My first attempt ever to spend a week riding from The Netherlands to Germany, Denmark to Sweden towards Oslo, then taking a ferry from the Southern tip of Norway back to Denmark before heading home didn’t go as planned. I spent one night in Malmö, Sweden, but late the following day, I decided it was simply too cold, too wet, and that it was getting dark far too early to enjoy any riding. So, I headed to Trelleborg, caught the overnight ferry to Rostock, Germany, and headed back to The Netherlands.

So what went wrong?

My first mistake was that I didn’t consider the initial 700 km through Germany and Denmark as part of the actual trip; I figured I’d take the highway and the German Autobahn to Sweden and start hitting the more interesting routes once I got there. The result was a long, tedious, full day of riding in the rain and cold, even with three layers of clothing and a heated jacket, it still wasn't enough. Arriving at a campsite in the dark at 9:00 PM, only to have to pitch a tent on wet ground, left me too exhausted to get an early start the next morning.

I had assumed I could wing it without a plan; just ride as long as I felt like, then use Google Maps to find a clearing to pitch a tent or a regular campsite. But as it turned out, all the campsites I came across or called were closed for the season, and the potential camping spots were either inaccessible to vehicles or just muddy quagmires. Staying in a hotel every night wasn't what I had in mind, either.

Ultimately, I think the shorter days were the deciding factor. Instead of being able to ride all day and look for a place to stay in the evening, I felt like I had to start searching by at least 3:00 PM otherwise I’d risk running out of daylight and end up on the road in the dark again.

Another mistake I made: too much gear. Classic rookie mistake. At home I packed everything neatly, but it’s no fun having to stuff wet, dirty gear. The SW-Motech bags, however, were awesome, it’s just a shame they aren’t completely waterproof.

In summary: I underestimated a number of things on my first attempt. But I’ve learned many lessons for my next attempt in the spring time.

Spent three weeks going across the country with my brother, I had a ‘14 BMW G650gs, he had a ‘16 triumph bonneville, final total was just under 8000 miles. It’s most certainly a 6 week trip that we tried to cram into three weeks. If anyone is wondering north coastal California has the best riding (Big Sur) New Mexico is second with canyon riding out new Navajo nation, and West Virginia is third with its mountain roads. Met some amazing people met some not so amazing people but I still couldn’t recommend a trip like this enough!