The Final Leg – Budapest to the KTM Factory & the Nurbergring
Friday 1st May
After a good breakfast we collected the bikes from the high tech underground car park, once I had worked out how to get in; I’m sorry to say that at my age bloody key codes and automatic lighting is just too much for my brain first thing in the morning; I need more caffeine before I can attempt any Krypton factors.
We found the right motorway out of Budapest, the M1 and pulled into the first service to fuel up and purchase our “Vignettes†to use their motorways. Now that was fun! It took Luke an hour of sign language and pigeon English to get relieved of 1,530 florins in exchange for two paper receipts.
Still the motorways were good quality, the sun was shining and in no time at all we arrived at the services close to the Austrian border. This time Austrian efficiency ruled 15 litres of fuel, a Twix and “Vignette†in 60 seconds and you got a sticker thrown in as well, Cool!
There is now no formal border between Hungary and Austria but you just know that you are in a different country, the scenery, houses and the smells all seem to change. We pulled into a lay-by for a pee and a smoke and to set the SatNav up to find the Holy Grail.. The KTM Factory!
I only have Western Europe loaded on my SatNav, so since Italy we had been navigating the old fashioned way.. Maps; call me a Dinosaur but I like maps, they create a real visual picture of the country for me. If it wasn’t for that fact that I need to put on reading glasses to see the road numbers and towns now, I wouldn’t bother with a SatNav.
After leaving the motorway we found some fantastic winding roads down to the Factory at Mattighofen. Shame it was a National Holiday in Austria and the factory was shut but at least I had kept my promise to the bike and taken her back to her birthplace!.
Later that day we found a great campsite “Panorama Camping†in Obernberg, 11 Euros each which had large pitches, free showers, ant nests and friendly rotund German Caravaners.
After dining on a carefully nutritionally balanced diet of a “boil in the bag†meat balls & pasta, Shortbread biscuits and a Mars Bar, we sat and watched the storm building in the sky.
We retired to the tents just as the first golf ball sized hail stone hit the ground, call me weird but I love lying in a tent listening to the rain or in this case hail stones; same principle, just louder. I suppose it is the self sufficiency of it all that appeals to me and I usually have a great night sleep when camping….
Not this night though, bloody freezing and couldn’t be arsed to get out of the sleeping bag to find my woolie hat and just as I was starting to doze off, Luke’s bike alarm decided to go ballistic and I needed a pee! Got up in the morning looking like an extra from Thriller but at least the sun was shining and after a breakfast of tea, Shortbread and flat coke cola, life was good again.
Saturday 2nd May
We waited still the sun had dried out the morning dew on the tents, loaded the bike and headed for Nurberg… Now I know they say that you should not always believe what the SatNav says but! It said we were six hours away but the map & road signs said 200km and that’s how we came to spending two hours riding round Nurnberg asking bemused Germans where the race track was…One said we were on it, after I asked for directions to the “Ring†turned out to be the ring road and Hans in the Burger King directed us to the local Athletics track! Finally I switched the SaNav back on and discovered that we were 236 miles away.. “Oh deep joy!â€
So after a mad blat down the motorway, we finally arrived at the Nurburgring at 6pm and booked into a small hotel five minutes away from the entrance. Luke was so relived to finally be there that he even paid for the room!. We parked the bikes next to several thousand pounds worth of Ferrari’s, Porsches and BMW's I hadn’t even finished my ciggie before Luke had stripped his bike of its entire luggage ready for the track.
Sunday 3rd May
For the first time in 10 days, Luke was up before me, dressed, breakfast, fuelled up and at the ticket office by 8 am!
I took my time and wandered down to the start area, got a coffee and watched all the “Petrol Heads†arrive. I reckon that there was enough money parked in the main car park to clear off all of the third world debt. Luke pulled up next to me with one of the biggest grins on his face. He had already done two laps and was hooked.
We were then ushered into the bike parking area by “Her Goring†in a Florescent Marshalls jacket and met a couple of English characters from Oxford, Frazer and James who had come across for the weekend. Their stories of the previous nights camp site antics with a mad wild haired German and a “Rossi†Italian had us in fits.
Now I had already bought myself a “Nurburgring†sticker and had no intention of taking a fully loaded KTM Adventure around the track with all these nutters but Luke, James and Frazer conspired against me & the next thing I know, I have a ticket and I’m on the track!
Whoa! Where did that Ferrari come from?, Oh my god is that Porsche really coming sideways passed me? ******, was that Luke that just took me on the bend?
Well I survived and thanks to my son I can say I have been round the Nurburgring. Luke did a total of eight laps, wore down not only his knee sliders but the Velcro and part of the leather. His laps got faster and his grin got wider. To quote a great writer and Journalist, Dan Walsh..
“These are the days that must happen to youâ€
At 3pm we picked up Luke’s luggage, set the SatNav for Dunkerque and hit the motorway. By 8.30pm we were at the port waiting for the Ferry back to Dover. As I sat waiting for the ferry to load us, I turned to Luke high fived and shook his hand and thanked him for a great trip.
I feel incredibly privileged that I had had the opportunity to do this trip with my son and that I now have so many great memories and images inside my head. Memories that will stay with me for ever, friendships that will last a lifetime and the conviction that the only way to travel is on a motorcycle.
Thanks for listening; now get out there and ride!
. 
