German Invasion Spring 2010
Tour Report
Leaders Notes & Introduction
It’s difficult to know where to begin with this report. I have to hold my hands up....it’s my fault...I started this about 12 months ago...and it kinda grew from there. I have been to the Harz once before, and was left wanting a return visit.
I don’t know which came first, my involvement with the Knights Templar MTC, or the idea...whatever way it was, I have to say I think it all worked out. I always had a good idea of where I wanted to go...but where to stay was the hard part...I had imagined a fairly ruff’n’ready trip for 4 or 5 bikes max...a fast moving compact group....but it quickly became apparent that the uptake was waaayy more that 5 bikes, we had pillions and everything.....so time for plan B!.
I re-adjusted my sights and started looking for more comfortable digs...which to be fair is a bit of a godsend, as the years click by, I find myself longing for a comfortable bed and an Gel seat insert!. After a few weeks of hunting round I had found 2 Bikers hotels (always a plus as they are ready for a bunch of Hairy arsed bikers, and their needs), 1 Spa Hotel, and 1 bikers loft.....I was happy with what I’d found as I knew at least 1 place by sight (been there for Coffee break the year previous)...but Bad Grund left me scratching my head a bit.....don’t get me wrong the Hotel I had chosen was lovely (we ended up having dinner there as it goes), but it just didn’t fit with the Trip......if I altered my ambitions slightly maybe I could find somewhere more suited to what we wanted. So I spent a fair amount of time searching the whole of the Harz area and eventually stumbled on a Bikers Hotel, less than mile from my original planned destination...and to make things better, it was run by a British Ex Pat, biking fanatic, who immediately offered to guide us round the best roads in the Harz, for the cost of a Sandwich and a tank of petrol. So there you have it the German invasion was born...but that was only the half of it....knowing the Harz roads would be taken care of by our local guide (Simon...more about him later), we still had to get there, and get there in style!, so the next thing on my list way to publish a short summary and approximate routes, and we’d wait and see who took the bait. As it goes we ended up with 10 confirmed riders...2 of which had pillions...that, for my first major planned tour was a big group and a big responsibility. I had made initial contacts with all the hotels, and Early May seemed to be available in terms of accommodation, so we settled on the 1st Bank Holiday week in May...hopefully the weather would be good to us.
Route planning started in earnest shortly thereafter, our departure point being Folkestone for the Chunnel, given the 5 days we had to get there and back, it quickly became apparent we’d need to get to the German border quickly....leaving me no time for twisties.....sorry guys it had to be 80% motorways on Day 1, without them we’d never of had enough time to explore Germany. Days 2/3/4 were much easier to plan...thank you Google Maps & bestbikingroads.com...a valuable resource when riding through areas you don’t know personally. With such a big group, it was important I delivered, Fast Roads, Technical sections, great views, good food, and warm beds.....you have to remember this is other people’s money, which they are spending on your say so, I found that quite daunting!. It’s at this point I have to personally thank Easyrider, who stepped into the fray and offered to deal with the hotel bookings, Chunnel bookings, Tour admin...the list goes on...and he also offered a great deal of support and sound advice...I can’t even begin to think how many emails I sent him over this period that ended with ‘what do you think?’....the responses were in there entirety the most helpful missives I’ve read for some time...Thanks!
Whilst I am about it I have to mention Routemaster too, who proved a good sounding board on do’s and don’ts of route planning, how many stops we’d need and where! (And I hold my hands up to going slightly off-plan once or twice). So Dates, Tick, routes, Tick, Hotels, Tick, group, Tick...I think that’s it? Isn’t it? Oh god now I’m not sure, have I missed something? will it go plan? will some-one break down?, will the routes suck?, will it rain? .....and so the paranoia set in. I spent the winter months amusing myself with a little pre-trip teaser (to keep the interest of the party), and reviewing and fettling the routes, scribbling down timings and then losing them in my pit of a study! Before I know it April is upon us, people are getting excited (it’s palpable), the weather improves (no more snow and ice!), and I’m running in a new bike (long story, best saved for another day), final fettling and arrangements are made, those travelling together on Day 1 through France agree to meet en route to a Hotel the night prior to our travel.
Hotel reviews are separate from the tour report (see reviews section), which Easyrider has kindly submitted, so there won’t be (much) mention of them in the report
For the remainder of this report, I have asked many members of our tour, to contribute their own thoughts, and they are all included below in some form or another, but I have tried to avoid myself being subjective, at the start of each day I’ll outline issues/oddity’s and events (and possibly butt in with the odd sarcastic remark), but I’ll leave it to the others to tell you what they thought...read on, and enjoy.
Day 1 Calais to Klotten
Leader’s notes: - I struggled with this day...I wanted to do twisties from the outset, but instead to ensure we made good time it was 80% motorways. The weather was not good, and we were plagued by strong winds blowing in from the coast ..... (read on)
Day 2
Leaders Notes: - Finally a solid day of twisty roads, good stuff! The group assembles a little late, and then just as we leave they close the railway crossing directly in our path...we sit and wait a good 10 minutes, before I’ve run out of patience...... (read on)
Day 3
Leaders Notes:-Sunshine all day...thank you! It’s all coming together. I don’t want to lose any more time, and elect to ride down the B64 (not on original route plan) to get to Bad Grund quickly...this guarantees no Farm Tracks..... (read on)
Day 4
Leaders Notes:-Bugger, bugger, bugger! It’s raining....the bubble has officially been burst!...and it’s due to be cold and wet all day. I know the roads that were planned for today, and had hoped the gods would smile on us for one more day..... (read on)
Day 5
Leaders note: - Back to the motorway slog.....ho hum, but this was always the plan...at least the weather is dry. We lost someone again, in the maze of motorway junctions and slip roads between Arnhem and Utrecht..... (read on)
