TEAM AZ Rides Europe: An Introduction
Last Updated: February 6th, 2021
I’ve been asked by several people why I’m taking this trip, how I go about planning, and how will I make it all happen. Fair enough. This is my effort to provide the who, what, when, where, why, and the how (travel philosophy).
First, The WHY
Does one ever need an excuse to travel? If pressed, I’ll say I turned 40 and had to do something special. That’s the easy answer I suppose. More to the point, I really enjoy the adventures, the magical moments, and just the plain act of getting lost when traveling. Sadly, I misplaced the joy of traveling when I was on the road more than 280 days per year for my business. This is my attempt to regain the spark and embrace travel once again. An even darker truth, and something probably not expected from a motorcycle enthusiast and RiderCoach, is that I’ve lost some of the passion for riding on two wheels. I’m hoping to rekindle those flames as well as I ponder my next professional career move.
Why Europe? Primarily I have a group of friends in England I’d like to see; plus, there are some outstanding opportunities to check out the world’s best motorcycle racing and some of the greatest motorcycling roads on the planet.
WHAT will be happening and WHEN?
For planning purposes, I’ve broken up the two month adventure into four parts:
- English Invasion- (Hey look kids, there’s Big Ben!) – End of May
- Spend time with friends Nick and Tommo
- Attend World SuperBike at Donington Park
- Visit the Ace Cafe in London
- Eat at Jay’s (home of former MasterChef UK Celeb and friend)
- Isle of Man for TT Races (That’s a Man’s Corner that) – Beginning of June
- European Vacation (Bruges is a fairy-tale town) – Mid June to Mid July
- Belgium (Bruges,Ghent)
- Luxembourg (Soundgarden Concert)
- West Germany(Black Forest, B500 Road; Romantic Road)
- Austria and Northern Italy (Stelvio Pass, Dolomites)
- East Germany (Motogp at Sachsenring)
- Return to England/Return to Arizona –Mid July to End of July
2009 Suzuki Bandit 1250SA is WHAT I’ll be Riding
Fortunately for me, I have very generous English friends who are providing me with a motorcycle and insurance under their business licenses. If that weren’t happening, and I doubt it will happen again, then renting a motorcycle would be another feasible option. Renting is not a bad option, it is just more expensive when considering a journey of this length of time and this magnitude of miles. Ultimately, I’m being well taken care of by my English mates.
WHO is going?
For the first part of the trip, I’ll be accompanied by some friends. I’ve primarily been placed as the planner of the first leg of the trip for everyone, so there is a bit of weight to what I do. I’d hate to spoil a person’s trip based on my poor planning, so I started that bit almost ten years ago, with the majority taking place within the last twelve months. I have no doubt that Jim, Mike, Brad, and Jon will approve.
When I head to continental Europe, I’ll be doing it S-O-L-O. Some might consider this a “bad” thing or risky thing to do, but Europe is motorcyclist friendly and what’s an adventure without a little risk?
My Travel Philosophy Retains the HOW
With the desire to be quickly and widely understood, and without sounding overly pretentious, I describe my travel method to be two parts Rick Steves and one part Ted Simon. Don’t get me wrong by placing Rick first; riding is at the core of what I’ll be doing, but putting on miles just to put on miles is not my thing. I admire guys like Ted who have millions of miles under their belts and travel the world with grace. I daydream about that kind of life occasionally, but in the end, it just isn’t me. For the record, I don’t claim to be an expert in this field of long distance touring, merely an enthusiast. I plan on making mistakes and learning from them; the bright side is that you can learn from my mistakes too!
When I decide which roads to take, usually I choose motorways to get the primary destination (hub), but then I choose “A” and “B” roads when I venture out from the hub. This may be sacrosanct to adventure riders who claim to never use a motorway, but I like to unladen the motorcycle of the bags so that I can ride unfettered. Just a preference really; neither is the “right way”.
I like using a hub-and-spoke method of traveling where I hunker down in one place for several days, typically a week or more, so that I can get to know the area. Then I take day trips to points of interest with an intent to return back to the hub. Also, I like to take every third or fourth day as a day of rest and relaxation in the town I’m staying. I find that a place begins to reveal itself only after the third day. These aren’t steadfast rules, just general guidelines I tend to follow.
Part of the joy I receive from traveling comes from exposing myself to the cultures and habits of the locals. Making myself vulnerable, taking myself out of my comfort zone nets the biggest personal growth and typically helps me achieve a personal connection with the locals that only a day or two in a tourist zone won’t produce.
With that said, I tend not to stay in hotels. I prefer BnBs and homestays. Often, they are less expensive and more culturally rich in experience. As I am out and about so much, I find spending a lot of money on housing to be inefficient and unnecessary.
In regards to money, I suspect my trip, including airfare, may run close to $4,000. I’m ultra conservative and use the “rule of 3” when budgeting, so over the past ten years, I was able to save $12,000 for the trip. One never knows when a medical emergency not covered by travel insurance may occur or a motorcycle may need to be purchased post-incident. While I hope neither happens, they are realities.
READY TO TAKE THE TRIP?
Are you ready to join me on the ride? I’ll be posting as I complete portions of my journey. To look at the postings, simply visit this page: TEAM AZ RIDES EUROPE
We want to know what you think about the trip. Visit our Facebook page and tell us what you think or ask questions about the trip!
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