exploring the old town, as we walked round the ramparts
I was half expecting to come face to face with the three musketeers at any moment.
This a town full of history, and we spent the rest of the day exploring the town and cathedral with its spectacular stained glass windows, all the while the overheating of the KTM played constantly on my mind
As Colin and AnnaMeika had booked a day trip to Jersey in the Channel Islands for the next day, and I was worried about the bike I decided it was time for me to head back to camp and have a look at the bike whilst it was still daylight. We agreed to meet again in Vannes all being well at the weekend.
On the way back to the campsite I called in at a French Super market (man gotta love these places so much more on offer than the UK) got some supplies, some proper engine coolant and filled up with fuel.
At camp I pulled the panels off checked the radiator hoses, expansion bottle and topped up with the coolant. I couldn't see any obvious signs to cause the overheating.
I managed to get on line and checked for possible issues of overheating on the KTM forum and ADV sites. this showed that there were several possible
- Blown head gasket, possible but no loss in power and there were no signs of oil/water comtamination
- Water pump impeller shaft again possible but no sign of oil water contamination water bottle clear with no sludge.
- Knackered radiator cap not creating a tight seal so as water heats and pressure builds it is unable to contain water. this is the most likely issue clean the radiator cap and replace making sure it is a tight fit.
Thursday morning I pack up camp ready to either return home or to carry on towards Tours and another couple of days camping in the Loire valley.
After a couple of hours i stop and give the bike a check over, the water expansion bottle is behaving itself no loss of liquid and with the riding this morning through a couple of traffic jams thanks to road works, i would of expected it boil over.
Great let the journey continue
On the recommendation of my mate Russ (aka Tramp) I had plotted my route to take me to a village called Durtal, cant believe how good the roads are here very quite and i cant even recall seeing a single pot hole and the drivers I encounter are courteous and biker aware a real pleasure to be riding especially as it is warm dry slightly although slightly over cast.
I am making really good progress and I feel a load has lifted as I have stopped several times to check the water bottle and all is well, well that was until going through a beautiful wooded region with some long sweeping bends i suddenly hear this "clack clack" to my right and all of a sudden there is a fucking huge and I mean fucking huge Red deer Stag bearing down on me, we are both heading directly for the same bit of road, me in the direction of travel of the road and the deer on a intercept course trying to get to the other side of the road. I hit the brakes as hard as I could without going into a skid, to try and slow me down enough to at least cut to the inside of the road and get round behind the deer. but the big KTM fully loaded is not easy to slow down that quick. I began to turn but i could see i wasn't going to make it, i could either lie bike down or carry on. i carried on and partially aimed the bike at his rear quarter figuring I was either going to make the pass to the rear or hit him just behind the rib cage.
Maybe we would both survive the impact or I could have deer liver for diner if I pulled myself out of the ditch.
I reckon we both came close to shitting our selves as I swear I could see and hear his great protuberance of an anus puckering and whistling in unison with my own rectum. An homage to a oompah band
I came so close to hitting him, but he managed to leap clear of the bike going right over the front wheel so close that I could smell him, and with that he was gone disappearing into the woods.
I stopped checked the myself and the bike in case I had actually hit him and couldn't or didn't feel anything due to adrenalin, no damage, no shakes, no mess in trousers so time to carry on.
The initial plan was to get to Durtal and camp there or thereabouts for the night, but on reaching Durtal although it was a lovely village I decided I could do with a bit more riding. Filling up with fuel I noticed that my handlebars/headstock felt lose, the rubber spacers on the handle bar risers had worn through, I didn't have the tools with me to remove the risers, I could bodge the rubber spacers by using one or more of the heavy duty tyre puncture patches I did have. A quick stop at one of the local supermarket to get a few supplies mainly water as everyone knows in a crisis a cuppa is the best thing, well that is until sundowner time. I also managed to get a full socket set, more than needed but with the tools I had on me I could now carry out the repairs to the KTM.
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| Bridge over the Loire at Brehemont |
Now one thing I have learnt I is that at least some of the listed camps are either non existent or not quite where there should be.
I did find one site that looked almost brand new, http://en.loireetchateaux.com/ good and cheap and very clean.
I pitched my tent in a far corner needing to work on the bike and not really wanting to be disturbed whilst doing it,
I still had a good couple of hours of daylight to complete the task at hand. the handle bars came off easily enough but to get to the bottom bolt of the risers is a right faff, but they need to come off so i could put in my custom made rubber patch spacers. Not the neatest job in the world but it did the job once all was back together there was no play at all in the bars.
Another beer and time to hit the sack overall the bike had ran well in spite of the issues with the overheating and the handlebars I felt confident I could still carry on with my trip.
Stats
Return ferry Portsmouth/Caen with Brittany Ferries £149
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