|
After nearly 3 weeks in France, (see France 2004), we headed back to Holland as we had always intended to go to Assen for the MotoGP. The weather was a bit rough with high winds and some very heavy showers both on the road through Belgium and in Holland. Whenever we stopped at the motorway fuel stations, either for fuel or just for a break from the weather, we would chat to other British bikers, some of whom were also going to Assen, who all told us stories of horrendous ferry crossings due to the almost hurricane force winds the cross-channel ferries had experienced that we were unaware of. A couple of guys had had the misfortune to be on a ferry that sat outside Calaise harbour for 5 hours because the out-going ferry had not left due to the severe weather and there was therefore no berth available for their ferry. They didn’t dock until 2am in the morning and couldn’t find accomodation so just had to set off for Assen despite the weather. Tough lot us bikers.
We stayed at Motorcamping Het Dijkje, (see link on Biker Friendly Accommodation page), near Tiel in central Holland . It is only around 70kms from Amsterdam and the ferry port at Ijmuiden but also approx 200kms or around 2hrs from Assen which is virtually all motorway. The site itself is small but the welcome is huge. The owners were away on their holidays touring France and Spain and the site was being run by their friends Rens and Katinka Brandenburg. The facilities are excellent with good showers etc but most welcome was the free use of cooking facilities. Also available is breakfast and barbeques by arrangement, (which we tried and was excellent). For those who don’t want to pitch a tent there are rooms available and for use by all is a canteen/club room with fridge and beer at just 1euro a bottle. There is a caravan site adjacent to Het Dijkje with a good bar and also meals are available. The village of Eck en Wiel is a 10 minute walk with the White Swan pub. |
ld make the trip to Assen. It is a fantastic track and the atmosphere is brilliant. There is a huge campsite at the track which is very popular and some of the parties are of legendary status. The weather was not too good when we were there but it didn’t seem to have dampened the atmosphere. On the run up the motorway as you get nearer to Assen the fuel stations set up their own burger bars and coffee stalls and they are generally packed with bikers. For the period around the races the pumps are individually manned so you don’t have to get off your bike to fill up. Simply ride up to the pump and the attendant will fill it for you and then ride over to the bike park, pay for the fuel and enjoy the atmosphere - brilliant.
