Curly kale tour.

For a few years Roel rides the Curly kale tour starting in Boekelo and every time he comes home telling me about the great tour. Well this year I'd like to see it with my own eyes...

Sundaymorning...
The alarm is set at 6 am and so we choose to turn in early. When at night at 1.30 a morse-signal tells us a message is coming in on Roel his cellphone, we are both wide awake. Roel reads the message and starts laughing, Jan is not joining for the tour. I have trouble getting back to sleep again, but the alarm has no mercy and wakes us at six am. Getting up, the morning ritual and then at a quarter to seven we are off on our bikes to the meeting point, just south of Leeuwarden. When we pass Quatrebras I see it is 11 degrees. It was indeed a warm night, certainly for the time of year. When Roel and I arrive at the service-station, Johan has just arrived too. We refuel both bikes and then walk in for a nice hot cup of coffee. We don't have to wait for long before Mindert, Huite and Tjerk arrive. Inside we talk a little and then at 7.30 we leave for Boekelo. Just over 100 miles to go.

Arrival...
When we arrive in Boekelo just after nine, it seems we are not the first ones to arrive. I estimate that there are already a few hundred bikes parked on the sidewalks, parkings and along the road. The same amount of bikers is present, at least it is quite a crowd. We registre for the tour and get ourselves an itinerary, a coffee voucher and a "Moos" voucher, better known as Curly kale with all the attachments. In the passed week, Roel received the tour for his GPS and had the computer recalculating the tour for his appliance. It works like magic, because now Roel can enjoy the scenery as well, without calculating constantly when we have to make another turn.

The tour...
At nine-thirty we are back on our bikes with our group of six and start with today's tour. Roel is leading and I drive directly behind him. After driving for about 25 kms through the Netherlands, we end up in Germany. Right in the beginning, the roads are still wet and lots of leaves are laying around. The rear wheel wants to slip away and that is not very good for my selfconfidence. Corners are approached with caution and often it is proven the right way, because all the German farmers have done their harvesting and combined with the rain of the passed few days it is quite a mess. I have not yet completed 10 kms in Germany or my counter passes the 60.000 km-mark. I almost miss this precious moment as I really need to pay attention to the corners I have to take. Today is going to be a nice quick ride as Roel sure opens his throttle. But soon the roads become dryer and the bike can be toppled over quite a bit in corners.

Nature...
Never known that Rape is still in bloom so late in the season. But when passing those feelds in Germany, I really enjoy a nose filled with this wonderful summer-scent. The bright yellow is in contrast with the autumn-colours by the trees in all its glory. Today may be cloudy, we certainly don't have the low sun bothering us and I really appreciate it. Nature is beautiful today, with the rich colours of autumn. Even the temperature is pleasant. In the afternoon I see it is 12 degrees. Even though i was very well muffled up in the morning, I don't feel the need to reduce my clotes all through the day. Because we are with a small group, we can keep the speed quite high and so the wind will cool me down.

Continueing...
We have lunch in Germany and here the second half of the itinerary is handed out. There is of course quite a crowd present. While the men put their itinerary in their appliance, I walk outside to have a look at the bikes. I've seen some classics there and I make some pictures of a few BSA's and a Matchless. Then we move on again with the tour. After we have had a corner I always have a glance in the mirror to see if everybody is following. But suddenly I see only Tjerk following me and the other three are not coming. I immediatly release my throttle and keep looking in the mirror. We find ourselves a place where we can stop safely and wait, as we can see them standing still on the other road. Soon they join us. Huite has problems with his rear brake, it is quite hot and stays stuck to his brake-disc. When he manages to solve the problem temporarily we move on. He will try not to use his rear-brake again and this is how we end the tour, back in Boekelo. There awaits us a plate with Curly kale and be sure it tastes good. On our way back home we have a stop at a service-station near Steenwijk where we have a nice hot cup of coffee. We sure need it as it is beginning to cool down rapidly. Just after six pm we are back on base. Those 570 kms were really worth driving today.

Betty Smit, Motormeisje.nl

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