So the Nurburgring ended up being a bit farther than I thought.

After cycling for 60km, half of which was in sideways rain, and
getting hopelessly lost in Mayen, a very kind couple invited me
in their house to look up the local youth hostel..they gave me
a towel to dry off, and then the gentleman drove his new Audi A6
over to the hostel while I followed.

Thursday I set out in the morning for the final 25km of very
hilly countryside to get to the Nurburgring.  I've managed
to score a nice spot of land for my tent across the street
from the Pflanzgarten corner -- just down the road from Brunnchen.

I met some german kids who were quite excited that I was
from California, in fact one has relatives in San Francisco.
They helped me get my tent set up.  Now I need to find
some beer to share with them (this shouldn't be difficult!)

I tried to get an idea of the various spectator locations
at the Nurburgring, but the place is just absolutely huge..
I cycled another 20km just trying to get to one area and back.
(Unfortunately meine cyclometer ist kaput now)

For now I'm quite content with Pflanzgarten -- tomorrow
I will check out Brunnchen.  Besides, there's a great
bratwurst truck at Pflanzgarten.

The road, and the land around it, is truly incredible..no
matter how much you hype it up, you will still never be
disappointed..the Nurburgring is truly the best road in
the world.

Out on the track today I saw just about everything
imaginable -- all sorts of old european race and rally
spec cars, and even a few american cars (corvettes and
mustangs)  I'll try to get photos of examples of all
of these.

Certainly the fastest (and loudest!) cars out there
were the race prep widebody turbo Porsche 911s.  They
absolutely scream past everything else in sight, and
while other cars are squirming through the corner,
they are on rails.

Everyone is out here to have a good time, there are
people heating up wursts everywhere, and caseloads
and caseloads of beer.  Many dedicated people have
their own mini kegs and glass mugs that they carry
around -- this is not unique!

I think I'll have no problem enjoying my bratwursts
and ice cream and the racing..though I could do without
the death metal music that is so popular!  I'll let you
know how the 24hours continues.

James
May 5 2005