The temperatures had risen the previous day, and kept on doing so. After packing up the bikes under their vine canopied parking, fuelling up, we left for Bruges once more but with temperatures rising to the high 20s quickly.
We stuck to second man stopping and it worked well again until................
After a petrol and drink stop, one bike in the middle of the pack died on the exit slip road. The others had to keep going on the motorway and the rest of us stopped to see if they could work out the problem. The temperature was 35ᵒ when we stopped, and many bikes were in the sun. After phone calls to the UK dealer for ideas, it was decided to turn it round and run it back down into the service area. One other stayed with him while the rest of us headed off again. It turned out, on his return, that the engine temperature sensor needs changing, but the dealer he was taken to found nothing wrong next day (as the bike had cooled?) and he caught us up at the Channel Tunnel.
The Brussels ring road was dreadfully slow, stop and go, and my temperature gauge sat at 40ᵒ for most of it. Our gear had to be turned inside out on arrival at the Bruges hotel, just to dry off!
We did have time to walk into Bruges for a drink and some dinner this time.
Next day, it was a short sprint to the Tunnel, to find similar hot humid weather in Kent, but this quickly deteriorated to thunder, lightning and torrential rain by the time we entered Surrey. Goodbyes were said as we headed off home in different directions; the temperature fell to 15° although it did dry out some beyond Oxford.
It was an 'interesting' trip logistically, but very picturesque, although better weather would have made some of that even more so as the Eifel region is a very pretty upland and forested area with two very scenic river valleys to enjoy. The company was good and we enjoyed many laughs.
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