Jay Howard and his motorcycle came together from the British Isles, across all of Europe, through Çanakkale and the straits of Dardanelles and continued down the west coast of Turkey to his final destination of Kaş. Here is his incredible story in his own words.http://mensclub24.ru/
In summary the task set was to ride from Swindon to Kaş (and back) by motorcycle.
Total distance ridden was 4700 miles over 10 “bike” days. The rules were simple: Avoid motorways wherever possible and take the “A” or “B” roads.
Outbound was 2700 miles over 6 days in the saddle to get to Kaş and then returning to the UK via a different route which resulted in a shorter distance ridden of 2000 miles spread across 4 days with a day in the middle spent on the ferry between Greece and Venice.
Countries visited and/or passed through: France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey (and Liechtenstein on the return journey!)
Swindon to Eceabat (Turkey): (2405 miles / 3871 km) (Plotted Map of the Route)
Swindon (UK) to Cambrai (France) via Dover/Calais. Offenburg (Germany), Lake Bled (Slovenia), Timisoara (Romania), Karlovo (Bulgaria), to Eceabat Iskele at the Çanakkale Straits and cross by ferry.
Çanakkale to Kaş. (473 miles / 761 km) (Plotted Map of the Route)
Kaş to Lapseki (Çanakkale, Turkey): (490 miles / 788 km) (Plotted Map of the Route)
Gelibolu Turkey to Igoumenitsa Greece: (488 miles / 785 km) (Plotted Map of the Route)
NOTE: Google Maps does not show ferry route in Turkey, Kaş to Çanakkale is below!
Kaş Çanakkale then cross the strait to Eceabat and then on through Keşan (Turkey) to Igoumenitsa (Greece).
Venice Italy to Swindon UK: (1189 miles / 1914 km) (Plotted Map of the Route)
24hr Ferry to Venice (Italy), Germany via Liechtenstein to Calais (France), Dover (UK), and home to Swindon.
Numerous mountain routes crammed full of classic switchbacks and much overtaking of slower traffic in very short bursts of suicidal acceleration before standing on the brakes again for the next 180° switchback… (Repeat until all the traffic has been passed.) There were also many miles of alpine valley riding which was bordered by high granite peaks (usually late afternoon) which glowed golden in the setting sunlight, just stunning. Interestingly, following the satnav resulted in some strange turns including over 20 miles of riding on flat concrete “fire break” through a forest in Hungary which was as near to “peace and quiet” as I got on 2 wheels and being sent over a high mountain pass (read gravel road) cutting a corner just off the main road just before Dalaman and on the way home, arriving at the Greek border (after all the poor road surfaces encountered in the former Eastern European states) to be confronted by a fantastic, pool table smooth 425 mile EU funded “dual carriageway” that runs all the way from the Turkish border to the ferry at Igoumenitsa which had hardly any cars (or speed cameras) on it..! Absolute bl**dy tarmac heaven.
Physical discomfort, insomnia, midday hallucinations brought on by excessive use of caffeine drinks and bum numbing road surfaces. Or in the case of Bulgaria no road surface at all! Rather a series of deep holes held together with random bits of lumpy and crumbling tarmac which makes crazy paving seem organised. These poor conditions were only matched but not quite exceeded by the roads in Turkey between Izmir until Canakkale which were simply melting layers of black goo with a handful of (not so) sticky gravel strewn about on top with the added bonus of howling cross winds. Add into this was the worst section of driver behaviour encountered on the entire trip which I encountered for about a 100 miles north of Izmir. It really was a sudden dose of road rage lunacy on all fronts which was difficult to cope with and I used to ride despatch in London!
Being served bread with pork fat (pork lard?) in Germany as a starter which was a first for me and I’m reasonably travelled. Arguing with a toll booth attendant in Italy trying to pay the toll because I didn’t have a ticket (from the broken barrier where I got on!). Waving at the policemen in Bulgaria (well they waved at me first!) and then not stopping to find out why. Storming through the border post (Bulgaria/Greece) without stopping only to be chased and pulled over under the “blues n two’s” 5 miles later when the nice border guard asked me why I “didn’t stop at his window?” Once I realised it wasn’t a speeding ticket I will admit I did get a little fractious and explained that “I would have stopped” if there was any clue that anyone was awake at the border when I passed through! Some showing of paperwork and a “dash” more verbal indignity from yours truly resulted in the border guard taking no further action.
Balanced against this getting into and back out of Turkey with the bike couldn’t have been easier. No fuss, no bother (either way!). On the return leg I discovered there’s a whole roadside industry north of Izmir devoted to “stuffed toy animals” in almost every layby. This is almost matched by the “brass and metal-wares” on offer in layby’s around Menemen (which were very nice to look at when not sliding about on the melting roads!).
I lost count of how many petrol stations had people with their noses right in the tank as they filled me up (that can’t be good for you?) and then they’d continue their cigarette left on the ashtray by the pay window! The mountain roads in more than one east European country where the “outside” edge of roads are identified not by a safety barrier but a piece of orange string before a long drop which would require a parachute to survive!
Riding over a mountain through a Bulgarian forest on a road as directed by the satnav. This road very soon decayed into a collection of holes, ruts, small boulders, river washed gravel and as many poor surfaces as you can imagine. It took over an hour to cover approximately 20 miles of this heavily wooded nightmare trying to remember all the Ray Mears and Bear Grills forest survival tips I’ve seen on TV whilst (in my head) the sound of banjo playing could clearly be heard (ala the film Deliverance) for the entire forest/mountain traverse. This view was reinforced by meeting two bare chested locals, driving what looks like a collection of rusty panels held together with string and chewing gum who stopped me to ask “are there any police in town?” Eeeek, open that throttle and ride. I can still hear them banjos!
Almost every other “touring biker” which results in lots of “waving and nodding” to each other as you pass on opposite sides of the road. The Bulgarian hotelier who ran after me (when I thought no one was in!) and even the Turkish traffic police who were very polite and smiled a lot whilst they gave me a speeding ticket on the homeward explaining at great length with hand signals, the aid of drawings and pointing at my tachometer, (thinking it’s the speedo) that “up to 99km in a 90 limit is okay” but 102 isn’t (naughty boy!) I duly paid my 105TL at the border on exit for my over enthusiastic throttle usage.
The “inbound” Greek border guard I must have woken up as I tore through the border, the Italian toll booth attendant and the Greek petrol station owner (just off the main dual carriageway) who didn’t take cards, (cash only) had no cold drinks and didn’t offer a receipt? No idea why there’s a tax deficit in Greece. Yeah right.
Sod the “rules.” Next time I’m going to use motorways to go round major cities and/or to get out of the port areas quickly. Driving out of Calais and Venice on the “A” roads rather than the motorways was clearly time consuming and almost pointless in the greater scheme of such travels. Pack more high calorie foodstuffs (fruit and nuts, cake or non-melting sweets) which you can eat at the short fuel stops whilst drinking large quantities of caffeine drinks and water as it’s just “too hot” to eat a proper meal most days.
Finally… I think I’ll stick to Thomas Cook flights to Dalaman and a Bougainville transfer in the future!
