Twisties - you want Twisties?

The SAM trip to France/Belgium this year brought a whole new meaning to cornering...

Having caught an early Chunnel train on Friday morning, we arrived in Calais and the 15 bikes and 18 bodies split into separate groups to make the 220 mile journey to our hotel in Bouillon in southern Belgium. Well, we mislaid a few individuals along the way but, miraculously, recovered all but 2 and the majority met up en route to reconfigure and take on sustenance.

The roads were good, the French motorists very accommodating to motorcyclists, as usual, so we made excellent progress. Until..... just 30 miles from the hotel and on a fast sweeping left-hander, rising to a blind crest, one of our party ended up doing a bit of unintentional offroading on his R1. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he hadn’t found the one boulder in the field which catapulted him and his luggage into the long grass (and nettles) before depositing the bike some 30 metres further on in the ditch. Some rather unsavoury language ensued (from the rider, about the rider) before the recovery was organised. The bike may have been written off but thankfully the rider only sustained nettle rash, grazing and bruising. We weren’t about to let this spoil the holiday so the R1 rider was quickly converted to a Harley rider (no, it’s true - honest!) and we continued on our way.

 The Hotel de la Poste was magnificent, and in the most beautiful setting, which also happened to be a mecca for motorcycles. If you haven’t yet visited Bouillon, put it on your “must do” list.

The “Scenic Tour” organised for Saturday turned out to be a real eye opener - not for the scenes so much as for the zig-zags, hairpins and adverse cambers encountered whilst climbing and descending through pine forests. We knew there would be twisties involved but the route proved to be not only interesting but “quite challenging”. “Bends” took on a whole new meaning and whilst some positively sailed around them, others did comment that it made their heads hurt with the concentration involved. There were times when I truly believed that we might disappear up our own exhaust pipes. No time to take in any scenery until we stopped at a very impressive viewpoint at Rochehaut. A good time had by all - some enjoyed it so much that they went back and did it again!

Sunday’s ride was to Vianden in Luxembourg (Ardennes country) with a choice of fast pace or slow to medium paced bimble. I’m glad I was on the slower of the two. On mainly A and B Class roads, and even a section on motorway, thanks to the lovely Mrs Garmin we still ended up doing some zig-zags and shady lanes. Again, there were those who insisted upon doing them twice, and others who were just grateful to arrive at their destination.

A trip on the only chair-lift in Luxembourg for some to take in the magnificent views past the spectacular Vianden castle and on into Germany. As it was so close, we made a sortie across the border to hug the wind-turbines swooshing majestically out in the open fields. There was a suggestion that the former R1 rider might re-enact the Steve McQueen motorcycle scene from The Great Escape using the Harley but we needed a bike to make the return journey to Blighty so this was vetoed. We had now visited 4 countries in one day - not bad, eh! Back to the hotel for refreshment and tales of where we’d been and what we’d seen.

We all made it safely back to Engerland on Monday - a long very hot ride back to Calais, via the Somme for some, with our bikes covered in the remains of some interesting insect life collected along the way - big cleaning job awaiting all those nice BMWs with their huge fairings....

Sincere thanks go to Mark and Jackie for their fantastic organisation and patience - another wonderful weekend, enjoyed by all. Any chance you could arrange for the weather to be just a little cooler next time?