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Deane's 2010 Motorcycle Trip Riding the Alps |
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Overview of the Motorcycle Tour |
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Having ridden in 24 countries besides the USA, Deane wanted to ride a motorcycle in the European Alps. He looked all around the Internet to see what was available in the way of guided or escorted tours that he could join. A very interesting and challenging tour came up, with Bryan Stephenson as the tour leader, for what he calls the "5-Country Extravaganza". This tour will include Belgium, Germany, Swiss Alps, Austrian Tyrol, and Italian Dolomites. In addition, the tour starts and ends in England, so there are actually 6 countries for Deane to ride in. (Bryan lives in England and starts and ends the tour there, so he didn't count that as part of the 5-countries.) For other riders going, there will be 11 of us, four couples, two fellas, and the tour leader, Bryan. (I guess I am one of the two fellas.) The tour will start by taking an overnight ferry from England to Belgium, and the tour will then include 10 nights, plus the two overnight ferry rides. We will stay in comfortable hotels and bed and breakfasts, and the tour is classed as an "escorted" tour as opposed to a "guided" tour. It appears that this means one can either go with the escort leader or go on their own, and meet up at the next hotel. Deane will rent a motorcycle, and has a Suzuki V-Strom 650 reserved in England, near the airport of Manchester, and also near the take-off point of the tour. One reason Deane selected this tour is that it starts and ends in the northeast coastal city of Kingston upon Hull - (shortened to "Hull"). This is the area from which Deane's ancestors, Charles Langforth Crawforth and Martha Moore Crawforth, left England in 1853 to take the arduous trip to the United States. The city of Hull now has the largest listing of Crawforth's of any place in England. So a visit is being arranged between Deane and some of his Crawforth friends in Hull. So, the overall trip will satisfy at least two objectives, and here we go! |
