2009 - Europe
Early in 2008 I was asked by Alan and Steve in Hull if I fancied going touring with them. Alan had just bought a KTM 990 Adventure and Steve had got a KTM 990 Supermoto, and they wanted to explore a bit of Europe.
I jumped at the chance, as my brother Nig and I had been talking of touring Europe and it would be good to tag along and let somebody else do the organising!
Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond their control, in early 2009 Alan and Steve had to drop out. After a long discussion, Nig and I decided to carry on with the tour but to change it somewhat.
Originally the trip had been in excess of three weeks, and involved riding through France to Spain, before heading across the Pyrenees and France and then north through Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Holland. The trip also had quite a few days off for chilling out.
To keep costs down, both me and Nig agreed to cut the trip down to 2 weeks. I removed all the rest days, and decided to sail straight to Bilbao rather than ride through France. This actually saved quite a lot of money as well as time. Also removing the rest days allowed us to do less miles per day.
All in all, I definitely think the changes to the plan provided for a much more enjoyable experience, as this was by far my most enjoyable motorcycle trip to-date.