Weekend away In Harz (Germany) Review and Pics

Guest Tue Jun 07 2011, 05:27

NB Links to photos and video clips at the end of this description
I just thought I'd post a few words about the Harz trip , it was truly amazing .I planned on doing the trip down there in one hit so it was pretty rapid going .Paul and I were in constant contact via Txt and by 11am I was about 261miles away from the campsite , by 1150 I was 60miles away from Paul and some of the German members who he had already met , they all waited for me to catch up with them which was really great of them . We did some of the journey via country roads which was a refreshing change from the monotamus motorway . After a couple of stops including lunch at McDonalds some of us finished the rest of the journey back on the motorway.

We eventually arrived and to say I was knackered was un understatement ! Anyway the German CAT members were very very welcoming and friendly and it wasn't too long before I had a bottle of beer or two clink

The other half of the group I met up with also arrived , minus one member who had an incident with a car (not sure exactly about the details) but he spent at least one night in hospital , luckily he wasn't seriously hurt - no broken bones , or fractures/head injuries etc.The tiredness was really kicking in by now and mindful that we were out riding all day I soon hit the sack .

I slept like a baby and woke up relatively refreshed , the weather was fantastic , bright blue sky , and glorious sun -which is how it stayed all weekend there. Breakfast at 0930 ,coffee , fruit juice and a selection of hams .We set off at 1030 I think , stopping first at a local petrol station which was hilarious to see all us bikers invade the forecourt in such great numbers ! Off we set into the beautiful countryside ,passing a couple of lakes I think, and open field. The roads were a bikers dream lots of twistys , some straights , and then we climbed higher and higher where the roads snaked into and around the hills/mountains.The landscape changed and we were surrounded by trees , the roads became even more twisty with lots of hair pins and sharp right and left bends, then some long sweeping right and left bends.I found the pace to be Just right , although there was some traffic that held us up occasionally - not surpringly as this was a beautiful area and attracted visitors from afar.The mashalling was fantastic with a couple of their riders blocking junctions (like how police motorbike escorts do when they are looking after vips) to ensure the group didn't get broken up. We rode through a couple of very pretty old towns who's houses appeared to be made of timber.
We stopped a couple of times for a quick break and then stopped again for lunch . It was traditional German cuisine , and I had what was basically a German Sausage and chips and it came with extra hot chilli sauce to .Paul had warned me to be careful of the sauce , and I assured him that it would be ok as I loved "hot" food …I put a little bit of the chilli sauce on a small section of the sausage and my god it was the hottest thing I've ever experienced , within seconds I could feel my tongue and lips on fire , my nose and eyes were steaming . I tried to put the fire out in my mouth with the coke but that didn't help much ! Eventually it was better but I must have eaten a chip which had a bit of sauce on it , and again my mouth was on fire and I had to go to the loo where I put my tongue under the cold water tap for about ten minutes !

The Journey back was pretty much more of the same ,spectacular scenery and roads , stopping a couple of times for breaks . We then made a stop in a fairly big town , which puzzled me a bit and then someone told me we were going to visit Stephan (I think that was his name) in hospital (the chap who had an incident on the way to the camp site). Wow !! What a lovely thing to do - so off we went , 30ish+ bikers marching through a hospital to find Stephan , it was really funny and I have to say the staff there were really brilliant about it ! He was in good health and walking around and no sign of any serious injuries .We eventually got back to the camp , very satisfied with the fantastic day that we had .We spent the evening just chilling outside , chatting , laughing , eating pizza and having a beer or two . It was a really fantastic day and I was already looking forward to tomorrow.

The next day (Saturday) started off with the same glorious sunshine and we were all sitting outside just chatting away when we heard a bike accelerating quite quickly, on the road just outside the camp site and then we heard a very loud bang . I thought to myself "oh shit" , it didn't sound brilliant at all and I instantly knew that it was a really bad collision .Everyone heard it , but we didn't know if it was a member of our group or not . News soon got back to us that it was one of the members in our group and the mood changed , everyone was in a state of shock , myself included . It wasn't long before an air ambulance flew by us to the scene -gradually details of his horrific injuries filtered through to us little by little .A couple of the guys went to the scene of the accident . We had breakfast - it was pretty much in silence - just speculation about what exactly happened , it was a collision with a car ,were the initial reports.

The mood was very dark and depressing for the best part of the morning- everyone was worried about Torsten. I thought long and hard about weather to join Paul in coming back to the UK , I decided to stay. Torsten was in hospital by now , and a group of 12 of us decided to go for a ride .We set off and we all rode past the scene of the accident which was horrendous …
We rode some more fantastic roads through beautiful countryside , I have to say I was very nervous on my bike after what happened , I probably wasn't the only one . After a couple of hours we arrived at a Dam near a tunnel and parked up at a bikers hotspot . There were hundreds of bikers there and some raced back and forth through the tunnel which was very entertaining to hear different bikes , and their different sounds .People were taking photos and videos of this happening - myself included . I've included the link down below. Six of the group of twelve decided to go back to the campsite , I stayed out with the others and we made way to an UNESCO listed town which is 800 years old - I think it was Blankenburg although I couldn't swear to it . It was such a beautiful town , we were looking for a café to stop at but ended up the wrong way up a very narrow uneven cobbled street .My heart sank when I could see the riders in front of me doing a U turn , I tried but I got stuck half way through my turn and I didn't want to fall off my bike so I got off and did the the rest of the turn by pushing the bike !!!!! We found a café eventually where we sat outside having icecream and coffee etc and chatting away , it was really pleasant. We made our way back and enroute there was this really challenging string of bends , in fact so challenging that the lead rider decided we should do it twice !! I have to admit to falling behind the riders in front of me but caught up when the roads starightened out a bit more !

We made it home , and the news was that Torsten although his injuries were serious - he would live . That lifted the mood , and again there was laughter and banter and everyone was looking forward to the BBQ near the lake later on .There was even a competition to see who had the loudest bike , one of the guys had a sound level measurer -like they have at the race tracks , this was a bit of a laugh , and even some of the other campers were watching with interest !(I have included video clips below) .
The mood was back to how it was before the accident , but natrually everyone was still worried about Torsten. We all got prepared for the BBQ , it was quite a distance away , we carried chairs , kilos of sausages and steaks, crates of beer etc and settled down for the rest of the evening , with Uli getting the charcoal going - and a camp fire being started by Martina ,Stephan was released from hospital and joined us for the BBQ, perfect,just what we needed after such an emotionally testing day. The beers flowed , the sausages and steaks were plentiful , people joking ,it was like one big happy family - and that's what I bring back home with me .It was a trip that exceeded my expectations , the people made the trip for me , yeah sure I loved the riding too , but they were such a great bunch of people who made me feel so welcomed and I will always remember this weekend with a great smile . I hope I haven't bored you all -as this is very long !(OH BTW I'm not saying all these nice things just because I won the loudest exhaust competition medal-1

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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (Thundercat exhaust)
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**Dirt Bike Dave** Tue Jun 07 2011, 07:13

Great write up mate. The German T-catters are a very welcoming bunch and excellent hosts. I found their Junction marking system very effective and a bit dramatic too!!
Terrible news about the accident. Just hope the lad is on the mend soon.
Looking forward to seeing some of them again at BM.

**Rosco** Tue Jun 07 2011, 07:29

Great write up John.
Are you sure you did 201 miles in 50 minutes though. :rite:
I found their marker system a bit scary (for the markers/blockers)............I just wouldn't attempt it in this country for fear of getting run over / overtaken. It does keep the group tighter together however. TBH I prefer our marker system.
Glad to hear that Torsten is on the mend.
Will catch up with some of your hosts (Matzi, Tom, Dachsi, Stefan +1 ) next month at Big Mac.
Cheers
Rosco

Guest Tue Jun 07 2011, 08:19

Rosco wrote:Great write up John.
Are you sure you did 201 miles in 50 minutes though. :rite:
Rosco

No Ross I sure didn't !, I was 261miles away from the campsite but ,I was only 60 miles away from Paul , who hadn't reached the campsite yet . Very Happy

Guest Tue Jun 07 2011, 08:24

Dave , your fellow Duc rider I think, his name is Stephan -I'm a bit rubbish at remembering names , anyway he sends his regards ! clink

**Dirt Bike Dave** Tue Jun 07 2011, 09:10

espaceman3 wrote:Dave , your fellow Duc rider I think, his name is Stephan -I'm a bit rubbish at remembering names , anyway he sends his regards !

Cheers John, yep thats Stephan with the Duc monster.
Hes quite a character!

Guest Tue Jun 07 2011, 09:17

Dirt Bike Dave wrote:
espaceman3 wrote:Dave , your fellow Duc rider I think, his name is Stephan -I'm a bit rubbish at remembering names , anyway he sends his regards !

Cheers John, yep thats Stephan with the Duc monster.
Hes quite a character!

He certainly is Dave !

**0ldcat** Tue Jun 14 2011, 09:47

Nice write up John. Gutted I couldn't make it. There's always next year tho Smile

Guest Tue Jun 14 2011, 11:28

0ldcat wrote:Nice write up John. Gutted I couldn't make it. There's always next year tho

Next year's event is going to be slightly further away , If I go , which I'm very tempted as I enjoyed this year so much , I think I'd do the Journey in two stages as my dodgy hips really suffered on the way home lol .