Day 2: Tue 15th June 2010
Ride: Bewdley to Adenau - 531 miles
At last 15 June dawned and it was time to start the BBOT 2010 Tour. Technically it had already started as Pete and Bob had left the previous evening to get to Calais that night. They didn’t fancy 500 miles in the single day if we were to ride the Nurburgring on our arrival – Health and Safety and all that!. At least that is what they said – the others suspected that it was just that they could have their usual leisurely breakfast, leisurely lunch and leisurely evening meal with a few other leisurely breaks thrown in for good measure. Time would tell, and it wouldn’t take long!
Anyway at 5.55am precisely Cat, Gaz, Kyle and Phil left Bewdley to catch the 9.50am Channel Tunnel crossing.
Traffic on the M42 and M40 was OK and they stopped as scheduled at Beaconsfield services to refuel. Cat was carrying his emergency 5 litre can but would still have had to stop before the Chunnel so we were planning on stops every 100 miles or so through the day.
Traffic was predictable heavy on the M25 as it was rush hour and so filtering was the order of the day. Even so by the time the traffic cleared we were a bit marginal on time to meet the 30 minute cut off for the crossing. Still Phil had driven this road many times and so, with the aid of his GPS, was able to judge what speed was required to get us their on time. Net result we checked in at 9.15am with 5 minutes to spare.
Not bothering with the reception area we rode straight through French passport control to the holding area where we had a coffee and waited to be called on board.
Cat, Kyle and Gaz waiting for the train
As usual the bikes were left till last but eventually we were told to board the train. 35 minutes later we emerged in France and refuelled for the second time.
Phil explains to Gaz that flash photography isn't allowed on the train
Leaving the Chunnel we headed for Dunkirk and then South East to Lille and then East to Mons where the third refuelling stop of the day occurred. Staying on the E42/E40 we headed East bypassing Liege towards the turn off to Eupen. At Eupen we would take the N67 to Monschau where we would pick up the B258 which would take us pretty much all the way to Adenau where we were booked in at the Hotel Blaue Ecke.
A few miles before the Eupen exit Gaz decided that he would fall asleep if he cruised any longer at 80-85 mph so went for one of his high speed runs. Blitzing past Phil, who was leading, he was quickly followed by an equally bored Kyle. Unfortunately they didn’t slow down for the junction and missed it, which left Phil and Cat on their own.
Phil and Cat exited the motorway and immediately saw a petrol station where they decided to do the final refuel of the day – Adenau was only about 60 miles away – and have a cup of coffee.
Having a coffee and a smoke they were speculating whether Pete and Bob were already at Adenau when Pete and Bob cruised past – a leisurely breakfast had indeed been followed by a leisurely lunch. Cat and Phil got back on their bikes and after 15 minutes or so caught up with them at the side of the B258 just after Monschau.
The B258 is a lovely biking road running from Monschau to Nurburg. The section from Blankenheim to Nurburg is particularly good.
Here is a series of photos of the B258. These were in fact taken by Phil a few weeks after the tour on his way to Switzerland – hence why the bike is his K1200S and not his S1000 RR.
[Photo(s)]
Setting off as a new group of four and leaving Gaz and Kyle to their own devices we followed the B258 through Schleiden towards Blankenheim. This is where SatNav was both helpful and unhelpful. Arriving at a T junction Phil’s SatNav said go left – unfortunately there was a No Left Turn sign so we turned right. Pete’s SatNav said do a U Turn but Phil’s had done a quick recalculate and so take the next left, the next right and then the next left. Getting momentarily lost from the others before the final left he saw a sign which he ignored.
[Photo(s)]
A mile later he knew roughly what it had said, which was along the lines of “Road Blocked”, when he came across a mound of earth covering the single track road. The road had been closed because on one side it was collapsing into the valley below but it was safe enough for a bike. He could see a track had been worn around the mound to the right which would let the S1000 through. Having got past the mound he reckoned he had cracked it but a mile further on there was another mound. Again there was a track round it, this time to the left. Having negotiated that mound Phil thought he was definitely in the clear but had not reckoned with the thoroughness of the German people. Arriving at the B258 his route was again blocked, this time with a metal barrier lowered across the road and locked. However they hadn’t been thorough enough and Phil was able to squeeze through between the barrier and a large rock.
Phil went back to take a photo of the mound but in the meantime it had been replaced with an impassable barrier.
[Photo(s)]
The others meanwhile had seen the sign and decided – very sensibly – that it would not be a good idea to follow Phil, and rejoined the B258 further down the valley until just past Musch everyone took a left turn onto the L10 through Honerath to Adenau.
Adenau, near the Nurburgring
Hotel Blaue Ecke, Adenau
Gaz and Kyle had also made their way onto the B258 by taking the next exit off the Motorway so everyone arrived safely at the Hotel Blaue Ecke in Adenau, where Michaela the charming English speaking receptionist welcomed us and told us that the ‘Ring, despite having been advertised as open that evening, was in fact closed.
After checking in Phil checked the weather in Chamonix over the internet and found out that it was crap and likely to remain so at least for another day. The decision was therefore taken to check the weather again the morning and if it was still bad in Chamonix to stay on in Adenau an extra night so that we could ride the ‘Ring the next evening. This lead to the inevitable conclusion that since we could then have a late start we might as well get stuck into the beer. After a fair few hunger took over and lead us to the local pizzeria whose slogan must have been “Never knowingly underfed” such were the size of the portions.
[Photo(s)]
This didn’t deter Bob who seemed to be making a bid to qualify for one of those American eating competitions. After another few beers back at the Hotel it was off to bed and the end of the first day.
Ride: Calais to Adenau - 311 miles
