Taking the scenic route: my 1000-mile motorbike adventure from England to Estonia.
In summer 2022, I rode my Yamaha Ténéré motorbike over a thousand miles from my home in the UK, across Europe, to Estonia – one of my longest motorbike trips ever.
The endeavour was tiring, navigationally complex (for someone who’s only ever ridden a motorbike in the UK and US), yet bags of fun. I took a ferry to the Netherlands, rode to northern Germany (stopping at an old Army base I was posted to in 2007), took another ferry to Lithuania; and finally rode to Estonia’s capital city of Tallinn, via Lithuania and Latvia.
Along the way, I met other adventure motorcyclists, visited John Frost bridge in Arnhem, stayed in many lovely and affordable hotels, Air B’n’Bs and ferry cabins and went back to see the former location of my Royal Military Police unit in Osnabruck, Germany.
The weather played a big part, I got utterly soaked most days, blown around the road by strong side winds, wind-chaffed and a little sunburnt, yet it had everything I love about epic personal endeavours.
Leg 1: England to Arnhem, Netherlands
Setting off on this expedition is largely uneventful, I finish packing my bike up and ride it the 130 miles from my dad’s garage to an Air B’n’B room in Colchester, Essex. I’m full of trepidation, yet also excited to get out on the road on perhaps the biggest trip since a mountaineering accident almost permanently put me out of action a few years ago. I get to the house and meet the owner, she’s a lady in her forties who rents out her converted sun house. It’s set up with a futon bed and is warm. I record some thoughts on my camera and have an early night as the ferry is quite early the next day.
Day 2 of my Trans-European endeavour to Estonia starts with a short and largely uneventful 30-minute ride to the international port at Harwich.
I get to the ferry terminal around 8am, get processed and board the ferry with a group of other touring motorcyclists. We strap our bikes down and take luggage off to find my allocated cabin - which I’m hugely happy for when I spread my stuff out everywhere (certainly drawing groans from mates in the Naval and Marines communities!). It’s great to have your own space to catch up on sleep, do some work and sort my kit out for the next leg: Hook of Holland to Kiel (for the next ferry on in a few days’ time).
After 7 hours on the ferry, it stops in the port, and everyone slowly disembarks. It takes me around 2 hours (with a dinner stop) to get to the bed and breakfast for the evening - some 10 miles from the city of Arnhem (the subject of ‘A Bridge top Far’).
Distance ridden today: c.100 miles
Distance ridden so far: c.230 miles
Leg 2: Arnhem, Netherlands, to Kiel, Germany.
Day 3: W I N D
As I leave my B+B in Bennekom, Netherlands the wind picks up into inconsistent blustery gusts, forcing me into what I’ve titled ‘The Danish racing crouch’ to keep my weight low and centralised over both wheels. Whilst it may look like I’m trying to be aerodynamic and like I’m racing, it’s actually just to keep both wheels on the ground so I don’t end up in a hedge or something worse. It’s tiring sitting in the position and really works my core and stabilising muscles, along with my neck.
The first stop on my journey is the John Frost bridge in Arnhem, the location made famous in the 1977 film, ‘A Bridge too Far’. Named after Major-General John Dutton Frost (then a Lieutenant Colonel) who commanded the British 1st Airborne division that defended the bridge during the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. Having served with and have friends in the Parachute regiment, I know it’s a key part of their regimental history and rightfully so.
The second stop on my journey is a personal one: to see the old military police station in Osnabruck, Germany. I joined the now-disbanded 115 provost company in 2007 as my second posting after basic training which taught me a huge amount about the world and how to make my way in it. Now a cluster of art galleries, cafes, and a large commercial site - the site of (what was then) Roberts barracks is still recognisable in its layout and the architecture where the perimeter fence once was. A really poignant part of the journey so far to revisit memories.
The evening’s accommodation is an incredible little eco-cabin on a farm near Bremen - Air B’n’B really brings some finds you look beyond other people’s spare rooms. My bike sits in a nice dry barn, whilst I plan my route for phase 3 - the ride from Lithuania to Estonia.
Distance ridden yesterday: c.245 miles
Distance ridden so far: c.475 miles
Day 4: The ride to Kiel for ferry number two.
The day starts off wet and dreary. I’ve had a great night’s sleep in a lovely wooden cabin that I don’t want to leave. I’ve got 110 miles to ride yet the weather is looking dreary, so I have to force myself to go.
I say goodbye to Heike, the friendly lodge owner and set off in the drizzle - determined to find coffee. Within 20 minutes I’ve found a sandwich shop that fulfils my caffeine need and loads me up with calorific fuel to get me to today’s destination - Kiel, to catch my second ferry of the trip.
The Danish racing crouch is traded for a more slouched position, to mitigate another problem in preventing the water from reaching my groin. Thankfully by the time I reach the autobahn (the famous German motorways without a speed limit) the rain has died off, leaving alone with my thoughts of how the next phase is going to go after the ferry.
I get to the international port in Kiel early, get checked in and chatting to another motorbike traveller, a German lady in her late fifties who tells me about how great it is to travel on these machines. She’s heading north to see how far she gets in the 3 weeks she’s giving herself away from home - but taking it at a more leisurely pace than I. She tells me that her family and daughters are supportive of her taking some ‘adventure time’ alone, and I make a mental note to do the same.
I check into my cabin, and liberally spread my gear around to conduct an ‘Op Dryout’ (a naval term for recovering amphibious forces back to a state of readiness). I’ve got 20 hours aboard this ferry, so I relax and catch up with the news in anticipation of reaching my sixty-first country: Lithuania.
Distance ridden yesterday: c.118 miles
Distance ridden so far: c.593miles
Leg 3: Klaipēda, Lithuania to Tallinn, Estonia.
Day 5: A L L T H E R A I N
After a day spent on the ferry, I bid goodbye to the only other motorbike rider who’s nomadically riding her retro Yamaha enduro bike to wherever she wants over the next few weeks - I’m a little jealous, but also exhausted and very keen to get home. All the passengers disembark in Klaipėda, Lithuania - and I set off for my accommodation in Palanga beach, not far up the coast. But the weather has other ideas - and sends the monsoon rains to slow me down.
It works pretty well, the force of the rain soaks me entirely in a few minutes and I’m reduced to a crawl along roads that’ve turned into rivers.
But I can’t be too upset, I’ve just finished one ‘Op Dryout’ so I’m well versed in how to do it again. It takes me an hour to ride 20 miles to the hotel, but when I do - everything comes off and the heater gets turned to level 11..
Distance ridden yesterday: c.22 miles
Distance ridden so far: c.615 miles
Day 6: Palanga, Lithuania to Jelgava, Latvia.
I leave Palanga beach after taking a wander around the town. Essentially, it’s a pleasure beach set in a huge forest, making it look a lot less tacky than Blackpool or Southend-on-Sea. It’s characterised by wooden trails everywhere, giving it a feel of north shore mountain bike trails (which I utterly love). I explore them and wish I had a mountain bike with me.
The weather when I come to ride the motorbike starts off chilly and overcast - meaning I adopt all my warm layers as well as the low-light glasses to aid spatial perception. The roads are single carriageways and lined by forests making it far less windy than the previous countries I’ve been in and nicer when you’re not overtaken by a sports car doing over a ton.
I stop in ‘Plunge’ to grab some lunch and see what the rest of my route holds, it’s another new country day - so I’ll be able to add Latvia to my list as my sixty second. The coffee and vinaigrette salad are a welcome break to the cold; however, a drunken man outside insists that I tell him about my motorbike and where I’ve come from. I fumble my best excuses and it’s enough to make him disappear.
I ride onwards, cross into Latvia and he weather hugely increases - meaning I stop yet again to take layers off and adopt sunglasses as the light increases.
Dinner is another supermarket salad eaten by the roadside (a regular occurrence on this trip to keep the pace up) at a bus stop to make use of the seat and bin. A bus driver drives up close and gives me a funny look as I sit there gnawing at chicken wings like a rabid dog.
Sometime after 730pm, I arrive at the hotel, exhausted but greeted by an epic sunset - making the chilly start a distant memory, and this endeavour all the more worth it!
Distance ridden yesterday: c.156 miles
Distance ridden so far: c.771 miles
Day 7: Jelgava, Latvia to Parnu, Estonia.
Distance ridden today: c.145 miles
Distance ridden so far: c.916 miles
Day 8 Parnu, Estonia, to Tallinn, Estonia.
Not to be outdone by Lithuania; Estonia banishes any idea I had about a nice, sunny ride back home - as I wake up to the strongest winds and rain I’ve ever ridden through on a motorbike.
I start the day by venturing down to the beach, to see it in truly blustery conditions and am surprised to see kit surfers braving the winds. Little do I realise, that this is how most of my ride to Tallinn will be over the next 4 hours.
I set off and after 10 minutes riding, I’m utterly soaked. Google maps tells me the ride should take me around 90 minutes, however with the wind and rain acting together to shift me around the single lane carriageway road, I opt to stop to let traffic pass me every few 10 minutes as I inch myself closer to home.
Stopping at a service station for hot drinks, my prayers get answered and as if by a miracle - the wind drops off and the roads become dryer, meaning I can increase my speed to get home. But my excitement is short-lived, as both come back, albeit one at a time until I reach Tallinn.
But it doesn’t matter now, I’m home. My bike gets parked in the garage, I make my way up to house and start removing cold, sodden bike clothing to go into the wash - and jump into the shower.
My partner isn’t home for another few hours, so I get the kettle on, immediately dive into the new series of Stranger Things, and start planning where I’m going to ride to next before the snow arrives later this year. A thousand miles has left me exhausted, aching and beaten up, but I already want more…
Distance ridden today: c.90miles
Distance ridden so far: c.1006 miles
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