My long weekend...

I finished work on Wednesday at 1430 and set off to catch a ferry at Dun Laoghaire to cross to Holyhead.
The ferry landed at 1800 and I rode the 180 miles back to Leeds in about 2 hours 30 mins getting me back to Leeds for 2030.

Just got through the door and the phone rang, it was Mark (Capt Nemo) asking what time I was coming round to service my bike. I rang Steve and Dave first to make sure they hadn't any last minute hitches and then rode round to Marks to service the bike. We serviced the bike had a cuppa and some pizza and put some new brake pads on. My old ones had done 14,000 miles and I was worried they might be getting towards the end of their life. As it happens there was plenty of life left in them but still I was off to do the Nurburgring. 13 miles and lots of corners. I'd best make sure my brakes work!

Thursday morning I awoke about 0745 and had a quick bit of breakfast. Then went to get a new rear tyre fitted as my old Z6 was looking rather square after 6000 miles and it had a slow puncture that I'd fixed with tyre seal. Tyre fitted and home to pack. Left home at 0920 to meet Dave (Lurcher) at Ferrybridge. I got there 10 minutes early and Dave was stood waiting for me. Quick Bacon sarnie and we set off to meet up with Steve (SVRunner) at Thurrock Services. We got there for 1330 and Steve was sat waiting for us in the carpark. Another quick sandwich and off we went to Dover. We got there in good time and as the ferry was delayed we ended getting to Calais for 1840 local time. Now just 200 miles to go to the B&B through France and Belgium. It ended up taking us 4 hours to get to Spa (where the race circuit is) and as I hadn't got precise directions I rang Neil, the B&B owner, and he came out and met us and led us to the B&B. As we pulled into the garage his wife Anne came out with cold beer. Excellent! We sat and talked for a while to our hosts until they left to go to bed then we stayed and drank a few more beers till about 0200 before we headed for our rooms.

Friday morning Dave woke up at some ungodly hour. I got up at 8:15 which was still way too early but I could hear talking and I didn't want to miss food. Went down and had a brew and some breakfast, washed my bike and then we set off about 11:00. We went via Luxemburg and took in some incredible roads with fantastic twisties and scary hairpins. The Ardennes and the corner of Germany we went through are stunning. We arrived at the Nurburgring at about 13:45 and grabbed a drink in the cafe. Looking around the car park there were some fantastic cars. Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Masserati, Aston Martin Lotus and a Vauxhall Nova. We walked down and bought a five lap ticket for ?60 (£40) and then walked back to get ready. I was pretty nervous at this point so made the obligatory toilet visit. We waited about 5 minutes after it had opened to avoid the main rush and then we set off.

Neil, who runs the B&B, is an instructor at the Nurburgring. The three of us followed Neil with him showing us where to brake and showing us the correct lines into the corners. He judged his speed to ours so we never felt out of our depth. On one of the early corners Dave ran wide when he stood the bike up mid corner. I nearly followed him but managed to get round. I was then so busy checking my mirrors that I nearly went over a kerb. We quickly completed our first 3 laps without further incident and then went into the car park for a chat. Huge smiles all round. We decided to out and do another two laps before it got too busy. It's hard to describe the experience, there are parts of the track were you are going downhill at 100 mph+, move left, touch brakes down to 80mph then you are climbing uphill and turning right, you can't see the exit to the corner, you're just following the line and trying to get round. Then your standing the bike back up and smiling. ****, no time to smile there a tight left then a right... Then there's the 'Karussell'. A hairpin that got a banked section on the inside made from concrete slabs. You have to lean right in even though all your senses are telling you to get out, but if you do you know you'll be introduced to the Armco pretty quickly! We lapped in around about 10mins 30secs which was a lot faster than I hoped for.

We had lunch after the laps (a huge schnitzel) and then rode to a couple of vantage points to watch others lapping. we finally got back around 2000 and had some dinner. We then sat and watched the Moto GP qualifying. I managed 2 beers before I had to make my excuses and go to bed. All the concentration and Adrenalin had taken it out of me. I was cream crackered! The others weren't far behind.

Saturday morning, we woke had breakfast and went to Maastricht in Holland for a coffee (like you do). We then went to Brugge and had another coffee before finally getting to the biker loft in Groenedijk. we had dinner there and then started drinking.Can't remember going to bed. We went through the pumps twice (Stella, Hoegarden, Leffe Blonde, Leffe Dark) and then settled down to drinking Leffe Dark. Got talking to loads of other bikers but I have no idea what I said but it can't have been bad as they still said hello at breakfast next morning. I managed to lose my mobile that night but luckily it was found the next morning by one of the staff.

Sunday morning we left at 1100 and went to Calais. Spent 45 mins looking for somewhere that sold tobacco (all shut) and made our 1430 crossing. Set off back and managed to turn off M20 at wrong junction. Steve knew where we were going so he kept going straight on. Eventually got off M25 and onto A1. It then started throwing it down. Eventually got back to Leeds at 2030. Ordered a kebab and got a shower to warm up. Then rang and got a ferry crossing for 0230 this morning. I knew that I needed to leave at 2300 at the latest for a steady ride across, but I ended up leaving at 2335. Got to ferry port for 0200 and then got pulled for a security check. Just got ferry and got talking to Irish bikers who'd been over for GP. Because of my lateness all the good seats had been taken so I ended up trying to sleep on the floor under a table. Didn't do very well. Docked at 0600 and was in bed for 0630. I managed 2 hours sleep then up for work. I'm pretty tired today!


So overall I have done 8 countries this weekend (Eire, Wales, England, France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Holland) and clocked up 1860 miles and I'm definitely doing it again next year.

In summary... Europe is huge. The Nurburgring is awesome. All of those bikers who do the 'ring for the first time without a guide. Why? You must be petrified!

pics to follow when I get some time