Welcome

Welcome one and all to this, my latest biking blog. You will, by now, have realised that my, or should I say, our next tour, is going to be on the continent. For most it will involve riding through 6 countries. For Grizzly, our foreign Hog, coming from Ireland, there will be 2 extra, Wales and England.

On this tour, we shall traverse mainland Europe from France, into Belgium, through Luxembourg, back into France, into Germany, through Austria, into Italy and finally back into France.

The theme we have chosen or should that be, I have chosen for this tour, is a serious and thought provoking one, War! In keeping with our penchant for linking the tour themes with film titles (ref: Reservoir Hogs in 2012), this tour will be known as, The Hogs of War Tour.

Though primarily covering the Great and Second World Wars, we shall go back even further in time with a visit to the battlefield at Waterloo. We shall be visiting cemeteries, trenches, a Maginot Line fort, the site of a Nazi concentration camp, D-day beaches, a V2 rocket site and a town whose population was almost entirely wiped out by German troops. As I said, serious and thought provoking.

On a lighter side, as we ride through Germany, we shall be taking in part of the famous and I understand very beautiful, Castle Route, even staying in one overnight. In Munich, we shall, I shouldn't wonder, partake of the odd stein of beer and some German sausage! As the hills come alive through Austria into Italy, we shall relax by Lake Garda and visit the homes of two of the most famous names in Italian automotive engineering, Ferrari and Ducati. Further on, we shall marvel, no doubt, at the Leaning Tower of Pisa and maybe, risk everything on red, in the casino at Monaco, before heading up through France to the places where so many lost their lives in the fight for freedom, less than a lifetime ago.

19 days and 2700 miles is the plan and I'm hoping that many of you will want to follow us on our travels, so don't forget to sign up for email updates.

Get your tin hats ready, it's gonna be a blast!