Slappers take Misano - 2014

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 19:27

My photos of the trip.

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 19:29

: On the train. We were allowed on the next train which was almost empty. What a masterpiece of engineering the tunnel is.

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 19:31

: First night's stop near Ypres, Belgium Beautiful place mixed with some very poignant reminders of how low humanity can sink too. The bikes had their own brand new personal garage.

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 19:34

: The hotel itself still had trenchs in the gardens and the pool is the remains of the Hooge crater whereby bombs were tunnelled under enemy lines and exploded in one massive explosion.

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 19:37

: The Menin gate. We asked the hotel to ring for a taxi but the owner explained we needed to be there for 8pm to hear the Last Post. She volunteered Hans, a guy sat at a table pissed as a fart, to take us in. Bratty insisted on sitting in the front seat next to him.

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 19:40

: We sat in the square in the centre of Ypres, had a decent meal. Lovely place

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 19:45

: Day Two and we headed down through Belgium and met some exiled Slappers in Bastogne. The memorial here is for the Battle of the Bulge where 76,000 American servicemen died in WW2. The Eagle memorial is for the 101st Airborne, now better known as the Band of Brothers.

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 19:57

: Day Two ended here at Pension Williams in Seebach on the edge of the B500 and Black Forest. It was more like a youth hostel than a hotel but served its purpose well. The journey down through Belgium, Luxembourg and into Germany was a bit of a slog down the motorway.

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 20:04

: Day Three started well riding some stunning roads on the B500. But we somehow got lost as the B500 is not one single stretch of road. We eventually gave it up as a bad job and headed for Switzerland and ended up in a McDonalds on Lake Konstanz. Very few Swiss seem to speak or understand any English. We rode down the eastern side of Switzerland. Some nice towns but the road never seemed to open up. Evey 5kms or so was another town. And no one speeds in Switzerland as the punishments for being caught are very severe. We ended up in another McDonalds somewhere in Switzerland late in the day ( no idea where we were). We encountered our first rain and we still had some 3hours to get to Lake Como for our next stop.

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 20:11

: We never made it to Como that night. We stopped for fuel but the machine would not accept our cards and the station was closed. By luck a couple turned up to empty the cash tills. Blade suggested we call it a night and find somewhere to stop. As it turned out it was a brilliant and sensible decision. It was raining, very dark and we had no idea where we were going. The couple emptying the tills suggested a town, Splugen, just 2km up the road. We eventually found a decently priced hotel. Prego! These photos are from the hotel the next morning.

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 20:15

These photos are not mine as we didn't stop for photos but the Splugen Pass is something else. Apparently amongst the more dangerous roads in the world. This is the upside in Switzerland. We were now heading for Lecco on Lake Como.

and the downside in Italy.

.

To have attempted that in the dark and wet would have been suicidal.

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 20:22

: Lecco and the shore of Lake Como. Quiite beautiful. We stopped here for lunch in a cafe right next to a girls college where the students were just leaving for lunch.
Bratty had spent the morning burning extra fuel in the tunnels around the Lake revving the nuts off his bike and making lots of noise.

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 20:33

: We spent the afternoon on the Italian motorways. Some Italian drivers are mental. If you are in their way they tailgate as close as possible until you move, even if there is a queue of cars in front of you. We did about 250 miles in the afternoon and eventually made it to the hotel around 6pm.

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 20:38

: Saturday is qualifying day at Misano Motogp.
Rossi hears that the Tankslap crew are here and has a helmet designed to commemorate the event.

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 20:38

Post by **C00kiemonster** » 22 Sep 2014, 20:44

Great pics. I just haven't had time to do much with mine yet, good reminder and great holiday

Post by **duke63** » 22 Sep 2014, 20:44

: Sunday - Raceday- What more can you say? Rossi pushing as hard as anyone. The Rossi fanclub stand went mental when he came round in first place. I said to Cookie at the start wouldn't it be great if he led just for one lap? But he led for lap after lap. And then Marquez pushed so hard to keep up, he fell off in front of us. You could feel the tension in the stand then as everyone realised Vale might actually win.