R5K member tours Europe's rudest place names

From Cockermouth to Scratchy Bottom, Britain is home to some truly comical place names and one #ride5000miles member could not resist the temptation to visit towns and villages with rude names for some right rib-tickling selfies.

In fact, 40-year-old Jon Long from Leeds went further still by exploring Europe’s sweariest sites as part of a 4500-mile tour on his BMW R1100RT.

After recently getting back on a bike after a 15-year hiatus, Long covered 4498 miles bringing his total for the year to around 7000.

His epic adventure began with a ride to John O’Groats, before catching the ferry to Orkney to visit Twatt.

From there, he rode on to Bell End and Mincing Lane in the Midlands. After camping overnight in Calais, Long headed to Willies in France and then onto Bitche, before progressing into Germany and the town of Wank.

Long’s tour then headed into Austria, Italy and Switzerland, before doubling back to France; taking in more places including Bad Lad, which he stumbled across in Italy.

“It was all deliberate,” Long told MCN. “If it’s a friend, I tell them where I’m having the photos taken. But if it’s a sensible person, I say Luxembourg, Munich, Dachau, Salzburg, LakeGarda, Stelvio Pass, Lauterbrunnen, Geneva and Reims instead.”

Long also took time to visit various tourist attractions along his route, including the BMW Museum in Munich, the Dachau memorial and the Freddie Mercury statue in Montreux, Switzerland.

“The Dolomites and Stelvio are absolutely stunning,” he added. “It’s hard work riding a fully-laden RT for 40 hairpins up and 38 down, but it’s worth every drop of sweat and every moment of terror when you meet something on an apex. I couldn’t believe it when my bike made it up to the top with no bother at all!”

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