First ride of the year

Lured by the welcoming spring light and decent temperature (cca. 10oC) last week on Saturday I finally decided to take out of it’s winter shelter my trusted travel companion. The GS’s engine purred into motion at the first push of the starter, after, in the most rigorous German style, completed all the preliminary checks accompanied by soft “shirrs” and flashing symbols and lights in the instruments console. I felt it happy to come out of the 5 month or so retirement, even though the place it wintered was cozy and some furniture and a couple of bicycles kept it company.

Trying to avoid the havoc brought to our roads by the upcoming NATO summit, I headed east, cutting through a rather strong and annoying north wind, on my way to the sea. I don’t know if being an Aquarius has something to do with this but I always loved and felt almost happy for no other apparent reason than being close to a large water surface. Be it large lake, wide river, inner sea or mighty ocean, wide stretches of water had a soothing and exalting effect on me. So, NATO summit induced road blocks or not, it was almost obvious that my instincts would take me on the first trip of the year to the sea shore, so let me stop blaming all on politics.

The entire morning was under the “take it easy” disposition so by not rushing anything, around 11am I was waving my way out of the city. Not even 50km into the trip a car that drove behind me for the last 5 minutes or so while we were both doing about 150km/h, went past me so I could see on the front passenger’s seat the wife of a buddy who since I told him about the journey I will embark on insisted I shouldn’t leave before introducing him to my new bike, as he didn’t had the chance to see yet. So here were two good things: by chance I had the opportunity to show the guy my Beemer and also got to stick the iPod’s headphones in my ears before putting my helmet back on. So I waved them to stop (as they could not possibly recognize me under the full face ski mask I was wearing under the helmet and sun visor) and we had a few pleasant moments on the side of the road, time I tried to act cool about their (otherwise well deserved) praise of the bike

Because I mentioned helmets, I have to point out that this was also the first time I wore my new Schuberth C2 helmet. I have read good things about the brand as well as the model, I asked on a couple of forums for experiences of other people with the device and finally decided it was worth the rather steep investment because let me tell you, this “shell” does not come cheap. But if someone expects quality one has also be prepared to pay for it and this helmet is nothing less than first grade motorcycling equipment. I’m not saying that the roar of the air rushing past your head (helmet) is not one of the thrills of riding, but when this is going on for a certain number of hours, the whole thing becomes more painful than thrilling or pleasant. And I talk out of personal experience here as my former Caberg helmet, otherwise a decent city piece of equipment, the moment was taken on the open road and exposed to speeds exceeding 80-100km/h turned into a savage roar like noise producing contraption, no matter how well I was trying to hide behind the windshield. So yes, if someone contemplates doing some motorcycle traveling, he/she better save on some less critical stuff and invest in a good helmet. At the end of a riding day, the clear, non-pounding head as a result of good protection from continuous (strong) wind noise is worth every penny.

Come to think of it, actually all the gear I wore on this trip was band new… what a poser I am… no, just kidding, you wouldn’t catch me dead with this kind of show-off . It just happened that in view of the trip I bought lately all sort of stuff that now I had the chance to try out in actual riding conditions. The leather touring Daytona boots, the nice RST part leather part cordura pants, the Rev’It wind proof under-jacket, the very good Fourigan touring jacket and even the black and yellow Axo gloves, were all crystal new. And as much as I try to avoid sounding self-sufficient, they all performed incredibly well. Good for me as this means that all the years I have been riding have taught me a thing or two about spotting and choosing good riding gear.

But let me get back to the trip. After about 250km, a little less than 3 1/2 hours riding and some fierce AC/DC keeping me company, I was there, facing the sea in the warm glow of the afternoon sun scattering on the white crests of the rolling waves. Hands a bit cold as the temperature at sea shore was about 7oC but thrilled by the ride, I parked the Beemer just next to the beach and sat on a curb just enjoying the sight of my bike projected on the backdrop of the sea. I was happy again. See for yourselves why…

Seed under snow: Europe up-close

The first days of 2008 brought beside the disconcerting for many Dakar cancellation, on a more domestic level, over otherwise dusty (and altogether shitty) Bucharest a thick coat of snow. Better scenery as the otherwise prevailing filth was covered in white stuff but also a major draw-back. All you people riding motorcycles and living in places where it snows should know what I mean: no more riding but a lot of fantasying and sometimes even planning about future adventures, and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. So, as a true biker, I also nurture the seed and sketch plans for this year’s “BIG ONE”. And here and now is the first time I publicly talk about it.

What I have in mind for this year is not the rather common, 2 to 3 weeks ride with a precise destination and/or route. This trip will not be about going to this or that place, but will try to represent the pursuit of a more abstract “target” as the trip itself and the acquiring of that elusive immaterial goal, will be it’s reasons to unfold. A better understanding of how people of Europe look and “feel” at closer scrutiny once the impersonal socio-demographic categories are left behind. I will try to understand more in detail how are they alike or different from my compatriots, or one among others and not in the last what can they bring and how their unique ingredients can contribute to a truly and coherently European Union. It goes without saying that the personal, human enrichment through direct experience with the people I’ll meet and situations I will encounter, will also be among the prized benefits of my endeavor.

My desire to better understand and also participate at the extent of the echo such a project might generate, in the broader process of Europe forging itself into a united and coherent structure is based on my personal investment of hope in the success of the European construction. I think that based on the joint cultural, political and economical heritage of all member states, the EU can become a necessary alternative in what the worldwide distribution of influence and power is concerned. Let me make one thing absolutely clear: I have nothing against the USA or the people of this otherwise impressive country. What I’m not particularly happy with is it’s one sided influence on the world’s evolution considering that after the collapse of the Soviet Union (thank God for that) there is no one left to bring and also have the power to back-up a different point of view to the power table. Looking ahead to the day when China is going to claim that position I strongly hope Europe would have already claimed the spot.

So, to put it in less words, I hope to see the day when Europe, as a strong and articulated union, will become a significant voice in global policy making because, beside it’s current age related weaknesses, it is fully entitled by it’s history and humanistic accomplishments to this position.

Another reason for my journey, mainly subsequent to the main one, is that I truly want to know better the part of the world I live in. I think that most of us Europeans condone a fallacious sensation that we are knowledgeable about the other countries with whom we share the old shell, now in the form of the enlarged union. Because of the rather short distances separating us, due to efficient and available means of transportation to practically everywhere within it’s borders, and of few and shallow common facts superficially spread within the popular culture about each of the member states, we maintain the illusion we know everything we need to know about Europe and our Europeans co-unionists. In this respect I want to attempt to surpass the confines of the impoverishing paradigms we operate with when it comes to our neighbors: Germans are square, Englishmen are stiff and formal, Italians are exuberant, Greeks are lazy, Scandinavians are cold, Romanians are begging or thieving gypsies, and the list could go in the same way for all the 27 member states.

Oh, but let me be reminded that this is my blog as a motorcycle rider and come back to more two wheeled matters.

In what the calendar for this trip is concerned all I know at this time is that I plan leaving hometown Bucharest mid April and go through all of the EU’s states in a bona-fide pan-EU journey. This confinement “within the EU borders” might be understood from the perspective of the previously mentioned “mission” but has other several and somehow various reasons that will come apparent as the journey progresses.

I will be traveling on my 1200GS beemer that I plan to prepare for the trip in Wien as it will be the second country in my itinerary and I have been told that the BMW people there are efficient and competent and their warehouse gorging with lots of accessories in stock, compared to the Bucharest dealer who needs to place orders for more or less every piece of kit one might need or want.

As basic equipment I have in mind the regular GS side panniers and maybe the top case, but I will decide on the later based on the amount of stuff that will pile up for the trip. I might use a PacSafe waterproof bag if it will show to accommodate my gear better.

I also have been advised on the Zumo500 as on board GPS, and after going through it’s specs I find to be a good, solid choice, and if enough people have a good impression on a product I always tend to believe that over the marketing hype.

I haven’t decided on the matter of whether personal computer hardware in the form of a laptop would be strictly necessary for the documenting of my trip, keeping in mind that I will travel within the EU where internet cafés and shops where one can transfer the content of camera memory cards onto DVDs should be readily available.

So, I’m glad I’ve put this down “on cyber-paper”, even in such a sketchy, underplanned and unrefined manner. Soon more to follow.

The freedom to Dakar in peril

As every true to himself biker, I used to get much enjoyment by following at the beginning of each year the tough, spectacular and often dramatic Dakar raid. It’s coverage by the media brought closer to me the tension and the effort some people are willing to put themselves through in order to be able to say: “I’ve been there, I’ve done that” and I admire this.
I am not talking here about the impressive factory teams, the professional riders and their small support “armies”, although, even being highly backed-up this rally-raid is massively difficult. Who are the people my heart always stood by during this race were the many “anonymous” riders, the private small teams, the guys who sometimes put their entire lives on the line only to be, at least once, part of this mythical adventure.

And here came 2008, with the bewildering announcement that the Dakar is canceled! And why!? Because of terrorist threats!!!
The organizers, based on intelligence gathered by the French (and allied) secret services, revealing serious threats by Al-Qaeda targeting the event, decided to give in and pull the plug on the event. Immediately two major streams of opinion emerged: the one that with sad bitterness saw the victory of terror over freedom and acknowledged the organizers right to decide not to put through the risk of armed attack the participants to the race, and the other, more belligerent, that loudly stated that one shouldn’t give in to terrorist threats because if one does, there is no other outcome than loss. And there is truth in both points of view, but “truth” must always be seen in its context.

On one side, as organizer of an event one is responsible for at least its peaceful and “as close to the plan” undergoing. Can you imagine a teacher taking his class on a trip to a Zoo where he knows the lions, venomous snakes and rhinoceros have escaped their cages and are roaming free on the premises? By no means I want to compare the brave people embarking on the Dakar adventure with a group of helpless school children. All I want to point out is that being aware that absolutely nothing in this world is 100% risk free, when responsible for the well being of others one is entitled and should firmly and responsibly decide how far is he willing to risk it all for the sake of the project. And the argument that this rally-raid is not “safe” in the first place is not a valid one, on the simple grounds that the otherwise numerous risks the participants would face throughout the race are totally different in nature than the ones that led to this year’s event cancellation. It’s like saying that free-climbers should be left as targets to snipers and sharpshooters only because going up a rock mountain face without safety cords, relying only on your hands, feet strength and sense of balance is already dangerous, so why bother... So, as “owners” of the project, the organizers were fully entitled to say: “We do not want to undertake this risk. We do not want to be responsible, even only morally, for the injury or loss of even a single participant to this race, caused by terrorist actions.” And it is their undeniable right to do so.

On the other hand how do you fight this plague? Certainly not by giving in to threats, because there is no end to this pit. As many of the people angry with the organizer’s decision have noticed, what would prevent the same or other terrorist organization, to reiterate the same threats next year, and the following, and so forth... This is undeniably a valid point, but does not work as a counterpoint to the organizers autonomous right to decide what they are willing to accept as risk factors for their undertaking. If this kind of risk will prove in the future to be as real as it was considered this year to be, then at the expense of loosing it forever, the people organizing this legendary race, are as entitled as they were this year, to cancel it again and again. And as in how I see it, this would be everybody’s loss. And I mean everybody!

What I am not at all clear about, mostly because of my lack of detailed information on the area’s geopolitical configuration and the altogether lack of interest on the general terrorist matter, is Al-Qaeda’s motivation for such action. Do they hold a grunge and want to sabotage Mauritania, and along with it all other African countries that year after year had seen substantial economic benefits from this event? Do they need the hatred of the poor African people that every year since 1979 made a little profit on the side of this race, added to the otherwise already general despise of the western world?

Adventures, world travelers, rally-raid riders and the much more numerous common people looking up to them, are among the more tolerant, opened minded and peaceful people in an otherwise brain washed, consume ridden, self-centered western world. How would alienating and antagonizing this otherwise non-confrontational , potentially friendly category, help your goals, as narrow minded and hateful might they be?

Pushing my tolerant attitude to it’s extreme, I could understand the motivation (but NEVER accept the actions) of terrorist groups, as violent and murderous acts being their only claimed efficient means to make themselves heard. But this would only be understandable if they would to represent and look after the interests of some massive, silent majorities of underprivileged, exploited masses that no one at the world power table listens to because they possess no leverage to make their voice heard. And please don’t tell me about the UN... But as it seems to me, at the present time, terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda only seem to represent an infinite minority of demented fanatics who have decided to terrorize with their primitive violence, resulting from their dumb incapacity to negotiate, the entire civilized world. And this is not acceptable by any standards or under any circumstances.

Don’t let this make you understand that I am an unconditional advocate of what I previously named “the civilized world” because I’m all well aware of it’s (sometimes grave) faults and shortcomings. I am one of the first to acknowledge and point an accusatory finger to it’s selfishness, it’s self indulging blindness for the sufferings in other (vast) parts of the world, to the lazy incapacity of it’s majority to empathically understand that human beings are the same all over this (still) wonderful world, and that the weak, the hungry, the ill and altogether the underprivileged need the solidarity and assistance of the strong and wealthy.

How much wealthier the “civilized” world must get and how much squalid misery the rest of the world must endure until some will stop squeezing other for their last resource and some will stop the mindless random killing of innocent, just to make a point?
I don’t know, but I think that when the Dakar rally-raid will be back on, a step further to a better world will had been made.

The First Beem Of A New Dawn

What a more appropriate moment to join the ranks of world traveling beemsters than the one you realize sheer speed is not all there is to motorcycle riding?
I haven't always thought that but my early days on a motorbike did not had the support of the technology to tackle the realm of speed, at least as it is today perceived by Japanese or Italian supersport or superbike motorcycles owners. Let me give you a clue: after numerous bicycles and a moped, my first two wheeled vehicle with an engine, clutch and proper gear box, was a locally produced, two strokes, 49ccm, contraption called Mobra (from “mo”-torcycles and “bra”-sov, the city where the factory was). The first winter we had together was spent in the house, in my room at the first floor of my grandparents house, where I hauled it with the help of a mate almost as intoxicated with motorbikes as I was… well, you have to keep in mind I was only 17 so give me a break. The Mobra with it’s minuscule bore had to slug around about 80!, yes, 80kg (about 175lbs) of it’s own weight plus the 55-60kg teenager I was, and could still do, in almost ideal conditions I have to admit, up to 70km/h (43mph), which please believe me, is not much on a straight line but when you take it to the bends with rubbers having the fiction index of a wet weasel, can be quite a challenge. For the rest of the time spent riding it, one could just enjoy the scenery at a very safe pace. After it, more 2 strokes, bigger bores (250ccm the most) eastern block (czech and east german) motorcycles followed but none took me to warp speeds the modern big bore bikes did in the last years. But enough with the paleontology of my motorcycling days. I will put this link though if someone is curious to see how the dear old Mobra looked like (not mine unfortunately as I was less keen on keeping visual records at that time): Mobra

So yes, on the 28th August 2007, I got hold of my first ever BMW motorcycle. It's a yellow 1200GS that I simply have fallen in love with at a test drive two weeks before that date... I had to have this bike! It looks big and sluggish but once in motion it feels incredible nimble and willing to follow your every whim... well, except maybe the one of going fast, but this is or should be no surprise from a BMW boxer engine, enduro-touring motorcycle. And you also have to consider that my last set of 2 wheels was an R1 Yamaha than really could fly. I felt in awe about how the beemer handled but was totally unimpressed when I twisted the gas open... it felt like I forgot to turn the engine on. So I very fast organized a joint ride with a mate who got hold of his, exact same model, few days before, in order to switch bikes and see if there was something wrong with this actual piece or this is just how these things work. It was a great relief to notice that his bike – it was in the break-in period, mind you – was even more sluggish than mine who had 2000km (1250ml) on the clock. So that it was: I knew the bike does not go fast... but it didn’t matter, I was hooked.