Eifel Mountains 2018

[Bungleaio]

I've not been deliberately dragging this out but here's the last instalment

Friday

Despite having random shots the night before I woke up feeling great. Breadfast was consumed then 5 of us set off for the final group ride. Smallfrowne went off to get his bike and sort the clutch out.

As per normal I had no real idea of where we were going, I didn't need to know and to be honest I was better off not knowing. We set off on amazing roads again, hairpins, sweepers everything you want, I was feeling more confident and my chicken strips were shrinking.

I'll put the next bit as a spoiler as was amazing so don't click this if you think you might go on one of these trips in the future, I'm so glad it was a surprise to me.

We started to climb and I could start to see the beginnings of an incredible view through the trees. After a few minutes there were openings between the trees and the view was getting better, I was saying in my helmet can we stop I want to take a photo! Obviously no one could hear me and we continued to climb.

Then the trees stopped and there was a viewing area. The view was amazing and I was so pleased it was a surprise.

I moved my bike closer to the edge to get some photos of it, Gerontious kindly took a photo of me next to it.

 

We then continued our journey through more stunning places on amazing roads. It's hard to put more of a description as they really are all like that, I bet the locals hate visiting other places in the world as it must be a real step down in quality compared to home.

We called in for lunch in a really nice restaurant, I forget how old it was but it had been open for a very long time. We sat outside as the weather was lovely. There was a little bit of a panic when the waitress tried to take our order but Bonio was back at his bike getting his glasses. We somehow managed to convey the message of can you come back in 10 minutes please. Bonio returned and all was well again.

I'm happy to order food that I have no idea what it is so ordered Bratwurst mit Gräwes. We all know what bratwurst is but mit Gräwes turns out to be the nicest mashed potato I've ever had.

Off again for more great roads, at one point a couple Umleitungs brought us round in a big circle so we stopped to work out where we were going. I say we, four of us had a chat whilst one did the working out

The route was sorted and we made our way to Cochem. We stopped to take in the view.

It was at this point I decided to break away from the group, they went off to do "Matts road" and I went back to the hotel. According to google it would take me about an hour and a half to get back to the hotel so I started to follow the directions. I forgot to click the avoid motorways option so I ended up on an autobahn, well I think it was an autobahn everyone was travelling at a fair old pace. I'd never been on an autobahn before so I did what anyone would put my head down and pinned the throttle. My bike has a TFT screen so I had it set to display KPH so I didn't really know how fast I was going, it was also about 17:30 so it was getting busy. I had a few goes at going as fast as I could, the biggest number I saw was 203kmh. I didn't know exactly how fast that was but it was very windy! A quick google later said I'd done just over 126mph, i was quite pleased with that as my bike can apparently do 139mph flat out. Maybe next year...

Once back at the hotel total distance for the day of just over 200 miles.

The mechanic was nowhere to be seen but the patient was still in the operating theatre.

Dinner was consumed then time for more beers. There was even another round of the Romanian Moonshine!

After a few more beers it was time to join Smallfrowne in the pub

Yay more bloody mary shots

The landlady was also consuming these shots, it must have gone to her head as she sat down and promoted Smallfrowne to head barman

Doesn't he look proud of himself

He took his job seriously and invited Mark to assist him in consuming as much beer as possible

At about 2 am I decided it was time to call it a night seeing as we had a bit of a journey to do the next (same) day. I dragged Smallfrowne with me, he would probably still be there now if I didn't.

Saturday

Being clever I'd pretty much-packed everything before the beer started on Friday night so I didn't need to try and figure out how to get all my stuff back into the small bags I'd brought everything in. The beer is also good quality rather being the chemical filled lager we have here so I was feeling pretty good for my 4 and a bit hours sleep. The sun was out too.

More bread, final packing and a quick once over of the bikes and we were good to go. No chicken strips for Snod Blatter

Ate the miles between the hotel and the tunnel with no real dramas, lunch at Spy then arrived at the tunnel was all textbook. Then the textbook was thrown out of the window. Due to an honest mistake we arrived a little later than we should have done so the group was split on to two trains no real dramas but it wasn't until about half an hour or so after we were at departures that we realised the trains were delayed due to a breakdown in the tunnel. After a couple of hours the entertainment consisted of burger roulette

We said our goodbyes and the first three guys boarded their train after nearly 4 hours of waiting. The rest of us boarded at about 5 hours, it would have been even later if Bonio hadn't had a word with one of the customer service agents.

The final photo of the trip, I got this just before they took their trousers off

Once off at the other side we met up with the other guys from the earlier train, they had gone for food and kindly waited so that we could ride together. I'd never ridden in the dark before so it was good to have others to ride with,

After a massive tunnel delay and it being 10.30 at night you would have thought it would be fairly easy to get back but no. M20 had a junction shut so we had to divert to the M2, there was a massive queue for the Hartford tunnel then a rolling roadblock on the M25 which then completely shut for a while. It was great to get to the services at South mims for a very much needed coffee.

Despite it being the middle of the night snod blatter almost created a fan group for his bike. There was a bloke at the services who was loving that he was on a TRX, I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't nursing a semi, he even watched us ride off.

Back on the road and nearly the home stretch on the M1, bugger junction 13 to 12 shut, time for another diversion. Shortly after this I pulled into a services to adjust my neck tube, as I was no on my own. No bother as my headlight is actually quite good and after riding in the dark for a few hours I didn't mind it. Just before I was due to get off the motorway I saw a streak as Gerontious overtook me, waving as he went.

I was soon home after leaving the motorway and put the bike back in the garage.

Total stats for the day 441 miles and getting home at 02:55!

And this was for the entire trip

I then went to bed, bloody body clock woke me up at 7 though!

I hope you've enjoyed my write up of my trip experience. As I've said before it was absolutely amazing and something I will never forget, I can't wait for next year!

[Bungleaio]

[mention]Slowlycatchymonkey[/mention] My work here is done

[Justarn]

No is not, write me down as a reserve for next year:-)

[Six30]

I've enjoyed this thread,

[mikestrivens]

Me too

[bonio]

Awesome write-up [mention]Bungleaio[/mention].

I was meant to do it last years but writer's block meant it never happened.

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

I hate this phrase but it’s appropriate here. OMG what a lovely time

I’ve had to restrain myself from mentioning this thread to my good other half because living vicariously is idiotic but even so

[mention]Bungleaio[/mention] [mention]Gerontious[/mention] [mention]bonio[/mention] I love the photos and the honesty.

Must stop typing now I’ve had a couple of GnT’s!

Thankyou for sharing it here.

[raesewell]

Nothing wrong with Oh My Goodness

[Six30]

don’t know how you lads can drink till 2am , then get up early and ride your bikes ... I’d be fooked all the next day,

[Gerontious]

don’t know how you lads can drink till 2am , then get up early and ride your bikes ... I’d be fooked all the next day,

 

The Germans have a word for it. "Bierernst" and it's something you develop very quickly staying in a German hotel that has zero contact with the British. (Aside from us) you can roughly translate it as deadly serious about beer. Or more exactly "BeerSerious". You can't but help acquire it in the first day or so. Day one.. The hotel restaurant is closed so a walk to the local kebab/pizza joint. Walk in, grab a beer from the fridge. A glass from the shelf and use the bottle opener handily convenient on the counter and enjoy while you make a decision about what to eat. None of this: ask and pay in advance nonsense, that's just time-wasting when you can be beer drinking instead. And so it goes on. Glass starts to look a bit empty-like and a new one appears as if by magic. You think a place is about to close only to discover they are going to stay open just for you for as long as it takes to drink at least another 4 rounds, 5 if you're up to it. If you're not drinking fast enough then magically Schnapps or Moonshine will appear and demand instant drinking which obviously does nothing but increase thirst... And all this before 11 at night. After which time it ups a pace and gets just a tad more serious. This year, on the last night they were back from the bar just after 2. This probably caused uproar in the bar, leaving at such a ridiculously early hour. The price of passing the big 3-OH is a high one.

I didn't go anywhere near the village bar this time round... Last time I ended up falling into a rather large hole in the ground.. Which some workmen had carelessly left, without any kind of barrier that I could see, I'm not sure I could see much of anything.. Was there one hole or three? It was lucky this happened in the grounds of the hospital next door to our hotel. (Very convenient) but.. I was unharmed. Every year I take a little bag of pills and potions to deal with the after-effects of excess beer... And every year they're unused. No headache the next morning. Nothing aside from an appetite and a table weighed down by enough food to feed a starving village which... Oddly enough isn't even remotely intimidating. We scoff the lot!

[Snod Blatter]

don’t know how you lads can drink till 2am , then get up early and ride your bikes ... I’d be fooked all the next day,

2AM is an early finish, previous years have included this..

Me and Igloo stayed away from the pub this year, personally I was determined that the week was going to be about riding and enjoyment after putting a fair bit of work into getting the bike ready, and I found that curtailing the alcohol consumption and instead getting more sleep really did improve everything.

I might look at all this footage one day soon

[mikestrivens]

don’t know how you lads can drink till 2am , then get up early and ride your bikes ... I’d be fooked all the next day,

 

Let alone the blood alcohol level still being well in excess of the legal limit.

[Six30]

don’t know how you lads can drink till 2am , then get up early and ride your bikes ... I’d be fooked all the next day,

 

Let alone the blood alcohol level still being well in excess of the legal limit.

 

Yeh that as well.

[Bungleaio]

To be fair it wasn't heavy drinking like I would at home if I was out with my mates, it was more steady away, we weren't riding until 11 most days too. The beer is really good quality so hangovers aren't really something that happened.

Anyway, I forgot to add this screenshot from my google tracking, it's not quite accurate on the numbers but it gives an idea of the distance covered on the return leg.

[Gerontious]

So you rode 411 miles, got bored/broke down and got a bus... Missed your stop and had to walk the last .3 mile

You've definitely got faffing down to a fine art.

[Igloo]

don’t know how you lads can drink till 2am , then get up early and ride your bikes ... I’d be fooked all the next day,

2AM is an early finish, previous years have included this..

Me and Igloo stayed away from the pub this year, personally I was determined that the week was going to be about riding and enjoyment after putting a fair bit of work into getting the bike ready, and I found that curtailing the alcohol consumption and instead getting more sleep really did improve everything.

I might look at all this footage one day soon

 

Ahhhh me too, I did enjoy the riding much more this year, without the fog of alcohol hanging over my head!

[Talkspot]

Sounds like a brillant trip, great write up, and photos.

Would love to do something like this with a group, with do your only thing mostly, n meet up at night.

[Gerontious]

Sounds like a brillant trip, great write up, and photos.

Would love to do something like this with a group, with do your only thing mostly, n meet up at night.

 

We had a situation like this 4-5 years ago. The fella I mentioned who was dying and turned up without a word. He was there at the hotel at Ashford. he had booked that and booked a room at the hotel in Germany and told no-one. It was a surprise. but one we dealt with. But.. I didn't feel obligated to him. We tried to get him to fit in.. but he really never did. He was very ill and rode ponderously slow... his normal top speed was about 40mph.. maybe 50 on the motorway. So.. we put up with that for the journey across.. and up to a point while we were there. but.. by his actions and in chats he made it very clear that he was only really there for the company. people he knew to chat with in the evening... ride out with us in the morning but eventually turn off and go do his own thing. the first time he did that was a little upsetting as we thought we had lost him and i felt very responsible for that. but it was all cleared up later and from then on I didn't worry about him at all. He spent most days exploring the region at his own pace and was very happy about that.

Also.. one of the regulars often does this sort of thing.. but he knows the region well and so, again.. is nothing to worry about.

What I do, doesn't suit everyone.. so people have come along and either not bothered again, or proved to be a pain in the neck and ive not bothered asking them again, though that hasnt happened for a fairly long time.. back to a time that pre-dates membership of this forum.

But.. people are more than welcome to come along for the company and indeed ride with us as and when they want to. I have said 8 is a maximum.. simply because it makes life a lot simpler.. but if more than that were to come then i would simply adjust. it depends a lot.. at the end of the day, on how many rooms are available. but even then there is a "plan B'.. there is a second hotel that is just very slightly more expensive. a € or two.. about a half mile away at the other end of the village.

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

Sounds like a brillant trip, great write up, and photos.

Would love to do something like this with a group, with do your only thing mostly, n meet up at night.

 

We had a situation like this 4-5 years ago. The fella I mentioned who was dying and turned up without a word. He was there at the hotel at Ashford. he had booked that and booked a room at the hotel in Germany and told no-one. It was a surprise. but one we dealt with. But.. I didn't feel obligated to him. We tried to get him to fit in.. but he really never did. He was very ill and rode ponderously slow... his normal top speed was about 40mph.. maybe 50 on the motorway. So.. we put up with that for the journey across.. and up to a point while we were there. but.. by his actions and in chats he made it very clear that he was only really there for the company. people he knew to chat with in the evening... ride out with us in the morning but eventually turn off and go do his own thing. the first time he did that was a little upsetting as we thought we had lost him and i felt very responsible for that. but it was all cleared up later and from then on I didn't worry about him at all. He spent most days exploring the region at his own pace and was very happy about that.

Also.. one of the regulars often does this sort of thing.. but he knows the region well and so, again.. is nothing to worry about.

What I do, doesn't suit everyone.. so people have come along and either not bothered again, or proved to be a pain in the neck and ive not bothered asking them again, though that hasnt happened for a fairly long time.. back to a time that pre-dates membership of this forum.

But.. people are more than welcome to come along for the company and indeed ride with us as and when they want to. I have said 8 is a maximum.. simply because it makes life a lot simpler.. but if more than that were to come then i would simply adjust. it depends a lot.. at the end of the day, on how many rooms are available. but even then there is a "plan B'.. there is a second hotel that is just very slightly more expensive. a € or two.. about a half mile away at the other end of the village.

 

Cant make up my mind about this, on one hand turning up on someones holiday unannounced is beyond rude on the other Im glad he got a decent final run out. Very nice of you all to accommodate someone you didn't even know the circumstances of. I would have had a nagging doubt that someone who does something like that is a bit unhinged or on the spectrum somewhere. I suppose he didn't have a lot to lose but its one of the most spectacular gatecrashings Ive come across! The 40-50mph for me would have grated just a bit.

[Talkspot]

Yeah I could never turn up uninvited, just wrong, plus as I’m fairly new back to bikes, would make it clear, that I’m quite happy poodling behind, and if I don’t catch up, don’t wait, nothing worse than feeling obliged to change what you find fun, to fit another person.

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

Yeah I could never turn up uninvited, just wrong, plus as I’m fairly new back to bikes, would make it clear, that I’m quite happy poodling behind, and if I don’t catch up, don’t wait, nothing worse than feeling obliged to change what you find fun, to fit another person.

 

Agreed

[Igloo]

Soooooo I feel it's been long enough that I should do something with the footage I took with the drone whilst we were out there!

This trip is more about the riding than the touristy photographyness of "normal" holidays. And this captures this pretty well I feel

I am so ready for next year!

">

[mikestrivens]

Cool toy, what drone is it?

[Igloo]

Cool toy, what drone is it?

 

DJI Mavic Pro

Still getting used to it! trying to get it edited too was a bit of a faff!

[Gerontious]

We're experts at dealing with any kind of Faff.. minor, major or epic.

great video Matt.