Trip Preparation

Preparation is the key to a spontaneous adventure.

The dream was to go camping during the trip. So with 2 weeks to go I assembled my tent, sleeping bag Swedish army stove, meths and some food, pretty soon I realised the bike would be piled up with kit, that's not how I wanted to ride, so I made the decision no camping, it would have to be hotels all the way.

The problem is you want the security of a decent hotel at a sensible price, but you don't want to be tied down to a schedule or even a route. So do you book in advance or just turn up late in a strange town and expect to find a clean room and not get ripped off.

Advance Purchases (1 week to go)

1. Got my tickets for the Brno MotoGP directly from the track website.
2. Booked Euro tunnel tickets
3. www.ebookers.com for an overnight stop in Frankfurt, got a 4 star hotel inc breakfast for £25
4. Getting a hotel anywhere near Brno at a sensible price proved more difficult, it was simply a matter of searching the internet and sending a few emails directly for prices. Eventually found a place just south of the city.

Having not done much long distance touring before I thought it would be a good idea to met the experts for any tips, luckily Horizons Unlimited were holding their annual UK meeting in June the same weekend as the Donnington MotoGP and only a few miles away so I did both events over the weekend. Horizons Unlimited are a group of long distance bikers and a great source of information.

Day 3: Brno MotoGP Practice

Leisurely breakfast in the hotel then off to see practice. You have to pay 100 Kr (£2.20) for parking, but it is quite secure, with lots of police guarding the bike park, and you have to show you bike doc's (V5 etc) to get the bike out.

The Rossi fan club is very organised and arrives early to secure a good place for the days practice.

In the dying moments of final practice John Hopkins falls from the Rizzla Suzuki and has to find a slower way back to the pits.



In the excitement some fireworks set fire to the grass in front of one of the grandstands, a fire engine has to attend to put it out and this is only practice. How mad will they go when the racing actually starts tomorrow?

After practice I ride into Brno centre and blag a free session on the internet at the tourist office and book a hotel in Graz, Austria for Sunday night after the race. Lots of police around Brno and on the way back to the hotel I get stopped at a road block and have to show bikes V5, driving licence, green card insurance and passport.

Day 4: Brno MotoGP Race Day

My hotel is about 20 km south of Brno so its a short motorway ride to the track. On the way I join thousands of other bikes from Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria in a 100 mph charge to Brno. Arrive bright and early at the turn off to the track , I was OK until about 2 miles to go then total chaos, bikes, cars and coaches everywhere, but I get through OK to the car park, then a long walk to the track. Racing gets under way and its the 125 cc race that gets the crowd really going as they cheer on a heroic five way battle that includes the Hungarian Gabor Talmacsi and the local boy Lucas Pesek who fights his way onto the podium for 3rd place, the crowd goes totally bonkers.


Rossi had a very bad day on the Yamaha by his standards and struggled to finish seventh, his team mate Colin Edwards suffering a rare fall on lap two.

After the excitement of the days racing its always an anti climax as you dash to the bike park and fight with everyone else to get out, which thankfully didn't take too long.

Then back to the hotel just to pick up my bags and it was back on the road south to Slovakia, past Bratislava, then onto Vienna and my hotel in Graz, southern Austria a trip of about 250 miles.