I've been drivin' all night hnnnnnnn... keep my head on the wheel... (That's not right now is it?)
Today started of as usual. After breakfast we break up, get the gear on the bikes and take off.
It is thursday today so we have in effect one day of driving left and then the plan is to head for a camp-site near the border. Probably the one we started on on saturday this week.
On the bike I notice that don't feel as comfortable as yesterday. I can't put my finger on it, but yesterday I could do with the bike whatever I wanted, be as agressive as I wanted, but today I feel slow. And even though the roads are better than yesterday (More dry and of better quality) I still lack the faith to really attack the corners. Probably I am still a bit tired. So today is a bit of an off-day and I decide to let my experience make the best of it. The wheather is also today very good. So it should be okay. No need for 100% concentration today.
All of a sudden my bike starts to stutter. A quick glance on the trip-counter shows that I've already done 250 kilometers on this tank. So no wonder it needs to go on reserve. I only hope that Siemen will find a gas-station soon. I am preparing myself to overtake the rest of the group and advance to Siemen to make sure he stops at the next gas-station. We are now driving on the smallest roads of the map and we should not risk skipping any fuel-pick up points.
When I'm driving next to Siemen he looks at me and starts to smile when I point towards the tank. He got the point so I drop back to the rear of the group. Within 5 km we stop at the gas station. And we fill up the bikes. My bike is filled with 14 litres so according to the specifications it was just on reserve and it should have at least 4 more litres in the tank. With the speeds we are doing now, I should easily reach 300 kilometers at one tank. Maybe I'll have to keep that in mind. And not be so worried when I switch the tank to reserve.
The wheather is still good, no rain, so I try and get the photocamera in the bag in front of me which is mounted on the tank. It is somewhere in there, And I should be able to manouver it in such a position that it is easy to grab and easy to restore whilst driving. Without the gloves this would have been an easy task. but with the gloves it is an hell of a job. After ten minutes or so I've got the camera-bag where I want it, have the camera ready to go in my left hand and am still close to the rest of the group. So now I can make some pictures during driving as Adriaan has been requesting for the last couple of days.
A few minutes later Maarten has his photo camera as well and we are now both taking pictures while driving. Maarten said this morning that taking pictures on this bike is quite a hand-full and he was not even sure if it was really possible. On his previous bike (a Pan European) it was dead easy, but his current BMW needs a bit more convincing around the corners and that might give some more stress.
I also try to store the camera just before we arrive at sharp corners to prevent myself from running into trouble. But Maarten is now as relaxed on his beemer as he was on his Pan European. I see him clicking and clicking while tail-gating Siemen through the corners. I try to get some nice pictures from Maarten and Adriaan and even try to make pictures while the rest is hanging in a corner. But I'm not pushing my luck. It is still my off-day and I don't have Maarten's experience as a driving photographer yet.
We've been driving for quite a long time now and I am getting a bit irritable. My blatter has been full for at least half an hour. And I am under the impression that we're driving around in circles. My biggest problem is that at the moment there is no place to stop to take a leak. So I just stick to driving and taking pictures from Maarten and Adriaan who are driving behind.
The routine is simple, I have turned my hips counter-clockwise as for as possible whithout losing control of the bike. With my left hand I direct the camera backwards and aim for whoever is driving behind me. When there is enough space in front of me, I turn my upper-torso 180 degrees, check if I am aiming correctly, take two or three pictures and then turn back to restore the gear back to the bag in front of me. That leaves me just about enough time to brake before the red traffic lights without crashing into Siemen.
After a while we turn on the Chzech high-way. I know we are not allowed to go on the high-way because we did not buy any permits for that. So now it is for sure Siemen is lost and has great difficulty to get on the road he wants.
We take the next exit, stop at a parking lot in front of a large store and I take a leak in the bushes while the rest of the guys are trying to sort out the current position and best way to go.
It's already late and we're all hungry like wolves. So when we get on the bikes, Siemen quickly finds the road he wanted to be on. And after driving for a short while we stop at a restaurant in a small village. It is half past three and we haven't eaten or drunk anything since this morning during breakfast. So I fetch the bottle of water in the bag in front of me and start drinking. I hear Maarten talking about the difficult time he went through while he was taking a picture in a corner of Siemen. He did not expect that it would be a series of such sharp bends so it was hard work flicking the bike from one side to another with one hand and still take pictures with the other.
When we enter the restaurant they tell us that the kitchen is closed. It's past two so they can also NOT fix us anything small like some soup or some bread. If we would like anything to drink we will be served by the grace of God. We are furious and leave immediatly. Outside we decide to leave directly for a camping and eat there. It should not be far anymore.
My stomic akes when we pass al those other restaurants. Maarten is also pointing towards his gutt and and the restaurants. We know it was a stupid decision. Siemen has stepped up the pace. He's also hungry but he promised not to stop before we reach a camp-site. And a promise is a promise. He'll certainly stick to that.
The roads change and we are now driving on a very small road between the trees and we're driving down from a mountain. I'm slightly enjoying myself more and more. I forget that I am hungry and also pick up the pace.
When we enter the main road, we turn right and we are now flying low on these roads when suddenly Siemen hits the brakes. He caught a camp-site in the corner of his eye and we are now trailing him on a very muddy road towards the main building.
There's only one caravan and two or three tents. So it is going to be an quiet evening. Maarten and Adriaan think it is probably too quiet for there taste. So when Siemen returns from the reception they tell him they want to go look for another camping. Siemen does not agree. "Why not, this seems like a nice camping to me!" I don't mind what the decision is, I have not climbed for more than 4 days and my fingers are itching to "open some boulders" in the vicinity. We agree to first talk it over at the restaurant which we've just passed. So we mount the bikes once more and each one of us races as fast as he can to the restaurant on the main road.
At least the food is very good and we are all enjoying the view. The waitress is also very nice to us so it does not take long for us to get back into a happy mood. We decide to drive on to a caming in Doksy. It is the same camp-site as we've been on in 2003. So it should be fun.
We have some difficulty finding the camp-site in Doksy. But Adriaan and I eventually find it. We lose Siemen and Maarten in the process but we eventually get together at the camping Billy-Kamen. While Adriaan and I are contemplating if this is the right camping Siemen does the checking in for us. It has been changed slightly over the past years. But we are sure this is the correct camping.
I hadn't noticed the rocks in the forest when I visited this place last. So I promise myself to take a closer look later one. Preferably when were finished building the tent. When we are all busy with the tent the manager comes to along to take a look. He was wondering if we were really only would use one tent. But after a few minutes he concludes that we are building an hangar. So yes in that case one tent is sufficient. He nods, comprehences, and leaves back to his office.
I put my stuff in the tent and a few minutes later I am climbing the rocks in the forest. Maarten, Adriaan and Siemen are enjoying the "beautiful nature" on the camping. After twenty minutes or so Adriaan comes along. He is now very pleased with himself. This site is a lot better than the other one. There is more to see here, more to do and I am climbing so everybody is pleased. This was a good decision today! I can see his smile behind the camera when he takes some pictures from me while I'm climbing.
At night we all sit down at the bar and have some drinks. Adriaan envites some of the female company to to go dance with him. But most of them are not willing or have a hard time keeping up with him. After a short while he meets Tereza, Janne and Katerina. We are all invited join them and have a drink together. We have some nice conversation. Tereza and Katerina speak English quite well, Janne seems a bit timid to me, but enjoys the conversation as well if I observe correctly.
Everybody is enjoying themselfs, and when everybody is dancing on the live music I make sure that our personal belongings don't get nicked.
I ask Katerina all sorts of questions regarding the Czech language. I'm told there are differences in male and female words like in French or German, but unlike these languages every word has a male and a female version. This explains a lot. That's why it was always so hard to follow Chzech conversation.
I ask Katerina to teach me to count to ten in Czech.
jeden, dva, tri, ctyri, pet, šest, sedm, osm, devet, deset
