A journey to Germany and a divorce from BMW imminent
The trip to the Elefanttreffen was another thing off my must do list and coincidentally also finished my relationship with BMW (broken motorcycles worldwide) We set out on Saturday 23rd January and had an uneventful run to the ferry at DFDS Newcastle. Great to see a former work colleague at the services just off the A1, Pete is now a motorcyclist and had come along to see us. We then headed to the ferry and basically straight through and on the boat nice and early. I noticed a couple of buses despatching the “mini cruise” passengers and decided to upgrade to Commodore class, expensive but worth every penny. These mini cruises are used as booze cruises and this is why generally in the Summer I avoid Saturday or Friday night sailings, not that I’m against drink (as most of you will know) but can’t be bothered with the boorish behaviour that comes with an overindulgence of alcohol amongst those who haven’t learned to hold their liquor.
Off the ferry an hour late due to heavy seas into a very grey Ijmuiden, normal really, even in the Summer. The outfit grounded as I got off the boat and realisation dawned that its too low for real adventure stuff or even getting of a boat really.

Through Holland on a Sunday is the best way to go, no trucks on the road and we quickly entered Germany, going down the 45 towards Kaichen just North of Frankfurt. We had all weather except sunshine, grey, cold, rain, sleet and snow but bizarrely it was an enjoyable run. The big issue was that with a fully loaded sidecar with two of us and riding at 70-80mph we were only getting just under 30MPG, this meant a careful eye was needed for fuel stops. I always struggle in Germany to find signs advising you where the fuel stations are. A late lunch stop saw us see snow for the first time, this is what we prepared for and came for, I managed to choke on my spag bolog and throw up which wasn’t part of the plan, apologies to my fellow diners. We turned off the motorway to find fuel got back on the motorway then found a service station about 5 miles further down the road, typical.
We arrived at Tomas and Andrea’s house to the usual welcome and the usual nonsense ensued, I was 1.7 Litres of whisky poorer in the morning and was missing a few more brain cells which I must add I can ill afford. This meant a later start than envisaged then a 170 mile ride to the very pretty town of Bamberg, well worth a visit, full of authentic drinking and eating places, as you might imagine food was more of a priority than drink that evening. A ride through the town in the morning was pleasant and revealed some pretty buildings we’d missed the night before. We decided to head to a village quite close to the rally for a final night of luxury before entering the lions den. Near some services near Regensburg we met some German guys heading to the rally, our first sighting of fellow loonies, then Clayton and Jill arrived on a GS12 with a Ural chair, loaded to the gunnels with camping gear and even a stove, we were to find this sin’t unusual. I can recommend the Hotel Gasthof Kammbrau in Zenting which is only about 5 miles from the meeting. There was deep snow but the roads were cleared as you might expect, we stocked up on essential provisions in Zenting (mainly whisky) and headed to the rally.


Leaving Scotland (again)

Food and sick stop, note the weather!

Andrea manning Tomas's personal bar

Tomas in full flow with his Scottish fiver

Bamberg

Fellow Elefant goers

At the digs in Zenting

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