Hi, thanks for sharing your thoughts and trips with everybody. Now it's my turn, first rr, though i have been posting about my backpacking travels on a different site. Me and my long-time mate/coworker/friend have been riding together for some six years. She's always had her red '96 VFR an i have been running through different BMW's (F650-R1150GS-K1200GT-F800ST-R1200GS). we used to ride with a larger group, mostly in Luxembourg/Germany, but the group dynamics have changed and for the past two years we've decided to stick with the two of us. We'll leave next thursday from her place in Utrecht, after stuffing her luggage into my vario cases. Weather forecast is gruesome... We've rentend an appt. in Bocksberg in the middle of the Harz "naturpark", plenty of space and we can cook for ourselves (one fries/bratwurst dinner a year is enough). Being Dutch we don't have any mountains, so that's usually our main goal. I've made some tracks in Basecamp circling the Harz region and heading out to Kyffhauser and Brocken mountains. This is us, on a ride-out for human-trafficking victims 2012 : Route for friday, pm for gpx : Bye, Ser & Ser
It's been a week since the ride, time to write it down. Thursday saw a bit of a delay, during the service on wednesday the VFR showed some concern. The left caliber mount was cracked and needed to be replaced. Quickly sourcing a replacement at Eur 180,- and a new rear tire, we were good to go! The delay forced us to head for the "Autobahn", the Zumo shows the GS's max speed of 207 km/h. I wonder what it would do without fully-expanded and fully-loaded vario panniers. The VFR's streamlined design, makes it more than capable of keeping up with the loaded GS. We arrived at the appt. five minutes before the rain began to fall. Nice timing, time for beer! We headed into the derelict town for some home made shroom-soup, gyros and "Hefeweizener". The town of Hahneklee is mostly deserted, in peak-season it's filled with nature-lovers and hikers. Now there's a couple of elderly men smoking pipes in shorts and us. Hahnenklee town hall : All pics were taken with our phone's, when my mate sends them in, i'll post better (and more!) images taken with a decent camera.
Day two, friday. After brewing some coffee and picking up some treats at the local bakery, we're off. Primary goal, besides avoiding the rain, is the Kyffhauser pass with it's 36 glorious curves. The Kyffhauser really hit the spot. It only rises to 474 meters, but the road twisting up toward the "Denkmal" is pure magic. Sharp, inclined curves twisting around rock and trees, there's hardly any straight road. Being so enthusiastic, we skipped picture-moments for another couple of runs. Trying to keep up with (and succeeding with oomph to spare) some local riders on super bikes, the GS shines! Borrowed pic : The rest of the day we continue twisting through the Harz mountains, enjoying the roads and scenery. The driving is different from the German regions we visited before. No signs telling us "Rasern verboten", but warnings for going wide in corners and loads of signs indicating curves up ahead. Coffee break, courtesy of my father in law's ancient MSR-burner : Serra was rather surprised, when my topcase not only produced the burner and espresso brewer, but some nice apfelstrudel too.
Day three, saturday. Last nights crispy-duck from the only Chinese restaurant in town still lingers. Or was it the beer... Local breweries provided some excellent nourishment. We have our first coffee still lying in bed, light breakfast and another peek through the curtains. It's pouring, so we get another hour of shuteye, more coffee and we finally saddle up. The geography allows us do simply ride around a mountain to avoid the rain, inspite of the planned route, we choose to ride in the dry. We resort to the motor-map software an do 300 km of winding, twisting roads through the lush forests. Lunch consists of pancakes,waffles, ice-cream and warm cherries, good stuff!
Day four, last day, heading home. We take the morning to do some more scenic touring. 200 km's towards the German/Dutch border takes us four hours. Then the rain falls again, we hunker down, head out onto the Autobahn and hammer on. We pass through some serious storms, more throttle, another espresso and we make it home without cold water seeping in.
