This is the record of one of my very best trail riding trips to date. I had a whole two months free, thanks to collected time off in lieu. I had a perfect motorcycle and a wonderful, usually not too hot, summer in which to ride it. I started with my former workshop colleagues in the western Alps, I ended in Bulgaria at the Motocamp. In between… well, read on.
Again, this is simply a copypaste of Facebook posts made during the trip. I am sure this means nobody will read this confusing narrative, but it’s as much a record for me as for anyone else.
TET East 21 – Part One
From here on out I’ll be doing a little more TET, and will post more. The first week of this trip was with my work colleagues and friends of the workshop and only incidentally took in parts of the TET in the North West of Italy. The well known loops, Colle dell’Assietta, Col de Sommelier and Forte Jaffrrau.
But wait. Those of you who skipped ahead to the photos and who are elefant brained enough to recall my previous jaunts on the TET will be asking – where’s Lenore, where’s the tricked out Husky 701? Well. Fuck KTM. After years of being disappointed by the shocking reliability of that mean machine I’ve downsized.
Take one 93 Suzuki DR350S. Add a Marzocchi Magnum 45 from a TE610 to the front, a Wilbers Competition Line shock to the back, a TM36 carb to the middle, a dash of Acerbis XR650 tank, a comfy seat, a big light and a custom built Kriega luggage rack. Plus various seasoning. What do you have? You have a Poe. Possibly the ultimate TET bike.
It had better be. It’s taken a damn lot of work and I only finished the thing two days before leaving for the trip.
Anyway. To the TETing. The three loops in the Italian and French Alps are pretty damn cool, especially Jaffrrau. The western side of the trail is pretty tough going. Steep, jumpy, bumpy and defeated two of us. But three made it to the top and a jolly time was had by all.
They headed north, it was time for me to head east. How far is it from France to Hungary? Well. If you’re on a tricked out 350 it’s a bloody long haul. Two days and many alpine passes later and I crossed the border into Hungary. The difference between Austria’s glass smooth roads and Hungarian tarmac is, at least at this crossing here near section 5 of the TET, noticeable.
The trail immediately takes you into the forests and in my case quickly leads to bruises. Hungary is further north than Italy. I’m Scottish, so North for me means colder weather. How wrong I was. It’s bloody hot. Endless, windless, breathless, mountain-less plains. 50km down and somehow I missed a hole in the ground and flew over the bars. All good. Put them back in the right place and I was on my sweaty way again.
15m later and smack. I’ve got a nice bruise just above my right buttock. I’m very, very dizzy – despite not hitting my head. A lie down in the not-shade is called for. Half an hour and a litre of water later and I’m wishing I’d not got a kickstart bike. 1.2km to the next road. First gear, ass on the seat and I’m bopping my way out of there. I’m seeing stars for the next half hour.
Dinner. Beer. It’s raining heavily, but I don’t think it’ll last long. In a few hours I’ll set up camp and the weatherman says it’s going to be cooler tomorrow. If it’s not then I’ll take the roads to Budapest, I can’t ride trails in this heat and while the trails are fun the views are – to say the least – minimal. I’m not here for Hungary anyway, I’m here for Romania and onwards to Ukraine!
TET East 21 – Part Two
Dear TET Hungary,
This letter has been on my mind for some time. Honestly, it’s hard to write. When we first met you were exotic, exciting – coming as you do from the east. From the outside you always looked flat but I knew where to look for your curvy side. The truth is, you were surprisingly wild and much dirtier than you seem. You were hot. Too hot to handle at times.
But, and I’m sorry to have to say this, things are not what they used to be. I’m bored. In previous relationships I had my camera out every few minutes, taking quick smartphone snaps of dirty bits or serious photoshoots with the DSLR on the harder rides, or with groups of friends. Since we met I’ve not had my camera out once. I find myself looking at other options, there seem to be ways for me to go that offer better views and less hard work.
It breaks my heart to say it, but I’m leaving. I hope we can stay friends. Maybe we’ll meet again some day.
– Tim
More to the point… not done a lot of TET since the last update. I did bits and pieces in Hungary on the way to and from Budapest. It’s one of those trails that seems just to be “trail riding for the sake of trail riding”. There’s usually a road that’ll take you to the same place, with better views and for a lot less effort – in the heat I’ve mostly chosen the easy path. Then a day in the city doing laundry, oggling the girls at the old baths and tending to my bruises.
I’d hoped to be at the start of TET Ukraine Beta by now. But I’m not. I was in Ukraine, briefly, but for those who’ve not been vaccinated entry is a kerfuffle that just put me off the whole thing. You need insurance, which is cheap enough. But you also need an app that tracks you and gives you a rather alarming 72hr countdown clock to either lock yourself away for a week or get a test.
In Kiev.
800km away.
On a DR350.
So. Yeah. No. Thanks. None of this was explained on the website I looked at, but is explained on the website they referred me to.
All of which wasted a few hours at the border, especially as the Slovakian police decided they needed to search the bike that had not left sight of their border post.
That wasn’t the last I saw of them though. Rode off towards Romania, navigating by eye. Found a minor road pointing in the right direction that became a trail. A trail with lots of video cameras along it and funny looking posts with Ukrainian national flag colours on them.
Didn’t think much of it until I realised that next to the trail was a lot of barbed wire and crazy fencing. I had rather forgotten I was in a border zone. Rode on, under the cameras, until I got to the road and was pulled over by two rather grumpy border police in two cars, one from each direction.
Whoops. Guess I wasn’t supposed to be there. But, hey, you waste my time with the pointless search guys…
Anyway. Taking an easy ride over to Romania today with a view to rejoining the TET tomorrow. Glad I’m not in a rush!
TET East 21 – Part 3
Jon Florea I hate you. My bike hates you as well. Especially the clutch. I miss Spain, Greece, Portugal. I even miss asphalt. This Romania shit is hardcore. I’ve not even got to the “here be dragons bit” yet.
Anyway. Rewind. Feel asleep in the moonlight, woke to three old ladies walking by the hammock to do old lady mountain things. Probably mushrooms. Onwards to the TET, but first – supplies. Stopped at a questionable looking corner shop that was clearly responsible for supplying the local alcoholics with their morning beer. I say “corner” shop in the broadest possible sense. Towns here just seem to follow the road, so corners per-se are in short supply.
I also use the term “supplies” in the broadest possible sense. I mean a coffee, a twix and some loo roll. Plus a twinkie thing the shopkeeper recommended. All of which cost nothing, a gift from Romania in his words. I drank terrible coffee, set up my GPS, set the world to rights with the shopkeeper and ate my twinkie. All with an audience.
Properly equipped (bog roll) and nourished (twinkie) for the challenges ahead I headed for the TET, and glory.
Didn’t really cover myself in glory. But I did get distracted by frogs while crossing a puddle, fell off and covered myself in mud instead.
But it’s bloody hard going. The first little bit of 25km or so took me 2hrs! Rocks everywhere, quite a lot of mud and water, very steep and some alarmingly steep, tricky bits. I was cursing Jon and seriously considering turning around, my comfort zone for solo trail riding was being pushed already. Especially fuelled only by a twinkie and a twix. Note to self. Tomorrow – more substantial breakfast.
Very glad I pushed through though. Once out of the forest and into the swing of things the trails (and me!) got going a bit. Then we burst out of the forest into open country. 4×4 traces in the grass, grass rustling in the wind, a little bit of speed, gorgeous views, shepherds working with their dogs and horses. This is why I trail ride.
Lunch in the next town was delicious, utterly. Although I think spicy chicken wings are perhaps not typically Romanian. I’m open to be convinced either way. Wasn’t KFC. Was finger lickin’ good.
The afternoon’s trails were fine until they weren’t. Mostly easy going, but mostly in the forest. No views, just a deep sense of foreboding about the approaching “here be dragons” waypoint. But nothing to worry about. I gave up before I even got there.
A little river and a steep slippery slope. Someone had been up recently, looked like on TKC80s. I couldn’t though. I attacked it twice, but just bogged down and stalled. Then slipped and fell. Maybe my tires are too far gone. Maybe my skills are too poor. Maybe I’m just a coward. Maybe I couldn’t face kicking it over again at an awkward slippy angle. But I turned around. I was already questioning my fuel situation – last top up was “use the last florins” and didn’t fill the tank. I’d been sideways four times already. She was not starting well at all and that was a sign of low fuel back in Italy*. Discretion being the better part of valor I’ve called it a day and gone back to the road. I’ve got time and I don’t need to cover every kilometre.
Shame. I’d have liked to at least meet those dragons. A decent chunk of tomorrow’s route is identical to the ACT, so that should be easy going. I’ll do as much TET here as I can, but I’m not taking any silly risks on my own.
It’s gorgeous though. Jon. I love you. Thanks for your work. Batshit crazy hard to ride as it may be.
*Fuel intake on the carb points down. It’s stuck that way. I think when the tank is very low there isn’t enough pressure to get the fuel into the bowl unless the carb is “sucking”.
TET East – Part Four
Days like today are why I travel this way. Up in the morning in my paradise camping spot, with the only neagtive of note being that I somehow purchased lumpy yogurt instead of milk for my coffee. Top tip kids. It’s not an acceptable substitute.
Onwards to the start of the TET for the day. Which is also the start of the ACT and both tracks follow a very similar route – reassuring given my travails yesterday. Anything the GS crowd can do I should bloody well be able to do on my DR350. If not I should pack my things, go home, buy a street bike.
I wasn’t wrong. The morning was spent blitzing along nice, mostly easy trails. Mostly following a river, which I love – speed, puddle dodging, some exciting bits. The views were not much to write home about, mostly in the valley as I was. But good to get the gas on a bit.
There came a point where the ACT and TET diverged and I’m not ashamed to admit that it took a moment to decide which way to go – yesterday was tough stuff. But I took the TET and I’m glad of it. Gravel, a few rocks, pretty valleys and then a surprising long stretch of asphalt twisties which made a nice change.
Along the way it’s time for an ice cream. I step out of the shop to find a cavalry charge catapulting itself towards me. It was one of these Romanian weddings I’ve been warned about. Just a small affair. Only a cavalry division, a huge fully loaded horse drawn carriage and about a hundred cars in hot persuit. Very Covid-Safe I’m sure!
The two routes eventually converge again and as they then go their separate ways I stick with the TET and start heading up an old concrete road into a national park. Ideal place to camp. Or is it? Bears and all. Best keep going. Up up up and more up and eventually I’m over the tree line and on trails proper. The views are to die for, endless layers of mountains as far as the eye can see.
But the sun is setting. I’m over the tree line. So it’s going to be cold. Below the tree line there’s a killer grizzly with an attitude behind every tree 🌲🐻🌲. What’s a boy to do? Ride on baby, it’s got to go back down to the valley eventually.
Which, of course, it doesn’t. There’s a little spur at the top which takes you to the weather observatory. The sun is going to dip below the horizon in a half hour. No matter what I’m camping here. It’s going to be damn cold though.
After obligatory sunset photos I look for a place to set the hammock up. No chance. So on the ground with a tarp it is. At over 2000 metres elevation. Time to put on all the clothes I have with me! By the time all is set up and I’ve just about finished my beer the moon comes out from behind the clouds, the mountaintop is in absolute dead silence, I’m sitting on a rock and I’m not ashamed to admit there’s a tear or two in my eye. After the noise and action of the bike all day long this kind of contrast is devine, I feel like I’m atop mount Olympus. This is why I do this.
But it’s cold. The tarp has already frozen crispy. Just as I’m about to climb in I’m saved. The younger chap from the meteorological team tells me they’ve got hot food and a bed for me inside. We bundle all my camping gear together and I’m whisked away into the warm. Food, beer and very good company. Then a real bed in a real building.
This country. Yeah, it’s rough around the edges, to say the least. But it’s fantastic. The people, the landscapes, the trails, the whole package. This is how a day on the TET should be.
TET East – Part Five
Hmm. What to say about the last two days. They’ve been nice. It’s not been spectacular. It’s not been hard. It’s just been… nice. Unlike the first three days not much of real note has happened. The trails have been, mostly, easy going. Not dull, but on the whole not challenging either.
I mean, I’ve not fallen off or over in four days. Four whole days. There’s been a nice variety of trails, sweeping forest tracks by rivers – packed with muddy puddles to splash through or avoid. There’s been long fast gravel roads. Sandy tracks full of ruts. A few rocky climbs, some slightly slippery descents. But no more Romaniacs shit. Which is a relief.
Yesterday was my social day. One R1200 rider on his way up to the weather station on street tires, who I wish the very best of luck! The ACDC song “Big Balls” was titled after such brave souls. Then two Austrians on proper trail bikes. Nice folks all.
Slept by the track last night and was woken by a passing horse and cart in the morning. Which was a relief, another day where I’ve not been murdered by an angry bear. Lots of equine powered, and human powered, agriculture here. Incredible just how much hay a single horse can tow.
Not much more I can tell. I’ll let the few pictures I took do the talking from here. Tonight I’ll skip off of the trail for a bit and Book a Rest in Bucharest. I’m smashed and the bike could use some love – one of the brackets that holds the tank on has snapped. Should have used thicker alu in fabricating it. 20+L of fuel being smashed over rocks was too much. Oil and tires would be nice as well. Anyone know a place in the city that’s not just a part changer, that might be willing to fabricate a few brackets and do a small weld job?
Edit – Thought it might be interesting to mention that so far in Romania I’ve spent about 100eur. That’s about 500 local. That’s for one restaurant meal a day, fuel, choccies, beer, dinner and breakfast from little shops.
TET East – Part Six
The “I’m not sure if someone tried to mug me” edition.
I’ve been off the trails for a few days, the bike had suffered some damage and needed repairs. I’d suffered some exhaustion and needed a break. Although I wasn’t expecting to spend quite so long in Bucharest. You can blame incredible hospitality for that, I was just having a good time!
But today I’m back on the road. New steel fuel tank holders seem, so far, to be robust enough. Almost turned around and went back though, the skies opened and did their very best to wash me away on the way back to the mountains. Despite the weather today was the day for meeting very curious characters on the road.
Character Number One was just your average village drunk, who was sharing my cornershop shelter from the rain, along with his notes on all things rock and roll. So far, so good. Although precisely why he thought it important to swap numbers I don’t know.
Character Number Two was altogether more confusing. A toothless herder, or idontknowwhat on a side trail leading to the TET. Fairly urban area. At the very least he was carrying a big stick. His opening line of conversation was to point at himself, mime punching himself in the head, point at me and to say “money”. To which, as he seemed about as menacing as a goldfish, I offered a very firm no. At this point he switched over to friendly mode, asked where I was from and tried to swap phone numbers with me. At this point a big white Hilux came by and my new friend decided to scarper.
Was it a mugging? Was it just a very strange greeting? I have no idea. But all my treasure is intact, so it’s all good. On to the TET.
Which was wet. Very wet, at points. There was a good half hour of downhill where it was a case of motor off, both brakes on and hop down the rut – there just wasn’t the traction for anything else. But it was a worthwhile stretch – some really beautiful ridgeline riding. Different views than further north. Today was only 60 odd kilometres of TET, but a pretty 60. On the way out towards Brasov and this rather fine little guesthouse I’m sitting in now there were some stretches where the trail became a river. But nothing overly alarming.
All in all, a good day. Fine weather in the afternoon and a short, moderate, stretch of trail for a Tim that’s not feeling all too good today. We’ll see what tomorrow brings!
TET Romania – Part Seven
Things Encountered on the Way
1 Bear. 🐻
2 Polish guys with big bikes stuck in the mud.🏍️
1 serious mud puddle, related to the poles. 💩
2 Germans with smaller bikes taking photos. 📷
1 Opportunity to get mugged again. 🤨
50+ village people returning nods. 😏
5 kids who got a high five. 👏
20+ kids who asked for some brappppppp. 👊
3 people buying me snacks and coffee. ☕
2 unfriendly Germans in a van. 😠
3 speeding horsecarts, one of which I nearly had a head on collision with! 😨
10 tons of rubbish around Lake Vidraru. 😔
1 proper river crossing. 🌊
1 Motocamp Romania. 🏡
Which, I guess, is my way of saying that the last two days have been defined not so much by the trails but by what I’ve seen on and around them. It’s all been pretty easy going in most respects, aside from that big mud puddle that stopped my two polish comrades in their tracks. Not that I got through it without their help.
On a more serious note, for a change, I’ve noticed in these last few sections the curious social divide in Romania between the mainstream culture and the Roma/Gypsy community. I’ve had more than a few people tell me to watch out here or there and the trail has, in the last few days, taken me through a few places which were clearly much poorer.
Rubbish strewn all over the place, kids playing in it, fewer cars, broken buildings – real ghettos. Both out in the country and on the edges of larger towns. Does anyone have any tips for something could read, online or in audiobook form, that would explain this culture – and the mainstream reaction to it – a little more.
I’m off the TET for a couple of days now, taking a loop north from Sibiu on the ACT, which mostly stays out of the high Carpathian mountains. It’s all very German here, from architecture to second language – so it all feels a little more familiar. Or maybe I’m just getting used to Romania!
TET East – Part Eight
After a tire change (Pirelli MT21) and a lazy afternoon at MotoCamp Sibiu it was time to hit the trails again, my guess was it would be two days on the trails and a day in a thermal spa town I’d read was rather nice. Yeah, I’m not just a big tough dirtbike rider – I can happily spend a whole day in the baths being pampered like a princess! Not that it panned out that way. More on my neglected inner princess in a bit.
There’s lot a lot I can report about the trails on this last section. I passed through the second “here be dragons” and barely noticed – despite passing it in a pretty hefty rain shower. It was certainly badly rutted, but that’s about it. Pick your path and it’s easy enough. The same day did have an unmarked tricky section, after following a valley for some distance you turn at a pretty run down guest house. The guesthouse owner made clear he didn’t think it was a good idea, in the rain I definitely agreed! There’s an easy bypass by following the main trail, the “official” route is pretty much a shortcut on a switchback anyway.
There were a lot of puddles, a lot of rocks, a lot of bumps but I’ve still not dropped the bike since day one two. I guess my skills are not so rusty any more.
The overnight was unexpected. It was clearly going to be a stormy night and I was still in bear 🐻 territory, so I picked a cheap but respectable looking guest house along the way. I expected a good night’s sleep. I got a raucous night of too many beers, a fight between one guy and the village idiot and a stack of new friends. Half spoke English as a second language, half German – so my limited inner polyglot got a workout.
I didn’t meet many people on the trail, but I did meet a gutsy father-son pair from Poland on a Big GS Little GS combo. I hope they’re alright, they were only doing little bits of the TET but both had a sketchy moment getting up to my lunch spot in fairly modest loose gravel. The track got a lot harder in their direction of travel!
You might be wondering why I didn’t stop in the “beautiful” spa town of Baile Herculane. Well. I did. Holy crap was my inner princess disappointed. I’ve rarely been to a more depressing place – it’s a beautiful setting, there are some grand old buildings and hot water flowing in the river. But somehow they’ve managed to give it the ambiance of a filthy truck stop toilet but still pack it with as many people as a Hong Kong subway train. I ran as fast as I could.
The hammock was out for the first time in a while, spooky sleeping spot in a burnt out forest. Lower altitudes, better weather, no murderous bears.
I’m in Bulgaria now and about to start on the TET here. The first word said to me in Bulgaria was “FREE!” from the chap in the bridge toll box, so I get a good feeling about this place…
The Romanian TET was gorgeous, for those that want to know I’d say that it’s about 30% road, 30% easy gravel tracks, 30% proper trails with rocks, ruts and loose stuff and 10+ hard as nails enduro stuff. I did it in 9 steady riding days, with about a week spent off the trails doing other stuff. I’d highly recommend starting at the Serbia/Bulgaria side, it’s easier and the most spectacular sections are in the north – better to peak at the end. I did the whole thing with two 500lev cash withdrawals, plus a couple of card transactions – so that’s probably 250-300eur with occasional hotels and a restaurant meal daily.
TET East – Part Nine
Ooooooooooh. Two posts in a day. Well. Today deserves it. It’s a whole new country! I had positive impressions right from the start when the toll both guy shouted “FREE!” at me as he waved me on by. Good start.
Top tip to those coming after me. When you cross into Bulgaria at Calafat / Vidin be sure and get cash before you head to the TET. On the TET you’re way off the beaten track – to the extent I was singing Ghost Town by The Specials in my helmet in every settlement. Do do doooooooooh, dah dah dah DAH.
Get cash. There’s no banks. Nothing. First major town I did get to. All ATMs broken. So get cash. Fortunately I aimed for the “Magura” caves as my jump on point to the TET and while they didn’t have any brake components they did have a restaurant that took card. Crap food. But food.
On the topic of my terrible planning… I decided to book my flights back today. Found two very compelling flights, one to get me from Varna to Sofia and then one to get me back to Germany. I booked them and all seemed well. I was planning to leave the bike at Moto Camp Bulgaria, which I knew from Graham Field’s books is Near Varna. Which it’s not. It’s nearer bloody Sofia than it is Near Varna. Good thing it was only an 8eur Ryanair job!
The trails. Yeah. What can I say. If you don’t have barkbusters and googles don’t even try it. The trails are horribly overgrown, mostly with vicious thorn bushes. The middle of the track mostly saves you from them, but it’s horrendously bumpy and unpredictable – long grass conceals what’s there – so you’ll find yourself at the sides to stay upright. But you’ll have thorns ripping at your everything. Or, in one case today, a big sticks trying to joust with your panniers. I was very nearly thrown from the bike, no idea how I stayed upright – but I ended up at 90 degrees to the trail.
The trails themselves… tough stuff. Some very steep, very rutted parts which really slowed me down. It’s noticeably more “south” here. More sand, very dry trails, seriously eroded trails. That and they’re clearly not used. Romania’s trails are in use by forestry traffic and it shows. These are not.
That’s when you can can find the right way. Romania was pretty much laser sharp. When the track said you could get through you could, even if it was hard. When the route said left, left it was. Bulgaria… not so much. I’m not even sure if this was properly scouted or worked out on Google Earth. There are trails that exist on my OSM maps but don’t exist in real life.
Ultimately, after a half hour having to find my own way through (very beautiful) fields I took a look at the map and decided to call it a day. I hadn’t slept too well the night before, the trails were frustrating, painful and borderline hazardous for a solo rider. I found a cheap hotel a good distance to the south and headed there. The route took in what looked too be a nice part of the TET – crossing a big dam. Which had big gates and security guards. Well. At least it wasn’t thorns.
A nice surprise awaited me in the form of Berkovitsa towns founding day festival. Cue the traditional costumes, strange music, dancing and a heck of a lot of food. Plus a working ATM at last so I could buy my share of it. Yum.
I’m a good distance south now, fairly near Sofia. I’ll see what the trails bring tomorrow but if it’s more of the same I’m going to head elsewhere and call Bulgaria a couple days of road touring, today was not my idea of a good time on the trails. Too slow. Too pointy.
TET East – Part Ten
Well, bugger me. That was an awesome day. That’s including the fact I had to turn around and go all the way back to way I came. This should be quite a brief post, as I really only rode at most 50km of trails, but it was a 50km oh trails that makes TET Bulgaria worth it.
After an overnight at the perfect TET Guesthouse (Bungalows Zdravets) I headed up into the trail above Berkovitsa. Why’s it the perfect TET Guesthouse? Big rooms, huge garden, rural and cheap. I headed up with trepidation in my heart, it was clearly going to follow the mountain range behind the town and if the previous day’s experience was anything to go by it was going to be tricky. Pointy too.
Well. It wasn’t pointy. The trail is much wider than further north, there was still some dodging tree branches but nowhere near as much. The going is good, if occasionally heavily rutted, if occasionally rocky. But the views, right from the off, are spectacular. Took me ages to get up there just because I was stopping to take photos.
I met a chap on an XT600 who uses it to ride up and chop wood up there, he explained that the trail really does follow the ridgeline all the way to Sofia and that while it’s mostly ok after the border police things get tricky. All this with barely and English or German.
Heartened I rode on. Eventually you break out of the treeline and the views are uncanny. Feels like you can see all of Bulgaria. I met very rough looking, but very friendly, berry pickers who gave me berries. I gave them chocolate. There were more further up, whole families, with some very dangerous transportation solutions!
The trail is reasonably accurate in this section. There are some utterly bizarre decisions from the linesman though. There can be an obvious, fairly straightforward way to go and the track will take you on a detour to the hardest most rutted trail you could find. That’s not the way I ride alone, path of least resistance please.
The border police gave me their blessing and explained where I could and could not go in their border zone with Serbia. On I rode towards a rather scary looking ridgeline climb. The first had a minor trail to the side that let me bypass the rocky climb. The second…. didn’t. You’ll see the photos below. I think the photos do show how steep it was this time.
It was only 16km to the end of the trail, it was beyond spectacular so – despite the whole thing being a little over my solo riding risk threshold – I decided to give it a go. The problem with this kind of decision is that trail riding absolutely demands confident action. When you’re alone, suffering from vertigo and outside of your comfort zone that’s hard to do.
I knew I should take a good run up at it, stand up, weight forward, first gear and give it lots of gas. Trust the bike. But the front wouldn’t stay on the ground, I was scared shitless. Fear of heights and I’m a nervous rider at the best of times. So it was feet down, first gear, play the clutch. Got 25m and inevitably stalled it. The section was so steep I started to side down backwards and was just getting quicker as I did, so I ditched the bike to the left. Ok. Time to pick it up and try again.
With the 701 that wouldn’t be a problem, both brakes on. Neutral. Magic button. Ride on. With the kicker… after awkwardly getting on I had to dismount because the front wheel didn’t have the traction to hold the bike. Wedged a big stone behind the rear wheel. Then I could start. I launched myself another few nerve wracking meters and stalled again. Another rock was needed.
Then it happened again, very near the top and it was steeeeeeeeeep. Couldn’t get traction to ride up any more, not from a dead stop. Time to turn around and go back the way I came. Which at that kind of angle was a challenge in itself. There’s no other way back except the way I came, but it’s beautiful, no great loss.
On the way I stopped and had a comprehensive emasculation from the young border police officer. His colleague does it all the time on the ATV apparently. It should be much easier on a motorcycle, apparently. Hrumph.
On the way down I met a 4×4 tour group going up. I was tempted to go back and try in their company, I’m pretty sure they’d have at least held the bike so I could kick it over without finding rocks to hold position. But no, what’s done was done. One sad thing was that three tarmac road 16km away meets the trail at 1500m. One of my reasons to turn around was a predicted hellish descent to 500 from 2000 but it wasn’t to be.
Now I’m going to take a little detour to Greece, I want some holiday feel for a few days. I’ll hit the cost, potter about the costal roads, visit an island and do a little Greek TET. Then I’ll rejoin TET Bulgaria for the ride back to MotoCamp and the end of the trip!
TET East – Part Eleven
A big time period covered in this one, plus quite a lot of TET – although not contigious. I’ve been taking a holiday from my holiday and pissing about in Greece. Sometimes on the TET, sometimes not. Sometimes on other random trails. Sometimes blasting my way up the beach. Sometimes sitting on it.
It’s been exceedingly nice. I can’t say a lot about the TET here, it’s varied – it follows the sea, it bumps along the mountains, it’s in the flatlands and it’s mostly pretty unassuming as long as you can ride sand. There wasn’t anything spectacular, but even the flatter parts are interesting enough to keep a smile on your face.
But let’s talk about the standout moments. First up, if you’re looking for a place to stay in Thessaloniki you could do a lot worse than Arabas Studios. It’s about the cheapest hostel in town, there’s secure parking, great community and the boss is a serious motorcycle fan. He offered to take the bike in the garden for a few months, so long term storage options. I planned to stay a night or two, ended up using it as a base for nearly a week.
The TET east from Thessaloniki really takes you out into the sticks, you’re quickly in some properly remote villages. The kind of places that see so little through traffic that you’ll find yourself invited to lunch by enthusiastic locals and the village shop owner will furnish you with everything you need and refuse to take any money. Xenia, baby. It’s Xenia.
To the north you’ve got Fort Roupel. Unfortunately I got there when it was closed. But it opened in 20 minutes! I was the only person there and had a free two hour guided tour with a young conscript. A mortar specialist that had never fired a round in training, conscript armies are weird. But the fort, especially with the private tour through the tunnels, is well worth a go.
I won’t cover all the other tourist bullshit I did. But put it this way, it’s a city that’s got a lot to see within a reasonable driving distance. Beaches, men only monk-peninsulas, Olympus, waterfalls, rock formations…
Leaving the city I headed east on the TET which ultimately takes you along the coast to my second encounter with nearly-violence for this trip. There’s an abandoned thermal bath just off the track, apparently it got closed due to health and safety bullshit and now the government pay the squatters who live there to take care of the place. It shows, it’s clean. You can easily ride a bike in, but no chance with a car.
I set myself up next to the nicest looking pool in the place, all to myself. Until Mr Masturbator turned up. Rarely have I met anyone with such a creepy vibe but, fortunately for me a lovely Czech dope dealer and his family turned up. Nice people, but they were parked down at the beach and damnit I was sleeping by my thermal pool. As soon as they left Mr Masturbator left his satyr-like pose on a nearby tree and descended again on my pool.
“Hi” says he. “Hi” says I. “Do you like being naked” says he. Well. Fuck. Truth is that I love being naked but because I was just having Czech Family Time and because Captain Creepy was sitting in his tree I still had my shorts on. So, kind of obvious that right at this moment I don’t. After usefully being informed that hot water makes Mr Masturbator hard I sent some harsh words guys way and elected to leave him to it. Two minutes later I’ve got a naked, flabby, erect example of manhood standing proudly by my hammock tent. Lovely.
Threats of violence may have been used by certain people who’s name rhymes with Jim Chewitt. The gentleman in question was escorted back to his crappy Fiat MX-5 copy. The twit didn’t even have a proper Mazda. Unsurprisingly I didn’t see him again. I did maybe mention that if I did I’d smack him in the head with a rock. Meh. Nothing against homosexuality, but that kind of behaviour is shit.
Once that episode was closed the rest of the evening was really rather nice. My very own private thermal hot pool, a cold beer, a thunderstorm lighting up the sky in the distance. Nae bad.
Next stop was to jump on the boat to Thassos. Not TET, so I was expecting an easy ride. especially as Google was happy to route me to the highest point of the mountain. I picked the most twisty looking option and fuck me, don’t trust Google on this island if you have a normal car. This was serious trail riding. Steep rocky stuff, washed out bits, the kind of stuff you’re deffo not going to bed doing in an Octavia. Fun though. Spectacular views from up top and I found two fine beaches to sleep on.
Now I’m back on the mainland with a view to seeing one more island before I head back to Bulgaria, to MotoCamp and my flight home. Tonight, weirdly, I’m sleeping in a little caravan at the local mud baths. Floating in thick, deep mud while a torrential rain storm crashes down on you is quite an assault on the senses. It’s also just off the TET, they have camping spots and I couldn’t imagine a better place for a group of TET riders to stop.
Oh. One last thing. Let’s not mention the fact I found Kavala’s leading dogging spot, photographed it and posted it to the TET group. Go me!
TET East – Part Twelve
I do love this whole TET thing. Even when things don’t quite go according to plan. I’d planned to do a little TET, a little highway and get to Bulgaria today. Which, I guess, I achieved. Briefly.
So, the TET. Beautiful trails today North East out of Kavala. The first section starts off as a mildly challenging – due to a lot of lose rocks – section broadly following a ridgeline. It ends with a short section of single track. I have very little experience with single track. Single track with a drop to the left isn’t the thing for solo riding in the midday sun so I doubled back and bypassed it.
Soon after I was flagged down by a man in a white van who told me that the next section is great, one of his favourite tracks in the area. So, the only way was onwards! He wasn’t wrong. It’s easy going, wide open gravel tracks. But pretty, pretty forest.
But it is getting to be time to head north. So I told Google “take me to Bulgaria, you sexy devil” and she plotted a route. Which I promptly ignored when I saw signs for Bulgaria going in the other direction. The signs took me up into the hills, through some little Islamic villages. All very pretty. The last signpost before the border pass had something stuck on it but was in Cyrillic. Onwards, said I. Probably opening times or something.
My suspicions were raised when the border road was covered in rocks. Then branches. But, what the heck. Onwards, said I. Until I reached a beautifully well maintained border post staffed exclusively by Bulgarians. No Greeks. Which meant what while I could, in theory, enter Bulgaria I’d not have legally exited Greece.
After a coffee, some cake and some spirits with the boys at the border I had to turn round and go back the way I came. Almost all the way. I’m almost back where I started! Along the way I fixed a broken DT125 for a village shopkeeper. So my good deed for the day is done.
And that, my friends, is another typical day on the TET down here. Time for a lazy meal, a ride into the forest and a night in the hammock before trying to cross the border again!
TET East – Part Thirteen
Well. That’s it. I’m heading home with planes and trains, the bike has been left at MotoCamp Bulgaria. On the last day of the trip I took the bike out for the first time with no luggage and with the luggage rack modified to not contact the rear wheel under compression any more. I wasn’t on the TET but I was on a route given to me by none other than Mr John Ross himself.
Holy. Crap. I don’t think it was ditching the luggage that did it. I don’t have much. Having my full suspension travel though… The trail to the UFO was bouncy, jumpy and rather rocky. The bike was so much more fun! Why didn’t I get it sorted sooner? Because I’m a moron. Because I always leave repairs until they’re unavoidable. I’ll learn. Eventually.
Anyway. I’ve not much more to say about the day itself. Up near the UFO I was approached by a calf with an injured leg who was in the always pleasant process of freezing to death, no cows in sight. No farms or farmers either. Around a corner I found the responsible farmer who headed up the hill to find his lost calf. He probably just killed it, but at least the little sod didn’t freeze to death.
Speaking of freezing to death… it’s the right moment to head home. It’s getting bloody cold up in the Bulgarian mountains, so probably good timing. Plus I’m starting to miss normal life a little. There are bikes to be built. Engines to be tuned. Trees to be chopped up. People to be loved!
What worked well on the trip? Well. First of all, Kudos to the bike. The little DR did better than I could have expected. The problems have been minimal; the front brake caliper fell off, the aluminium tank brackets snapped, there’s a small oil leak somewhere and the handlebars won’t stay in place for love nor money.
The caliper was just a lack of loctite. The brackets were a bad idea anyway and are now made out of steel. The oil leak seems like just a loose case bolt, now fixed. The bars were an emergency solution because I couldn’t get the ones I wanted in time, so they were up be replaced anyway. I did have to fix the “premium” Cyclops LED headlight with some two compound gunk too. It’s not particularly vibration resistant, the bayonet fitting that holds the light itself into the H4 fitting is alu and held in place with an oring. That gives it enough movement to vibrate and that vibration destroyed the tabs on the fitting.
But the bike! The weight of the thing. The power on the trails. The perfectly acceptable 100ish on the highway. The 500km+ fuel tank. The fact it didn’t fucking explode like the KTMvarna always did. The way it handles rough terrain like it’s on rails. The lights. The whole damn electric system that I built myself. The ultralight packing. The Enduristan box on the back that kept food safe and squash free. It’s been so much more relaxing than the highly strung LC4 and for the way I ride, just as much fun.
The Garmin GPSMAP64s was the ideal navigation system for the TET and other trails. Couldn’t have asked for clearer navigation, flawlessly daylight readable. Button operated is so much better with gloves. Using AA batteries with USB ports on them was the ideal way to power it, two batteries did a whole day easily and every few days I’d recharge the dead ones. Definitely don’t need to wire this little guy into the bike. I’ve tried big Garmins, I’ve tried phones, I’ve tried tablets. This thing that cost me 75eur and is held onto the bars with simple zip ties beats them all.
My turn by turn navigation solution, however, was crap. A non waterproof smartphone wedged in the map pocket of my tank bag just isn’t good enough. Can’t see it properly, can’t interact with it. It’s crap. That’ll be getting changed.
Tires. Hrumph. I loved the old, no longer produced, Maxxis ones I started with. The new Pirelli MT21s, not so much. They’re perfectly acceptable, but they’re not impressive like the others. They just don’t hold the trails as well, especially on loose rocks. It’s just a little bit skittery, where the Maxxis just held everything – even mostly worn.
5000km later I’ve ridden some amazing places. I’ve been through 11 countries. I’ve been defeated by some challenges. I’ve overcome others. I’ve met some wonderful people, made some new friends. I’ve met some horrible people. Lots of good food, some terrible food. Literally one rainy day. No injuries. I’ve had a whole load of fun and really I can’t wait to get back to the bike next year and do it all again! Until then, my beloved TETicles!
