Fifteen Wiltshire RoADAR members travelled to
Monschau in
Germany over the weekend 6 May for a week of exploring the area with a
mixture of 9 Bikes and 2 cars. The decision to base ourselves in one
place proved a success; this meant there was no pressure to ride/drive
every day and also there was no need to commit to the whole week.
Monschau is in Germany just over the Belgian Border form Liege and well
placed to explore the Ardennes.
With all of the group in situ by Sunday evening the first ride
out was to Bastogne - scene of the stand by the American Airborne
divisions during the battle of the Bulge. It is interesting to see how
strongly the Belgians in this area are attached to the Americans;
clearly thankful for them stopping the Germans retaking Bastogne in
December 1944.
After a brief stop at the impressive American memorial our plan for
a detour just to say we have been to Luxemburg was curtailed by a
charging problem with one of the bikes. Thanks to Julian Burton for his
fault finding and improvisations skills and the rest of us for watching
on offering countless useless advice.
Excitement mounted the next day as we headed to the
Nurburgring –
lovely roads and great scenery all the way to the iconic race track
(oops public toll road which just happens to be one way!) After the
compulsory Curry Wurst and Chips a few braved a lap and a half – 3
bikes, 2 of them with pillion passengers set off for an exciting ride.
Some of the group had specific clauses in their insurance preventing a
ride round the “Ring”. Four of the team opted for a ride in a “Ring
Taxi”. Not your normal fare as this was a lap with a professional
driver in a modified BMW M3 – and a bit more expensive than a Swindon
cab ride. The results were varied; all were exhilarated but differing
levels of nausea limited the enjoyment for some. An accident closed the
circuit reminding us all of the risks of mixing with the fast boys and
girls on the toll road.
A long trip to and along the Moselle Valley provided more excellent roads and spectacular scenery.
