Vienna (pt 2)

Vienna (pt 1)

As I hit the "Buy Now" button on the ferry website last week, I happened to glance through the window and notice sleet.  "Bugger." I thought, "That's a bad omen." and with this in mind I set off into a Severe Weather Warning.

Harwich Ferry Termnal

 

I've been somewhat miffed about putting off the big trip, nobody to blame apart from myself of course but I really had intended on being on the road by now, maybe even making the Buenos Ares HUMM meeting and New Year in Ushaia so finding myself sat in my folks' spare room at a loose end, I decided to go visit some friends in Vienna.
Now Vienna is a bit of a trek from darkest Yorkshire.  Particularly on a motorbike, particularly in December when there's only about 6 hours of daylight so I opted to do it in stages, getting the overnight ferry from Harwich and staying in Leipzig the following night.  I've had the full range of bad weather but it must be said that the most unpleasant conditions were the wind and rain in Blighty.  Thankfully the snow and ice around the German/Czech border didn't get any worse.
Despite the cold, riding in Czech is a pleasant experience.  The roads are pretty good, the volume of traffic is much lower than in Germany and the satnav took me off the motorway and off the beaten track.  Fortunately, everywhere I stopped for petrol was happy to take Euros so there was no need to find cash.
The Czech/Austrian border is a cold war relic.  It's easy to imagine, only a few years ago, this was the Iron Curtain.  A fortified border between East and Western Europe with a kilometre or so of no man's land in between.  Of course now you don't even have to slow down to pass through except to visit the duty free shop.
So then, a few days in Vienna and then back to Blighty.  Route to be decided.

Drying bike gear

The Netherlands

German truck stop

Leipzig refreshments

Rural Czech

Czech

Czech/Austria border

Austrian border

Hidden Valley Rally

 A few pictures from last weekend's Hidden Valley Rally.  This a highly recommended event that just happens to coincide with the Cropton Brewery beer festival.  An interesting mix of people, bikers, the campervan crowd and people just there for the beer.  Thanks to the Tees Tornados MCC for putting on the rally.

Cropton Brewery and rally site.

Whitby from the North Yorks Moors.

Beer selection.

Cider selection.

Some orange people from Hull.

Myself and some orange people.

Fabrication

I finally have the rack an boxes fitted, thanks to George at ATV Services.  My departure date has slipped to the new year while I wait for some dental work but short of some odd jobs, the bike is ready to go.

Rack extended with steel rod to fit with rear footrests.

Box fitted.

Locking mechanism, inside view.

Box in locked position.

Box in unlocked position.

Box ready to be removed.

Rack.

Removed box showing fitting kit.