• Can't post after logging to the forum for the first time... Try Again - If you can't post in the forum, sign out of both the membership site and the forum and log in again. Make sure your COG membership is active and your browser allow cookies. If you still can't post, contact the COG IT guy at IT@Concours.org.
  • IF YOU GET 404 ERROR: This may be due to using a link in a post from prior to the web migration. Content was brought over from the old forum as is, but the links may be in error. If the link contains "cog-online.org" it is an old link and will not work.

An OTP Thank You

OMoaC

OMoaC

Member
Member
Were HOME!!!!! Such an awesome adventure and experience. Myself and Dan cannot thank all of you enough. The roads, scenery, history, buildings were just incredible. But to be truly honest the people, you folks, were the highlight of the trip. We were invited into homes and famlies, broke bread and shared meals, slept on couches and shared breakfast. The people of this great organization made the trip. To Daan, Gie, Ralf, Hans-ove, Bernd, Marc, Andre, Fritz, Jorge, the GTR/GCE group who made us feel so welcome at the rally. To Mika, such a gracious host (stay away from the romanian moonshine), Thomas with a beautiful home and Wife. Thank you all to you and your families that hosted us and sponsored us. It was truly wonderful because of you and your efforts. I only hope that we were as gracious as guests as you were as hosts. Thank you all again. I cannot imagine a better experience. You were Zupa! In addition We cannot thank the USA team and contributors enough that made this possible. Thank you all so much for such a wonderful experience. The hard work this team put's into this program and the donators are so awesome and valuable. This folks is a incredible and one of a kind program and we are so happy to be members of a very small and exclusive club. I shall be a OTP supporter for life. Please do not let this wonderful program expire. Such a great way to share experiences among people. Dan and I cannot thank you enough. I look forward to meeting and shaking hands with every contributor. Thank you all again!
 
Hai Mark, nice to read, that your back. Be shure, i'll never touch this romanian snaps again. The day after was terrible.
Thank you and Dan verry much, spending two days with us. It was great. Even Rob ( you know the red haired guy) had a lot of fun
sitting with us at the campfire. My mother is still angry about her roast meet, because it wasn't spicy enough.
next time you're in germany, we'll drive over the Ring.

At last, please excuse my bad english ::)



 
Hi,
        Glad everyone made it back in one piece!  ;D ;D ;D :great:

 

Attachments

  • 19366379_456301771391891_6720201194406486401_n.jpg
    19366379_456301771391891_6720201194406486401_n.jpg
    163.3 KB · Views: 107
Mischa said:
Hai Mark, nice to read, that your back. Be shure, i'll never touch this romanian snaps again. The day after was terrible.
Thank you and Dan verry much, spending two days with us. It was great. Even Rob ( you know the red haired guy) had a lot of fun
sitting with us at the campfire. My mother is still angry about her roast meet, because it wasn't spicy enough.
next time you're in germany, we'll drive over the Ring.

At last, please excuse my bad english ::)
Click to expand...
You, your wife and son's English is spotless, unlike my German. Please give your daughter a tickle for me and let your Mom know her roast was excellent! I hope we meet again.  :great: :beerchug:
 
connie_rider said:
Romanian moonshine ?
  I want to know more!!!!

Ride safe, Ted
Click to expand...
When we were at the GTR rally we got to sit at the English speaking table with Patrick (amphibsailor) and a Canadian COG member Brian on his own OTP tour. Story goes Brian was in Romania and a local gent gave him a sample of home squeezin's. He donated it to us in a small glass bottle. I opened it and the fumes came out of the bottle like heat shimmers from hot asphalt. I quickly resealed the contents.  :))
 
Old Man on a Connie said:
connie_rider said:
Romanian moonshine ?
  I want to know more!!!!

Ride safe, Ted
Click to expand...
When we were at the GTR rally we got to sit at the English speaking table with Patrick (amphibsailor) and a Canadian COG member Brian on his own OTP tour. Story goes Brian was in Romania and a local gent gave him a sample of home squeezin's. He donated it to us in a small glass bottle. I opened it and the fumes came out of the bottle like heat shimmers from hot asphalt. After taking a healthy swallow, I quickly resealed the contents.  :))
Click to expand...

There, I fixed it for ya.

Ride safe, Ted
 
Adding my thanks to Mark's well-worded post. The opportunity created by folks who donated to OtP, organized it here in the U.S., and especially those who hosted us, lead us, put up with our whining and let couple of grungy Americans who were two weeks into a 3 day supply of clean clothes into their families was nothing short of humbling and amazing.

The generosity of our hosts and guides in Europe is what made this a once-in-a-lifetime trip. While it's possible to afford to put together your own motorcycle trip to Europe (my wife might argue), there is absolutely no way to replicate the local road knowledge and guiding provided by folks that led us. And being able to end the day with locals who waited up for us to arrive, took us into their families, fed us food and copious amounts of schnaps  :beerchug:, put us up in their beautiful homes, and sometimes even lent us their workshops for some hasty bike repairs is something you can't buy.

We'll write more in upcoming issues of The Concourier, but my short list of thanks go out to:

Ride guides: Gie, Ralf, Heinz, and Andre. (much more will be written about Gie and Ralf, both of whom became our brothers and shared some reality TV-worthy adventures).  :-\
Hosts: Hans-Peter and his wife, Thomas, Mischa and his family -- all of whom also joined us for a few kilometers of spirited riding in their home countries.
Airport pickup and greeting: Marc
Finally, my endless personal thanks to Daan, who loaned me his meticulously maintained C10. He'd prepped this bike to perfection for the trip, new brakes, new tires, cleaned it so it looked like new. Turns out I was the first one to ride it with the panniers on it. The bike performed flawlessly and I can't thank Daan enough. In fact, I think Gie and I were the one OtP riders and guides who didn't have a mechanical issue -- hmmmm.  :great: I hope the fact that returned in the same shape (plus a few kilometers) is testament to how much I appreciate the effort and trust. As if that wasn't enough, Daan also spent several days as our tour guide in his beautiful town of Breda, and then in Amsterdam. What an amazing guy.

This was an amazing trip that was at least half about getting to meet and spend time with amazing people.

Cheers to everyone who helped, who donated to the cause, who rode with us, who loaned their spare rooms or couches, and who broke bread with us and shared stories into the wee hours.

Dan
 
JEEZ, and despite my long-winded post, I neglected to thank THE guy who was most central to my OtP ride, my new friend Mark.

I'm not entirely sure how it works, but as winner of the OtP, I think it was largely up to Mark whether he went alone with a briefcase full of cash, or had the runner up come along and get to share some of the largess. I appreciate that from the very beginning, Mark approached this as an opportunity to get as many COG riders as possible to Europe, even if it personally dinged his own wallet.  :great:

Of course truth be told, had I not gone, Mark never would have recovered his passport or wallet and that briefcase of cash would be on autobahn outside Munchin  :nananana:, and he probably would have lost that BMW taillight, and more importantly would have missed out on innumerable Hogans Heros; Tropical Thunder; Airplane 1, 2, 3 ....; and other jokes that helped us both see the best in as many of the "adventures" we encountered as possible...

"I'll be your Huckleberry" became a common refrain for Mark and I, and I can honestly say that traveling with him was like traveling with a brother -- you knew that no matter what, someone had your back and wouldn't leave you stranded (which for this trip meant "without whiskey").

Good on yer bro and thanks to my OtP lead, the Old Man.
 
The truth hurts but is the truth. Had an awesome time with Dan and couldn't have dreamed up a better travel Partner. Coined the term "Never go Full Euro" (of which many giggles ensued), spotted my wallet hopscotching down the autobahn, and helped me negotiate a bottle of Jack Daniels (60 euro) on a holiday (Holy Day?) in Austria when all the stores were closed. Even though he refused to piggy back me up the last 482 stairs in that church tower in Breda. Man we laughed. Semper Fi Brother, Semper Fi!
 
After taking a healthy swallow, I quickly resealed the contents.  :))
Click to expand...
...and gave it to me. After drinking that "hot stuff" my son had to translate my german into englisch, because i couldn't speek anymore.
Putting the romanian stuff into the tank of my bike, it would go 30mp/h faster.  ;)
 
That was a great run except for Ralf breaking a throttle cable. Got to the top and my legs were shaking. Great music choice BTW  :eek:  :beerchug:
 
Yeah, quite a rush. And you beat me to the top, but at least partly because you cut ahead at that traffic stop!!!  :mad:

I'll have to make another vid that includes the engine revs and audio at the summit -- something along the lines of "hot damn" and "f-ing Alps."

I actually have a video segment of both of us blasting past Ralf on the side of road. In my own (and ours) defense, I thought it was another of his famous stops to take a phone call or turn on his video cameras.

But hey, we went back right? And I bet he's still on road with that jury-rigged repair cable.    :motonoises:
 
So, which of you two is the better looking one according to our European brethren/sisteren? Surely that was discussed while you were there!
 
I have a full face, non-opening helmet -- so bonus point on that one!  :great:

But hands down, Mark was WAY more popular with the Asian tourists pouring off buses at several tourist spots. Quite a few of the ladies were grabbing him to have him pose with them in photos -- no really, I think he was trending...    :))
 
Guys,,,, "puleeze" continue to post video's / stories.
Ya'll saw and did things we didn't!

Sounds like you had a great trip!

Ride safe, Ted

Update: Yahoo, I found a video of the "Travelers" (our COG Representatives} going up Grossglockner.
              For your viewing enjoyment..

Title; Da boyze p___ off the locals.. (again)  <evil grin>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS8DMG58eTs

Ride safe, Ted

 
That's cuz we are working on our write up's for the Conc  :great: But OK here is some juvenile humor pics.
 

Attachments

  • ausfahrt.JPG
    ausfahrt.JPG
    140.4 KB · Views: 114
  • bungfarht.jpg
    bungfarht.jpg
    91 KB · Views: 120
  • Ifarht.JPG
    Ifarht.JPG
    144.5 KB · Views: 113
  • wannalivehere.JPG
    wannalivehere.JPG
    188.6 KB · Views: 116
For Gie and I Stelvio was fun because it rained all day until shortly before we got there, so most everybody had stayed home.  :) :motonoises:
 
Rumor has it Russ from CA has a lead on where to get a great deal on a rental bike. Where is Russ-manhausen  :)
 
Here are a couple off-bike shots from OtP.

First one is Ralf and Heinz grabbing lunch at Chiemsee en route from Kiefersfelden to Salzburg.

Second is Michael releasing Ralf from the stocks at a castle on the Rhine after getting Ralf to admit that there are actually 2 or 3 roads in Austria that he has yet to perfectly commit to memory (but they are probably flat and not worth riding).  :motonoises:
 

Attachments

  • SmRalf,Heinz.jpg
    SmRalf,Heinz.jpg
    112.4 KB · Views: 109
  • SmStocks.gif
    SmStocks.gif
    239.4 KB · Views: 110
Mark and Ralf (halfway out of frame) approach the fence at Nurburgring, Germany to get a better view. Moments later race officials told Mark he had to back away because he was wearing too much RED shirt and the racers might mistake him for a warning flag!  :))
 

Attachments

  • DSCN4103 (2).JPG
    DSCN4103 (2).JPG
    286.1 KB · Views: 108
Nurburgring, Germany Track?
Is that the track where you can pay $$ and ride your own machine for several laps at speed?
If so, I'd of paid the $$ to see Mark and Dan do laps, on Marc and Daan's bike's...  >:D

  The look on everyone's eyes,,, priceless!!

      eyes of Dan and Mark,,,,,  :wee_hee:
   
      eyes of Daan and Marc,,,,,          :c002:

      eye's of other people watching the 'mericans ,,,,,    :85:

Ride safe, Ted
 
Yep, that's the one. Mark and I thought we might get to ride it, but locals opted not to make arrangements -- something about all the body and bike parts not being able to fit in Michael's van.  :-[

There didn't appear to be any bikes on the track that day, but it sure looked liked a hoot if you could hit it when they had motos out there!  :great:
 
There was just a bit of drool on my lips to run it. Then I saw the corvette come by, up on the pipe as we used to say, Never mind. That driver was hammering some American aluminum (Ahlominium).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top