Three-in-one.

So despite agreeing a lie-in of 6:00am I forgot to change my watch so ended getting up an hour early. That ate into my sleep, as did the crazy rabid dogs running around the campsite at 3:00am barking at shadows.

After breakfast and a shower (really making the most of access to an exceptional shower) it started to rain very hard and James had to don his waterproofs.  Because he rides in leathers rather than waterproof kit like mine he has a jacket/trouser combo that go over the top.  Unfortunately the overalls are extremely tight, black and, with their gloss finish are somewhat akin to a giant condom. The rain managed to harass us for a few hours. Then we were on wet, damp very twisty roads with lots of diesel spills, potholes and subsidence. At times there was no road at all, the BMW coped admirably, but at a slower speed than the Tiger which enjoyed itself a lot!

The really twisty roads continued for about 190 miles and it took over five hours. By the end we were very tired and the concentration required to ride well (fast) on great roads was fading rapidly. We decided to hit the main roads, which were still bad in places, and rode through Slovakia which was gorgeous, though we didn’t have time to explore properly as we had a timetable to meet! Still we had ridden in three countries in one day.

As hardcore hairy arsed bikers, we both indulged in a chicken salad and a fizzy water for lunch. We really need to work on our image! Which isn’t helped when we stop off and start to desperately get air to vital body parts!

We crossed the Austrian border and headed for a camp site that James choise.  Im not sure he trusts me after my earlier call on camp sites.  We then got busy with some very detailed route planning for the next day.