The gear and how it held up

Mechanical:

• BMW F800GS Trophy with OEM aluminium panniers and usual bits - new rear pads €66 at BMW Motorrad in Kaprun Austria (nearly ready for replacement at the start of the trip)
• Heidenau K60 Scouts - about 50% tread at the start, now about 20% tread
• various tools + tyre irons/spare tube - not used
• DRC mini foot pump - not used
• chain lube - used daily 1–2x

Electronics:

• GoPro Hero3 - no issues (but battery life is horrible)
• Nikon D7000 + 2 lenses, polarising filters and speedlight - no issues, excellent battery life (at 75% after 500 shots)
• SPOT Connect - absolutely rubbish, see below
• BMW Navigator IV GPS - no issues, but software really needs a 'navigate to route' function to join up on pre-programmed routes... currently the only option is to navigate to start of route so you are on your own to find your way to a point along the route
• Sena Bluetooth SMH-5 intercom - no issues, see below
• iPhone 5 - no issues, Booking Tonight app was immensely useful
• iPad 2 with camera connection kit and compact bluetooth keyboard - no issues, although not really needed along with laptop
• DIN to 3x USB adapter with device cables - no issues, only used once as devices charged each evening in hotels
• Sanyo Eneloop AA batteries + USB charger - not used (see below re SPOT Connect)
• MacBook Air (work laptop) - no issues

Misc:

• bike documentation/insurance - required, but not used
• passports - only used to re-enter UK
• St Christopher talisman - clearly it worked, we got back in one piece!
• European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) - required, but not used
• bank/credit cards + driving licence
• emergency map - not used
• personal hygiene items + ear plugs
• carrier bags - for dirty laundry, wet gloves etc
• small gifts for friends/family

Me:

• Icon Patrol waterproof jacket/trousers/gloves + Variant helmet and spare visor - see below
• TCX X-Desert waterproof boots - no issues, dry feet all the way!
• Caterpillar shatterproof safety sunglasses - no issues
• CamelBak 1.5l hydration pack - apart from a plastic taste to the water for the first few days, this was much more used than I thought it would be, wouldn't travel without it now
• spare non-waterproof gloves - no issues
• t-shirts/vests, shorts, cargos, trainers, underwear, socks

Zev:

• BMW Boulder 2 jacket with waterproof liner/City 2 trousers - no issues, whomever BMW commissions to make their gear does it well and it is up to the task
• Hein Gericke gloves - no issues
• Shark S500 helmet - no issues, although not a particularly quiet helmet
• Icon Patrol waterproof boots - no issues
• waterproof over-suit - cheap and nasty and performed as expected at its price point
• shirts/vests, shorts, jeans, shoes, underwear, socks

+++ Sena SMH-5 Bluetooth headset/intercom

This was the quiet star of the show—from hot to cold, and rain to snow these little units never stopped, never gave any problem at all. They are the least expensive units in Sena's range but well-featured and support multiple bluetooth connections, so GPS instructions, mobile phone, music player and intercom functions all work as expected. Battery life is fantastic, with the intercom open all day they last nearly 2 days on a charge, and charge via USB. This is an example of a device that does what it should do without any fuss. Are you listening, SPOT?

Photo: Sena SMH5 • Source: Sena Technologies

+++ Icon Patrol Raiden gear + Variant helmet

Couldn't be more pleased, it's not particularly expensive gear compared to some but it is well constructed, fits me perfectly and works as advertised. I've shelled out a bit extra to replace the stock, unremarkable pads with D3O versions (CE Level 2) but otherwise it is as shipped. I stayed completely dry through all sorts of rain, with one exception—a bit of dampness seeping through the undersides of the trousers after 2 hours of downpour including an hour on the French motorway. The Variant helmet shape is also great in rain as the airflow combined with the peak keeps the visor clear of rain, and in hot weather it is the best ventilated helmet I've had to date. A lot of people seem to have an aversion to brighter coloured gear but to be blunt I don't and whatever makes people see me means one less person to plough into me on the road. Too bright for you? They make their gear in black also. And the hood is great when you take off the helmet on a rainy day. Doesn't flap at speed either.

--- SPOT Connect

The biggest disappointment of the trip with respect to gear—YES I know it says on their website that they recommend using special Energizer Lithium batteries but what they don't say is that other batteries either don't work at all, or only last an hour or so. The special Energizers are virtually impossible to find anywhere in Europe. Top that off with constant Bluetooth connectivity issues (phone and device stop talking) and a stupid app on the phone which needs to be in the foreground or the unit stops sending tracking points, and you have a product that would do better smashed at the bottom of a rocky Alpine chasm than come along on my next trip. Infuriatingly disappointing after wasting a shitload of cash on this plus another shitload of cash on the subscription fees. And the map sharing function on their website works like something from 1999. In 2013 devices should not be such a struggle—are you listening SPOT? Built-in battery, USB charging and up-to-date software should not be too much to ask for a 'premium' product.

Photo: SPOT Connect • Source: SPOT LLC

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Alps 2013 quick links

Day 1: London to Lille Day 2: Lille to Hagondange Day 3: Slow road to Ammerschwihr Day 4: Ammerschwihr Day 5: Ammerschwihr to Thônes Day 6: Thônes to.... Thônes Day 7: Thônes to Ruèras Day 8: Ruèras to Flachau

Day 9: Flachau Day 10: Flachau to Wemding Day 11: Wemding to Urberach Day 12: Urberach to Antwerp Day 13: Antwerp to London The gear and how it held up The trip in hindsight

...continue reading

Day 2: Lille to Hagondange

Needless to say, it was somewhat easier to bring the panniers down the 3 flights and we set off around 10am the next morning, with a couple beautiful baguette sandwiches courtesy of Tom. I discovered a truly annoying quirk of my GPS when using preprogrammed routes. It likes to navigate you to the start of the route—in this case the geographical centre point of Lille—unless you can find a road along the programmed route. At home this is easy, but in foreign territory somewhat less so, and we ended up doing a needless loop through central Lille in Monday morning traffic.

45 minutes later we were heading out of Lille and then into Belgium. The rumours are true, they may as well not bother with a sign when you cross the open border, as the roads go from French perfection to war-torn as though someone flipped a switch.

I'm not sure if everyone in Belgium is currently on their holidays but many of the villages and towns we went through looked almost boarded up, with no people walking along and very few cars parked beside the roads.

Stopped to stimulate blood-flow through numb bottoms.

This stretch of road had the only signs of life in the village, with a couple shops open but everywhere else looked abandonned.

No people to be seen.

We stopped to fill up in Beaumont where we spoke with our first Belgians—the woman and (presumably) her daughter at the petrol station. All my initial perceptions changed, they were so welcoming and friendly, and curious about our trip. I spent about 10 minutes chatting with them—I find it heartwarming to meet people who have a genuine interest curiosity about things outside their everyday circles.

Something that stuck me as slightly curious was that they thanked me for speaking French to them... I would never think to thank someone for speaking English to me in the UK. I always try to learn at least enough of a local language to get by, I think it's callous to expect people in other countries to accommodate me in my own language.

A young sheep having a lie-down over the road from the petrol station in Beaumont.

We carried on through a mix of fast roads and slow (but all riddled with holes) as the GPS threaded us toward Luxembourg. On one downhill stretch a police BMW X5 flew past, lights blazing, and a few minutes later we came across an accident where it seems a car smashed straight into a barrier. The front end had been evenly compressed up to the passenger compartment. Hopefully the occupants were ok but it was still a sobering sight knowing they undoubtedly didn't intend for their day to end up like that.

Zev started making noises about food so we diverted up a narrow country in search of a village restaurant for some of Belgium's specialty—frites. After wandering around several villages and a track through a field we came across a restaurant which, like much of the rest of the country, was closed up tight. We stayed in the gravel car park and finished our baguette sandwiches.

Temperature dropped so time to get out a few extra layers.

Back on the main road we carried on slaloming around the holes and before long we were at the open border to Luxembourg.

I should reflect on the journey through Belgium. It is a beautiful country with some of the warmest and friendly people I've come across. The scenery is amazing and we both enjoyed our (short) time there. Still not sure why so many villages seemed almost uninhabited, but summer is the time when people go on holidays en-mass so perhaps someone could comment on this?

Still in good spirits and in one piece.

Luxembourg is one of the richest countries in the world as they have no national deficit. And it shows. The roads are instantly smooth as glass and seem to be engineered to be as enjoyable as possible for bikes and cars alike with endless and perfectly banked curves threading along the hills.

Every village looked like a movie set, immaculately presented without a single chocolate bar wrapper or cigarette butt to be seen. Every building seemed to be coated in a fresh lick of paint and everything seemed to coordinate together from the buildings to the gardens. Coming from London it was practically a culture shock.

Somewhere in rural Luxembourg resting the bottoms.

It only took about 2 hours to cross the country from top to bottom but Luxembourg has earned a spot on my 'must visit again' list.

I've barely mentioned two words about the bike and this is high praise indeed. It carried on with its duties, fully loaded, without so much as a burp. The F800GS is no muscle bike but even loaded up to its limit you never lack power in any way. So far on this trip I have averaged 60mpg on the dot according to the onboard computer—certainly nothing to complain about.

If I had to whinge about something, it would be the seat. The comfort seat is a million years ahead of the standard plank, which is stricter than a German head teacher administering a rap on the knuckles with a ruler, but I still find myself needing to disembark at least once every two hours.

The SPOT Connect is a different matter, however I seem to have learned its quirks now. If I did it again, I would have bought the standard version without Bluetooth connectivity. Unless the app is running in the foreground on the smartphone, the SPOT seems to stop tracking. As a result there are several gaps in the map. Also, the unit requires you to press the power button once every two hours to maintain the tracking function. Annoying.

I filled up with petrol in Luxembourg (city) where fuel is around 30–40 cents cheaper per litre, another sign of a country without a national deficit. The people were friendly, but perhaps not quite as warm as the Belgians.

We were back in France without even knowing it, as I didn't see the open border sign. Still 250km from Ammerschwihr, we were feeling tired and decided to find a hotel. One of the most useful apps on my phone for travelling has to be 'Booking Tonight' from booking.com. Hotels with vacancies will publish reduced rates in an effort to fill their last available rooms, often at discounts up to 75%. I found a hotel for €33 8km away in Hagondange so we headed straight over.

The hotel was not what you would call luxurious, but it did the job and the patronne was a lovely older French lady so I was sold. It had semi-secured parking for the bike and a pizza place was round the corner so we bought a couple take-away pizzas to bring back to the hotel. Despite internet access I was too tired to write so passed out until the next morning.

Always prefer to have the bike in sight from my room.

A wider view of the semi-secured car park.

And in HDR for the surrealists.

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Alps 2013 quick links

Day 1: London to Lille Day 2: Lille to Hagondange Day 3: Slow road to Ammerschwihr Day 4: Ammerschwihr Day 5: Ammerschwihr to Thônes Day 6: Thônes to.... Thônes Day 7: Thônes to Ruèras Day 8: Ruèras to Flachau

Day 9: Flachau Day 10: Flachau to Wemding Day 11: Wemding to Urberach Day 12: Urberach to Antwerp Day 13: Antwerp to London The gear and how it held up The trip in hindsight

...continue reading

SPOT Connect

I've decided my summer trip this year will be an alpine adventure from France to Austria. The Alps include some of the most remote roads in Europe, with limited mobile phone coverage in parts. I will be scouring the maps for some of the lesser-travelled roads, many of which are either gravel or derelict remains of what used to be tarmac.

Photo: SPOT Connect • Source: SPOT LLC

For my own safety and peace of mind I took advantage of the after-Christmas sales and bought myself a SPOT Connect for £129. This little box (not much bigger than a deck of cards) serves several purposes, the most important of which is the SOS button that communicates via satellite to transmit the user’s current GPS coordinates and send for help (police and/or search and rescue as required).

As the name may imply, the SPOT Connect also connects to a smartphone via Bluetooth which enables features such as realtime tracking to a public or private Google map, predefined check-in messages to friends/family and satellite-based text messaging.

The services require an annual subscription at €99 for the basic SOS service plus €39 for tracking. A little bit pricey, but a good insurance policy should the worst happen while away from civilisation—anything from engine failure to a broken leg.

Not a lot of Europe is without mobile phone coverage but Sod’s law says you’ll need it when you don’t have it. And coverage is virtually worldwide should I get a sudden urge to head off to Australia via Dubai.

Once it stops snowing and generally being cold and miserable outside of London I’ll give the tracking a go, but I suspect it will quietly go about its business in the background without fuss.

The SPOT Connect is well-built and finished with a soft-touch plastic coating and seems sturdy enough to survive a bigger crash than my body would so it’s comforting to know that help can be summoned anywhere I can see the sky.

Update 6 July 2013:

During my trip I experienced numerous connectivity issues and annoyances with the SPOT. Due to the lack of buttons on the unit (only power and SOS), a smartphone app is required to start the tracking function (and access most of the other features of the unit). About 50% of the time the SPOT and my phone refused to see each other despite using a Bluetooth connection—my GPS and headset also use Bluetooth and had no issues connecting to my phone. Also, once tracking commences, the user needs to remember to briefly press the power button every hour or the unit stops tracking... why???

The real deal breaker, however, is SPOT’s requirement for batteries—specifically AA Energizer Ultimate Lithium 8x batteries (L91). The original set lasted about 16 hours in total, despite SPOT’s claims that they would last 4.5–6 days when tracking. These batteries proved impossible to source in continental Europe and I wasted a couple of hours one day trying electronics shops and larger supermarkets with no luck. I had several Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable batteries for my camera flash and tried them, thinking they might work, but need to be recharged often—but the unit wouldn’t even switch on with these.

Why a device like this can’t have a built-in battery with universal USB charging is beyond me—so 2 days’ tracking cost me £129 plus €138 subscription. What a bloody waste.

For these reasons, the unit is useless to me. If you want to buy it at a heavy discount, please get in touch—it is like brand new still.

...continue reading