The Euro Trip....

[Drunkn Munky]

Loving the write up mark, soooo many great storys it must have been a trip to remember. Roads sound too good to be true, i need to get out there.

I nominate you head honcho for the trip next year should it happen

[CMSMJ1]

get a thread started man...we can sort something out..even if it is a long weekender..depends if you are taking your trailer to Steve or whether he meets us in the middle

[micpec]

@Mark, very nice write up of your roadtrip with your mate! This is one to remember as said by others too! My last roadtrip was in summer '08 on my NC35. After reading yours I am tempted to go again next season, have been to Austria and to Italy (stelvio) and few other passes. I do remember mines as if yesterday The roads in Austria are the best I have ridden so far.

Good dutch beers!

By the way...those landscape views....



...reminds me somewhat about Bob Ross

PS: Tony...just do it!

[mruehl34]

how much fuel and how many liters of wine you've consumed?

More wine

But it is a great story. I want to read more.


Michael

[porndoguk]

fantastic post mark, my big trip to come is to IOM next year but it will be my biggest ride, all geared up to camp on an NC30, need to get me a over rack so i can make a shelf onto the spare seat i have, so i can strap my sleeping bag and tent etc to it.

[CMSMJ1]

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.





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





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….)





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



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



Cool – I like deaths head… going to have this as a tattoo..





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!


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..





Went for a slash,,,


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..





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..




LOL – Grandad taking a picture of this perky lass running..





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.

[vfrman]

Great stuff!

I don't know how you guys can drink so much and then ride all day! Crazy bastards.

BTW, my dog's name is Soju, like the Korean liquor. I forgot that my wife cut all his hair off right before you got there. Poor guy was homely looking!

Here is what he looks like now...

DSC_7777 by vfrman1, on Flickr

[CMSMJ1]

Soju - what a top hound!

@ Steve - well..drinking wise...me and Grandad are from the North of England...drinking and going to the pub is a large part of the culture. I've also had a drink problem when I was younger and although I have had my counselling and consider myself not to have a problem these days I can drink like a fish and still enjoy it!!

Anyways..nearly done for this write up..what a long essay I've written!

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.





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..


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









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 !



I really like this one.



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.





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 Nurburgring cherry popped tomorrow….

[matty_boy]

Wow, so glad that I still pop back on here to see what has been going on.

Really great write up Mark, looking like you had an ace time. As you know it has always been a dream of mine to get over to the continent and smash it up, well it looks like it is going to happen next summer.
Just a short trip, starting with German blast, and hitting the Nuremburg track.
I cannot wait.

Keep up the good work, and oh, what happened to the long flowing hair???????????????????????

Matty.

[Hadies]

That unknown lime green car is a Weissman I believe. Very cool car.