(Some pictures are on-line.)

Another year, another variation on the Nürburgring adventure. On the trip this time were myself, Tom, Mac, Chris B, Dave C, Aussie Lizzie and Karen. Having fallen foul of the weather in late May, July and September, we thought we'd give August a go and to summarise, it was hot and sunny pretty much the whole time - at last! Lizzie was riding Chris's recently-acquired, ten year old, ultra-low mileage Suzuki 600 and Karen, whose bike-riding bloke had been compelled to drop out at short notice, was on the back with Chris - brave woman.

With a 9:30 ferry to catch, an early start was in order, despite which we were only just in time to check-in. There was the usual pantomime with securing the bikes, Chris being told by some overalled operative that no straps were available and being left sat on his bike until Karen volunteered to go in search of some. Once on board we bumped into some folk from the Rejects Brotherhood who were going to Ypres and back - in a day!

Leaving Calais it was a straightforward ride down to Germany, until we got within an hour of Adenau and found the B258 road suddenly closed with only the cryptic sign "Bahnhof Frei" to suggest why. Despite the presence of several sat-navs and a map, the obvious diversion eluded us (nor was it signposted). Other British bikers arrived on the scene and eventually different groups headed off for different alternative routes. (After much later research, I decided that the sign meant "railway station accessible".)

I and some others followed Tom and we found ourselves in the strangely familiar surroundings of Blankenheim, where in a previous year we had stopped for a breather in the rain. Emerging out the other side of town we were back on the B258 and before long we reached the Hotel An Der Nordschleife at Adenau.

We had expected to stay in Eddy's guesthouse up the hill but we were in luck as one of the apartments was available. Located on the top floor, it had two separate bedrooms and sleeping for about 9 people, not to mention a very good view of the nearest part of the track. The only disadvantages that I found were: climbing all those stairs under the weight of leathers/luggage, and a strange phenomenon whereby when my bike was parked in front of the apartment building, there was some source of radio interference that really confused my bike alarm. Before I figured it out I spent several minutes trying my spare fob, walking round the bike and scratching my head, before resorting to pushing the bike back nearer the hotel, where it behaved fine.

The next day, Sunday, was hot and sunny and the track was open all day. We headed up there to find it predictably busy, with plenty of Brits in evidence. We were initially a bit confused by the new "cashless" café arrangements but liquid intake was a must in those temperatures.

We bought ourselves some lap credits at the office and got ready to go for a spin, only to hear announcements that there had been an accident and the track was temporarily closed! After some waiting around though, we finally got our chance. Lizzie and Mac stayed with the surplus gear while Chris, Tom, Dave C and I headed for the barriers.

Tom and Chris having invested in really tiny video cameras, discretely attached to their bikes, the first lap was mostly taken at a moderate pace, trying more or less to keep together. The most notable moment was on the approach to the Karussell bend, a tight left-hander where the track is actually banked. We realised that steaming up on the left (inside) line was a line of tasty sports cars going noticably faster than we were, so the wise move was to negotiate the Karussell on the outside line and let them get on with it.

Back at the car park, jubilation was in order, Karen's report of her ride with Chris being very positive! Lizzie and Mac had a lap before the rest of us went out again. We got talking to a couple of Brits on sports bikes who were there for the day, combating the heat with a bottle of water per lap. Our energy ran out after a maximum of 3 laps, certainly in my case, and it's never wise to push it, so in due course we left them to it. All in all though, a great experience, especially without having to worry about damp areas of track.

With dinner in mind, a booking was arranged at Das Wilden Schwein, it being traditional and all. We walked down later and spent the evening stuffing our faces and making the usual jokes about the head on the wall. Unfortunately they had not replenished their stock of pin badges, so some people remain badgeless.

Next day the track wasn't open until the evening so we went up to the visitor centre and museum which had been virtually closed last year for redevelopment. Well, redeveloped it certainly was, with two massive buildings housing the new museum in one part and a sort of shopping arcade in the other. Work was still on-going but the museum was open. Sadly the new rollercoaster which actually runs alongside the home straight and even passes through the museum building was closed for safety checks, so we had to content ourselves with the other attractions.

The display areas are much easier to walk around with plenty of new things to look at and there is a new cinema auditorium in which was playing a short 3D movie about a 24-Hour car race at the Nordschleife. The 3D-ness was of variable effect but the film was entertaining, and the seats were comfortable. We couldn't leave without trying the multi-player truck driving game too, and of course visiting the - not one but two - gift shops.

Some of us went back to the track for the evening session where having successfully completed a fourth lap, myself and another member of our party - who for reasons of discretion will henceforth be referred to as "rider A" - decided to buy one more lap for the day. By the time I started my lap rider A was a bit ahead of me but as I rounded Hatzenbach I caught up with him - in a manner of speaking. He'd misjudged the bend, hit the brakes and subsequently parted company with his bike and had a brief encounter with the safety barrier. Somewhat dazed and confused, a ride in the ambulance was in order, for which of course the track had to be closed.

I stuck around to talk to the attendant track-official-with-the-clipboard, who was very helpful in regards to getting rider A's bike recovered and the other necessary paperwork. By that time I'd got hold of the others by 'phone, before making a slow completion of the circuit back to the car park and office. Then it was off to the hospital to find out what the story was. Fortunately after some x-raying there was only one suspected injury but rider A got a night in their version of intensive care just in case.

The Tuesday ended up being largely taken up with arranging for rider A's bashed-up bike to be trucked back to the hotel and going to the hospital to see what its owner's immediate prospects were. A few more days in the hands of the (generally impressive) local health service was the outcome, passing the time chatting to another English guy who had driven his car all the way to Adenau with some mates only to succumb to a collapsed lung before he had been anywhere near the track!

So the excitement of the trip was tempered by contemplation of what can go wrong, mixed with relief that things hadn't been worse. The rest of us returned on the Wednesday leaving our "man down", plus his bike and accoutrements to follow in a few days.

The suspected broken bone was later re-assessed by the good old British NHS and pronounced "not actually broken" so medically speaking there was only a finger tendon to worry about... that and a rather unrideable bike.