On 21.06.2012 the time has come. 3 men, one goal: 14 days in Norway a la
“Born to be Wild”
Back in the summer of 2009, I came up with the idea of starting a Norway expedition by motorcycle with old buddies. The original plan was to take a trip to Norway with buddies from school and moped days and just have fun together. First of all, I needed willing old buddies… but how do I sell it to them? They all have more or less regular lives. I decided to leave enough time before the start so that everyone could get the things they needed for the trip. This includes, for example, a motorcycle, an exit permit for their partner, motorcycle clothing, helmet, tent and much more. The first candidate that came to mind was Trope. I had already ridden a motorcycle with him when I was 18 and he was already really into it back then. So the first phone call followed:
Me: Hey servus Trope, we’re taking the bikes to Norway in 2012! Will you be there?
Trope: “laughs for what feels like 3 minutes” and then says “I’ve never planned anything this far in advance in my life, let me sleep on it”
Me: Okay, I’ll get the others together and get back to you.
Clack, hang up and get back on the phone… crap, no one really picked up. In fact, most of the ringleaders are just stuck in their rut and can’t seem to get themselves up to go on such an adventure. Even my old motorcycle buddy Luke, with whom I’ve been going on 3-4 day motorcycle tours for 17 years, doesn’t bite. Crap!
Okay, a few days have passed… Call to Trope:
Me: Hey, hi Trope… and are you in?
Trope: Yes, I’m in! Who’s all going?
Me: Nobody! Just the two of us…
Trope: All right
Me: Okay, I’ll call you every 3 months or so… and goodbye.
Clack, hung up.
No sooner said than done… I always called him every 3 months and asked if he was still there and he was. In the meantime, I was able to get my longtime buddy from the moped days and current bandmate Fish excited about the trip. He decided to take a test ride on a motorcycle and then decide. Fish hadn’t been on a motorcycle for years at that point and he couldn’t count wet manhole covers among his best friends. By mid-2011, it was clear that he was no longer going to make friends with motorcycling. In the fall of 2011, the decision was made that Fish would ride in the car as a support vehicle!
So… the troop has been decided and the three of us are riding 🙂
Trope ordered a Harley Davidson Softail Slim 2 weeks ago, Fish is riding a Volvo V40 and I’m riding a Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 C.
We meet on June 21, 2012 in a hotel near Flensburg and drive through Denmark to Hirtshals on June 22. From there we take the fast ferry to Larvik in Norway. The first hotel and the first ferry are already booked and once we’re in Norway, we’ll just live for the day…
I will try to update this blog throughout the trip. Here is the route we want to take. (The orange dots are Harley Davidson branches…you never know :))
