Lost in Germany 2013 - perfect weather and perfect company

 

25 riders converged, in glorious weather, on the Hotel Berghof in Daun Gemunden for the first 'Lost' tour of 2013.  After the long, grim winter it was good to look forward to some decent motorcycling weather.

Paul Wood and Brian Giles had gathered a select band of men and they began their journey amongst the mayhem of a serious accident on the M25 the previous day.  The delays were so severe that they missed their crossing and the rest of the day's timings  were all messed up.  They arrived at the Hotel Avalon, in Wavre (just south of Brussels) safely and broke their journey for the night.  The hotel had been picked from the internet and they were very pleased with their choice. 

For most of us, the journey was done in one hit on the Friday and the traffic and the weather conspired to make it a good journey down.  I arrived, with the Webber brothers, at the end of the afternoon to find assorted participants variously unloading bikes or sipping drinks on the terrace.  The Hotel Berghof is family run and commands an elevated position overlooking the village and surrounding countryside.  Being early May, the countryside was looking splendidly green.

Our evening meal was at seven and it was quite a wrench to leave the sunshine of the terrace to go inside to eat.  The food was superb and plentiful.  We had made our individual choices but there was such an

abundance that we had the opportunity to try most of the meals that other people had chosen too.

We sat at the table until late in the evening getting to know new friends and picking up where we had left off last year with old friends.  Hugh and I played cards.  I can't remember if I won that night but I think I might have done.

Breakfast on Saturday morning was the usual leisurely continental affair with beautiful rolls, meats, cheeses, fruit. bread, jams and so on.  The sun was shining and the sky was blue. 

We were on the road by just after 10am and, with route

sheet to guide us we headed towards Jammelshofen, close to the Nurburgring.  Here we visited the motorcycle museum of Frithjof Erpelding.  Some of us toured the museum and looked at all the racing machines, others sat in the sun enjoying coffee and cold drinks.  We arrived in dribs and drabs but everyone got there eventually.

From Jammelshofen we continued to the centre of Mayen.  Unfortunately the centre of town was a bit busy with a market and a car show but those that wanted to, squeezed in and found somewhere for lunch.  A short hop thereafter brought us to the beautiful, wooden village of Monreal.  It was pleasant to stroll through and look at the carved and decorated timber and stone

work of the houses.  The road bypasses round the back of the village so it is traffic free in the centre.  Many of the houses have plaques telling of their history through the centuries - if you can decipher the German.  From there it was a pleasant and straight-forward journey back to the hotel.  I stopped along the way to look at one of the many volcanic crater lakes of this Vulkan-Eifel region.  By the time I got back to the hotel the terrace was busy with drinkers soaking up some more sunshine.
The card game could not continue as Hugh was feeling unwell and retired early for the night.  My crushing victory would have to wait.

Sunday was another glorious, warm sunny day.  We headed in a northerly direction towards Blankenheim.  The country roads are almost deserted and, generally, well paved, which makes riding easy and enjoyable.  Chris Webber on his pre-war rigid frame Norton hopped about a bit on the bumpier roads.  At Densborn we made a long steady climb before turning into the forest for a mile to meet the Murlenbach road that descends again in a snake of twisting bends.  We took coffee at Birresborn, where a friendly young Dutchman reminded me that it was Liberation Day in his country.

We continued to Esch, where we stopped briefly at a German war cemetery.  It is neatly kept but there is no information about what took place.  The graves all bore dates in 1945.  The ages revealed that the soldiers

were either young boys of 18 or 19 or older men in their 40s.  Some of the names had a Polish ring to them.  We had visited last year and Tony Page had tried to research the situation.  It was a last ditch defence, by whatever manpower could be conscripted, as the allies began to move through at the conclusion of the war. 

From there we continued to the Cafe Maus, which occupies a position in a belt of woodland about 4 miles from Blankenheim.  Usually on a Sunday it is heaving with motorcycles but it was rather quiet on our visit - which meant that the service was swift.
The afternoon run completed the circle and I came across a small party taking a quiet drink outside a  

cafe and joined them before making our way back to the hotel.  Due to a directional inexactitude on the route sheet, we ended up on the motorway as the signs on the road did not concur with the directions on the route sheet.

As we came down to breakfast on Monday morning the sun was with us again and we enjoyed a beautiful run towards the Moselle.  We crossed the river at Cochem and took coffee looking back across to the town.  from there the route followed the river for miles crossing and re-crossing before we headed away to Bad Bertrich for our lunch stop.  This pretty little town sits in the bottom of a steep sided valley alongside a fast flowing stream.

 
At one point on the return journey a left turn was indicated on the route sheet but with no note of what the signpost should say.  Relying on the mileage indicated, we turned in the hope that we had the right road.  Fortunately it was correct and we were soon back at the hotel at the end of the first tour of the new season. 

When we are riding, it's all about the road and the countryside.  When we stop it's all about the people (and the cake) and this tour certainly had a good group of people.

The photos have been provided by Kees and Yvonne Pronk, Tony Page, Hugh Mackenzie and Dave Bradley to whom thanks are due. 

German war graves near Esch

 

Tony, Debbie and Bill.

 

Kees and Yvonne on the MZ
 

Lost in slumber..

 

Lost in thought 

 

 

 

 

Oh, I almost forgot !  I won the card game.