I had been warned about the noise limits so stuck my standard can on before leaving home. Journey there was fairly uneventful although due to some heavy traffic on the M4 and 6 miles of filtering we missed our chunnel booking and had to get the next one. Travelled on down to Germany and arrived very tired at about 21:30. After booking in and a quick shower we went into Breidscheid and found a place still serving food and BEER! Very nice it was too. Then off to bed.

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Saturday morning was wonderfully sunny and we awoke to the sound of cars being schooled on the section of track where we were staying. After breakfast we headed down to Cochem in the Mosul valley, via some fantastic German roads (their roads are absolute quality, really put ours to shame) and had lunch. Our group consisted of 9 bikers with two pillions and 4 of us decided to get in a single lap of the ring when it opened to the public late saturday afternoon. Everyone else was waiting for sunday. When we got there it was absolutely jammed and we sat in the cafe watching the proceedings for an hour before deciding it wasn't going to quieten down. We bought our tickets and queued up at the barrier ...wow, what a feeling....waiting for your turn to go out onto the track. We'd said we were going to take it easy but as soon as the barrier was raised and you get through the filter lane you go bananas...just can't help yourself. I had some pretty nasty rear wheel slides while the tyres warmed up but then it was fine.

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Can't really describe the feeling, you're going as fast as you think you can safely go on a track you've never been on, whilst keeping an eye on your mirrors for all the Porsches, Golf GTI's, Ferraris and god knows what else is catching you up. The cars are so much quicker than the bikes so its really hard to stay with them and also many are local so know the track very well. We all came in from our single lap grinning and shaking from the adrenalin.

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Sunday was back to the ring at about 11ish, bought a 4 lap ticket and straight out. Pretty similar to saturdays lap, not going too mad and just watching out for everyone else. Pull into the car park after the lap and you all talk about it. After a drink and some contemplation its back out for 2 more laps in quick succession...getting faster now, starting to think I know a few of the corners and generally getting most of them right. lap 1 down, straight through the start/finish straight and immediately back out for lap 2. Getting into the zone now, not thinking so much about whats behind me, more about whats coming up ahead. Definately getting quicker as i'm starting to overtake other bikes and a few cars too (and even a coach at one point...yes, a bloody coach on the track full of gawping tourists ). 

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Then it happens....I misjudged the Adenau Forst curve, totally wrong entry speed and couldn't get the bike over far enough to avoid running into the curb! When I realise whats coming I sit the bike upright, bump up over the curb, go across the bend and bump back down on the other side...thankfully with no damage to me or the bike other than my pride. I carry on with my lap but i'm pretty badly shaken now and pull into the car park a bit upset with myself. I decide not to go out for the final lap on my ticket as i'm just pushing too hard on a circuit that I really don't know....caution prevails! The weirdest thing is that one of my mates pulls in next, gets off his bike shaking and says "Thats me for the day, I just went straight across Adenau Forst!". Now this is going to sound unbelievable but the third guy who was out on track with us, although we weren't riding together, also then comes into the car park and says "I just straightlined Adenau Forst". All three of us did exactly the same thing on exactly the same lap, on the 3rd lap of our 4 lap tickets and we all decided enough was enough. How crazy is that? Thats not to say we didn't have a fantastic time and plans are already afoot to return next year but its a sobering experience when you make a mistake and get away with it.  One mistake in over 50 miles of balls-out riding and self preservation kicks in.

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After leaving the track on Sunday afternoon we headed back up to the Bikers Loft in Belgium, which is a brilliant place. Its like a giant warehouse bikers hostel, you park your bikes inside and get rooms to kip in. Its got a bar and a self service BBQ, its cheap and has a great atmosphere. Excellent place to stop just outside Oostend. Monday was say goodbye to everyone and all head home. Left the Bikers Loft at about 10am and arrived home at 6pm.

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All in all a totally fantastic experience and one I would recommend to everyone...just remember, the Nurburgring WILL bite you if you let it.

Click HERE to view pictures or click on the Nurbergring tab on the right.

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