What a glorious morning! We awoke to the ducks quacking on the lake and streaming sunshine. It looked like we'd been handed another perfect day of European motorcycle touring. We headed up into the Vosges Mountains in glorious dry weather, enjoying the winding roads and beautiful scenery. Then, almost without warning, everything changed.

The going was all good as we climbed, enjoying the views and the increasingly dramatic road. That was until a Volvo decided to stop mid-turn, with me directly behind it and nowhere else to go. So I did what I could and stepped off the bike, leaving it to gently rest on its side at turn 6. Thankfully, it was nothing serious. Just a scratch, and the bike was sitting there with its wheels in the air! It could have been a lot worse.

All was going smoothly, until we got stuck behind a flatbed that had managed to get itself stuck on a hairpin! What followed was highly entertaining. The crew had to unload a tarmac remover machine, somehow negotiate the awkward corner, and then reload the machine again. It wasn't exactly the smoothest way to tackle a mountain hairpin, but it provided plenty of amusement for those of us waiting behind.

And yes... Seven grown men pretended they were the Von Trapp family and sang “The Hills Are Alive…” What a laugh! There are moments on a motorcycle tour that you know you'll still be talking about years later. This was definitely one of them. It's not all about chasing the perfect mountain road or ticking off famous landmarks. Sometimes it's simply about having a great group of people together, doing daft things and enjoying the experience.