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October 5th 2008: for the second time this year I joined the trip organized by a pub called 't Fuske at Millingen aan de Rijn (marked '2' on the map). I live close by (marked '1' on the map) and enjoyed it the last time, at the end of May this year. Again they drew us an interesting tour through Germany, Limburg and Brabant. |
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Autumn, what a beautiful season that is. Nice skies, leaves in warm colours, enchanting sunsets. |
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That is ... if you're lucky. And we weren't: after a few dry weekends this sunday was totally different. The forecast was 20 to 50mm rainfall and stormy wind. During the trip the temperature turned out to be 9 degrees Celsius. On the left you see a satellite picture from October 5th at 15.00h.: no clouds around the Netherlands, but that was no use to us. Click the picture to see the clouds moving between 10.00h. and 17.00h. (2,2Mb). |
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The CBX was in perfect condition, just five days after the photoshoot and interview by the daily De Gelderlander. Below the bike you see that the autumn effect is already kicking in. As I arrived in Millingen autumn was all over the bike. | |||
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At 't Fuske some twenty die-hards were present, more than I expected: a lot of organized trips will have been cancelled this weekend. On the left you see Ennie who borrowed a Yamaha XT600 to join the club. On the right you see Theo, V8 motorcycle owner (unfortunately not for long anymore), riding BMW. We decided to do the trip with the four of us, completed by Theo's brother John (also on BMW). Remarkable fact: although the trip is called 'Motortoertocht Millingen' ('bike trip Millingen') only one participating biker lives in that town. All the others came from smaller villages in the vicinity. |
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We came past a buggy rental company and checked if it was possible to make a ride. We were already wet, muddy and cold so it couldn't get much worse. A pity it wasn't possible. | |||
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At Arcen (marked '3' on the map) we crossed the river Maas with a small ferry. | |||
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Just after the crossing the organisation presented a good lunch: soup, sandwiches, coffee. It even stopped raining for a short while. Emphasis on 'short'. | |||
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This participant sticked the itinerary on his back so the passenger could point out the way. Smart idea: all concentration is on the wet curves. In our team John fulfilled this ungrateful task. | |||
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Meanwhile the bikes took a wholesome mudbath. | |||
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Suddenly I lost the view behind me: a small leaf turned out the be the cause. | |||
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The funny part of it all: the weather couldn't spoil the fun. Ennie is lifeguard so she isn't afraid of water which is a good thing on such a day. It's nice to ride in a group which is small like this one; you can raise the speed somewhat and keep a good overview. |
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At the end of the trip my hands told me to quit for a while. | |||
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As we returned at 't Fuske we talked to some bikers who'd chosen not to join the trip due to the weather. For privacy reasons I put black bars over their eyes ;-) | |||
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We finished the day with a great Chinese dinner. | |||
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258 rainy kilometers. But worth every meter. Postscript October 13th 2008. |