Geoff,did you go through the Mont-Blanc tunnels to Italy,the 2 tunnels equaled about 24k's if i remember correctly,its a long time ago that i toured europe , but i recall thinking that if a fire broke out in here there'd be big drama,a few years later it happened in the one and some years after that in the other,i'm asking cos i'd never felt so claustrophobic in my life as then,i did it by car ..it must have been as you say an unforgetable experience !
No, but in Austria we stayed in one of the biking "Sporthotel" hotels at Platz and this was just south of the Reschen Bundestrasse tunnel. This is about 7k in length and we went through it everyday.
But of course the area has a lot of tunnels.
I have a fear of long tunnels,mineshafts and so on, problem is once you've entered there's no turning back!I know that sooner or later i will have to use the Chunnel unless there is a cheaper route from Dover to Calais.
I need to ride in Switzerland again, it'll be the only place that comes near to the heights of the Cascades and Rockies and I need to keep challenging my vertigo until I overcome it. Hoped the Andes would have nailed it once and for all last year, but the trip ended before I got to the serious stuff.
Still, nearly got blown off a mountain in Mexico, that was 45 minutes of memory.
Me and Cata were in Germany about 3 or 4 weeks ago a great place to stay for a few days or overnight is The Bikers Farm at Bulder See by Dulmein I know I have spelled them wrong but I hope Cataraptor will correct me when he logs on.
Its a great place in the middle of two lakes, the owners are lovely there is a bar ourside beer garden the food is scrummy and its all very reasonable prices too.
Has anyone been there?
Excalibur don't go through the Mont Blanc tunnell!!! I made this mistake a few years back, the ventilation is terrible. When I got to the Italian side I stopped as soon as I was clear of the tunnel mouth ripped my lid and jacket off and indulged in a half hour long coughing and spitting fit. I could taste exhaust fumes for days afterwards and my leathers stank of fumes for ages.
I know what you mean Prof , i did the tunnels in a car and had a tight chest and sweaty palms after exiting , but i think this was due to my phobia . i cant take confined spaces for a long time and found out the hard way!
Awww - glad to bring back some happy memories for you Moon Any time you fancy revisiting - give me a shout - my sis fancies going sometime too
The Chunnel's pricey and as you're inside a train carriage, I expect the confinement feeling could be an issue. It's very fast though - barely time to have a snooze in the motor and you're there It's hard to say - I have no problem with confined spaces... apart from when I got my battery pack snagged in a really really tiny cave... couldn't go forward, couldn't go back... Oh I know! Let's panic instead! Soon as I stopped panicking and applied a little logic I was free though...
I never knew i had a problem until i drove through the Mont Blanc tunnels from Austria to Italy , i started imagining bad scenarios and just wanted to get out , but once you've entered there's no turning back ,you exit the one tunnel +_10k's and almost immediately enter the next one +_ 12k's ...i'm talking under correction here , it definately felt that long to me anyway .lol's
Conditions were very wet... the cave was dark and dank... as I made my way slowly through the apparently wide entrance, the cave grew progressively narrower and the roof lower, until I reached the stage where I was pulling myself along on my belly, barely able to lift my head to enable my helmet light to shine the way forward for me... the battery pack snagged! I was plunged into darkness! I was forced to feel my way by touch alone in these dark, dank surroundings of mine, to reconnect the light... panic set in and my breath grew ragged... but at last I calmed down,, breathed the moist air deeply & finally I was free to continue my damp exploration of parts unknown...
Not sure it's a part of the world I've been to. Couldn't say tunnels are an issue for me. Blind bends and sheer drop edges are, but only when I'm the one riding or driving. If someone else is, I'm fine. There are some frighteners in WA, especially when you do a little fire track off roading.
Hoping to do a ride to the Arctic Circle next year with a rider I met in Canada who is riding up from Australia to meet up. Anyone ridden in Scandinavia?
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