|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Trip 1, Saturday July 5th, 175 km.
The first stop was Vasse ('1a' on the map), hometown of my friend Erwin, wife Ilke, daughter and dog. Ilke cooked us a nice meal with slices of bacon and mashed potatoes. And yes, some vegetables, for the looks. A proper foundation for the party ahead. |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
We rode to Slagharen to a motorcycle event called 'Spirtitt'n bikeweekend'. Camping, bands, beer: the works. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Big tent, nice atmosphere and dito weather. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Erwin this time took his recently lowered GL1000 on tour. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
On the left you see him drinking a beer. Not his first beer. Not his last beer. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
I got some requests from visitors to pose on my bike. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
A familiar face: an ex-student of mine, Roy, showed up and took his Blade into the tent for a nice burnout. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
His good example was followed by a Harley. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
At the end you could only see a glimpse of its rear light. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
In the afternoon and evening there was music. The coverbands could not impress me though. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
The camp fire was a good alternative. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Trip 2, Sunday July 6th, 138 km.
Well, that was a good start. The Morning After was slightly less pleasant. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
We learned that there was a bike show in Steenwijk that day. Not quite on the way to our planned next stop but hey, the weather was good, we're free so why not? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
The moment we arrived my bike was directed to the show area. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
The event was organized by MC Vlotte®bak and a few hundred bikers turned up. A lot of them Harley-minded but almost every brand was present.
Picture by www.leuksteflits.nl |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
At 16.00h. the prize giving ceremony started. Third prize was for this Ducati trike.
Picture by www.leuksteflits.nl |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
This 'mobster' got second, a nice shovelhead. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
I was pleased to win the show.
Picture by www.bikerstarke.nl |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
It got me, next to everlasting fame, some money to spend the coming week.
Picture by www.bikerstarke.nl |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Being the winner I was temporary promoted notary for the raffling. The first number I took out of the hat ... was Erwin's. He got a nice HD t-shirt.
Picture by www.bikerstarke.nl |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
My favorite of the show was this bike called 'Savage Duckster'. Based on a stretched Suzuki Savage frame but powered by a Citroën 2CV engine! Nice job, very daring and ingenious. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
After the prize giving ceremony we continued our trip to the town called Gasselternijveenschemond. And I thought they only had names like this in Schotland. There is a biker camp site called De Motorschuur. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
There wasn't much going on at the camp place. The main reason was that our week was planned at the very start of the holiday season. And perhaps the rainy forecasts. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
We made ourself comfortable with two other visitors, some beer and the owners of this characteristic place: Gijs and Madeleine. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Gijs almost infected us with his passion: riding sidecar to the North Cape. He showed us pictures, movies and told a lot of stories. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Trip 3, Monday July 7th, 57 km.
In the morning we had a good breakfast. I surely recommend this place (and its hosts) to anyone! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Our next goal was 'der Bahnbrecher' in Kluse (D) which Gijs recommended to us. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
The poster told us the gate is open, and that bikers are very welcome. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Uhhhm ... not. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
 |
So we climbed over the gate, put our tents up and cooked us a nice meal. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Later that evening the owner arrived: Max. A very peculiar man with a very special vision: it's not a bikers camp site, it's his huge garden and every biker is always welcome, no matter if Max is around or not. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
The door from this caravan is always open, beds are made. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
You can use a tent ... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
... or, for Blairwitch Project fans: this Caravan from Hell ;-) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
One can even use the bar, take drinks from the fridge or cook a meal! Max doesn't charge you for anything: if you want you can leave a fee.
He isn't stupid or naive though: this way he avoids regulations because it's his garden and not an official camp site. Risky and depending on good behaviour, but smart. Certainly a place I'd recommend! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Trip 4, Tuesday July 8th, 245 km.
Erwins new small tent turned out to be waterunproof. So on our trip to the next location we passed Vasse to get him his old big (but dry) tent.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
The Rain started on Monday. From here on it got worse, far worse. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
We went to the centre of Holland, to biker camp site 'Het Dijkje'. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Again: very quiet. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
We killed the time the way we often kill the time. The owner didn't join in the way Gijs did. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Trip 5, Wednesday July 9th, 274 km.
That night the rain was so loud it was no less than fascinating. After a good breakfast we made our longest trip to the Belgian coast. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Goal: the Motorcycle Loft Hotel at Oudenburg, near Oostende. It rained cats and dogs all the way through Belgium. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
An impressive building where one could park his bike inside a huge hall. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Again, due to the horrible weather, it was almost deserted. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
But Roos took good care of us. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Until, many Stella's later ... I don't know. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Trip 6, Thursday July 10th, 245 km.
In the morning Ivan, the owner of the hotel (on the right), invited Johan Schaeverbeke to look at my bike. Johan is the director of the 'Oldtimer Motoren Museum Groenedijk'. I gave them an extended demonstration of my bike. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
In exchange Johan gave us a guided tour in his impressive museum. All of the - about 85 - bikes are his and date from 1914 to 1980. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
FN, Flandria, Gillet, La Mondiale, CZ, Gnom and Whizzers, just to name a few of them. Most brands I'd never heard of were present. And some with remarkable modern solutions in frame, brakes suspension and even design. And some so scary constructed I'd rather not ride them. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Bike camp site 'In den hof' in Heerlen was not a spectacular place. There was not much going on there. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
But there was beer and we took the evening to chill out from the heavy night in Oudenburg. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Later that evening hell broke loose, again. Rivers of rain rushed along the restaurant. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Trip 7, Friday July 11th, 14 km.
Just 14 km today, by far the shortest distance. We arrived at - as it is official named - Biker-Roadhouse & camping "Herberg Het IJzeren Paard" ("The Iron Horse"). We had long talks with owner Frans, a natural born storyteller. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
He and his dog were inseperable. I nicknamed it 'Cerberus', the mythological dog from hell. Aim at the picture to see the original Cerberus; almost identical, see? Except for the character, that is. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
This place was almost deserted as well. We had a lot of drinks ... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
... so it was a bit difficult to put up our tents. We finally succeeded though, sort of. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
After a very good meal we revived again. This man can not only entertain, he can cook! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
After that the drinking continued.
Another place to return to and I recommend it to every biker! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Trip 8, Saturday July 12th, 47 km.
The last event: into Belgium again, to the 'Demervalleitreffen'. Erwin's small tent couldn't stand the rain, nor could his rain suit. So he bought a new one with blinding colors. Not pleasant if you're having a headache. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Looking at the badge one would expect M.C. Hoeselt to be a group of knee-down speedfreaks on Japanese powerbikes. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
But ... no way. It was merely Harley and visitors aging 8 to 80. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
And a lot of colorful ones. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
The area was quite muddy but the CBX couldn't care less. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
The aluminum showed a week of abuse. Still the bike loved the cool and rainy weather: an incredible fuelconsumption of 16 kilometer to the liter (or 6 liter every 100 km). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
That saturday afternoon not only the aluminium was worn out: such a week takes its toll, even for young gods like us. Here you see Erwin roasting a hamburger. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
But as evening came we woke up, took another beer and did some bike talking. I heard quite some Belgians say: " 'eel chique gedaan!" (translated: "nice work!"). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Had a long conversation with this guy called Böhse. About bikes (of course) but also about music and movies. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Demervalleitreffen is organized for the 28th time. And although there were, due to the rain, less visitors than last year, the music tent was very crowded. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
The bands were worth the attention. For me the best act was the German band Paranoiacs. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Young and old enjoyed the music. The little girl on the right was embarrassed by her mothers dancing. A bit of a generation gap. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Trip 9, Sunday July 13th, 178 km.
Our neighbour on the camp site rode a brand new full-dressed Honda sixcylinder. I put my Honda six next to it to find match; there were just a few.
Nine days, nine trips, 1.373 km and loads of fun. Can't wait for 2009. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
