Doug (my younger son) & I recently completed our 2 week motorcycle trip to Europe. My other son, Nick, could not join us as he was away in Peru. We had a fantastic time & I am delighted to tell you that we had no accidents, covering over 3,000 miles.
We picked up the rental BMW bikes in Heidelberg, then headed up the Rhein & Mosel valleys. Crossed over in Northern France to visit the WW1 battlefield at Verdun before heading down into French Alps just outside Grenoble. This meant that we had a chance to get used to the bikes with increasing complexity of turns and different road surfaces. We then remained in the mountains, moving over to Chamonix to Switzerland & then across into Northern Italy. The final day was the Stelvio Pass with the unending hairpin curves - great way to finish the trip.
Both Doug & I remarked how pleased we were that we had taken the Level 1 class that gave us the skill & confidence to tackle the different roads, the ability to maneuver through the challenging sequences of bends. On some days it seemed that we must have completed over a 1000 turns as the roads just kept going & going. I was passed so often by faster riders who were more familiar with the roads, but in the back of my head was the familiar chant - "in like a lamb, out like a lion". That ensured that I never got myself into a situation where I felt out of control going through a bend. I can see how easy it would have been to get into trouble so easily.
The trip has certainly renewed my interest in motorcycling and I looking forward to joining you on one of the Overland courses to improve my skills.
Regards,
David
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