A Sunday ride unlike any other

What follows is an eye-witness account of the maddest and most exhilirating ride of my life. And guess what ? I wasn't even doing the driving (as my driver's license was temporarily suspended for 3 weeks...) ;-).

For your understanding, here follows some explanation on the acronyms used to identify the different persons and the setting where the event took place:

- we always ride each Sunday in the Belgian Ardennes in the south of Belgium. The region has a lot of bendy roads, cutting through a hilly landscape.

- CTD (Crash Test Dummy) is riding a 1999 GSX1300R Hayabusa, on which he chucked the standard (one position only) steering damper and replaced it with an Ohlins one, for which he had a special bracket made -> hence "OH" as in "Ohlins Hayabusa".

- AJ (Adrenalin Junkie) is riding a 1998 R1 (his second one), shod with the excellent Bridgestone BT tires (front and rear).

- I am CMMMD (Chrome Momo Metal Mad Dog) and am riding pillion on OH, due to a temporarily lack of a driver's license.

- AJ and CTD both have heated jackets. I have one also, but could not use it for lack of a connection point (as it was already used by CTD).

In the narrative, I have of course omitted the names of the towns.

Part 1

We set off for the first part of the journey (i.e. to W.), around 10:17. The skies were overcast but calm and temperature was fairly low (around 3-4 C°).

I was immediately impressed with the unbelievable level of comfort that OH offered me. Behind my back was a large grab rail (but was it large enough? ;-)) and the foot pegs were relatively low, just above the exhaust, forcing me to only gently bend my legs. The seat was roomy and well-padded, which is of course a very important comfort issue for yours truly, given the lack of meat around his bones ;-).

After having digested the first bumps (over the bridge just before WD. City ;-)- which went very well - we joined the motorway. I immediately noted the excellent wind protection, sitting behind CTD's large shoulders (at least with his Dainese X-Tec jacket on ;-), and started to experiment with seating arrangements, just to find the optimal position. I found that it was most comfortable to hold the grab rail behind my back with both hands and crouch a bit forward to avoid the wind flow. After having smoothly taken the first corners on the Ring (CTD took the long right-hander at the B./L. exit at about 190 km/h) I settled in and started to enjoy the new sensations one gets as a passenger. It was indeed a whole new perspective, because you could look around, make faces at the cars we overtook (as in ;-P ) and undergo a real impression of speed, especially when looking at the middle rail guard, flashing past at 180 km/h, just inches away from your leg...

Arriving at W. (a couple of minutes late, we admit), we were greeted by a warmly clad and hooded AJ, who was very eager to get my first impressions as a passenger. I also heard him mutter something like " ...must be completely mad ..." just before we took off...

Since the temperature had dropped considerably (hovering between 1 and 2 C°), we decided to go the Samson-route to S. and then decide how we would proceed from there. Initially, François led the way on the Samson route (albeit a bit hesitantly because he claimed he only knew it coming from the other direction, as he did last week with FF) and CTD swiftly took over. The temperature kept on dropping (at times we hit -0.8 C°) and CTD took it easy, keeping an eye on the puddles next to the road to check if any of them was frozen. Meanwhile, I was truly enjoying myself, just following CTD's movements as he steered the bike in and out of the tight corners which characterize the first section of the Samson route. But they were not all tight slow corners. I distinctly remember one fast right-hander where we leaned really nicely and I thought "Wow - this is fun". Little did I know of the things that were yet to come... (cue Novastar singing "The best is yet to come..." ;-))

We stopped for coffee in a nice little café opposite a church and exchanged some friendly banter (CTD + CMMMD to AJ: "We were leaning much further than you... AJ to CTD + CMMMD : "Maybe, but I was all over you on the brakes" ... CTD to AJ "Yes, but my fingers were cold from touching the metal the whole time ",... blablabla ;-).

Whereupon CTD warmed his hands and fingers on the blazing fire, so that he would be able to refine his braking (and I can say that it definitely paid off, later in the day ;-)). After two coffees, we set off again, warmed up, accustomed to riding two-up, and gradually growing more determined to see whether we could catch AJ... The pace picked up gradually all the way to Sp., and I really started to enjoy myself, becoming one with the bike and its rider, smoothly following his movements and enjoying the intense sensations of acceleration, feeling the suspension do its work, feeling the tire grip when powering out of corners, seeing the horizon tilt as CTD tipped the bike firmly into the corner... all while in a first-class seat...

Once past S., the gloves came off. AJ, determined to show us a thing or two, blasted away on the roads that we know quite well, I suppose, giving it everything that the 95% dry conditions allowed (the road was nearly completely dry, with a very occasional damp patch or a stretch of wet road with a dry line already showing) and testifying of an immense confidence in the grip of his BT10's... And yet, it was not enough.

AJ may have exuberated confidence in his tires and ability, but that was nothing compared with the sheer determination that CTD showed in his body language and riding style... Since braking with two-up was somewhat of the weak point of OH (the brakes were excellent, don't misunderstand me, but with two-up, late braking is not really an option - at least, that was what we thought until later in the day !) CTD aimed at tipping the bike over quicker, keeping corner speed and powering out of the corner as fast as possible, once the apex was hit... I was very privileged to witness a man with a mission : catching AJ. And we did... On every corner, we more than made up what we lost on the braking, finally catching AJ (who mischievously used all means possible to keep ahead (such as overtaking cars just before the corner and than WFO (wide f*cking open) on the throttle) ;-). Boy, I will never ever forget how we took the corners on the way to C. (remember the double right corner where I fell with my R1 98 ? I don't think I ever took it that fast on my own, even in the dry ;-) !!) And the only thing I had to do, was to make sure not to bump into CTD when he slammed the brakes... Talk about smooth !

Still, coming in into C., I noticed that I was transpiring quite more than I should on a day with an ambient temperature of 2 C°... ;-) ...

And then, it all came together. I was perfectly comfortable and confident, CTD gave the impression that at times he forgot I was even there, as I tried to be as smooth as him in shifting my weight almost simultaneously... And off we went, on our way to the Microclimate, chasing and catching AJ almost at will, CTD clearly immensely enjoying the new experience of being able to finally use the full 175 HP to power out of the corners, still on full lean... He started to open the throttle ridiculously early, always sooner, making the (slightly too softly set) rear suspension wriggle and cringe. At one time, he even scraped his carbon-fiber reinforced boot and the antenna on the foot peg, making the bike suddenly sit-up a bit ...and one more adrenaline jolt for me ;-). And the bends kept coming, a lot faster than I was used to, or so it seemed... Remember the very long right-hander which goes up (with another road joining from the left - where sometimes, I used to mistakenly think that we needed to go left there ?) , gradually tightening ? AJ was in front, but we gained so much on him midway through the corner, we almost slammed in the back of him -> and yet another adrenaline jolt - I was near an overdose at that stage...

The woody section (on the way to the K. villa) appeared, and the spirit was now really combative. AJ still leading, going really, really fast in somewhat doubtful road conditions, and CTD always playing the catch-up game. The trees flashed past in a blur, I was hiding behind CTD, trying to avoid the wind blast and firmly hanging on to the grab rail behind me with both hands.

Part 2

But coming out of the last corner before a long strait, we were really close to AJ, and CTD saw an opportunity to steal the passing game crown. He steered the bike onto the left lane, wacked the throttle and the bike jumped forward, the front wheel catching up with AJ's rear wheel in an instant. AJ, already crouched forward, looking from under his elbow (we were doing over 220 km/h by then) saw us coming, crouched even further down on the gas tank of his R1 (as if to say "I'm may be the shark bait, but you wont catch me without a fight) and went WFO. CTD, by now completely absorbed in the passing game, also crouched down completely behind the windscreen of OH and BANG ! that's when the sh*t hit the fan for me.

CTD's unexpected crouching down on the tank made me suddenly catch the full wind blast (we were doing approx. 260 km/h by then) and, since I was holding the grabrail BEHIND my back, I started to pivot backwards (the pivot point being where I grabbed the grabrail with my hands). My feet came off from the pegs, swaying upward and almost touching CTD's armpits. The wind blast made it impossible to regain my position and for a moment (which seemed to last for ages), I was hanging on for dear life, my head blown backward by the incredible windblast, hanging above the tarmac (I was looking at the top of the trees, thinking : oh my God !), my feet swaying in the air, whilst I felt the wind pushing me further and further backwards...

And just at this instant, CTD noted the swaying feet and started to realize that something was wrong (I'll let him explain what he initially thought I was doing). So he backed off the throttle slightly and sat up just enough to deflect the wind sufficiently to allow me to sway forward. Unfortunately, my feet did not land on the pegs, but somewhere on the rearswingarm and exhausts, giving me a panic attack since I couldn't find the pegs anymore (remember, we're still doing well over 200 kph). Meanwhile, CTD, thinking that his passenger had quit the acrobatics and was again properly seated, and determined not to give in to AJ because of this little nuisance doing stunts on the pillion seat, whacked the throttle again and went for the next corner, only 50 odd meters behind AJ. The corner was a fairly fast righthander (160 kph ?) and I saw it coming way faster than I would have preferred, GIVEN THE FACT THAT MY FEET WERE STILL DESPERATELY TRYING TO FIND THE FOOTPEGS. I don't know how I came through the corner, but apparently, we managed it.

Luckily for me, it was the last corner before the K. villa. I was still moaning and gasping for breath as CTD stopped the bike. I jumped off, jumping up and down, shaking all over from the adrenaline jolt, only able to shout "F*ck f*ck f*ck x 20 + Oh my God Oh my God x 30". CTD now started to fully realize what had actually happened and went into a laughing fit like I have never seen anybody in my life doing... He laughed so hard that he completely slumped down on the tank, crying and causing his visor to completely mist up from the inside. After a few moments, he had to lie down, because he laughed so hard it gave him cramps... I was shocked at this complete lack of empathy and stood there, shaking and staring unbelievingly at the funny little man rolling in the grass... ;-) Not much support from AJ either, who also thought the whole thing was incredibly funny, once he understood what had gone down.

Part 3

After all the emotions (mine) and the laughter (CTD and AJ) subsided, we swiftly remounted the bikes and dived into the sharp right hander just past the K. villa, following AJ. From the way he tipped in the bike into the corner, it was apparent that CTD, clearly even more enthused by the previous incident, was not the man to abandon a mission before its completion. So we chased AJ even more intently, through the righthander and overtook him, sweeping into the sharp lefthander that followed. After V., on it went to the next sweeping lefthander (where we once saw the R1's parked on the side), which we took without so much as a dab on the brakes (which surprised AJ, who taught about braking later than us - which was difficult since we didn't brake - causing him to brake first ;-)). And what did I think/do ? Amazingly enough, I did not squirm with fear, but on the contrary, felt the leaps of joy and exhiliration that I had felt before the moment I almost became airborne... Nevertheless, I no longer grabbed the rail behind my back, but had my arms around CTD, my hands resting on the tank (pushing hard on the tank, if necessary, to offset the forces pulling me forward when braking).

Up it went towards the bumpy right hander, overtaking a car just before diving into the bend (the driver must have had the sight of his life...), over the bumps (which were amazingly well digested by OH's suspension), and rounding the lefthander that followed. By that time, we had pulled almost a 100 meters on AJ (but to be fair : he was held up by the car)...

By then the final bends before Microclimate came in sight, and we set off leading AJ. However, due to a lot of salt on the road, CTD backed off a little, allowing AJ to fly past just before the last bend leading up to Microclimate.

We took the restaurant by storm, the remains of the adrenalin jolts causing us to talk way too loudly and gesticulate wildly, much to the amusement of the hotel guests, who looked slightly bewildered discovering that people actually ride bikes in 3 C°...

Chicon soup was served and quickly devoured by the then very hungry pilgrims (adrenalin makes you eat ;-))), the check was asked and paid quickly, and off we went, towards the hill after Microclimate...

CTD lead the way, taking it gently on cold tires, and I was preparing myself mentally for another assault on my nerves and senses ;-)

The first bend past the café on the right came in sight and I tried to relax, as CTD tipped OH into the lefthander. As we were leaning, we could really feel the ondulations of the road, unsufficiently absorbed by the cold tires. AJ was sitting close behind us, determined to at least keep up with the awesome threesome (CTD, CMMMD and OH, of course). The first five bends, it was clear that CTD didn't push too hard, not allowing himself to get overexcited whilst the tires were still cold. But soon he sensed that the tires had refound their grip and WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH ! Off we went. In an instant, the gap was created and AJ disappeared out of sight. Bend in and brend out, the whole time CTD went to (almost) the max, using every centimeter of his lane (from white line in the middle to white line on the right or vice-versa), aimed at keeping as high a cornering speed as possible and making the most of the improved grip of the back wheel (thanks to the additional weight over the back wheel - wait a sec., that's me !), fully in control and oh so smooth !

Coming out of the bend before the last one, he even pointed to his left mirror, to draw my attention to the fact that AJ had completely disappeared from sight ;-). So what else could I do then shout at the top of my lungs "Yihaaaaaaaaaaa !"...

At the big crossing (where WBM once went straight, all the way to F.), we took right, on our way to B. and the petrol station. CTD keeping the top speed down a bit to avoid another take-off. From there, on it went to the racing section, where the passing game would reach its climax (or so I thought)...

Part 4

After having topped off at the filling station, the trip continued... On our way to M. (the little village which marks the start of the racing section) AJ set a nice pace, CTD still leaning nicely and using all available road surface (making me brush my shoulder with some overhanging branches - allowing me to almost become one with nature ;-)), I was preparing myself mentally for the all-out attack that CTD would no doubt launch after the first of the double-righthanders on the racing section.

We passed through the center of M., turning left past the bridge. First observation : the road was dry (much to my relief). I put my arms around CTD, resting my hands on the tank, and praying everything would go well. AJ led coming out of the lefthander leading to the first of the double right-handers, accelerating very hard. CTD kept some distance, knowing that he wouldn't gain much on the brakes, but fully trusting his ability to keep a higher corner speed and catch AJ when accelerating out of the corner. As the bikes sped up and the righthander came in view, the butterflies in my stomach started flying and I let out a deep breath, relaxing my muscles and, as on cue, dived with CTD into the corner...a bit too enthusiastically, since CTD hadn't expected me to dive with him (for I always had waited until he moved his weight and then followed). Since due to my enthusiasm, we would apexs a bit early, CTD picked the bike up a bit, recalibrated the line and closed in quickly on AJ. It was amazing how smooth it was. I was seeing everything as in slow motion, the horizon very tilted to the right... Coming out of the corner, I turned my head over to the left side of the bike, anticipating for the lefthander that would follow. CTD steered the bike next to AJ's on the other lane, went WFO and dived into the lefthander without me even realizing that we had passed him. It was only as we were halfway through the corner that I saw we had managed to overtake AJ.

By that time I had also come to realize that, since I was no longer holding the grab rail, but resting my hands on the tank, and given the fact that CTD, since Microclimate, had gradually started braking harder and later, the braking forces made me tilt forward and upward (luckily, my long arms pushing on the tank prevented me from bumping into CTD), and made my butt lift from the seat. Talk about a new experience...

Meanwhile, AJ seemed to have lost his fighting spirit a bit, because instead of regaining ground by late braking, he kept behind us, without a real chance of out-accelerating us... (do not forget that we had quite a weight disadvantage, as CTD calculated : Busa : 215 (dry) + 75 (CTD + clothes) + 70 (CMMMD+ clothes) = 360kg, so Busa power to weight = (175hp/360) = 0.49. R1 (1998): 177 (dry) + 75 (AJ + clothes) = 252kg, so RI power to weight = (150hp/252) = 0.60. Conclusion : R1 = 22% better power to weigh ratio)

Nevertheless, it was only on the last straight before the "bragging bridge" that the blue R1 came flying past... (and he didn't stop to claim bragging rights -> I wonder why ;-))

On it went, up the hill (with the "point de vue"), where in summer, I used to point out the beautiful landscape on the left to the benefit of the other more touristically inclined Pilgrims ;-)) and down again, into the bendy bit with the smooth tarmac (where AJ once left behind a small part of his soul and a whole lot of the bodywork of his first blue R1).

Onto the main road (where we normally turn left to B.), we now turned right, on to Br., up to Cs. (with the tight bend at the farm where WBM always needs to stretch his leg...)...

AJ could apparently see what CTD and my intentions were for this last bit, as the pace picked up and CTD went off, me crouching snugly behind and at times avoiding to look (it wàs scary at times ;-)). We were now on the section that we sometimes do coming back from France, going steeply downhill, with two sharp lefts, one hairpin to the right, another right and then down at the river, a hard left over the bridge. This is the bit where CTD really excelled, and that I ended up with my balls in my throat (or so it felt ;-)). Braking harder and later than ever before, CTD really forced the bike into the first lefthander, going full on the throttle as soon as we hit the apex. As the engine revs must have been in the "sweet spot" (i.e., maximum torque), the front of the bike started to lift and CTD pulled his first powerwheelie ever ! Before I could actually realize what had happened, the second lefthander was already there and CTD braked even later... and even harder ... I felt my but lifting of the seat, but this time, the seat caught up with it AS THE BACK WHEEL LIFTED OFF THE GROUND, JUMPING SIDEWAYS AND HITTING DOWN ON THE TARMAC, making the tire squeak... So within two bends, CTD had pulled a wheelie AND a magnificent stoppie... The only problem was that, due to the stoppie, CTD had to let the bike settle in its suspension somewhat, before being able to tip it into the corner. AJ, who was following, was apparently watching the spectacle so intently (and probably wondering what we were doing with our back wheel sliding all over the place) that he forgot to shift down from 4th to 2nd, completely screwed up the corner and thus losing any advantage that he possibly might have gained from CTD's antics on one wheel ;-) The poor pillion (as in "me"), could hardly contain his fear/excitement/exhiliration/laughter as CTD went WFO coming out of the corner (which we had taken with a somewhat "alternative" line ;-)" and dived down to the river like a man possessed (still thinking that AJ must be on his back wheel, trying to avail himself of the "stoppie" error of CTD on the previous corner - while in fact, AJ had lost the advantage himself - makes me think of McCoy entertaining his rivals to the point where they lose their concentration and let him win ;o)). At that point, I must have shouted something, I'm sure, for I'll never ever forget the impression of racing downhill, the engine roaring, the bike jumping over the bumps in the road, CTD slamming the brakes and pushing the bike down and left, over the small bridge... Woooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh !

And then, all the stops came out, because we knew it was the final chance of the day to go really fast. CTD had chosen the perfect section, which had it all : fast ones, slow ones and sweeping ones, several ones after another, CTD ligning up the bike with the precision of a sharpshooter! I realised I was living the final exhilirating moments of a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience and already felt sorry that it had to end.

Finally, we rode up the hill into C. (at the S. gas station, where we cleaned our visors last time the four of us = all except WBM, rode together) and stopped at the cafe opposite the S. station, to sip a coffee or two. And even though the only people other than us were two girls, the three of us showed absolutely no interest... ;-)

Returning home was rather uneventful, except for the nice righthander joining the Ring with the NXX, where CTD cut through traffic (but safely, of course), coming out of the corner at almost 170 kph, causing me to shout my last "Yiha" of the day.

On behalf of the awesome threesome, I wish to thank you and say good night. You have been a wonderful audience.

Ciao,
CMMMDRP
(Crazy Mad Mad Mad Dog Riding Pillion)