Week two

7th June: We went swimming in Freibad, Barenburg. After finalising monies with Michi. 

We loved the outdoor-heated pool. Complete with slide and springboards. Also grabbed a hamburger from the kiosk for lunch.  A couple of hours and we had cooled off enough to jump on the bikes for a run. We took the Bundesstraßen to the rehab clinic near Hildeshelm to visit Heino who had recently had a knee replacement. He seemed to be doing pretty good, walking around without crutches & enjoyed the visit from us three. He even remembered me, don’t know why?

Then we came back on the autobahns and got up to tour speeds 150-170 kmh. 

It’s reasonable to expect that this is the sort of speed we will need once we are attempting the GN-72. 

We rode approximately 350 km and are averaging around 5-6 l/100km. Not too shabby. 

It was a good test. Unfortunately, I lost the spark plug cover from the rhs of my bike. I’d only replaced it the day before. I may have to “find” one on my trip. 

In the evening Michi set up the BBQ and the whole family ate together. Then we sat around drinking & chatting till about 23:00. 

8th June: we headed into sulingen and had breakie at the cafe where Michi usually gets our bread rolls for breakfast. Then food shopping for our trip, the beginning anyway. We also got a couple of bottles of the hard stuff, Laphroaig and some Bismarck. Beer is too heavy to carry with and takes up too much space. 

After we popped into Heike’s work to show her boss Scott’s Apple Watch. He was super interested but the staff at the store couldn’t answer his questions. It seems we are a fountain of worldly knowledge. 

In the afternoon, we once again headed to be pool. The weather has been pretty hot and humid, once we spent a couple of hours there & cooleddown we all felt refreshed. 

Friday evenings are reserved for “Clubabend” where the members of Samhain MC get together and have a few beers and hang out & chat. It’s awesome how they accept and involve us in their day-to-day. There were around 12 of us, after that we headed ack to Michi’s and kept on drinking/chatting till about 0130. 

9th June:  in the morning we headed into Sulingen and had a stroll around the stadtsee. A place Michi used to hang around when he and Heike were younger. It was quite overgrown and not as nice as he’d remembered. But still, it was nice to get outside and stretch the legs for a bit. After that we popped into Lloyds, the biggest employer in the region. They are a well known shoe brand “with the red stripe” under the heel. Attached to the factory is an outlet shop and people come from all over to but the “discounted” shoes. Bloody expensive it you ask me. 

On the way back we visited Heinrich (club member) to borrow a stool for Scott and have a beer & catch up. He & Tina, I remember fondly. 

After that we got our stuff and headed to the freibad to cool off, it was about 35 degrees or so. 

I had a riesencurrywurst. It was big and covered in curry sauce, I was happy. 

At the pool, the lifeguard came up to me and announced that : ich will nicht pingelig sein aber du solltest Badehosen an haben. I don’t want to be picky, but you should really have swimmers on. I told him that I did, he didn’t believe me and asked to feel them. I offered, He did, then everything was ok ;-)

In the evening we joined many bikes to ride in convoy to Hahn Auf Hoya, motorcycle club party. Just under 100 bikes. Some of the way they stopped the traffic so we could ride through. We did about 30-40 km in convoy. And upon arrival we were once again greeted by a biker bearing schnapps. 

This evening we met another Australian, nickname Ozzy. Appropriate!

And his real name Bruce!  Cracked us up!

We left the after a few hours, 6 bikes. 

Back home we stood around talking till around 0130, Dennis, Maulwurf, the Drohn’s and us. 

It was a good send off. 

10th June:  bit of a sleep-in. Breakie together, clothes washing, packed the bikes, unpacked the bikes, re-packed the bikes, relaxed, planned the route for tomorrow. 

Everything is “ready for take-off”

Tomorrow morning we shall leave Germany and head up to northern Denmark and meet up with Øssur. 

Week one

We arrived at Amsterdam airport without any hiccups.
Customs and immigration took over an hour for me, there had been weather delays and all e planes landed at once. Annoying but not the end of the world.
But from Amsterdam to Bremen proved to be not as smooth as we expected.
Scott’s flight was delayed, I’d expected him to arrive In Bremen and be waiting for me at the train station. I, on the other hand took the train, but my connection from Osnabrück was also delayed by 45 mins and changed to the regio-barn. Also arriving later than expected. Upon arrival, I quickly found Michi & tried calling Scott to find out where he was. We quickly discovered that our Australian phones had no connection. Luckily Scott had WiFi connection and was able to email michi and we eventually picked him up, better late than never.

The train ride from Amsterdam into Germany was when I actually felt that I’d arrived in Europe, everything was so green. Fields, farmlands, autobahns. I was happy.

After picking us up we headed for Schwaförden and it just happened to be Denis’ birthday. A quick introduction for Scott to German culture & beer. Then it off to bed.

Day two: we got to meet the bikes, woo-hoo. Both exceeded my expectations. We had a bit of a test then it was off to a couple of biker-parties. First, rolling wheels. Lots of new friends, new people, new places. Scott’s first time riding in a small group, we were around 8 bikes, Or so (plus one car)
Then off to another party where the flavour of the day was burnouts,  Germans being German had a fenced off area where they took their bikes for their burnouts, just across from the beer tent.  Safety first. Then home for a well earned sleep.

Day three, 2nd June: a bit of work on the bikes then in the afternoon met again at the clubhouse and headed off to the Abominogs MC. This time, camping. We were 15 bikes + car.

The ride took about 2 hours, a quick stop for fischbrötchen. Scots first real taste of German fast-food.
Around the club the land was all moors, soft, springy, easy for bikes to sink into and fall over, left or right. We all came armed with planks of wood to place under the stand. No bikes fell over. As we were new, we rode up the front of the group. But upon arrival to the club, fell to the back. We were greeted at the gate by a hairy biker with a smile, handshake and a shot. Scott asked if it were obligatory, I advised not to offend, he partook. Then we set up tents, and went to the party.
As were a group, the prospects were sent to get the Bons and were responsible for keeping us supplied with beer. There was also food and live band, AC/DC cover band from Berlin. It was a great night.
Next day we packed up & rode home to Schwaförden.
Before we left for the Abominogs MC party, Scott managed to drop his bike at the petrol station, I eventually wanted to teach him how to pick up the bike but this was neither the place nor time for lessons. Jonah and I righted the bike, the engine bars had already paid for themselves.

4th June: late start, breakfast together, then off to Bremen. We visited both polo & Louis, Scott needed a tank bag, rain suit, kidney belt and gel pad for his seat. I got a new visor for my helmet which had a couple of scratches. We also ordered our cooking gas. In the evening we had dinner together, spaghetti Bol. In the evening I spoke with Øssur in Denmark about popping in for a visit on the way to the ferry, this way we get to sample danish hospitality and break up the ride to the ferry

5th June: late start again, after fruhstuck we fitted the usb charging points to the bikes, a power switch to my gps, the cable fitted was direct to the battery, fit the seat cushions, and grip puppies. Later that day, we rode with Mucke to inspect an R1100RT, unfortunately the ABS was malfunctioning. So, no bike for Mucke, then a beer at Dümmersee. Was a lovely, all be it shallow, lake.

6th June: after fruhstuck we headed to Samhain MC and practiced picking up the bike if/when dropped. Both sides. Also a bit of slow riding around the field, tested hard breaking with ABS, without ABS and rear. We then finalised all the paperwork for the bikes. In the afternoon Scott & I headed out to pick up a part for my bike and did a bit of sightseeing, checked out the massive wind generators which stand all around this area.

Tomorrow, more of the same