The Euro trip - revisited

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Re: The Euro trip - revisited

Post by CMSMJ1 » Sat Aug 24, 2013 10:02 pm

Day 10 – Monday Bodensee to Heidelberg

Well..we got up in Germany when the previous day we had woke up in Italy! That felt pretty strange and we could certainly tell we were back in Northern Europe…as it had rained overnight and the campsite were at was rammed full of people. I slept in a bit as I could not be arsed to get up and ride again…but after a strong coffee with our neighbours Grandad got me up and at ‘em and we packed up and got ready to get on the roads.

We had decided to hit the Autobahn today so we could get places fast and in good time. The financials of the holiday also needed looking at as we had travelled further than we expected and spent more than we allocated and things were getting tight.

As it stands, neither of us took any photos of Bodensee..it was almost a non-event! We decided to hoof it to Heidelberg and get into this pub that Grandad had been in that sold large tankards of Hefe Weisse Beer…

Out of the campsite, following signs to the Autobahn we saw a large blimp and signs to the Zeppelin Museum..cool.

It started to rain..and rain…and rain..so I stopped to put my waterproof overjacket on (A nasty brown Stones bitter shell)… BOOOOO rain on the roads, first time since we had set off..it sucked.
We caught the Autobahn and I got nice and comfy, tucked in with my chest on the tank bag and my helmet chin piece on top of the map. It was nice and quiet, I could take all my weight and just chill at 120mph…in the rain.

What a cool bike..

We travelled for a couple of hours and managed to get to Heidelberg without getting lost once. It was however sketchy as fuck on the roads. The rain was coming in waves and then we’d hit a long dry patch. I was winding the bike up and got an indicated 165 with a slight weave on…impressive and I think it would have crept up some more. The fastest I’d ever been anyways… 

There was a moment to report though as we were rolling usually between 110 and 140 and I had let Grandad ahead and was tucked in catching him up. The roads were getting wetter and I was going probably 145-150 as the car in front of Grandad slowed up, he braked. I was closing very quickly and braked…hard..harder….harder….and as the speed was coming off I was still catching them at a decent lick. They slowed to maybe 70 and I was on the brakes as hard as I have ever been, for as long as I have ever been and in damp conditions. At the last minute, as the last few feet closed in I had to change lanes to avoid smacking into the back of Grandad and the car in front of him.

Suitably puckered up I pulled my pants out my arse…gave my adrenal gland an enormous tweak and was very very glad of the new tyres, the stiff front end and the lane that opened to my right, it was close…but the buzz after it was crazy.. I settled down after that and only did any super high speed when we had a clear road.

Arrived in Heidelberg and rode up and down the banks of the River Neckar looking for somewhere to camp.

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We asked the local tourist info (which was much easier as I have lived in Germany and the language was easy to understand even if I could not recall how to speak it properly)

A large boat on the Neckar

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Found a campsite, it was pretty cheap, next to the river and a few miles out of town (which would only become an issue later on….)

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We hit up town on the bus (which was full of poon) an took ages to get there

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Went in the local cathedral and was impressed..we were trying to be cultured rather than just hit the beer..

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Cool – I like deaths head… going to have this as a tattoo..
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Soon enough we were hungry and it was raining so we went for a pizza and a few pints.

Grandad looking wet and bore..having a fag!
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We pub crawled slightly and then found a pretty cool rock pub. We like a bit of cheesy metal..
The bar man spoke good English as he was a follower of the premier league. We sat an drank sambuca and strong beer..

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Went for a slash,,,
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What is that all about..I never had any cash on me so never bought one…I did wonder about it..anyone care to shed some light on this Travel Pussy?

We left the pub, pretty pissed and walked back down to the river…where we saw this strange monkey thing..

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We were cold, it was raining and we realised we had a few miles to go. We were so drunk that all of a sudden we could take proper pictures..

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LOL – Grandad taking a picture of this perky lass running..
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This pic is too tall, but out of all the drunken ones..it was the last one and came out cool
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m38/ ... CF6129.jpg

By the time we had got back to the campsite it was dark, we were piss wet through and the onsite café/rough bar was about to close. I bought some broetchen and some beer…then to bed.
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Re: The Euro trip - revisited

Post by CMSMJ1 » Sat Aug 24, 2013 10:02 pm

Day 11 – Tuesday – Heidelberg to Adenau (Nurburgring)

Well..surprise surprise. Hungover quite badly and so thoroughly fucked off with taking the tent down and even more so as it was soaking wet. The campsite was a bit boggy and me and Grandad were pulling faces big time. After a whole load of procrastinating and some large and impressive no2s we finally packed up and got set for an exciting rie to the Nurburgring!
I was excited about getting a few laps in but as it was wet I had the mardies on. Grandad was also worried about money as the ‘ring tickets are not cheap.

SO..no pictures as we felt so rough and could not be arsed. We set off to get to Adenau as fast as we could.

We then got lost in Mannheim for an hour which really put the day in perspective.

Once we got out of Mannheim we were on the autobahn again and we made some good time. Stopped at a service station and had a 15cm subway…metric is good…but why not allow people to get 6 inch kit when that is what is actually is!! It was the nicest sub I have ever had…random.

Anyways, we pressed on and finally pulled off the autobahn with no close shaves and a rapid 100mph cruise all the way. The twisty roads to Adenau were damp, but the rain had stopped and my spirits were raised as I was looking forwards to 1715 and an open racetrack.

We hit Adenau after a good blast through the woods and stopped for a drink (non alco) and a look at the track.
What a place. There was a BMW training session on and 3 Twats of BMWs were hoofing round in convoy follow my leader style. Too cool.
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After this we took a ride to try and find a campsite and we saw some signs for camping Nurburgring..sounded good.

This was a mistake..enormous location but they charged you per day – so for 1 night you paid twice the price! I didn’t care as time was getting on and as it was now dry I was commited to getting some laps in.

Grandad, for whatever reason, decided he was too knackered to ride. I don’t blame him but seeing as we had spent 4hrs riding to get to the track in time for some laps it was a random decision. He got the beers out, I got my panniers off, tyre pressures lowered and all my crap out my pockets.
I took a ride to Adenau to buy a 4.5 lap ticket. On the way I was trying to relax and get my head in gear as I know that the ‘ring is not a forgiving place!

I bought my ticket, which is a spanky new credit card affair these days, then rode through the barrier and tried to chill. Getting on at the half way point is a little bit sketchy as you need to get on and up to speed asap.

Anyways, I got my race face on, gave it some berries and was flying up the steep track just out the gate. Next corner is the Lauda Links where our Austrian friend crashed his F1 Ferrari in 1976 an nearly burned himself to death. After thisis the long and sweeping Bergwerk corner. This leads to a long uphill section with 3 left handers that can all be taken flat out (if you’ve the balls and circuit knowledge) I was going full beans up the hill past a couple of cars and getting into the groove. Checking my mirrors all the time and well aware of how fast the cars can sweep into your rear view zone and so onto one of the best corners. Angst Kurve (Bravery Corner) This is a super high speed left hander where you are going flat knacker in 5th and swoop into the corner, avoiding the kerbs on the outside and then over a small crest into a right hand kink to a really slow, heavily painted right handed corner, Out of here, up another hill and you are at the famous Karrussel.

I am sad enough to know the track and have taken it in and I remember just after the Karrussel that I was caught and passed by a very very fast BMW – it looked like a touring car!

Anyways, while I was razzing around, Grandad was in the holding area kicking back..

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No idea what this is…but it got a lot of attention

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I went out for a full lap. Was enjoying it and managed 165 indicated on the back straight. Only had a single moment in the Wipperman section as I got a rear end slide and so I just cruised it after that. Was overtaken by a few fast cars – that BMW touring car again and a really fast and old skool Astra GTE (it was so old it was a Kadet)

Got some pics though !
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I really like this one.

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Made it back, had a coke and a snickers and then out for some tea. What a long day…and not over yet. A tasty meal at a café just in Adenau and then a trip to Lidl to get some beer and munch for brekkie.

Bargain..we bought several bottles of Lidl own brand Hefe Weisse beer – 33 EUR cents per bottle!! We filled our boots and razzed back to the campsite.

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Lit a fire, got drunk and all was good with the world. I had 3 laps left on my card and Grandad was going to get his Nirburgring cherry popped tomorrow….
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Re: The Euro trip - revisited

Post by CMSMJ1 » Sat Aug 24, 2013 10:03 pm

Day 12 – Wednesday. Homeward bound.. Nurburgring to Dunkirk and Calais

Well…it was pissing down when we woke up and our spirits were crushed. The forecast was for more rain. We sat in the porch of Grandad’s tent and had some breakfast. This was salami, cheese and bread…which was pretty much brekkie for most days! Got the camping stove out for the second time in the whole trip and made a brew..but with half cream as I stupidly bought this instead of milk..lol.. I had my eyes on the beer.

The rain was minging down..we were both thinking the same thing..but not wanting to say it. Our return ferry was booked for Friday but we had both chucked in the towel. We were not going to get a ride, we were being charged by the day for the camping and we were both pretty skint. I also needed my pit and to see my wife as she was going to America for 3 weeks on the Sunday when I got back so that would be a whole 5 weeks break from the charms of my other half.

I made the first move – we would ride to Dunkirk and try and get a ferry…I had used Norfolkline before and it was £40 for a van. I expected we would get a bargain and get home 2 days early.

So…we packed up. It was just gone 10 AM.

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I was writing my report for Bridgestone and had noted 33150KM on the clocks on day 1. Now, leaving the ‘ring we were on 39499km. So, 6349KM down….which is just under 4000 miles.

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And we rode…out of Germany on the B258 which is a kick ass road. Swoopy, slimy and littered with a few leaves… Grandad’s rear tyre was bald by now. We had covered a lot of distance!

Leaving we stopped at an Aral garage to get some fuel. I swiped and found I was actually denied..oh shit. I was worried now as I had no other cash on any other cards or credit cards… I called my bank and they kept me on hold for ages. This was making me worry about the phone balance (work phone!) and also the power..one bar an flashing low battery. Must have been on about 15 minutes before they told me it was a security thing. I saw my arse. I had already told them I was going abroad between the 2 weeks I had been abroad for. Wankers. Apart from that we made decent progress

We escaped Germany and headed for Malmedy. Back into the WW1 and WW2 areas that I am so very interested in. It was a good session but I remember vividly that as soon as we crossed the border the roads turned to shit. Potted, rough surfaces and random coloured signs. We were immediately so much slower than in Germany.

I wanted to ride the original Spa race track – home of the 150mph average lap and the fearsome Masta Kink.. I had been before and this time we missed it..lol. My crappy map skills tok us past the Malmedy end and we bypassed the old roads to come out onto the Belgian motorways past the town of Spa itself.

We stopped at a Belgian petrol station, got a sandwich, some coke and were eaten alive by piddling little flying munching machines. Fuck me! This was like a horror film death by little black flying dots. We threw the food down and splatted and swatted the little bastards and escaped at a large rate of knots.

The weather had dried out now as well and I had stashed my waterproof under my cargo net. In my mirror I saw it was catching some air and I reached behind me to put it back. Did this a few times and finally thought I had sorted it. Next petrol stop and Grandad tld me it caught the air and felw off, into his path and he ran over it at 100mph..lol Oops.

We got into France after a long session in the saddle. We were still pretty motivated but Grandad’s arse was not taking the riding too well. He was moaning and wanted to get off the bike and have a fag every 100 miles. At this rate we would not be at Dunkirk or Calais before 6…then a 2hr ferry would get us over for 8 and we’d have a 4hr rie home. Ballache.

As it happens we made it to Dunkirk for 4 ish and I went to go and see if we could get a cheap ferry over the water.

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I was optimistic and queued up like a good lad waiting to see if I could get a ferry. Was thinking it would be about EUR40..not more. The lovely lady told me that the next ferry I could get was in a couple of hours and would be EUR95…with added bike money and so on.. Not cool. Was sick of riding and wanted to go home. Our original ferry tickets were under £50 each..

I came out and told Grandad…

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(Grandad’s sad face)

Took us only about 20 seconds to decide to ride to Calais. We could always ride back if we could not find one in Calais.

An hour later we were at the Ferry terminal for Sea France…and for EUR30 for the pair of us we were booked on the 1800 ferry! Wooohooo.

Sea France is a quality operation. I am normally a little bit Francophobic as they are a bunch of lazy gits on the whole with a poor attitude to everything but sinking hippy ships… However, I would recommend Sea France every time.

We were starving and went to find something to eat…This was it..

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The only place to get some refreshments on the whole complex – classy!

No more piccies…we were tired. The ferry came on time and we were first bikes on. Managed to stay awake (just about) on the crossing and got off the boat in Dover, straight out and happy to be home. I had not told the wife I was coming back 2 days early.

The homeward UK section

It was nearly 8 and we filled up on the M20. Talking to a guy and he was telling us the M25 was backed up 20 miles. That was a kick in the nuts and as we flew north, trying to make as much progress as possible, we were finding it strange to be riding on the proper side of the road.

M25 was blocked and stationary…but not the way we were going so it was through the tunnel and round to the M1. It started to get dark but I could not be arsed unpacking my clear visor as I could see just lovely on the lit sections of the motorway. Another fuel stop and a double can break of Relentless and a pee stop. It was really surreal, riding faster than was sensible, on the limit of my concentration and endurance and to top it all, my arse was getting sore. Grandad felt like he had spent 2 weeks on the Rohypnol at George Michael’s place rather than riding a motorbike. I found it funny…he didn’t.

Off the M1 at J29 for the final few miles to my house. We stopped at the layby just off the roundabout and had a final stretch. Anyone that knows this road understands that it is actually a top speed testing location. It was 2340. We had been on the road since 1000 that morning at the Nurburgring. What a trip.

So..got home, did 160 leptons on the bypass in the pitch black with a black visor – dumb..but entirely sane feeling at the time.

Home…the wife was up. She heard the bikes and thought it might be us. She knew it was us when me and Grandad opened the gates, whipped open the door and got some beer out the fridge.

So..there you have it, how to hit Europe and cover mondo miles in one go.

The final clock reading (took next morning)
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Reading of 40418 KM.

We expected to cover 2000 miles. The final leg was 919 KM. 575 miles.

Overall the trip was 7248 KM or 4542 miles.

Thanks to Steve (aka vfrman) for giving us a focal point to aim for. Great host, lovely wife and home and certainly high up in my list of people I would do love to have over to ride my bikes, eat my food and I’ll teach to drink beer.

Finally thanks to you lot..a greater bunch of internet bike nerds does not exist anywhere else.

400GB session at the Nurburgring needs to be sorted out. I have room for a bike on my trailer and kit in my boot. Let’s make it happen!

THE END!
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Re: The Euro trip - revisited

Post by vfrman » Sun Aug 25, 2013 5:53 am

Man that was a trip down memory lane. I remember being properly hung over and amazed that you two maniacs were about to ride off to Lake Garda.

My dog's name was Soju. We lost him in April of 2012, a few weeks before our son Sawyer was born. He was an awesome dog. He just laid down in the spare bedroom and went to sleep, never waking up again.

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Re: The Euro trip - revisited

Post by BB_158 » Sun Aug 25, 2013 4:47 pm

Thanks for finding this matey.

Mental trip, mental mileage, with camping - hardcore! I take my lid off to you 2.

Tend to agree with you on the endless hairpain bends of the mountain passes but these roads just have to be done.
Me & wife did tour of France & Switzerland on my vf500 way back when.

Looking forward to trip in 2 weeks time on the NC30...
and count me in for 400GB Nurburgring trip, maybe next year?

Cheers
M
My other ride is another 400, Woohoo!... Doh

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Re: The Euro trip - revisited

Post by tom4 » Mon Aug 26, 2013 1:53 pm

thank you !!
I loved the pictures, I have been on a few places (stelvio, french alps), and know how you felt;
thanks for sharing

tom4, those who did not take vacation this year say THANKS !!
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Re: The Euro trip - revisited

Post by CMSMJ1 » Wed May 16, 2018 12:02 am

amusingly - I read this again today - and so bumping for the crack

It seems a long time ago.
@vfrman - such a gentleman.
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Re: The Euro trip - revisited

Post by vfrman » Wed May 16, 2018 1:17 am

CMSMJ1 wrote:amusingly - I read this again today - and so bumping for the crack

It seems a long time ago.
@vfrman - such a gentleman.
It was a pleasure. If you ever get out to the mountain west of the USA...

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Re: The Euro trip - revisited

Post by CMSMJ1 » Wed May 16, 2018 3:24 pm

vfrman wrote:
Wed May 16, 2018 1:17 am
CMSMJ1 wrote:amusingly - I read this again today - and so bumping for the crack

It seems a long time ago.
@vfrman - such a gentleman.
It was a pleasure. If you ever get out to the mountain west of the USA...
If I do mate - I'll come look you up :)

Now, if you ever get onto this island - get the word out, as we'll have a party! :rocks:
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Re: The Euro trip - revisited

Post by cbr400rrn » Thu May 17, 2018 11:11 pm

:up: good first time around and :up: good reading your exploits second time around. Comical.


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