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The decision was made on the journey from Hereford to
Andover, Penny (Emma’s sister) wanted to come to
the ring with Gary, Emma and Charley. Ok so the 8am start
was out the window. A detour to North London was required
to pick up Penny’s passport and clothes.
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4.30 am the alarm went off and everyone was up and ready
for the off. 5am the first part of the journey started,
up to Tufnell Park to get Penny’s gear and passport.
From there it was time for the trip across London and
down to Dover. Luckily the gods were with them and the
trip went to plan. The speed ferries crossing was on time
and after a good run they arrived at Bren’s for
6pm.
The beer was already flowing, the honesty system working
well. Gary managed to put every one of his drinks onto
Ross’s bill, something he was proud of.
11.30pm, fatigue set in and they called it a day.
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After a welcome English breakfast Gary, Euan and Grant
made their way to Zakspeed to meet Steve and Deborah.
After being dressed in some stupid looking clothes they
were ready for the off on the quad bikes. A quick run
round the car park for practice and it was off onto the
main road towards RR ready to ‘’lets off road’’.
There was no snow on the ring so driving on the track
was out of the question. After a couple of Ks and a couple
of very hairy moments Deborah decided that quad biking
wasn’t for her and spent the rest of the lap on
the back of one of the instructor’s bikes. To say
the quads were hairy would be the understatement of the
year. Icy tracks, sheet ice roads and sheer drops made
for some serious fun and brown trouser moments. Around
2 ½ hours later the guys and gals returned to Zakspeed,
all deposits were returned, so no bad incidents had occurred.
Gary suggested they probably travelled around 30-40kms.
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Then
it was time to hand the bikes over to the seasoned pros.
Ross, Bren, Dale, Charley, Suz, Dave and Grant AGAIN.
Within a few minutes Ross had been off track, into a tree
and virtually down a ravine. Bren laughing like a drain
had his moment a few minutes later. Quads don’t
go round corners simply by leaning, you have to turn the
handlebars too. The pace slowed slightly after those two
incidents.
Gary and the others nipped to Adenau
for some food, and then round to Karl’s to deliver
the shopping and a quick beer. The plan was that they
would go for a walk on the track then. However weather
conditions determined otherwise. The outside was very
icy and making headway too dangerous with little Charley
along. So it was back to Sliders for a beer and video
evening, with a meal at a local restaurant in the middle.
Gary called it a night at around 11.30pm |
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G + E + P + C were up and out for around 10am after a
hearty sliders breakfast. Cochem was the destination of
their choice. On the journey the outside temperature gauge
on the Mondeo began dropping and half way through the
drive the roads had turned to sheet ice and the trees
laden with ice. A very pretty picture indeed.
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As
usual Cochem didn’t disappoint. Penny was in high
sprits having tried an extra strong brandy coffee. The
guys took the time to visit the castle for the first time.
They should really have taken the tour but time was against
them so they moved on. They decided to drive a little
further down the Mosel and look for a nice place to lunch.
Penny chose the fitness salad, it sounded interesting.
It was interesting alright, it was a bowl lettuce, walnuts,
banana, apple, kiwi fruit and some kind of dressing. Very
odd. |
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An
apt place name was seen |
How cute,
(Charley, not Gary!) |
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Time
was again against them as Gary had a pub to get to under
Karl’s strict orders, now there was a surprise.
3.45pm and Gary and Karl were sampling the delights of
Karls local. A stranger pub you could not encounter, Karl
fits in very well. The land lady appeared to be drunker
than the punters, giving away schnapps and beer at the
drop of a hat. Gary was starting to enjoy himself |
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The
next guy spent ten minutes explaining to Gary how he was
in a prisoner of war camp in Stalingrad for 6 years. Ten
minutes later he changed his mind and said he was only
9 years old at the time.
Gary and Karl left the pub a little worse for wear and
headed back to Karls for something to eat. Gary wondered
what was on the menu, but he needn’t have bothered
worrying, it was Karl’s legendary and possibly ONLY
meal |
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Bren was keen for everyone to bugger off out for the day
so he could prepare for the nights activities. A trip
to Altenahr and down the local wine growing region was
decided upon. The first stop at Altenahr revealed an interesting
menu
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great table decoration, which would be tried later in the
day |
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From
Altenahr they took a trip down the wine growing valley
with a couple of stops for a glass of vino. That’s
where the text from Karl arrived saying the track was
open. Gary was keen to get back but the girls were enjoying
themselves and Gary was out numbered. Gary called the
office to see how long the track was open for and the
reply was 1pm. The time was already 12.45pm so driving
on the last day of the year was out of the window (Dale
later confirmed that he got the final lap of 2006 in the
Carlton with Charlie). Back to Adenau everyone was hungry,
the Chinese was open so in they went. The owner immediately
recognised Gary and starting asking if he wanted a level
10 dish. Anyone who has been in there with Gary will know
what this means.
After the meal it was up to Brunchen for a walk on the
track. They got as far as Karousel before they got tired
and decided to back track. Time was also marching on and
they got back to sliders around 4.30pm.
The evening started around 6pm, all lap tops were turned
off. |
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By
7pm which was when the NYE fun began. The drinking started
slowly and was building up when in walked Karl, Claire
and the kids (who weren’t supposed to be coming).
Karl obviously thought it was a fancy dress party |
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A shout from Bren told everyone it
was time to start the party games, beginning with a Nordschleife
based drinking one. |
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At the end of the game everyone had consumed around half
a dozen shots of the cheapest engine cleaner known to man.
Time then went by in a blur with drink and more food than
you could shake a stick at |
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Just
before midnight the fireworks were being made ready. Gary
knew this was the case as Ross was being manhandled in
the other direction and Daisy was made to keep guard over
him
Mid-night came and went and the fireworks began, to say
Bren had bought a lot would be an understatement. Bren
/ Suz / Dale and Kamakaze Charlie were letting them off
constantly for the next half hour and still there were
loads left. As 1am approached the second load of fireworks
were ignited to bring in the UK New Year |
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This about the time Euan decided the dance floor was too
empty and decided to audition for Pam’s people It
did .the trick though and others followed suit. |
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Euan
decided that he would show off his break dancing prowess,
no pictures of this though, neither is there one of suz
flashing her top half. Sorry guys
More drinking games were played, this time in the form
of shot roulette. Someone had to drink one with a shot
of nasty schnapps + horse radish
By 2.30am Gary, Emma and Charley had just about had it
and slopped off. Penny did likewise at 4pm, Euan was still
going strong at 6am and Bren was still up at 8am when
Wes and Lynne left for their journey back to the states |
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Gary was up and around at 10.30am. The dreaded hangover
was nowhere to be seen so he decided to drive to the track
and see if there was a chance of it being open. All the
way the roads were fine but wet, until he got to Nurburg
and then the dreaded ice could be seen in abundance. The
gates at the ring were however open. One other car was
in attendance a British Audi A3. Gary waited for a while
and the ticket office opened, a good sign. He went and
bought his JK and by the time that was done the track
was open.
Gary got 5 laps in with the 205, he only saw one other
car on track through all those laps. Next time keep an
eye in your mirrors A3 man
After a spot of breaky Gary took Penny out for her first
lap of the ring in the Mondeo. That was to be her last
lap as she felt so ill after the lap they had to call
it a day. One memorable point was the rain being so hard
and the wind so strong that the windscreen wipers would
not move on the run up to SX in the 205. A hairy moment
indeed.
Back at Sliders there was just enough time to spruce up
and have an hours rest before they were off again to Adenau
for a NYD meal.
6.30pm Gary and Emma took Penny
to the airport so she could catch her flight home, then
back to Brens for the last couple of beers of the trip
and chance to sit and relax. |
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An early start at 7.30am for the journey back to good
old blighty. They saw snow on the drive back, typical,
bloody typical. Speed ferries were running a little late
due to the stormy conditions but they still managed to
get themselves back home by just gone 4pm.
A superb trip, loads of great memories,
well organised, what more could you ask for?
Same time next year Bren? |
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