Day 1 - Swindon (GB) to Barleber Lake Magdeburg (D)

Set-out from home at 02:00 after a few hours of sleep. Why do I always do this to myself? Didn't fancy wasting 2 entire days suffering on the autobahn so decided to condense the pain into 1 day of extreme suffering so that I could get to somewhere more interesting, more quickly. Was great to be hitting the road again, despite the inevitable tyre-squaring monotony of the cross continental E40 road. Amazing to think that this boring road goes from Belgium to almost the Chinese border. 5000 miles of boring tarmac. Perhaps it gets better further down the road, but in the first 1000 miles of this road you will see exactly nothing....

  

The journey so far has been pretty uneventful. Motorway, petrol stations and more motorways. Efficient yes, interesting no. I was making reasonable progress when I finally hit a 15km traffic jam.... I pushed to the front (filtering is illegal in Germany) only to find that the motorway was closed due to what looked like a motorbike going under a lorry..... Despite being told that the road would be closed until 22:00, it partially re-opened an hour later.... By this time I was feeling pretty sleepy, so rather than going under a lorry like the other chap, I headed for a stunning lakeside camping next to Magdeburg. It's like Baywatch - bikini clad ladies playing beach volleyball, people swimming in the lake, dodgy 80's music - superb... 

Whilst I attempted to pack light, I didn't really succeed and the front end of the bike feels a bit light. My rear tyre is also not looking brilliant, but I will see how far I can get it before looking for a tyre shop. Should also have put my road-legal exhaust back on prior to this trip. The one I have fitted is pretty offensive and will probably land me in trouble with the authorities at some point...

8+ hours to ride tomorrow, will I make it in time for the family do?

Mileage: 671
Country count: 5 (GB, F, B, NL, D)
Beers: 3
Fines: 0
Bribes: 0
Ass pain: 6/10
Mechanical issues: 0
Accidents: 0 (well 1 that didn't involve me)
Coldness: 6/10