Touring on a CB125F, riding to Dover (France 02)
[Music] welcome back it's a Monday in July and as you'll know if you watched my previous video or just heard me going on about it I'm off on a 5-day trip on my little bike here traveling to France today I'm just going as far as Dover camping down there about 180 M away I've got the whole day to do it it's about 17° and drizzly this morning in suly Hall so hopefully we'll find some nicer weather South I spent the last day or two on and off checking bits and pieces packing the kits getting the bike ready and looking at the maps making plans I'm excited to finally be off I've been thinking about this trip for a while we've got the bike all packed up like last time just added a backpack on top there so I can take my stuff off the bike that I don't want to leave behind right let's hit the road and get started [Music] oh I tell you what it feels great to get started you plan something like this and you start to think about all the challenges you might face start to get a little bit nervous and then once you're underway you just take things as they come so I'm excited but also thinking about a couple of challenges um one of them I'm concerned about is the heat in Paris it uh gets up to an average of 26 but maybe even hotter at this time of year so um I spent a while thinking about what kind of gear to take I went out and bought myself the nox Shield trousers that I'm sure I'll talk about later perhaps not ideal to uh try out a brand new piece of kit on a new trip but I think it's going to make me feel a lot cooler seems like a dumb decision now in the UK at 17° and riding in a foreign country is a challenge on the other side of the road and road signs you don't know also what happens if your bike breaks down not my insurance and it's a pretty reliable bike but you never know anyway you think about all that stuff for a few days and then you make all the sensible precautions that you can and then you just go like I said about 180 M today and uh satav is saying 5 and 1 half hours to go but it'll be longer than that cuz I'm not going at the the full speed and I'll take take plenty of breaks the first bit's really familiar I'm heading through lemington um maybe through Milton King and Bletchley all places I know the bike feels heavier than usual of course a little heavier than last time but it doesn't feel underpowered it's definitely up to it we are coming into war which is where I learned to ride actually if you are in the market for a riding school around here I can't recommend cam Rider highly enough they were excellent um judged my needs very accurately took us out on practice rid picking up all the little bad habits we've got over a year of CBT hand off that front brake at low speeds and took us right the way to the test center with every little tip along the way you can just book your test and learn yourself and just go but with an instructor you get every little bit of feedback and helpful information you can you know even right down to as we're riding into the car park Mike on the intercom is saying oh I see that that guy's car is there today so I guess your examiner is going to be this B and uh so not that it made any difference I still qualified regardless I don't know I think you can learn to ride all on your own and take the test and if you have to take it a couple of times it's still going to be cheaper than the lessons but you will be a better Rider and a safer rider for having proper lessons oh dud yeah hi cuz it's 9:00 in the morning and the moment had already passed there was no need to use the horn so I've ridden as far as ban Brie time for a break it got a little bit cold so the jacket's on where should we go let's go here [Music] [Music] boy I needed that here we go I find it so cool that I've Got 5 days where worth of camping stuff here ready to go [Music] [Music] hey I know where we are coming into bucking him again [Music] I see [Music] you we've gone about another hour and a quarter hour and a half just been through the town of Alsbury and uh now I'm going to look for a place to have a little break this route's going to take me through greater London really lots to see all right now we're really cooking 3 and 1/2 hours to go and we are coming up to haml Hemstead we're about 94 miles in so I reckon I'm must be halfway and I'm about to cross the junction with the M25 so I'll be inside the M25 it stayed kind of gray and on and off changeable every now and then we go under a big gray cloud and it gets a bit colder and little drizzle so I'll C the waterprof war cuz it's just warmer I haven't stopped uh like I said it would 2 hours is about the limit for this sad I tell you so I've got to find somewhere to have a break but I'm still thrilled to be out here and underway like I said before at the beginning of a trip you've got a lot on your mind and then after a couple hours or so you just ease into it and start eating up the miles I was wondering what that big building is on the way in I should have known it's an Asda right where are we parking nice where are you going off today Paris are you I'll get there tomorrow but yeah yeah you meeting your mates here or you going on your own no your break very tomorrow I don't think I'd go on my own man that place is massive just stopped off for a quick Break um in ASDA Watford which is so big it's got other shops in there um so I'm about to go through I thought greater London but I'm going pretty much in the middle I've driven obviously but never ridden a bike through London I'm going right under the London Eye what's that called Black Wall Tunnel right where the heck do we go I don't know let's do this and see what happens oh oh that's nice with the jackets feeling a bit warmer now that's why it's not just a supermarket it's a hypermarket wow as we get going we roll over 100 Mil just over 3 hours to go uh 98 M to go there you go we're halfway I have just entered the ultra low emission Zone I don't know what that means but I will look it up do you need to pay on this bike for the ulz I think this place is called totteridge and my goodness this must be some of the most expensive real estate in the country some big houses back there I've noticed in London uh it's not just old dudes and deliveroo drivers that ride motorbikes there are ordinary looking people or doing it for a sensible form of Transport cuz it makes sense here more than the provinces where we live where we've all got driveways uh I love that I think a motorbike is a great form of Transport for a lot of people you don't have to be a Maniac or a Hell's Angel or a delivery driver to want to ride one right if you've seen an underground station you're officially in London torridge and wetstone what the hell did we used to do before we had sat there you know you just want to ride to some random place in the country and just assume that it will be able to take you there we used to look it up on map quest didn't we in print Maps Remember map quest don't say no you're too young well this is fun I wasn't expecting this I've wondered about riding the bike through London since I started and uh now I got my [Music] chance just about to turn onto the north circular [Music] the tunnel is always particularly exciting on a motorbike on the bur of Redbridge I have a reservoir it's called The Eagle Pond this looks Charmy no motorcycles under 50 CC's we're okay the East Way T off wow this is a place called bow isn't that supposed to be a bell I'm sure I don't know well this is fun I mean scary fun oh here it [Music] is open by Mr Desmond plumber leader of the greater London Council second of August 1967 so if you didn't know we are riding underneath the temps and just before we come out on the other side we'll be driving underneath the Millennium Dome uh well which has been called the O2 Arena for as long as anyone can remember [Music] [Music] [Music] in my rear view mirror I can see the Dome I wonder if you can I can't turn around and see it but I've never don't think I've ever seen it before in real life wow it is quite big how can I have never seen it before all right they are building stuff all these experiences are new and exciting partly cuz it's a motorbike it feels like you shouldn't be allowed outside your car outside your metal box when you navigate these different kinds of routes yeah that was about a 1 hour 20 stint through London the black wall tunnel was funish and I've stopped for a quick local de I can see B to eat for lunch and now just about 1 hour 40 minutes more to get to the campsite temperatures warmed up all right sitting in the sun there with the gear on started to feel a little bit hot but riding along you're fine with the air flow following signs to do here we go I feel like we could have made more of the UK part of the trip but I wouldn't mind getting to the campsite and getting set up have a bit of time to read my book and relax I also want to have a look at the maps for France and do a couple of things to get ready it's petrol time let's fill her up right let's just find a spot to sit for a minute there we go right time for a rest right that last segment was only 45 minutes the wind just got so strong and annoying and grew really tiring so I've stopped at yet another Asda uh for a bit of a break feels like that's all I'm telling you on this journey so it's an hour and 15 minutes to the campsite apparently well that was a bit of a slog towards the end the wind just became very annoying a bit of drizzle starting now and the temperatures dropped so I must say I'm looking forward to getting the tent sorted out and getting warm with a nice hot chocolate looking for Cox Hill campsite now which should be is this it [Music] yes C still can here we go reck can we want a bit of [Music] shelter but we do like a flat piece of land this one yeah that'll do just fine okay I've arrived I'm going to go ahead set up the tent and then I'll show you around after right tent's all set up in about 10 minutes and here's the spot very careful this time to lean the bike on something solid I might go and find something even more solid but uh just checking it is not going to fall over and I've got all my stuff inside the tent just need to put the bed up and sort everything out right let's go have a look text the owners and let them know we're here shower's free here is the shower looks very nice loose free yes wow that looks nice very clean we've got washing up sinks and mushing your teeth there's the map of the village and stuff for fire pits I've had a quick shower because in the morning it's going to be a bit of a rush um you don't worry about hair when you're camping or motorbiking and this is both so sorry in the end I think I've done about 200 mil today and about 7 hours of riding cuz I took my time tomorrow the ferry set sale at 8:25 so I need to be there by 7:25 and it's probably going to be raining in the morning so it's going to be pack everything up inside put all the waterproofs on and then pack up the T last and throw it on the bike and get out I will uh rustle up some dinner for tonight have a little read of my book and turn in thank you for watching this first part I hope you join me when we set sail on the ferry tomorrow
2024-08-03 08:41
