July 11 - July 21 2019: my annual CBX trip, this time with no less than five art exhibitions and two motorcycle parties, more or less summarized as 'Oleck & Flat track'. What that means? I had no clue a month ago either.

Thursday, July 11: riding down the familiar A57 and pass Rheinberg. Good memories of the FighteRama shows (ánd parties).

One and a half week of camping ahead. The public toilet blocks along the highway are a good way for testing your immune system.

Second test: riding in the rain for hours.

Arriving in Frankfurt am Main ...

... I visited the Big Orchestra exhibition in the Schirn Kunsthalle.

For many years I've been combining exhibition visits to motorcycle fun. Quite a big contrast, I know, but my interests lie in both areas.

In the wardrobe I hung my clothes to dry. Quite useless because it didn't stop raining that afternoon.

Art and music were combined in the exhibition: the works were often not immediately recognizable as musical instruments but could be played. It was a tribute to the Fluxus art movement from the 1960s. Composer like John Cage stem from that movement.

The result was, let me say, "not melodic" and "strongly avant-garde." More pleasing to the eye than to the ear, as far as I am concerned.

What you don't often see in a museum: interaction with the audience. Many instruments could be 'played' under the watchful eye of the musicians. Percussion instruments ...

... but also wind instruments, such as this Vibrosaurus, by Constantin Luser.

Very simple sound concepts could be 'experienced', such as two pan lids that produce a very rich and warm sound. An accessible and fascinating exhibition.

Then I looked for a campsite for the night: Campingplatz Mainkur was just outside the Frankfurts center. Desolate weather requires a desolate campsite, with the Comic Sans typeface in the company logo as the icing on the cake; a guilty pleasure of mine.

Rainy and desolate, and a Finn who warned me that the whole of Europe would soon be a caliphate. The picture was complete. ;)

The local restaurant served a welcome local beer.

My reading from that evening – a thesis about animation – had not completely survived the rainy trip. I didn't mind because it gradually became dry during the evening, and so I took a nice long walk along the river Main.

Friday, July 12. Talking about 'not surviving': the inside of my helmet had not survived the test of time. Fortunately, just four kilometers from the campsite was bikeshop Polo.

I quickly decided: full-face, matte black, with sun visor, and affordable.

In less than five minutes I was in and out of the shop.

I scored a 'Swiss breakfast' in a local restaurant. Unknown to me but it tasted very good.

And then the first sun appeared, so I dried the gloves, hanging on their magnets.

I visited the 'Digital Revolution' exhibition in the Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum in Frankfurt, about the history and influence of digitization on music, film, play and our daily lives.

Starting with the first computer game ever (I remember, that is how old I am ...) called Pong. Year: 1972.

The 80s: Pacman ...

... up to CGI (computer generated imaging), the computer as an indispensable tool in the film industry. There was a beautiful interactive version of the movie "Inception" (2010) in which the streets of Paris are rolled up like a blanket.

Then on to the motor meeting in Großostheim, where the quartermasters of the 'Motorradfreunde Ottweiler e.V.' had already arrived.

An hour later the rest of the group arrived. From left to right: Manuela, Achim, Marco, Bernie, Manne.

Danny (l) and Manuela immediately consumed my typical Dutch gift: a prepared muffin from the Vlaamsegas in Nijmegen.

I just drank 'Geißmaß': a liter of beer containing various liqueurs. Dangerous stuff but very tasty.

And here I came in contact with the typical Saarland expression 'oleck' for the first time. An exclamation that cannot be translated literally, but can be used with all forms of wonder. The way you pronounce it (dragging, hard, interrogative, slow, fast, ...) determines the content of the used oleck. Compare it a bit with 'yeah!' or "dude!" Good oleck use requires a thorough study: only after a week the corrections on my intonations diminished. ;)

Of course, rear tires had to be smoked ...

... until they fell split. Oleck.

In the big marquee the band Dynamite gave a good performance.

Saturday, July 13: a quiet waking-up, with breakfast; Achim shows how that works.

During the day the grounds filled again with smoke from exhausts and rear tires ...

... and we repeated the activities from the day before. And with success.

'Mutti' Manuela had, as befits a Mutti, provided a party tent because the clouds made themselves heard from time to time.

Marco (left, and "Grandmaster of Oleck") and Bernie raise the glass. Oleck.

And so it went on ...

... until the small hours.

Sunday, July 14: we packed and the four of us (Manuela, Marco, Manne and I) rode towards St. Wendel, where I was invited. Manuela took a beautiful curvy route. During the lunch break we grumbled about everyday life but also concluded that we were actually doing very well.

I'll never forget the hours that followed. After the lunch break, and after a nice series of curves, we waited alongside the road for Manne, who rode fourth. But he didn't come, so we rode back. Due to an unknown cause, he came too wide out of a curve, skimmed an oncoming car and then collapsed frontally to the next one. Ambulance arrived very quickly, a helicopter did too, but unfortunately to no avail as he died on the spot.

Unbelievable. I took this photo 15 minutes before the accident.

And Manuela took this one day earlier. It can go that fast. Manne was 74 years old.

That evening the Motorradfreunde gathered in St. Wendel to share the shock. What a nightmare rollercoaster this day.

I considered going home but decided not to. Because no matter how gruesome: death is an aspect of the motorcycling passion.

I declined the hospitable offer to sleep in the house and pitched my tent in the garden.

Monday, July 15: extensive breakfast, provided by Manuela and Marco. We discussed the events of the day before with Danny and Harry.

The five of us visited the Baumwipfelpfad Saarschleife. At first I thought it was a variant of the Nordschleife and Südschleife – the Nürburgring race trach that I visited so often – but it turned out to be an impressive structure in which you walk more than a kilometer at treetop height ...

Picture: Manuela

... to a beautiful viewpoint on the river Saar, at an altitude of 23 meters. Oleck.

Inevitably of course, this kind of pictures. Certainly oleck too.

Then we visited the hometown of Manuela: Saarlouis. A city with impressive fortification, the so-called 'kasematten'.

And suddenly we were on a birthday of Marco's aunt. The Saarlanders are really incredibly hospitable: you're adopted in the family in no time.

Tuesday, July 16: I granted the bike a global cleaning, and a portrait was made with the Marco's friendly father.

Harry accompanied me to the Körperwelten exhibition in Heidelberg. He declined my offer to ride a bit.

I already knew Körperwelten, but had not yet seen it in the 'hometown' of the genius behind this project, the German anatomist Gunther von Hagens. He developed the plastination technique that makes it possible to preserve humans and thus exhibit them.

His work is very controversial, and (partly) that's why I find it interesting. It's a mix of technology, science, biology and art. In my opinion his art often tends towards kitsch; see this 'flying pig' ...

... that reminded me a lot of the over-the-top work of Jeff Koons.

(By the way, Koons had to pay 135,000 Euros to the French company Naf Naf for this work due to plagiarism. Speaking of controversy. But I think I stray. Oleck.)

The work has a strong appeal anyway because it is 'real' what you see, and von Hagen was actually the first to make this possible. Absolutely fascinating how he makes the vascular system almost tangible.

The poses are very carefully composed, also constructively: both men 'rest' on the ball of the left man's foot.

By far the most vehement work was that of the eight-month pregnant woman. Really on the verge to see the almost-grown child like that. Of course a dramatic story precedes this; even if you don't know the background, it takes hold of you. Unavoidable.

The theme of the exhibition was 'happiness', which had a bitter contrast with the widely represented death in the exhibition.

I knew for sure that I was alive, testifying this blood pressure measurement. Quite okay.

As we left, blood pressure increased slightly: two policemen were above average interested in my motorcycle. I approached them and asked if everything was okay. Well, initially not 'because the bike has no mirrors', but then they discovered the cameras under the seat and the screen in the tank 'und dann war alles klar klar'. Beautiful. And oleck.

Together we rode to the Mannheim Beach campsite.

Harry left and I treated myself to a nice meal and a Paulaner beer. With a view on the river Neckar.

In the evening I read a fresh copy of the thesis, lovingly printed by Manuela.

Wednesday, July 17. View from my tent: a group of garden gnomes. Oleck.

However, the site certainly didn't have a dull owner. The campsite was really his child.

Just like more than 20 years ago (!) I wanted to visit the Münch Museum in Walldorf. I'd been there twice in the 90s because I'm a Münch fan since childhood.

At that time I rode my original CBX with a lot of luggage. Oleck.

This photo also dates from 1997, excavated from my basement. With owner Wilhelm Groh, who showed me his private collection in de shed behind his house.

He had no fewer than twenty-six pieces. All unique, at that time priceless, let alone now. Like Fritz Egli, Friedel Münch was a very progressive bike builder who mounted NSU Prinz car engines in motorcycle frames. The bikes were therefore exceptionally powerful, certainly for the standards of the 60s and 70s.

The poster that you see on the top left of the picture hung on my teenager room ...

... this one.

Perhaps the Münch was the early germ that led me to mount a car engine in a motorcycle frame.

Twenty-two years ago I posed on what was then my dream bike. Time flies.

Wilhelm Groh died just a few years later, at the age of 54, and the Technik Museum Speyer took over his collection in full.

What brutal machines, far ahead of their time. I walked around for at least an hour, and before I knew it, I was touring other visitors through the history of Friedel and his motorbikes. Call it cultural education. ;)

The latest version, the Münch Mammut 2000, is still being produced on request. With turbo, injection and 260 hp, completely in the tradition of over-the-top as Friedel Münch sanctified. For 86,000 Euros you have one.

But there was more, much more. Cars, trucks, planes, submarines, helicopters, motorbikes, you name it with an engine block. This common denominator actually made everything more or less interesting.

Like this beautiful 1961 Jaguar E-type, one of the most beautiful cars ever made.

Also very nice: this star engine with turbo from a Russian torpedo boat. 4,000 horsepower. Oleck.

Always impressive: turbine engines.

Almost direct copies from Star Wars Phantom Menace's pod race. :)

I'd never been in a submarine before, and hoped it was cooled on this scorching hot day.

It was not. Oleck.

Yet an exciting experience. Purely functional technology ('form follows function' principle) is sometimes so beautiful.

Although I'd driven only 81 kilometers this day, it felt like three times as much. Not only because of the weather but due to the incredibly bad tarmac of Mannheim and its surroundings. It felt like rodeo.

Back at the campsite, this sticker on a motorhome warned me. Fortunately just in time because I was about to touch it. ;)

Laundry done ...

... and cooked a meal. It takes a lot of time to prepare a good meal but it's very soothing.

The neighbor gave me a homemade 'Zwetschgen Torte' for dessert, a delicious plum pie, and apparently a local specialty.

Thursday, July 18: breakfast at the Walzwerk Cafe in Schwetzingen. I did not know it but was pointed out by motorcyclists. Of course I knew the famous bike by Marcus Walz, and especially his brutally big choppers.

Of course there were posters with Walzwerk bikes on the wall.

The breakfast was fine, although it was served without cutlery. But I managed. ;)

The statement Marcus Walz makes in his bike design was missing in his restaurant concept. Would I recommend a visit? Not really.

I rode to a small campsite in the equally small village of Kirken. The world is also small: it turned out that Achim and his wife were staying at the same campsite. He proudly showed me his classic Renault 4.

I was a little less happy when he, just as I wanted to eat my carefully prepared meal, showed up with his Burgman 600, a 'motorcycle' for which he was banned from speaking at Großostheim because he simply did not stop to praise this scooter. The 'B word' wasn't allowed anymore.

If I wanted to hear its sound system? No, I certainly did nót want that. Moments later the moving toilet played tunes. Oleck.

That evening the Motorradfreunde organized a meeting for Manne, and the preparations for his funeral in which they would participate. I, too, was invited, and had a differemt view on the signs along the B41.

Afterwards, back at the campsite, I was invited for a beer with Achim, his wife Andrea and their old poodle.

Friday, July 19: that was not a good night. My little air mattress was leaking so I lay awake on the hard ground.

Andrea and Achim had made a delicious breakfast, including Lyoner (bottom right picture), a kind of smoked sausage and a Saarland specialty.

Andrea and I tried to find the leak in the air mattress, which didn't quite work out.

Packed my stuff and drove to Ironworks Völklingen, my last cultural outing.

I didn't actually want to park my bike on the unguarded parking lot, so I asked at the entrance if I could park it in the staff parking area. That was allowed by the cashier "but uhhh, my boss ...". The fear of the higher in rank is so much bigger in Germany than among the Dutch.

Well, nothing to be done, so I put in the normal parking lot.

Ironworks Völklngen is a Unesco industrial heritage site and is very similar to Landschaftspark Duisburg Nord which I have visited several times.

I really love industrial architecture: large machines in factories. It has a post-apocalyptic atmosphere, and here too 'form follows function' prevails.

Unfortunately I didn't have my real camera with me because otherwise I'd been shooting pictures for hours.

Beautiful, even it it was never meant to be that.

The iron smelter – because that's what it is – was closed in 1986. Wonderful to see how nature gradually reclaims the terrain.

I took these vague photos with my cell phone from the museum. A familiar image, nothing wrong.

The cameras were discovered, which is fine too.

But then there was consultation, and the man on the left positioned himself strategically with his camera, after which the man on the right lifted the cover plate off the tank. At that moment I called very loudly "hey!" and they both jumped half a meter into the air. Just watch, don't touch.

That's what you get at public parking lots, unfortunately.

On the way to the bike meeting, I scored a new air mattress; one night on the ground was really enough.

I'd already promised Manuela to visit Wheels & Stones a year ago, an event that's being organized for the fourth time this year. I read on the site that a flat track 'race' was held there this year, and that non-flat track bikes could also participate. My CBX is exact thát category, and I thought it was a nice challenge, following the sprint competition in which I participated two years ago.

My arrival was already announced on facebook , so I could not withdraw.

Click the screenshot to enlarge it.

Erwin and I arrived at the site at about the same time, pitched our tents, and then went shopping. A lot of liquids, because it was warm.

A select delegation from the Motorradfreunde was also present.

We enjoyed it.

Something to eat: brown bread with ... Lyoner. Not really 'haute cuisine' but a really good match with beer.

Yes, and what do you do except drink a beer? You view sporting sportbikes ...

... and cafe racers. There were a lot of them because Wheels & Stones is a cafe racer meeting.

Flat track is also called dirt track, and for a reason. It's an oval track with ... mud. Here a view over the terrain.

When I saw the track, I was not very sure if it was such a good plan to participate. Oleck.

Willi, a.k.a. Hammer of Justice, also arrived in the course of the evening. He earned this fine nickname since we met at the Trommelslagertreffen in 2008. He was immediately offered a strengthening medicine.

There was music and entertainment, including the fine band Honey Creek. We had a good time.

Saturday, July 20: view from my tent on Erwin's CBX.

Willi declared himself 'Erklärbär' ('explaining bear') and tirelessly answered questions from interested parties. That was very pleasant.

Meanwhile, Erwin was busy processing the night ...

... after which we accepted the invitation of Marco and Manuela: luxury breakfast!

Organizer Thom David (with hat) discussed the course of events with all flat track drivers. That turned out to be a lot less than had registered: only 24 participants showed up. I understood why.

Picture: See You

The first aid was ready for it. Oleck.

Some bikes had a slightly more suitable profile for a dirt track.

Well. Stop complaining. Ready ...

Picture: Julien Muller Photography

... and go!

Picture: See You

Four laps over mud that has now dried up (thankfully), with the left foot to the ground and most important of all: don't touch the front brake!

Picture: Kayadaek

It was an unforgettable experience. And a once in a lifetime one, that too. ;)

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Picture: Kayadaek

I later found this picture in Thom David's banner, the organizer of Wheels & Stones. Funny.

Marco and Manuela surprised us with cooled beverages ...

... the Erklärbär resumed his Erklärbär activities (glove included) ...

... and again we had a very good time.

On the Wheels & Stones facebook page you'll find a cartload of atmospheric images. The pictures made by Kati Dalek (Kayadaek) in particular appeal to me a lot.

Picture: Kayadaek

Cafe racers, hipsters and barbershops traditionally go very well together. All three were therefore well represented.

Picture: Kayadaek

There were many colorful types anyway ...

Picture: Kayadaek

... and matching vehicles.

Picture: Kayadaek

The food was well taken care of through many food trucks.

Picture: Kayadaek

Young and old was present ...

Picture: Kayadaek

... and also the variation in liquids was splendid.

This years experiment 'leaving my camera at home' was nót a success. :(

Picture: Kayadaek

Later that evening we met Guido Timmerbeul, whom I already knew from Koning Zelfbouwshow and on whose motorcycle site you can also find my CBX. And that site is called ... oleck.net. Right. Oleck. The name was indeed derived from the Saarland expression.

We got, and get, along very well, drank beer, and he gave me his aluminum company logo.

Of course I introduced Guido to 'Grandmaster of Oleck' Marco.

A finishing atmospheric photo. Click on it to enlarge it.

Model: Willi. Picture: Manuela.

Sunday, July 21: again a nice breakfast at the M&M mansion. A good basis for the tough return trip ...

... of which the positive highlight was of course the winding B roads through the Eifel. So beautiful, and so much fun.

These were special eleven days. With unforgettable highs and a very deep unforgettable low. The only conclusion can be: Carpe Diem.