I did an organized trip with Beach's www.bmca.com and it was REALLY good.
Mainland Europe is a really good place to be on a bike. there are LOTS of bikes on the back roads.
Random thoughts:
If you want to do the high mountain passes (and trust me, you want to), watch out for the dates that they are open. At high altitudes, the snow never goes away, and some of the best passes (Sustenpass, Furkapass, St Gothards pass but I'm talking about the old cobblestone road, not the motorway) may not open until May or June.
You want a relatively small, light bike. I had a BMW F800ST and it was really good. Some of the hairpin turns make Forks of the Credit or Rattlesnake Point look like a cake walk, and there is hairpin after hairpin after hairpin.
Don't overestimate the number of kilometers you can do in a day of mountain passes. After 250 or 300 km, I was beat. And 250 km at the bike's wheels is a lot less than that as the crow flies.
You need an international driver's license with a motorcycle endorsement. You can get this at CAA. Pay attention to the international road sign booklet that they give you!
Forget North American "blocking position" riding. Small backroads in europe are often one lane - but not one direction. You are expected to take up as little space on the road as practical - bikes are expected to go to the extreme right edge (or left in UK). Car drivers treat bikers with much more respect over there than they do here, just be aware that the car driver (or bus driver or truck driver) expects you to be taking up only the right edge of the road, so if there is room to get by, they WILL. As long as you do what you are expected to do, it isn't a problem. And, you are expected to signal EVERYthing. Moving away from the right edge to pass a bicycle or pedestrian? signal. The person behind you who was about to overtake YOU, needs to know that! They WILL respect your signal, though - unlike here.
Watch out for speed cameras ... speed limits generally make more sense (i.e. higher) in europe than they do here BUT in Switzerland, they grant you 3 km/h above the posted limit - THAT'S IT - then you're getting a ticket!
And a week isn't enough ...
http://picasaweb.google.com/brianpet...35t4z3xI6A9wE#
Bookmarks