Stormrider – Elisa travelled…

… to Northern Germany!

This summer’s tour was through Denmark down to Wilhelmshaven, visiting my family. Occasion: Dad turned 80!

Since we were late with booking the overnight ferry from Gothenburg to Kiel and prices therefore were astronomically high, we decided to ride more or less the entire way, taking the ferry from Gothenburg to Fredrikshavn in Northern Denmark.

A bit after Aalborg we found nice places to stay (Booking.com is your friend), both on the way out and return.

What was really awkward, and at times frightening, on my part, and on the way out, were the exceptional strong winds throughout more or less entire Denmark.

We got the wind sideways from the front towards us, and I experienced for the first time something one could call “storm riding”. The front of the bike nipped away quite a few times, and it was impossible to go any faster than 70km/h. Not a great feeling exactly when you have a heavy lorry thundering behind you, which one then definitely lets pass, out of fear that one might end up under it… .  So Denmark felt like riding a right turn all the way down to Germany, where the weather got better.
I reckon this was also the first time I wished for a somewhat more heavy bike and for a few more kilos in flesh and bones on myself.

Mind you, it wasn’t warm either, raining at times, and wearing the floppy rain suit because of that added to the feeling that one was a speedy Windjammer rather than a motorcyclist… Oh, yes, we are talking the first weekend in August, in case you wondered! Summer, ya know…

Eventually we arrived in Wilhelmshaven and had some great days with the family, celebrating Dad. He is also very fond of two-wheelers, since a very young age, so us arriving on our bikes was quite something for him.

Elisa’s travel companion is by the way Carlo, a Moto Guzzi California 2 from 1987.

Since it is tradition that the local priest visits when one of the community members turns 80,  we got a visitor that day. Our priest, though, is not just any priest. He loves motorcycles and rides to his services on his beloved Honda CB 750 from the nineties, and he rode visiting us that day. How surprised he was to find some more enhusiasts! Elisa and Carlo even got blessed, which all of us thought was quite kind, and we took it as a good omen for the way back.

On the way back we took a route slightly more eastwards. The winds were as strong, though. However, they came at us in a slightly more favourable position, so one didn’t have the feeling that one would take off the asphalt any second.

Riding was hard work once more, in mixed weather with rain, but much warmer! Back in Sweden we all of a sudden finally had summer weather – from Jönköping onwards all the way home. And that in itself is remarkable, since it usually always rains from Jönköping and Northbound when we pass there…

This is our route: Outwards via the west coast, a Eastern route on the way back.