Almost ready - old codger on tour

Anything to do with being out and about, whether on your own or looking to arrange trips and adventures with forum members
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Cousin Jack
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Re: Almost ready - old codger on tour

Post by Cousin Jack »

Druid wrote: Fri Sep 23, 2022 7:54 pm Looks like an awesome trip.

The pics could do with a brief description of each one, just so we know when & where they were taken :)
Yes, I am working on a (severely edited) version, with 1 or 2 good photos from the best places, with captions and stuff.
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Re: Almost ready - old codger on tour

Post by Cousin Jack »

Potter wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 10:31 am I think there is a picture that's sneaked in there that doesn't belong, it looks like an EOD bloke in C95s.
Well spotted, that is Mr Mark, aka Chiefy, our tour guide. 20+ years in the RN as a clearance diver, the lasr few in the local RN Bomb Disposal team, followed by 10+ years in assorted countries doing mine clearance. An overall good egg, with a fund of stories.
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Re: Almost ready - old codger on tour

Post by gremlin »

How did I miss this thread?

Anyhow, sounds epic (literally!) albeit one my flabby arse would be hard pressed to endure these days.

As any bike trip around Italy this year seems to be all but written off I'll have a look at your photos to console myself.
All aboard the Peckham Pigeon! All aboard!
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Re: Almost ready - old codger on tour

Post by Whysub »

That looked like hard going! Did a 30 day trip through 14 European countries back in May & June, with a few days off the bikes here and there. Some days only 3 hours riding, others 6 hours but never more than that.
The Balkans are fantastic, the roads, the scenery, the people and recent and ancient history.
Kosovo and Albania are fantastic countries to visit, and the people are unbelievable friendly to the Brits. Stopped at a petrol station outside of Prizren in Kosovo, a bloke came over to us with two bottles of beer, saying "Welcome to Kosovo, I hope you have a great time here".
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Re: Almost ready - old codger on tour

Post by Cousin Jack »

Whysub wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 1:21 pm That looked like hard going! Did a 30 day trip through 14 European countries back in May & June, with a few days off the bikes here and there. Some days only 3 hours riding, others 6 hours but never more than that.
The Balkans are fantastic, the roads, the scenery, the people and recent and ancient history.
Kosovo and Albania are fantastic countries to visit, and the people are unbelievable friendly to the Brits. Stopped at a petrol station outside of Prizren in Kosovo, a bloke came over to us with two bottles of beer, saying "Welcome to Kosovo, I hope you have a great time here".
It was harder than I expected! I did check the mileages before I signed up and they seemed OKish, but it was the time that was the issue. Border delays, traffic, accidents, etc, all meant that a do-able day could turn into a bit a marathon. Some days were as little as you wanted, like zero.

Yes, the Balkans were fantastic, I really liked Sarajevo and Dubrovnik, and the coastline up from Dubrovnik was ace.
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Re: Almost ready - old codger on tour

Post by Whysub »

Cousin Jack wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 3:11 pm
It was harder than I expected! I did check the mileages before I signed up and they seemed OKish, but it was the time that was the issue. Border delays, traffic, accidents, etc, all meant that a do-able day could turn into a bit a marathon. Some days were as little as you wanted, like zero.

Yes, the Balkans were fantastic, I really liked Sarajevo and Dubrovnik, and the coastline up from Dubrovnik was ace.
It is a fantastic route along the coast road. This year we started at the top of in Opatija, and rode down the A65 to Omis (I've ridden down to Dubrovnik a number of times) Worth cutting inland from there and heading to the abandoned airbase near Zeljava, well worth a visit, and onto Zagreb.much less used roads than the coast road, and still with stunning views

The rebuilding of the cable car in Sarajevo makes it easier to get up to the site of the abandoned 1984 Olympic bobsleigh run, and you can see why the Serbian forces set up here to carpet bombed the city relentlessly.
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Re: Almost ready - old codger on tour

Post by Cousin Jack »

Whysub wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 7:40 pm ............and you can see why the Serbian forces set up here to carpet bombed the city relentlessly.
We had a day off the bike in Sarajevo, and a tour of the old city with a local guide. He was a young bloke who lived through that as a child, and gave an interesting account of that time, and the problems they faced. Surprisingly, for someone who had suffered through something like that, he also gave an extremely balanced picture of the geo-political tensions that led up to that war.

Fascinating place, and for a Moslem society (90+% of the inhabitants of Sarajevo are Moslem) extremely open, welcoming and tolerant. Caters for everyone, from UK bikers to Moslem women tourists from the Middle East in full kit including mesh veil. We stayed at a big hotel in the centre, and it had a posh wedding on, and the guests were all well dressed, but the dress varied from revealing posh frocks to conservative Moslem dress. They all seemed to mix and mingle in the bar quite happily. The other surprise, at least to me, was the number of coloured people in the mix.
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