The road to the rendez-vous in Soesterberg was just fine to warm up my 400. Being lazy I let the 20 litres fuel tank mounted - something I surely regretted a few times that afternoon riding the loose sand of the tank lanes on the military excercise terrain. Frank - our guide for the afternoon - and Dimitri had tasting coffee and a garage full of tools etc. Pimco was the other guest that rode with us and it was good to see him again. After the obligatory unleaded talks three men tried in vain to kickstart their somewhat unwilling monos. With a broad grin I just pushed the small button on the right side of the handlebars and my 400 started to purr. Some motocross neighbours got even bigger grins. In past days one would be called a softy but since KTM equips all enduros with an electric starter people start to look rather jealous. Pity the ones with Japanese bikes...

The first few lanes I knew from riding my mountainbike but soon I am on unknown grounds. Starting with the small paths through the shrubs and further through the broad tank lanes with heavy yellow sand. It rained a lot the past few days so conquering the mud means a wide opened throttle. The differnce of my LC4 gearbox becomes apparent. First gear is very suitable for trial-ish parts. Under these circumstances I really have to use second gear to follow the others.
Every now and then I have a hard time maintaining course. Frank and Pimco just make it look too easy. One of the sharp turns puts me in the sand - I think it is the third time I am thrown off my bike in almost five years riding. It's all in this GREAT offroad game... within fifteen minutes I find myself next to my orange wonder again. The curve I wanted to take already was occupied... A Yamaha and a KTM remarkably well fit into each other. On the smaller lanes I regain confidence this is more like the way I like it: limited visibility and a relative hard layer to ride on. When we passed these parts for the third time that afternoon the hard sand was all gone and the tracks of my runners in front makes it hard to maintain course.

After a short brake where we chat and let evaporate the sweat from our shirts we make the tour Frank set out for about two times. The tank lanes with their deep crossing tracks become easier every time I cross them. Indeed all obstacles are between the ears. Just open throttle and all problems lay behind you. With some nasty pieces following at short distance the consequence is that we make nearly a 100 km/h in the sand! On a nice track Frank rides ahead to take some pictures. Aparently it is not that easy to ride fast but slowly enough to be caught in the lense. Too fast means that only the rear wheel is in picture and too slowly makes it look like some easy allroad tour. For me I just hit the dirt with the right speed.

Back in town we talk about bikes and offroad tours and take a look at Pimco's unwilling tripmaster. I promise the guys to put together a small tour with the paths I know in this region to have a reason to meet again. In the end the WR ends up in the trailer, I hit the fast line of the motorway back home and Frank and Dimitri put al the digital pictures on the net.