There is set of great pictures now on line!
This time it would be different! No rain like last time we went to the Nürburgring, and a foreign rally to finish of the trip! At least that was the plan... Unfortunately Tom Friar could not get time off work but he decided to make a sprint straight to the rally on Friday afternoon / evening and join us there.
Bob decided to take his van so there was room in it for Chris and Jackie's bikes as well as his, plus themselves and a load of kit. Riding there were me, Colin, Mac and Tank. We arranged to meet at the Pied Bull on the Wednesday morning at the ungodly hour of 7:00 a.m. in case there were security delays at Dover. Well the riders were there on time, only the van was a bit late (no, not Jackie's fault if you're wondering!). It may be worth recording at this point that on the day the van speedometer was broken and they had the sat-nav.
The trip to Dover was in good weather and we stopped at the usual petrol station for the last tankful of English fuel for a while. Heading to the check-in the van was waved over to the customs shed by some officials leaving those of us on bikes to proceed onwards before realising that none of us knew which shipping line we were booked on. A guess at Sea France proved wrong and precipitated a outbreak of bureaucracy and form-filling during which the van (which had receiver only the most cursory examination) passed by in the distance on its way to the P&O check-in. We got sorted out eventually and joined the right waiting lane to be joined shortly by Ian and Julie, Andy and Lee and others who were going to Holland and Germany but not the Nürburgring.
The voyage was uneventful and we disembarked at Calais in still-reasonable weather. I forgot that there is no outward passport control so rode off the ferry with my gloves tucked under a bungee behind me. Next thing I knew we were bowling along the motorway in the direction of Belgium. Safety concerns aside it was not unpleasant riding without gloves - until the clear weather gave way to light rain. The gloves went on at the first petrol stop, one of several dictated by Tank's limited range, what with his Super III having to haul the weight of the packed sidecar.
The weather got ominously wetter until waterproofs had to be deployed. The sat-nav was accurate although following Bob was eventful what with spray from the road and his lack of information as to what speed he was doing (did I mention the speedo was broken?). We finally got to the hotel were we stayed last year and as expected were immediately lead back to the road by Edgar the proprietor, to take us up to Hohe Acht and a very small village where his impressive guesthouse was located through some electric gates.
We had the place to ourselves, in that the other three apartments within it were empty at that time. There was also plenty of room in the main garage (not to be confused with the spare garage or something that looked to me like a small stable). The main garage was about two cars deep and at least two wide, with an inspection pit that ran almost the full length from front door to back wall. And it had an upstairs! Anyway we parked up in the garage, unloaded the van and bikes, hung up our wet gear to dry and agreed who would sleep where. Jackie got the single room, Chris and Mac shared the twin and the rest of us had the dorm or Big Brother room as it was soon described as.
No-one fancied more riding that evening but luckily there was one restaurant in the village and within walking distance too, so that's where we went. For much of the evening we were the only customers but the food and service was good and the walk back an easy one.
Thursday morning the weather was still wet. We had a good breakfast laid on in the kitchen/dining area by Edgar's wife who drove up to the guesthouse first thing each morning to get it ready. After that we settled for the traditional visit to the Nürburgring museum and gift shop. Once we got there, parking was complicated by a truck racing event that was taking place on the "new" circuit at the weekend. The museum was unchanged from last year, although of course half of us had no previously been there. This time the gift shop had more of my cash and again we talked about trying the go-karts but ran out of time. We did spent a while browsing the traders' stalls in the main car park - funny how there's a whole parallel memorabilia and regalia market for trucks like there is for bikes!
We stopped in central Adenau so that Tank could enquire about anti-fog visor products in the motorcycle shop (no luck) and to have a coffee at a café almost opposite the Wild Boar restaurant, somewhere we had already planned to visit that evening. Bob and Chris went over there to try and book a table for us but their total lack of German language skills proved a barrier. A short while later Tank and I had another try and with a couple of O-levels between us it wasn't that hard.
After that we headed back to the guesthouse, stopping at the supermarket for beer. Going back up the hill to Hohe Acht, I was bringing up the rear and became puzzled why Jackie kept slowing down - no more than she herself was as it turned out. Her Thunderbird Sport (purchased not long ago from a Mr A. Adie) would rev in response to the throttle but then the r.p.m. would gradually drop again. The three of us pulled over and Jackie and Bob swapped bikes so that Bob could offer a second opinion. Not much further ahead was a fairly tight right hander at the top of the rise and despite having kept to a sensible speed on the wet roads, Jackie hit a slippery patch of some sort and the front wheel of Bob's CCM gave out depositing her in the road and the bike in a convenient ditch (convenient in the sense of not being a tree trunk).
Jackie managed to get herself to the side of the road as Bob and I pulled over, fearing the worst. Despite the seeminlgy remote surroundings, several people stopped to help, one of whom was, I think, a doctor. Jackie was dazed and bruised but didn't think there was anything broken. The CCM was a bit muddy from the ditch but apart from a bent lever and scuffed mudguard it looked rideable. After a short while an ambulance appeared having been summoned by a local and they checked Jackie over, deciding that she should go to hospital just in case. They also mentioned before departing that the police would be attending shortly, a legal requirement in those parts apparently.
The rest of our party had doubled back to the scene by this time so Chris followed the ambulance and Bob decided to ride his bike back to the guesthouse with the others and they would return in the van to pick up Jackie's Thunderbird Sport. I volunteered to stay put at the scene to watch the bike and wait for the police. It wasn't long before a couple of them arrived in a car. The younger of the two spoke good English and sported a rather trendy-looking sticky-up-bit-in-the-middle haircut which wouldn't pass muster at Hendon. His older colleague had a more traditional appearance and no sense of humour.
They asked for the obvious details: names, addresses, description of the accident. Estimated speed was mentioned... Then they announced that they would need to see Bob's bike and were not impressed when I explained that Bob had taken it back to the guesthouse and I did not know the address or even the name of the village. Ah. I called Bob's mobile and established that they had literally just stopped at the gates of the property. We proposed that he would bring it back in the van when he came, according to plan A. This seemed acceptable to the cops.
However very shortly Bob called me back with a problem: although he had hung on to Jackie's backpack because she'd been given the job of looking after the key to the guesthouse, the key in question (which they needed to get through the electric gates) was not in it. Hence they could not get the van out. I relayed this to the increasingly irritated policemen and reassured them that Bob could ride the bike back.
So in due course Bob reappeared with the bike, the police could not find anything to get excited about when they looked at it and by that time Chris had returned to the accident spot from the hospital with the key and news that Jackie had definitely not broken any bones. The van was retrieved, as was Jackie's bike and by dinner time Bob had driven back to the hospital to collect her. The only real bad news was that the police had spoken to Jackie at the hospital and added insult to minor injury by issuing her a fine of €100 for speeding, despite her protestations.
All thoughts of a session on the track that day were long gone as you might expect, but thoughts of wild boar were still uppermost in our minds so we all piled back in the van (back in the back for some people) and drove back to Adenau. The restaurant was not too busy and one lady there remembered some of us from last year. I had exactly the same to eat and the others were split between boar and steak. I'm not sure who had the idea to seek out a souvenir for the absent Tom, but initially our command of German failed us with the waitress. Only when we mentioned "souvenir" were our intentions apparent, and she reappeared with a little metal lapel badge in the shape of a boar. "Great!" we said - we'll have eight! Their stocks only ran to five, so some of us had to go without this time. Anyway, what with all that we didn't get away until quite late, by which time we had agreed to try next day for an early afternoon session at the track if the weather was OK (opening time was 2:15 p.m. on the Friday).
The weather looked promising on Friday morning but with Jackie feeling the effects of her tumble she decided not to try riding her bike but could drive the van. So after breakfast it was loaded up with her bike and everyone's gear and we headed off to the Nordschleife circuit. We got there quite early so we picked a spot to park and had a snack and coffee.
Gradually the car park filled up - mostly with British vehicles - and the weather stayed good - sunny even! Just after 2:00 p.m. we bought a ticket then once the track opened we queued up (Chris very bravely taking his first lap in Tank's side car!) and got stuck in. We all had a good lap as there was not much traffic yet and the surface was dry all the way round. I improved on my top speed down the last straight but had to convert from k.p.h. to m.p.h. as I'd left the speedo in "continental mode" for the first lap. I made it about 127 m.p.h. whereas Colin reckoned his Fireblade had peaked at about 145.
Bob and I were keen to do a second lap as conditions were good, for which Chris joined us on his own bike. The second lap was more eventful in that we passed two full-sized passenger coaches pottering round the track and also a TVR Cerbera with UK plates that appeared to have spun off part way round, no doubt an expensive incident for the owner.
That done we had to repack the van to get Bob's bike in alongside Jackie's and then head off to Kassel and the German TOMC rally, once again guided by the trusty sat-nav. Although the weather initially stayed dry, by the time we were nearing the site it was raining slightly and getting dark. The approach turned into a mystery tour along narrow farm tracks, with signs to the rally being "down" to normal european standards.
The event was taking place at the district Scout HQ so the facilities were pretty good although the best camping areas were already filled by some very large marquees, apparently for a forthcoming buddhist shindig! Almost everybody from the other Bexley parties were already there, as well as Phil Loom and Dave Clarke who had each come on their own. Of Tom Friar however, there was no news as yet - I didn't envy him the challenge of finding this place in the dark!
The bar and food were basic but plentiful. The music was well-chosen but there were to be no bands during the weekend, which surprised many of us. Bexley members were not the only Brits there but we were certainly the most numerous. The evening was passed with beer, food and chat. Tales of wet weather and associated mishaps were exchanged with those who had gone to Antwerp, where Gary had had a birthday celebration.
I didn't stay up as late as some so it was not until next morning that I encountered Tom whose ride from Calais was late and wet - he didn't get to the rally site until about 2:00 Saturday morning and his mobile 'phone had got so soggy it stopped working. Maximum points for endeavour there I'd say.
As most of us were a bit tired of riding around, Saturday was restricted to hanging around and more eating, drinking, chatting and watching the weather. The early sun was interrupted by a couple of showers but nothing serious. Kev and Jan arrived later having had a tactical hotel stop on the Friday night.
The most distinctive section of the Bexley presence had decked themselves out in matching t-shirts, describing them as the "Miserable Old Bastards" section. There was more joking at the expense of one of their number, but that is better left to them to explain elsewhere!
With no band, the evening's activities were mainly talking, drinking and playing the German variation of the nail-hammering game, as previously encountered at the Trumpettreffen. Participants took turns with the hammer but the variations were: you have a nail each, the winner is the first to bang his (or her) nail all the way in; the hammer is a roofer's type and you have to use the thin end;
Come prize-giving time Bexley walked away with biggest club turnout to the surprise of no-one: there were 27 of us there all told. With the trophy came a crate of beer which was much appreciated by all and sundry. With the long ride back in mind I had few minutes toasting myself at the fire then went to bed in reasonable time.
Not everybody was off back home on the Sunday, and of those who were, not everybody was taking the same route. Some were staying in Germany for two or three more nights but our original party minus Jackie and her bike (power loss problem diagnosed as a slipping throttle grip!) were heading back to Calais. Frequent fuel stops plus some bad traffic left us short on time in the end so we were not glad to see a substantial queue at passport control. Fortunately we just made it to check-in and got the right sailing.
Overall we were glad to have achieved two dry laps of the Nürburgring (Jackie's temporary incapacitation notwithstanding) and to have got to a new rally. The Germans were very hospitable although Ian in particular was no fan of their domestic road signage. I guess I was cossetted by having a van with sat-nav to follow, even if that resulted at time in some rather fast riding in poor conditions.
There are possible plans for a larger party to stay at the guesthouse next year. Weekends are more in demand for obvious reasons - although we were the only people there when we arrived mid-week, the whole place was booked from the day we left. With Brits I think! Now what do we have to do to guarantee better weather?