First 3 Days on the road

Departed from Manchester at 8am to Oxford where I met Sam (www.toukakoukan.com) who gave me lots of useful information from his trip together with an Iranian fuel card (if I ever get in). Thanks Sam! The A34 was a good choice by ollie who has a sense of direction like a pigeon. From Oxford we used the M40 to the M25 to get to Plumpton Green where we would be staying with Ollies Missus' family. Encountered 10 miles of stop start traffic on the M25 which was a nightmare to ride through,1) because the panniers are so large and I was worried about clipping unsuspecting drivers and 2) because I was constantly using the clutch, which being hydraulic, means I will gain ridiculously strong wrist muscles.

Arrived in Plumpton Green in the Sussex countryside around 5ish and enjoyed some much welcome beers and chinese food. Thanks must go to the Allen family for all their support and hospitaly. Thankyou!

Up bright and early at 6am to be on the road for 7 and catch the ferry for 10am. Ollie had a slight mishap (read crash!) when he misjudged a left hand corner leading up to a sudden set of traffic light and lost the front end. Luckily his bike bounced and his sustained a couple of scrapes. Arrived just in time to get the ferry and had fun stiching clothing back together post prang.

Arrived in Dunkerque at about 1pm French time and discovered its ridiculously easy to https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOp3cs4qRgDohAnoEIxZNy-Sc_4NhZClwoQpuwX-Ts7_oQyT4QHKYM0Vp3ICq0pGEXe9vXMoqyBzxK0vth7o7PaKtFhGk-scOGd5Rqr-INvPvE7oQinySFwX3pW9Ul2xDsXE1uMJZrj5s/s128/sdc10032.jpgwheelie the KTM coming down the ferry ramp. (I was a bit excited!)
Took the motorway to Brugges and got there about 2:45ish. Took lots of silly photos and made an ass of myself when I discovered they don't speak French when ordering some paninis. Dutch apparently is the order of the day. Made a cool little movie of riding through F'ing Brugges and sped southwards towards somewhere to stay for the night. It took ages to leave sodding Belgium.

Bruges

 I dropped my sunglasses when we stopped for a break so had to backtrack to get them. It was extremely tiring, riding on and off for over 12 hours, but I felt like I was able to go on forever, despite achy ball syndrome. Ollie was getting a bit cramped. Progress could probably be much quicker using the motorways but we prefer to take the back roads. Managed to find an F1 somewhere near Cambrai. 37E for both of us for the night can't be argued with. We encountered a few problems with it being a Sunday. Tomorrow we shall find a supermarket and get some grub and other supplies before heading further South.

Lost in Belgium unable to buy petrol

Was on the road for 7:30 am and blasted down a peage to to be in Reims for 11am. Had a good look round and Oli tried to find out why his credit card seems to be cancelled and changed some money. Stopped at a supermarche on the way to eat some fresh baguette with pate and cheese, delish! Rode on from Riems south towards Chaumont. Fantastic scenery and straight boring roads till we got to the hills near Chaumont where it was a bit more interesting. Met Roel, a Dutch biker on his way to Bilboa who had managed 600km on his dads RS1100 that day. Puts our milage of about 300 to shame. Found a nice 2 star hotel after discovering the Youth Hostel was shut down. Will be sharing a room with Roel to keep costs down, Oli and I in a double bed. Can't argue with 25Euros a night each for a roof, bed, shower and Wifi. Goin out for grub now.