“I traveled 3,250 miles on my motorcycle to see my favorite football team play” | Travel News | Travel

A CRYSTAL PALACE superfan has published an incredible one-man ‘bike diary’ of his epic journey to watch the Eagles’ first ever European game.

Graham Jeeves, 64, battled the flu and fatigue to watch his beloved team play Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv in the pretty Polish town of Rubin, where Kyiv are currently playing their home games.

Palace won the landmark match 2-0 and Graham told of his epic journey from his home in Edenbridge, Kent to Lubin.

My first road trip to a Europa League match started at 5:30am on Sunday 28th September, the day after we beat Liverpool 2 goals to 1 at home.

To say I was tired, had a sore throat, and felt lethargic would be an understatement. I had to be at Le Chateau in Folkestone by 8am. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but given my feelings, the fact that I was going alone and riding a very heavy BMW 1250 GSA bike made it more difficult.

I’m no stranger to long journeys by bike and have been riding (legally) since I was 16 years old. My plans call for 1,125 miles from my home to my hotel in Lublin. To escape the boring highways, I reduced my mileage to 300 miles per day for three days and finally drove across the country.

Everything went well, I started to feel a little more alive and I arrived at the tunnel an hour and a half earlier than planned. But a series of problems meant it was already running an hour behind schedule. Once in France, I headed straight to the highway and drove east through Belgium and into the Netherlands, then through the Netherlands and into Germany. When I needed fuel, I got off the highway and looked for cheaper fuel. This also allowed me to change my riding style. After driving over 530 miles, I found my first overnight destination in Dorsten Altendorf. All access was by keycode, so there was no human interaction with staff. There was a steakhouse 3km away so we decided to eat before taking all the gear off the bike.

I enjoyed a very tasty rump steak meal and was picky about water (honestly). I returned to my hotel room, completely devastated, but looking forward to a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. Maybe it’s because I’m tired or I ate something. But after a sleepless night, I woke up at 7am and assessed how I was feeling. I was still very tired and nauseous, nothing major but definitely not feeling well.

At this point, my brain was telling me to go home, but the palace supporter in me was telling me “no,” “go for it,” and “if you still feel bad afterwards, turn back.”

To be honest, I don’t know how I found the strength to wear all my bike gear while riding a bike that weighs over 260kg. But I got on the highway, drove for 2 hours, and drove in some good spots. I stopped and rested and felt better, but I knew I wouldn’t be doing that many miles today (250). We found a nice hotel in Schwielowsee-Caputh, but we had to take a ferry there too. We had a snack at a restaurant by the ferry/channel and slept very well. When I got up and left by 8am on Tuesday morning, I felt much better. We had to go back to the ferry and look for fuel. We got back on the highway and quickly crossed the border into Poland. I managed to cover another 300+ miles before stopping in Skierniewice. This left about 250 miles to Lublin.

We arrived in Lublin (Hotel Restauracja Browar Lwow) around 2pm on Wednesday, October 1st.

I was still cold and a little weak, so I wanted to take a warm bath.I was lucky that my room had a bath, but that was unlucky for me. The hotel is repairing/replacing the boiler and the hot water won’t come on until later (probably).

I decided to go for a walk in town. We never made it to the town square, where all the Palace fans had already set up camp.

Back at the hotel, the boiler has been fixed, but the water is only warm at best. I shivered and took a shower at the same time.

I went to dinner and found Palace Shirt sitting alone at the table. This is a man named Les. We sat together and reminisced about home and away games over the years.

It’s clear that Les knows his palace, and I think he has some good stories in it, if not in the book.

Les retired after a few drinks, now there’s another guy, he’s British, and we chat.

His name was Paul and he told us about the Majdanek Museum, a Nazi concentration camp a mile away.

Thursday morning I decided to walk to the museum. When you’re 64 years old and tired from riding your bike for a long time, it’s hard to walk.

The first information post begins telling the history of the camp. I can’t remember what the guy behind me said at the time, but he was British so I answered.

We walked together and started talking about where home was. He’s Robert, who lives in California, but he’s originally from Purley, and I’m Graham, who lives in Kent. He mentions the Wattenden Arms pub near Kenley Airfield, where he worked in the late 1970s and early 80s, and where my sister also worked during this period. It turned out that Robert’s sister knew my sister and that he and I had just met completely by chance at a museum in Lublin.

Being there may have some connection to CPFC, but the timing of the two of them meeting is crazy.

After we finished exploring the museum (well worth the visit), we planned to take Ubers back to our separate hotels and meet up at the Town Square for about 3 minutes. I felt it because I walked more than usual.

We will have lunch at the hotel and depart for the square around 2:30pm. Let me tell you, I had walked over 19,000 steps at this point and was really feeling it as I climbed the hill to the plaza. I ran into Paul from my hotel and chatted for a few minutes.

I met Robert at Tribnarska, a bar on the square. Robert was with a few friends and one of them had very kindly given me a drink already. The conversation is general and Palace related, but you’d think we’ve known each other for years.

We step out of the bar onto the square and take in the atmosphere of the palace. We had a few more drinks and left for the arena. I’m still walking with pain in my legs, but I’m not going to be a wimp. Please take your time. We arrived at the arena, took a few photos, and then entered the venue. We’re in a different part of the stand, but we agree to meet later. I’m just looking forward to sitting down. Well, I sat there for about 20 minutes and the Palace fans dutifully decided to continue with the game. It’s a shame because apart from my issue with standing up, I think the older gentleman was standing up at times because of his son who couldn’t stand for the entire game. But it’s too much.

I’m not going to report on this match other than to say it was a good match. We played well and deserved the win.

After the game, we met and started heading home, but it was obvious that I couldn’t keep up with them and I wasn’t going back to the city, so we said goodbye. The navigation on my phone says it’s a 20 minute walk to the hotel. It took me 45 years and I still don’t know how I achieved it. My legs are tired (22,500 steps a day)

I go back to the hotel, take a shower, and then stay out until morning.

What a day

Palace fans, it was amazing.

The return route was a combination of highway and cross-country, but I still arrived home around 5pm on Monday the 6th.

Although the overall weather was not what we expected, it was cold and rainy, we were able to achieve our dream of playing in a Europa League match.

Would I do it again, of course I would, it’s Palace.

I’ve made new friends that I’ll keep in touch with, so I’m looking forward to watching more Palace games overseas. But next time I’ll probably take a plane.