The Arctic Rider

Hi everyone, Well after a nights sleep in a real bed and bacon sandwich for breakfast I was ready for the 300 mile trip back home. The weather was great for a ride up with little wind and lots of sun. I fuelled up for the first time back in the UK and it was the cheapest fuel of the trip so far... shame this happened on the final day. After weeks of obeying the Scandinavian speed limits and trying not to get killed on the Autobhan I felt more confident to ride a bit quicker than I had been, and knowing that I was seeing Kirsty that day probably had something to do with it! The route up was fairly boring as 1) I knew the route having driven it plenty of times in the past, 2) the first turn off I had to make was for the A19 some 230 miles in and 3) there were no crazy forgein drivers to contend with. The most noteable incident of the day was when after the first 130 miles I got a cramp in my bum!! Thats what 6,000 miles on and ER5 does to you! Maybe I should get heated seats (or ma...

Hi Everyone, Wow I can't believe its almost over. What a four weeks it has been. This afternoon I said farewell to the continent as I set sail for Dover. Setting off around 10am I went in search of some breakfast, although 3 towns later I still hadn't seen any people let alone any shops open. I did however find a petrol station so I filled up and headed for Calais. Again the wind wasn't on my side. I'm starting to think that Belgium is actually just the EU's idea of a wind tunnel experiment. I had been due to catch a ferry at 7.30pm however I arrived at the port a good 7hours early. Wen I got to the ticket office I was told to go through passport control and then ask if there were any spaces on the earlier ferries. I managed to get on the 3.30 ferry so I only had 2 hours to fill by that time. Luckily I'm quite experienced in filling in time after my 4 days stuck in the far end of Sweden. I got chatting to two Italian guys in the que for the ferry, although we...

Hello Everyone Tonight is the last night of camping for Gordon and he is just outside of Ostend, Belgium. He is also camped beside an English guy who he has been chatting onto whilst making his dinner. Turns out he is a Nottingham Trent graduate..must have been nice to hear an English voice after so long..especially as everyone in Beligium speaks German, French and Flemish..languages which Gordon does not happen to be fluent in!! lol He also very kindly sponsored Gordon 5 Euros for doing his trip which is awesome! :D Today has been a stressful days riding for Gordon today especially when he got caught up in rush hour traffic around Antwerp. Because of this he decided to stop early and not to travel onto Calais which is tomorrows job..he also seemed to have found a ghost town where he could only buy a lion bar and some water..he also thought about getting a kebab but apparently the locals gave him the eye and so decided against it! lol Weather today has been really windy and rainy...

Good evening all As you can tell by the tag Gordon is still in Germany..and he is camping by a large lake near the borders..no no not the scottish ones..lol..he spent this morning in Flensburg and checking the internet including NUFC.com..and then travelled south west to Lemvruch-dummersee..yes..i dont know where that is either..lol..Gordopedia tells me that dummersee is the name of the lake and Lemvruch is the name of the town..as is he is Germany this means he has been experiencing the 'fun' of the autobahns again and some crazy drivers! Talking of crazy drivers, Gordon said that when he was on a country road today he saw a tractor being driven on the pavement and instead of the guy being like..oops..he apparently looked at Gordon like he was the odd one for driving on the road! When he was in Flensburg, when he was getting on the bike, he saw a 125 yamaha and presumed this was their first bike and then when they took their helmets off..he realised that they were actually...

Good evening Today has seen Gordon leave Scandinavia all together and he is now back in the comfort of the Euro. This is a big thing as he has actually spent most of his time in Scandinavia and although its so much cheaper for him now, I think it is hitting home that he is coming home and is so close to completing a journey which has taken a lot of money and effort on all peoples parts to get him this far! Last night's rough camping has left him feeling like the next ray mears although he managed to get out smarted by some local birds..not the human variety who decided to steal the bread off his bike and wake him up in the process..i wondered whether they chose to have it with the roasted garlic philadelphia on the side, but apparently not! he he He is in Flensburg, Germany tonight in a campsite called Jarplund and has told me that he is camping next to a Spanish family with their small children who have brought a go kart with them..he was moaning about this, but I bet that a...

Evening Everyone Today has seen today bid a fond over priced farewell to Norway and a hello ever so slightly cheaper wave to Sweden. This move also signifies the start of his last leg home! Gordon is now in Varberg, Sweden which is another one of those places that we went to on the deployment when we first met and was a fun place when we went there with a castle and a supermarket and even a few classy..obviously..bars.. lol Gordon told me that he has been visiting the places that we went and taken some photos which is really ace! Let's just hope he doesnt have to re-enact the watches or the 'really good' jobs like cleaning the heads! ha ha Normally he is in a campsite..or hostel as he has been treated to recently but tonight he is rough camping which is a bit scary and does not have any company apart from a fox looking for his gloves walking along the road and the trains which are passing on the tracks beside him. He was supposed to be in a campsite but he visited tw...

Hello Again! I actually cannot believe how fast these days are going..day twenty two now means that Gordon is into the last week of this adventure. Its been tough in parts and hopefully the adversity has just made him stronger..or at least less moany..lol..but we will see.. Day 22 was full of highs and lows..The highs saw us sight seeing again around the city and looking around the castle and fortress..pretending to be soldiers..looking at the palace..which was no buckingham palace and only had one guard outside it who even spoke to us when we went up to him.. we also saw him parading and he looked more like basil faulty which made us actually LOL..we also went to the supermarket which really tested my (non-existent) norweigan language skills to the test..it was my job to decipher between skinke..which i hope is ham and whatever else was on offer and potentially some sort of rat..we also bought some 'bread' which was illuminous yellow..now if thats natural then i question w...