Dutch GS Club Treffen - A.K.A. Chinese Water Torture (Waiting for Tom)

[Steve]

What you mean they don't just cover their bikes with Touratech crap, loads of lights, radar detectors, satnavs,
deer whistles and fish finders then ride to a cafe at the seaside... weirdo's.

Seaside?

That's a bit extreme. Imagine how much time you'd have to spend cleaning after exposure to all that salt in the air....

 

[judge]

Seaside?

That's a bit extreme. Imagine how much time you'd have to spend cleaning after exposure to all that salt in the air....

You of all people aren't likely to know the answer to that one Steve

 

[Trippy]

Good points well made.

My observation has been proved to be utter rubbish by a much respected club elder.








... and also by Andy

 

[judge]

Good points well made.

My observation has been proved to be utter rubbish by a much respected club elder.








... and also by Andy

Just as well given you're headed for the seaside yourself in a matter of a fortnight

 

[(RIP) Proff]

Good report Mick.
I last did the Dutch BMW "do" in the 80's !!!
There's always one or two really tasty airheads at the Cloggy "do's"
I prefer them to actually be in Cloggyland tho'
Scenery ain't much better but the coastline is great round Oost Souberg and Domburg....
The food is strange at first, but as long as you keep away from the Frikandelleseek: you are not going to die


As a Founder member of the Dutch Mountineering club
[formed by Truckers on a late Saturday night, waiting to go into Germany on the Monday as no trucks were allowed on Sunday]
We used to hire a car go near to the Highest point around Venlo [usually] climb and conquer it
and after that 1 hour of strenuous exertion [ we DID climb over 400 feet once] retire to pub and grub .....................after returning the car.

Tom if you want to do a Lowland tour again I'll send you some waypoints of the nicest places with the finest Asian food you can get outside of Vietnam / Japan and also the finest frittes in the world...IMHO
All between Oostende, Sluice and Rotterdam

 

[BAKERMAN]

Good report Mick.
I last did the Dutch BMW "do" in the 80's !!!
There's always one or two really tasty airheads at the Cloggy "do's"
I prefer them to actually be in Cloggyland tho'
Scenery ain't much better but the coastline is great round Oost Souberg and Domburg....
The food is strange at first, but as long as you keep away from the Frikandelleseek: you are not going to die


As a Founder member of the Dutch Mountineering club
[formed by Truckers on a late Saturday night, waiting to go into Germany on the Monday as no trucks were allowed on Sunday]
We used to hire a car go near to the Highest point around Venlo [usually] climb and conquer it
and after that 1 hour of strenuous exertion [ we DID climb over 400 feet once] retire to pub and grub .....................after returning the car.

Tom if you want to do a Lowland tour again I'll send you some waypoints of the nicest places with the finest Asian food you can get outside of Vietnam / Japan and also the finest frittes in the world...IMHO
All between Oostende, Sluice and Rotterdam

Is there nothing you haven`t done better put this

 

[(RIP) Proff]

Is there nothing you haven`t done better put this

One day Steve I will show you my Photo albums
When I was diagnosed with Perthes disease I made up my mind to do whatever I wanted to whilst I could....
Thanks to advances in joint replacement and pain management I've managed a lot longer than I thought I would
Same Still goes tho', If I want to do it, I'll find a way to do it ....
March 25th 1970 I passed my HGV class 1

April 1970 I was "second" man taking a Cat D9 to Poland from Bowmaker plant Cannock.
Never stopped since, slowed down when I retired but never stopped

 

[(RIP) maverick]

One day Steve I will show you my Photo albums
When I was diagnosed with Perthes disease I made up my mind to do whatever I wanted to whilst I could....
Thanks to advances in joint replacement and pain management I've managed a lot longer than I thought I would
Same Still goes tho', If I want to do it, I'll find a way to do it ....
March 25th 1970 I passed my HGV class 1

April 1970 I was "second" man taking a Cat D9 to Poland from Bowmaker plant Cannock.
Never stopped since, slowed down when I retired but never stopped

October 1971 I was born....feck me you are old

Nice write up Andy and enjoyed it very much. Understand you latest status update better now Somehow I don't feel like I have missed anything by not going

 

[judge]

Nice write up Andy and enjoyed it very much. Understand you latest status update better now Somehow I don't feel like I have missed anything by not going

You missed my company surely

You might have got the jokes at least (and no I don't mean the road ride)

But I would have given your aul HP sauce a roosting round the Enduro circuit - Loz and the Gunner were looking like they could get a bit of a spin on and I'd have thrashed 'em both

And if I trashed it - well it wouldn't be the first time I've wrecked an HP2

 

[Trippy]

Just as well given you're headed for the seaside yourself in a matter of a fortnight

I prefer to say I'm riding to the Cape, it sounds further and more adventurous

 

[judge]

I prefer to say I'm riding to the Cape, it sounds further and more adventurous

I thought it was because you're banned from mentioning the words End and Land

 

[Trippy]

I thought it was because you're banned from mentioning the words End and Land

Yeah, if I do they pop up on his banned words filter and my posts disappear in the early hours

 

[Steve]

I thought it was because you're banned from mentioning the words End and Land

Yeah, if I do they pop up on his banned words filter and my posts disappear in the early hours

Just call it like it is - "Tiffs Farewell Do"

 

[JethroDog]

Equally I'd expect and hope others provide reports that will hopefully provide for a balanced perspective of the weekend.

Just a few observations from an outsider (the lone US Expat at the event):

1. the Netherlands is damp and flat...should not be a surprise to anyone
2. the Dutch like cheese and apparently so do the Belgians
3. the country roads were quite nice and a decent adventure was found (including a Canadian/Commonwealth WWII cemetary outside of Groesbeek, some remote gravel roads, and a very tasty twisty near Berg-en Dal)
4. the camping was rather luxurious based on what I'm used to (yes, I could have done without that Saturday morning fertilizing)
5. no fights - no late night revving- no late night drunken debauchery (if there was, you need to try harder).....nice to be with civilized riders
6. hosts were kind and polite, and new acquaintences were made
6a. I think that we can all agree that Dutch beer is nasty

 

[Steve the Kiwi]

and arrive at the entrance to a very nicely presented entrance to a 5 star campsite... scrawled underneath on the side of a cardboard box was Dutch GS Treffen use next entrance, the entrance was a break in the trees about 100 metres on, Tom was out front and confronted with the Dutch GS clubs idea of the perfect entrance on to their 'treffen' very similar in fact to the Belgian's entrance in to the Hamme treffen some years back.
Dense trees, ruts, sand, mud stood between us and the camping ground fine for the dyed-in-the-wool off-roady types, less idea for tarmac lovers with heavily laden and ever so slightly tall for them 12ADV's - but thank feck it had been dry or I doubt I'd have keep my bike or sense of humour in tact.

I too attended on the Saturday ( road south 20km from home)
Judge is correct in his observations...
1st Point The Hardcore entrance.... It was very difficult to grt in the gate so much so that Rabbitson (of Bestbiking.com) deciding to pop in for a drink on his new Duc. and came through that said trechourous path. (past someone weeping on their hardcore GS..
I had heard Ducati was bringing out a challanger to the GS...

And this lightly laden ballerina made it through..

The dutch.....

Judges observations about the local roads are to be fair spot on; Dutch roads on the whole are boring, straight, and with stupidly low speed restrictions ( and a lot of cameras) That is the exact reason I and most riders head straight down to the Effiel and Ardennes most weekends. I went on the Ofroad ride with migsel on his tricked out Airhead and me on the 1100GS. It was brillant, though the first offroad section was a bit disconcerting with 8-12 inches of sand.

A few piccies from the offroad ride;

MigSel getting through some slippy ruts;

Me rarking up a Dutch mountain

Getting a bit of compression on the std springs;

The 1100 suitably filthy

An offroad 1100 with a bit of rhinoplastry that caught my eye;

I'll have to come across and see how you're meets are done!

 

[Deleted Member I]

I too attended on the Saturday ( road south 20km from home)
Judge is correct in his observations...
1st Point The Hardcore entrance.... It was very difficult to grt in the gate so much so that Rabbitson (of Bestbiking.com) deciding to pop in for a drink on his new Duc. and came through that said trechourous path. (past someone weeping on their hardcore GS..
I had heard Ducati was bringing out a challanger to the GS...

BUSTED

 

[judge]

Low seat height, no luggage and David is a riding God - now lets see the pics of that chasing the Gunner and Loz up the enduro circuit

Looking at the maps now a bit of foresight might have got me to shift my arse away to these regions for a ride or do a Cogs and get on the piss or the crazy golf and cycles for the day

 

[Cogs]

...or do a Cogs and get on the piss or the crazy golf and cycles for the day

After riding there on the Thursday/Friday, we like a day off. We went for a walk through the woods to Bladel, and yes, bought lots of BEER

As for the rally as a whole, this was our seventh or eighth Dutch/Belgian Easter Rally in a row and although, in some minor respects, it wasn't the best, it was certainly one of the better ones (the weather for a start was a bonus).

We are accustomed to the 'european' fodder provided at these events and appreciate it as a cultural opportunity, not a challenge.

I do have one criticism though, and it's not so much with the orgainsation as with the execution...

On the Sunday we all found our way over to the Eurocircuit at Valkenswaard where the Dutcht GSers had laid on an impressive array of track and offroad training oportunities. I watched the offroad slot before mine and was really looking forward to it...


At the appointed time I made my way to the RDV point on my Tourance shod, mirror denuded 1100 to find I'm the only road-tyred oilhead in attendance. All the rest are HP2s and airheads sporting aggressive off road rubber. Now, I'd like to make it clear at this point that this was posted as 'Off road basic' and that was what I'd just witnessed; similar to day one on the Abercraf course.

It soon turned out that the assembled 'novices' were anything but! Including one Mr P. Gunn from Ireland...

The tutor played to the vast majority and, after three hair raising laps of the short circuit (of which I completed only one) at crazy, MX velocities, he announced we would migrate to the full-on enduro track

That was me out then, closely followed by two airheads also caught out by this perverted democracy. Ah well, at least I had the sense to admit inferiority and leave the field before causing major damage to myself or our bike...

One minor downside to a great weekend and we're both looking forward to the Belgian rally next Easter, already

On Monday we ambled up to Amsterdam for a drop of nostalgia, visiting Cafe Rusland, a sticker from which still adorns my Zegas from a visit some 19 years ago. The sticker's not been available for some 10 years we were told. So sorry, Romeo...

Amsterdam to Leicester (231 miles) on a single tankful. Can't be bad

CoGS & Lisa