Sunday, September 10, 2006
Thu Sept 7th – Sun Sept 10th riding home & summary
We started from Hartmut’s hotel at 09:30 on Thursday morning and went to see our cousins at Cologne Zoo. We spent some 2 hours at the zoo and headed North from there. The weather got a bit cooler and we got some rain as well. We had the rain jackets as wind protectors but no rain pants. Our Venting Machine pants give not much rain protection but as we were all the time on the autobahn we did not get all soaked because of the “adequate speed” we could maintain. And after a while the rain stopped and the wind took care of drying our gear.
We decided to stop for overnight in a small German town called Vechta. We had ridden about half of our trip to Travemünde. Luckily the hotel had WLAN connection so I could update my blogs.
On Friday we started quite late from Vechta and covered the remaining 280 km in less than three hours. We were supposed to be at the ferry check-in at 16:00 and but we arrived two hours earlier and spent the time at Travemünde harbor looking around and enjoying the nice weather.
The ferry was a brand new one and as usual the ship suffered some of the “new boat syndromes”. Not all the TV:s worked in the cabins or some sewage pipes seemed to be vented right into the corridors etc. The biggest disappointment was however the slow speed that the ship was using on this journey. The ship is supposed to make the distance between Travemünde and Helsinki in 24 hours but now it spent 36 hours on the journey. Not that it was a big deal but we were both kind of prepared to be back to our families by Saturday evening instead of Sunday morning.
On these combined cargo / passenger ferries the only pastime is eating. The ticket price includes all the meals and they certainly are plenty and often enough.
We arrived to Helsinki harbor at 07:00 Sunday morning and for me it was a 40 minute ride to get home and for Jouko it took about two hours.
Statistics of the trip:
We rode a total of 11190 km (6953 miles) on this journey (from home to home).
My bike used 654 liters (172,8 gal) of gas. Average mileage was 5,8 liters / 100 km (40,2 mpg).
Jouko's bike did about 10 - 12 % better mileage than my bike thanks to the more stock appearance and less farkles to distact the air flow. My bike was especially bad on the free speeds of the German autobahns. My worst mileage was 9,13 liters / 100 km ( 25,7 mpg) with an average speed of 153 km/h (95mph). The best mileage we got cruising around Yellowstone and climbing up to Red Lodge MT: 4,43 l / 100 km (53 mpg).
Moneywise we have not made a summary and I doubt if we ever will. Living costs everywhere and compared to our everyday life the daily motel cost (from 60 to 120 $ per room) would be extra.
We came home safely and the only dangerous situation was on the Interstate South of Denver when the trailer tire blew in front of the car who was ahead of me. Bike dropping (one for me) does not even count...
Big thanks also to my family and especially my dear wife who was understanding enough to let me do this tour.
So, all in all, it was a really fun trip and this has to be tried the second time some day!
Cousin taking it easy at Cologne Zoo.
Semi-legal parking place in Travemünde harbor.
Enjoying the daily ice cream at a nice street cafe in Travemünde.
Our ferry, the brand new M/S Finnmaid seen from the other side of the harbor.
On our way out we passed a famous
four mast bark "Passat" in Travemünde harbor. The ship was built in 1910 and it was saved from a destruction and restored in 1959.
More info (only in German):
http://www.ss-passat.com/
Sunset on the Baltic Sea.
There were a total of 10 bikes on "Finnmaid".
Helsinki skyline early on Sunday morning.
Our ship seen from the shore in Helsinki.
Back at home and first greetings from our 7,5 year old miniature dachshund Ippu.
We decided to stop for overnight in a small German town called Vechta. We had ridden about half of our trip to Travemünde. Luckily the hotel had WLAN connection so I could update my blogs.
On Friday we started quite late from Vechta and covered the remaining 280 km in less than three hours. We were supposed to be at the ferry check-in at 16:00 and but we arrived two hours earlier and spent the time at Travemünde harbor looking around and enjoying the nice weather.
The ferry was a brand new one and as usual the ship suffered some of the “new boat syndromes”. Not all the TV:s worked in the cabins or some sewage pipes seemed to be vented right into the corridors etc. The biggest disappointment was however the slow speed that the ship was using on this journey. The ship is supposed to make the distance between Travemünde and Helsinki in 24 hours but now it spent 36 hours on the journey. Not that it was a big deal but we were both kind of prepared to be back to our families by Saturday evening instead of Sunday morning.
On these combined cargo / passenger ferries the only pastime is eating. The ticket price includes all the meals and they certainly are plenty and often enough.
We arrived to Helsinki harbor at 07:00 Sunday morning and for me it was a 40 minute ride to get home and for Jouko it took about two hours.
Statistics of the trip:
We rode a total of 11190 km (6953 miles) on this journey (from home to home).
My bike used 654 liters (172,8 gal) of gas. Average mileage was 5,8 liters / 100 km (40,2 mpg).
Jouko's bike did about 10 - 12 % better mileage than my bike thanks to the more stock appearance and less farkles to distact the air flow. My bike was especially bad on the free speeds of the German autobahns. My worst mileage was 9,13 liters / 100 km ( 25,7 mpg) with an average speed of 153 km/h (95mph). The best mileage we got cruising around Yellowstone and climbing up to Red Lodge MT: 4,43 l / 100 km (53 mpg).
Moneywise we have not made a summary and I doubt if we ever will. Living costs everywhere and compared to our everyday life the daily motel cost (from 60 to 120 $ per room) would be extra.
We came home safely and the only dangerous situation was on the Interstate South of Denver when the trailer tire blew in front of the car who was ahead of me. Bike dropping (one for me) does not even count...
Big thanks also to my family and especially my dear wife who was understanding enough to let me do this tour.
So, all in all, it was a really fun trip and this has to be tried the second time some day!
Cousin taking it easy at Cologne Zoo.
Semi-legal parking place in Travemünde harbor.
Enjoying the daily ice cream at a nice street cafe in Travemünde.
Our ferry, the brand new M/S Finnmaid seen from the other side of the harbor.
On our way out we passed a famousfour mast bark "Passat" in Travemünde harbor. The ship was built in 1910 and it was saved from a destruction and restored in 1959.
More info (only in German):
http://www.ss-passat.com/
Sunset on the Baltic Sea.
There were a total of 10 bikes on "Finnmaid".
Helsinki skyline early on Sunday morning.
Our ship seen from the shore in Helsinki.
Back at home and first greetings from our 7,5 year old miniature dachshund Ippu.
