The Trip objective, which had been decided and agreed back in February, was to tour the Italian Dolomites, tackle the Stelvio Pass (of Top Gear fame) and return through Germany’s Black Forest. The two ferry return crossings i.e. Belfast / Stranraer and Hull / Zeebrugge had also been booked and paid back in February for the Euro seven – the planning was now about to be put to the test.

Saturday 6th Sept

We met at Trinity on a wet Saturday morning at 5:45 am to begin this year’s European Trip, the heavy rain couldn’t dampen our enthusiasm and after a prayer (thanking God for the privilege of being here and humbly requesting the safe keeping of our families and safe passage for ourselves) we headed to the Stena Terminal in Belfast.

The previous day’s ferries had been cancelled due to the bad weather and strong winds, so we arrived at the Port unsure if the Ferries were operational but after enquiring from the Security Guard at the entrance we were informed that all systems were GO! (albeit a rough crossing was to be expected). The crossing turned out okay and breakfasts were enjoyed on board; the next target was to ride the A75 across Scotland, the M6, A66, A1, M62, A63, through England to Hull in time to board our ferry for Belgium.

The 280 mile journey through Scotland and England was not totally in the wet and went according to schedule with a lunch stop at Gretna and a coffee stop along the A63.

After welcome showers in the cabins’ en-suite facilities it was time to enjoy the excellent five course meal in the ship’s fine restaurant. A few laps of the ship’s passenger decks plus a time of fellowship later and our first day had been successfully completed.

Sunday 7th Sept

The plan for today, the first on the continent was to travel to the south of Germany to put Italy within reach the following day, so this was to be a ‘mileage’ day. Just over the first half of the journey was in the wet (very) but each mile south brought us closer to drier weather and the later part of the journey was dry. A good aspect of travelling German motorways on a Sunday is that lorries are not allowed on the motorway, this fact made the journey much more pleasant and the A8 turned out to be a cracker road.

Because the Ferry Companies were saving fuel by limiting the speed of each ferry we docked over an hour later than the scheduled time in Zeebrugge and hence our arrival at the hotel in Ulm was also later than planned. Good fortune was however with us as we were able to check into the friendly hotel, shower, change into casual gear and have a great meal all before the restaurant’s closing time. After a gentle stroll outside the hotel another good enjoyable (460 miles) day had come to an end.

Monday 8th Sept

Awakening on a sunny morning in the suburbs of small beautiful German town to the sound of church bells was something we didn’t expect and it certainly gave a “feel-good” start to our third day. After continental breakfast and a walk round the local area for some photo opportunities it was time to start the day’s journey. Today we rode further south through Germany (staying as much as possible on B roads) into Austria and started the climb up into the mountains and through the Timmelsjoch Pass into Italy - all in glorious sunshine. Boy the hairpins and narrow roads that climbed up the mountain were adrenalin filled and real mind focusing, particularly after the motorways of the previous two days. The views over Timmelsjoch Pass (which necessitates the payment of an 11Euro fee) were breathtaking as was the road down with its many, many hairpins.

We had truly arrived in the Dolomites! The Italian town of Bolzano was our overnight destination and after a few times around the block we discovered that the ‘mapped’ road to our hotel had been blocked by a building site and so we were forced to re-route. The hotel was of excellent standard and soon after striking a conversation with the ‘late shift’ receptionist we discovered he was also a biker and volunteered useful information regarding our planned route. We booked two taxis and headed to the town centre to get some food, have a look around and soak up the local atmosphere. The town centre was alive with young people who we assume were in their first week attending the local University, also in the town centre was the museum that displayed the 5,300 year old mummified ‘ice man’. All too soon it was time to return to the hotel and end another brilliant day (all 210 miles of it). Our first experience of riding the Dolomites had exceeded all our expectations.

Tuesday 9th Sept

Walking out onto our hotel room balcony first thing this morning we could see the mountains above the slight mist which was hovering over the vineyards and all the signs were there that this was going to develop into another glorious day. The plan for today was to ride some recommended Dolomite biking roads with a few mountain passes thrown in for good measure – we couldn’t wait to get started. We left the hotel and soon the town and hotel were behind us as we rode some glorious roads which wound their way up through small picturesque villages into the mountains – what a life – absolute bliss!

Again mountain passes complete with the mandatory hairpin bends and adverse road cambers were on today’s menu. One pass in particular deserves singling out; it is the Passo Pordoi, the amazing scenery on the way to the pass and also at the summit was just humbling to behold. The cable car running to and fro the Pordoi Pass was featured in one of the Bond (007) movies and if the Club’s ever back here; time will definitely be allocated for a ride on same. We arrived at our destination of Levico Terme still in glorious sunshine, found our hotel and to our surprise were each given a welcome pack by the receptionist – she stated that the hotel considered all bikers as valued customers. It transpired that this hotel was one of many biker hotels throughout Italy – what a find! Levico Terme is a picturesque village with a river running down the middle of its main street and is situated on the side of a lake called Lago Di Caldonazzo. After an evening meal at a local restaurant, a walk round and a stop for ice cream, time was called on another fun filled 150 mile day.

Wednesday 10th Sept

For some members this was the BIG DAY, i.e. the main event of the trip, as this was Stelvio Pass day! Waking once again to another day of glorious sunshine it was with great expectation we left our hotel and headed to Bormio which was at the foot of the mountain road that leads up to the Stelvio. At Bormio we would stop for lunch before tackling the BIG ONE but en route to Bormio we encountered an unexpected pass. For some this single track road, that torturously wound its way up the mountain side and was filled with, what appeared to be, a million hairpins also with its ‘no-edge’ roadside disappearing over sheer drops, was the most hair-raising of the complete trip; while for others it was similar to an adrenalin fuelled, fun filled rollercoaster of a ride.

In Bormio we stopped for pub-grub - this was a first as around midday we normally just briefly stopped for a light snack. In Italy meals are just not rushed so after what seemed an eternity with still no sign of food we began to doubt the wisdom of our decision to dine here. The chef had taken our meal order, as none of the waitresses could speak English, and just as we were about to give up on eating he appeared apologising for the delay. He informed us that he had to make the burgers from scratch and emphasised that they were not ready-made nor from the freezer. The best burgers we ever ate were enjoyed and after settling the bill along with complementing the chef it was now time to ascend to the pass. The road up to the pass from Bormio was brilliant with a good surface and some sweeping bends and all too soon we arrived at the summit 2757 metres up.

The pass was full of like minded bikers and the stalls selling mementoes were doing a roaring trade, the atmosphere up here was something to be savoured. The views, as expected, were breath taking and it was an experience standing so close to a glacier. Looking down from the pass to the road on which we were to make our descent was awesome as the road snaked downwards with hairpin after hairpin – someone mentioned that there were sixty hairpins in total to navigate (we had just another 48 to ride on the descent). While enjoying the whole experience we encountered a group from Northern Ireland who had flew over to Austria for a four day trip and hired bikes and to our astonishment one of their group knew Alan W. During a bit of banter (I think by Alan G) it was said to the group ‘that real bikers would have ridden their own bikes from NI’ and to our amazement this was later quoted in a Belfast Telegraph article (the Thursday biker section) – it truly is a small world. After a time here it was noticed that in the distance clouds were forming so it was felt prudent to make a start on the descent before the rain came in. We had just about completed navigating the many hairpins when flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder surrounded us, followed shortly by torrential rain – we had just made it off the mountain in the nick of time. Donning our wetsuits we continued the journey to our destination in Landeck, Austria and after the initial shock of finding our first choice hotel closed, we luckily got the last four rooms in our second choice hotel. The rooms were massive with plenty of space for the wet gear to dry out. After a good evening meal followed by a lot of reminiscing on the days experiences another spectacular 200 mile day was brought to a close.

Thursday 11th Sept

The sunshine had disappeared and after a sparse breakfast (this is a story on its own) the journey from Austria into Germany began in cloudy conditions. The first hour or so was wet but as we rode further into the Austrian Alps through into Germany the clouds dispersed and dry sunny conditions were enjoyed. The Austrian mountain villages we passed through were magnificently beautiful with each having their own unique character – can recommend Austria for future visits. After two or three hours biking we stopped in an Austrian village at a small cafe where our orders were conveyed to the non English speaking girl through the combination of sign language and the odd ‘universal’ word.

The resulting coffee and cakes were scoffed outside in glorious sunshine. Soon the mountains were behind us so we had to say au revoir for another year and steady progress was made to the day’s destination of Tuttlingen, a German town on the outskirts of the Black Forest. The Hotel selected here was definitely 5-star (couldn’t believe it was originally a chicken farm) with some of the team even getting an apartment for the night – what a stay, brilliant! After another great evening meal a moon-lit walk into the forest was undertaken bringing another stage of the trip to a close - what’s happening, why are the days passing so quickly?

Friday 12th Sept

After a substantial breakfast it was time to mount up for a day touring the Black Forest area, we started off in unsettled conditions which soon settled to wall to wall rain. Most of the tour in the BF area was in mist and rain but in spite of these inclement conditions the roads didn’t fail to impress – this area would be worth considering for a future visit.

Because of the conditions the decision was made to make progress into tomorrow’s route and bypass the scheduled overnight stay in Germany. A small budget hotel in France along the A4 motorway (about forty miles into the next day’s route) was chosen for the night’s accommodation. As the hotel didn’t have a restaurant we had to ride a few kilometres to the nearest village where a pleasant meal was enjoyed although the patron’s eyebrows did rise when requested for tomato ketchup to go along with his homemade pizza. A short ride back and a bit of banter later it was time to turn in.

Saturday 13th Sept

An unexpected good breakfast was enjoyed at this budget hotel, the small bills paid and then it was time to load up and start the journey home. Today and tomorrow's journeys were mainly motorways so it was just a case of getting the head down and hump up to make the necessary progress. Today’s destination was the ferry port at Zeebrugge with the latest check-in time of 17:30. Our journey took us up through France, through Luxembourg and into Belgium with heavy rain pelting us right until about hour or so from Zeebrugge. We made excellent time and had a welcome break at the port sharing experiences with some Scottish and English bikers while waiting to board the ferry.

Sunday 14th Sept

We disembarked the ship in dry but cool conditions and started our journey northwards towards Scotland to catch the 14:50 ferry from Stranraer to Belfast. There was no time for loitering so progress was brisk and thankfully other than the mist over the Pennines the journey was successfully made in sunny, but cool conditions. We made the ferry with some, but not a lot, of spare time and everyone was happy to be on the way home to see their loved ones. The ferry crossing was pleasant giving time for discussions on the whole Euro 08 experience and soon after disembarking each club member was making their way home.

Another great European adventure had been thoroughly enjoyed, successfully and safely completed Thanks be to God!

Oh I forgot to say there was also a lot of love!

Murray.