"Planning" for a Trip to Paris!

   You'll find that not much planning goes into my trips. I try to have the right gear, a general direction of travel and usually a destination, that's about it. I always try to find something amazing to see or experience during my travels. On some trips I try to visit historic sites and others I'll try to find places that are new to me that I can share with my family and friends. Long weekends are great for trips.

   Veteran's Day is kind of a big deal to me. Being a veteran, and coming from a family of veterans and proud military supporters, this day has a special meaning in my life. Where I work Veteran's Day also means a four day weekend. Naturally, to me, that means more time to travel and to explore Europe on my motorbike. Last year, Veteran's Day fell on a Friday meaning I would have Thursday and Friday off along with the weekend. 

   On Tuesday I looked at my new map and tried to decide where I should go for the long weekend. My eyes went to Venice first. It looked like a trip to Venice would be about a ten hour ride.

   

   Venice is one of those places that I knew I had to see! It's a city of canals, old dudes singing in boats, art, historic sites and of course nice roads to ride on as I leisurely make my way through the Alps on my way there. 

   

   My good friend, Andy, lives in Garmisch which is about half of the way to Venice so I thought that would be a good place to spend a night on my way to and from Venice. I picked up my phone and dialed Andy's number, to ask him if I could borrow his couch as I traveled when Paris caught my eye.

   

   Paris is a much larger and more colorful dot on the map, which is probably why it drew my attention. I also knew that France saw a significant amount of action during both of the World Wars and that there are several American cemeteries in France that serve as the final resting place for thousands of American Soldiers and Marines. 

   I hung the phone up and thought about how amazing it would be to visit an American cemetery in France on Veteran's Day. Even better, this Veteran's Day would be 11/11/11. I decided that nothing would be more fitting than to ride to Paris for the long weekend. I could leave Early on Thursday morning, stop in a town near one of the cemeteries, spend the night, visit the cemetery for Veteran's Day and then cruise on to Paris to see the City. 

   Wednesday morning, one day before my trip I went to work and excitedly chatted up my journey with my coworkers. Most of them said I was crazy for riding my bike that far. I asked my new friends, new because I had only with them for a few weeks at that point, if there was anything I should look out for in Paris. The standard answer I got from everyone who had been there was: "Traffic is nuts!"

   There were also the other fun statements like: "The people drive crazy there!" and "Don't drive in the city, it's a walking city!" There was also the one statement that really made me think: "Watch out for the big traffic circle, it's like five unmarked lanes of crazy people trying to merge!" 

   I wasn't too nervous at first, after all, my more formative riding experience came from close to a year of commuting to Washington D.C. from Maryland. Nothing can be as bad as that, right? I was, however, very intrigued by this giant traffic circle. I decided right then and there that I would avoid this giant round-a-bout of death at all costs. I just couldn't find it on my map. Oh, and nobody could tell me exactly where it was either. The best information I got was. "It's by the big Arc de something-or another." I will tell you now that I definitely should not have been looking for a boat. 

   When I got home from work I packed for my trip. The first two things I loaded were my map and my compass - I'm a quick learner. I remembered how cold I was in the evening on my Prague trip so I opted to pack my Gerbing heated jacket liner and heated gloves from Bob's BMW instead of, well, nothing. I also packed a change of clothes, hygiene kit two water bottles and my sleeping bag, just in case. 

   

   I went to bed early Wednesday night so I cold get an early start on my trip. I turned on some music and went to sleep thinking of how great it will be to ride through the French Countryside on my way to Paris, desperately trying to avoid the big boat when I get into the city. 

   When I awoke on Thursday my plan had already crumbled. I wanted to get an early start in the morning but I overslept! I had some trouble sleeping the night before. I kept waking up in a cold sweat after having terrible nightmares of being trapped in the center lane of the round-a-bout of death, circling a big wooden boat, trying to change lanes so I could get out of town as an angry Frenchman, wearing a suit of armor and a Rutgers hat, stood on the boat throwing burritos at me yelling that I must leave or he will smite me again.          

   

          

A Ride to Prague

   My plan for this blog was simple, ride, experience, write, share. Simple right? Yeah, not so much. I guess my mom was right, following up on things isn't my strongest trait. Having said that, let's try to catch up.
 
   Prague was my first trip out of Germany. This trip came during the first weekend of November and the weather was amazing. The leaves were changing and the brisk autumn air in the morning gave way to pleasant weather for the start of my trip. I packed a few bottles of water in my panniers, donned my old red Frank Thomas riding coat and Olympia trousers, helmet and gloves and fired up my motorbike.

   I didn't really have the right map; this would later become a bit of an issue. My map was for Germany. Although it showed the Czech Republic, all the way to Prague, the roads were a little bit, shall I say, missing. As for navigating in Prague, I was out of luck!

   I cruised on the autobahn through Weiden and made my way to the border following signs that read "Praha CZ." The ride was amazing! The weather was sunny and clear as I made my way to the border. I felt lucky to experience Europe on my motorbike in the fall. Seeing the bright red and orange leaves on the trees that surrounded farms in the countryside as I rode by will always be one of my favorite memories.

   As I crossed the border I looked for the signs that would direct me to a place to buy a "vignette." A vignette is a cool little sticker that you buy to drive on the autobahn in some countries. In the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland drivers are required to purchase a vignette to pay the toll for driving on the autobahn. I found the vignette spot, conveniently located at a gas station on the first exit from the autobahn, on the Czech side of the border. I patiently waited in line behind a few people who were speaking the local language and then put my foot straight into my mouth. In my first ever attempt to speak Czech I asked the clerk for a vignette sticker for my motorbike. He looked at me, smiled and said in clear English: "We don't sell motorcycles here, not even ones with stickers." Even better, he pointed to the sign behind him, which happens to be in plain view, and in English, that read "Motorcycles don't need vignettes." Score one for the locals...

   Back on my bike I explored a few roads through the country and then made the trip through Plzen and then on to Prague. I tried to follow the signs leading tourists like me to the center of town but that didn't work out so well. Having missed several turns, and hoping that I would find more signs after my missed turns, I managed to make what would normally be about a 15 minute ride to the center of the city into a two hour ride as the temperature steadily dropped.  

   Needless to say I was able to see some amazing things as I wandered around Prague on my bike looking for something that looked like one of the many photos I had seen of this beautiful city.

   By the time I made it to the Prague Castle the temperature was about 50 degrees fahrenheit. I was in my coat and riding pants, but I was lacking the important feature: the insulated liners. I felt a bit silly as I looked at my panniers, knowing that they were empty. I thought to myself "I could have fit my liners, two jackets, and a burrito in there and all I packed was two bottles of water." Needless to say, I was getting a bit chilly! As it was getting colder, and the sun was starting to find its way west, I realized that I didn't have much time to figure out how to get out of town.

   I parked my bike, probably illegally, near the Prague Castle, and took a 200 meter walk to the castle, took a picture and started to shiver thinking about my ride home in the dark. Did I mention that it was getting chilly? No wait, not chilly, cold!

  I climbed back onto my bike and headed towards the sunset. I didn't ride off into the sunset because I'm from Arizona and, you know, that's what we do. No, I rode off into the sunset because my map didn't actually show any roads for where I was. I reasoned with my self that if Germany is to the West, then I should "Go west young man." I know, I'm not actually young, don't judge...

   Riding west worked out, for a little while. I managed to find my way onto a country road that headed west. I was following the directions from signs that read "Plzen." As I meandered west, the sun went down and I discovered that the signs here aren't reflective like the signs in America. I managed to stay on the right path after making several U turns to read signs.

   As I got closer to Plzen my trusty fuel light came on. I love how dependable that little light is! I'm just not a big fan of its timing. I looked as far as I could down the road and saw no signs of a gas station. I began to worry. As the miles rolled by a dense fog settled in along my route making travel a bit precarious. Even worse, the first car that I saw after dark was approaching me very quickly, from behind. I was wondering if the driver would see me before I would become the new hood ornament on his car. I was relieved as I saw the yellow-orange flash of a turn signal light up the fog behind me. The driver, clearly a local who knew exactly where they were going, slowed his car down, politely passed me, and then sped off into the fog and darkness.

   As I rode a few more miles down the road I saw the glow of a gas station sign. As I got closer I saw the sign clearly and nothing more. I stopped, looked around, and to my right, through the fog, about 200 meters off of the road I saw the faint silhouette of gas pumps. There were no lights on at the station so I started mentally preparing myself for a long cold night sleeping in the parking lot of a gas station just west of nowhere in the Czech Republic.

   To humor myself I rode down the driveway, toward the station, to see what I could see.  As I made my way past the pumps the lights came on! The clerk in the station, to save on operating costs, turns the lights off when there are no customers. I guess that could be considered a good business practice but the savings are definitely not passed onto the customers! I paid in Czech Koruna what would convert to about $8.50 per gallon for gas.

   Still cold, but with a tank full of gas, I continued my journey through the darkness and fog to the west. The visibility became so poor that I couldn't see more than about 15 feet in front of my bike. My pace slowed to a leisurely 30 miles per hour as I smelled coal fires burning, warming the farm houses that dotted the landscape in the Czech Countryside.

   After an hour, and a near miss with a tractor following a wrong turn on a farm road, I made it into Plzen. I still don't know why there was a tractor driving around after dark in the fog but surely there's some Czech farmer blogging about his adventures wondering why somebody on a motorcycle was riding around in the middle of nowhere. I pondered stopping for the night but the fog seemed to be clearing. I managed to find my way back to the autobahn and made my way back to Weiden and then back home.

   What a ride! I managed to add another country to my list of places I've been, see some amazing things, get very cold, and learn a few things.

   Things I learned: Bring a map. Wait, let me add to that. Bring a map that covers your entire trip. This includes where you're starting, the route you'll be taking and where you're going. Bring a compass. When you realize that you brought the wrong map, and it gets dark, a compass can help you find your way west.