Germany in the rain!
Earlier this year Tom Friar floated the idea of a trip to the famous Nürburgring in Germany for a spin round the track, travelling down on May Bank Holiday Monday and returning on the Thursday. Not knowing anything about the circuit (and not having seen it featured on Top Gear), it sounded like a gentle introduction to track days, so I signed up along with Bob Colvin (TT600), Chris Biggs (Daytona 955i), Chris Moore (Honda VFR) and Colin Dobinson (early Honda Fireblade). Tom kindly provided an advice sheet and a link to one of the best websites about the 'ring, and that's when the term "gentle introduction" ceased to apply.
For those who don't know, the Nürburgring is probably unique in the world - it's long, very long, at over 20km (13 miles) and by the official count there are 73 bends. The track is flanked by Armco and then mostly trees; no run-off areas or gravel traps. Jackie Stewart was prominent in criticising the safety shortcomings, christening the place the "Green Hell" and Grand Prix racing was stopped there in 1976 after Niki Lauda's infamous crash.
Nowadays the circuit is used for testing, training and on certain days of the year it's open to the public (sometimes only from late afternoon), officially as a toll road with no speed limit and with few restrictions on what type of vehicle is allowed on. Having no track experience at all, I took the precaution of attending a couple of novice days in the UK on my '04 Speed Triple (see Brands Hatch and Lydden Hill. They went pretty well and before long the great day arrived. With about 280 miles to cover once we got over the channel, an early start was required to catch a 9:30 ferry for an uneventful crossing. Departing Calais, route-finding was handled by the seventh member of our party, in the shape of Chris B's satellite navigation unit, nicknamed "Brian". So Chris took the lead, with Brian issuing directions along the E40. Light showers came and went, so at the first petrol stop the trusty wetsuit came out of the left pannier and I struggled into it.
Tom had booked us in to a hotel near the 'ring, so a tent was not necessary, nor was a sleeping bag. With no waterproofs in it either, my left pannier had become really rather light. So much so that after setting off again, a few minutes passed and then by sheer chance I looked in the mirrors at precisely the right time to see my panniers bouncing off the tarmac at an ever increasing distance behind me! Fortunately they missed Chris M and Colin who were following, so the three of us pulled over on the hard shoulder and I peered back only to see a large truck having to take evasive action to avoid them. By some miracle the panniers, webbing etc. was all blown onto the hard shoulder so I was able to walk back and collect everything up. As befitting a product dubbed "lifetime luggage", the panniers were scuffed but intact, so they went back on the bike with a better bungee arrangement and we duly caught up with the other guys who had pulled into a lay-by further ahead.
Several stops for fuel and lunch later, we reached our destination of Adenau in the increasing rain, my new-ish "waterproof" boots once again proving that there is no such thing. They were to remain damp for the rest of the trip; Oxford luggage: 1, Mr Frank Thomas: nil. We were staying at the Hotel An Der Nordschleife which is very conveniently situated and quite well appointed. Having checked in and got our gear drying off, we joined Chris B and Tom on the balcony of their first floor room, from which you could see a short section of the track, descending at what looked like quite a steep gradient before sweeping left across a bridge over the main road, then uphill to a right hander, at which point it disappeared from sight into the trees. It all looked rather daunting but the intimidation factor was lessened once the evening session started and we could see all sorts of vehicles coming round including a couple of 50-seater coaches. The warnings were true!
Repairing to the bar we met some British guys on the last day of a long weekend. They were comparative regulars, both on the track and it seemed at the hotel as well. After a few refreshing beers we opted to heed their recommendation and eat in so the evening passed most pleasantly. Up next morning the weather was still damp and my boots still soggy. However after breakfast we set off for the Nürburgring museum near the track. All the information was in German only, so I think we bought tickets that were inclusive of a guided tour - in German - which we couldn't take advantage of. We wandered round wall displays charting the history of the circuit, plus several racing cars and bikes, as well as areas dedicated to Mercedes and BMW (the latter obviously big sponsors). We also found the gift shop to end all gift shops, in which Tom in particular spent quite freely. After some lunch in the café we went back to the hotel for a while, all the time looking at the weather.
Fortunately it cleared up a bit and by the time we had ridden the ten or fifteen minutes along the winding roads to the circuit entrance, many sections of the track were drying out. The car park was predominantly occupied by bikes from the UK, with a few cars as well. The system there is simple: you buy a ticket for one or more laps, ride up to car park-style barriers at the start of each lap, put your ticket in a machine, the barrier lifts up and away you go. Once a lap has been completed, a line of cones across the finishing straight guides you back to the barriers or parking area. To do another lap it's the same routine again. Not being sure how the weather would develop, we paid for a single lap initially (sixteen euros, just over a tenner), before getting in the short queue. There was a slight hold up as one poor bloke had put his ticket straight in his magnetic tank bag, which promptly erased it. Then we were off!
So what about the ride? Well to quote Colin on his return "that's the most fun I've had in years!" Thanks to the extreme length of the track there is a full selection of all types of upward and downward hills, wide, tight, flat and banked bends. Each section is signed to help remember where you are, but for a first-timer it's a case of taking it pretty easy and looking out for through traffic, which can appear from behind or in front at any time. Back in the car park after the first lap, the weather was still holding off, so it seemed logical to invest in another one. Unfortunately about half way round it started raining lightly, so on finishing we decided to call it a day. For Tuesday night's dinner we took a walk and after some deliberation settled on a restaurant near the other end of Adenau that specialised in wild boar. I can report that the boar was first class, wild or not and the guys who had steak were equally satisfied. After eating and drinking well the walk back to the hotel felt rather long but we certainly slept well.
On Wednesday we sought out some culture in Bonn, the main objective as suggested by Tom Friar being the birthplace of Beethoven, which has been turned into a museum. We spent between one and two hours there following an audio guide (English versions available fortunately) and I certainly learned a lot about Beethoven. There is also an extensive archive of computerised information, which we didn't have time to dip into much. Adjourning to a typical German pub for some late lunch, the friendly waiters were surprised to be told that we were off home the next day, before the World Cup had even started. We had to explain that none of us was a football fan! Back at base, the late afternoon weather did not look like it was going to dry up but after much waiting and deliberation the other guys decided to ride up to the circuit anyway, see what it was like and maybe have one turn round, even with a wet track. I didn't feel it was worth pulling on my damp leathers and boots for only one lap, so stayed behind. We had worked out that it was possible to cross the main road and walk up some steps to a slope overlooking the nearby stretch of track, so on receipt of a 'phone call from Chris B to confirm they were indeed going to go out I was able to trot across the road with my camera and wait, by which time the light rain had eased off.
A few cars came past including a guy in a Mercedes SLK who was going for it despite the wet conditions, with the back of the car sliding all over the place. He disappeared round the next bend without incident. Then the first of the bikes came into view. My attempts at photographing moving objects proved hit and miss, and Colin gave a friendly wave in the wrong direction, thinking I was still at the hotel. All the same the guys enjoyed their wet lap but left it at that for the day. As the hotel restaurant and bar were unexpectedly closed due to the low number of mid-week guests, an expedition was mounted to the supermarket along the road, where our modest whip-round proved more than enough thanks to amazingly low beer prices; Tom and I returned with twenty-four bottles for the princely sum of around fifteen euros. That took care of our pre-prandial refreshments and later we ventured to a nearby pizza place to stuff our faces, accompanied of course by a few more beers and much merriment.
Thursday morning and it was time to go home. We loaded the bikes up and went to check out, a process complicated by my A-level Maths and O-level German deserting me at the crucial time, and the gentleman taking our money speaking little English. The weather hadn't improved much but I thought I'd chance it to begin with. Chris had told Brian (the sat-nav) to take us on a scenic route back to the E40 but I hadn't reckoned on how cold it would be - one digital temperature display we passed read eight degrees Celsius - on June 1st, for heaven's sake. By the first fuel stop the rain had returned so I put the wetsuit on and there it remained until we got to the ferry some hours later. On a busy E40 the spray was constant and the visibility was at times pretty poor so I was glad to get to Calais and console myself with the thought that at least I did not have a wet tent to take care of once I was finally home. The ferry trip was straightforward despite a deck-hand who might have been good with knots but didn't look like he'd secured a bike before. In the event it was another smooth crossing and we had no problems, so an hour or so after docking we were home.
Many thanks are due to Tom Friar for organising the ferry and hotel bookings and guiding us around the locality of the Nürburgring, also to Chris B for leading the ride to and from the ferry, ably assisted by Brian. We all had a good time despite the weather, and riding the 'ring is certainly an experience. There are already plans in the air for a return visit in August - 2007 that is.