Nürburgring Anlassen 2024 - What an Experience!
2024-04-29
Yesterday, I went on my biggest motorcycle day trip thus far: From Ratingen to the Nürburgring and back. Visiting the Nürburgring has been my #1 bike-related goal since I got my first motorcycle last year, so the Anlassen/Rev-Up event seemed like the perfect opportunity.
Anlassen/Rev-Up - About the Event
Every year the Nürburgring hosts a ecumenical mass for bikers, that is followed by a motorcycle parade around the Nordschleife. I was not really interested in the mass itself, but it has been an ongoing tradition for 25 years and quite a few people joined the mass, before going on the ride around the Nordschleife. For me, it was all about driving the Nordschleife - the best race track in the world.
Getting there
I decided I wanted to get to the Eifel rather quickly, but reduce the amount of time spent on the Autobahn, if reasonable. I ended up driving to Euskirchen (about 1 hour) using the Autobahn and then switched to the Eifel's famous backroads - Calimoto rated the hour that followed at 96/100 points, with regards to twists and turns. Awesome!
On arriving at the Nürburgring at around 12:15 pm, all motorcyclists were sent into a very long queue, to await their declared parking space. The line behind me:
We spent around an hour in line, barely moving 50m, before the Nürburgring finally decided to open a second parking space. To our surprise, they opened the GP circuit's main straight as additional parking. Being able to drive onto the start/finish was a magical moment, if you ask me. It's this surreal feeling, when you are suddenly in a place, that you usually only see on TV or behind a fence. Unfortunately, the parking was not very organized, so we decided to park along the borders of the straight, but were then told, by the sole security person, to keep driving to the end of the straight. Some people ignored his advice, but I thought: "Ok, sure, why not?". This turned out to be a lucky, but very good decision, as you will see in a moment.
My initial parking spot, at the (at that time) very end of the line, looking towards the Nordschleife:
My final parking space, looking away from the Nordschleife. We are now on the other side of the BMW bridge from the previous picture. The entrance to the Nordschleife is now only ~50-100m away.
Time to eat!
After finally having a place to park and storing away my helmet and tank bag into the panniers, I made it my mission to finally acquire some food. Luckily, there were tons to choose from: Pizza, Burgers, Currywurst, Fries and much more. I settled on a nice BBQ pulled pork sandwich (10.50€), yum!
Exploring the Event
After eating, I spent some time exploring around the GP track and got a full view of the craziness that was unfolding. 45.000 people took part in the event, beating last year's 7000 easily and even breaking the all time record of 19.000 from 2019 with ease. Take a look at the ocean of motorcycles. I have never seen anything like it anywhere:
Amazingly, the roof and VIP platform were open to everyone during the event, allowing me to take that amazing picture, as well as get a good view onto the Eifel and the main area with the food stalls and stage during the mass:
The Motorcycle Parade
After some more walking around, it was finally time for the main event: the parade around the Nordschleife. Everyone around me got busy getting ready early, and rightfully so - we were very close to the first row:
Only 2-3 minutes after the start of the parade, I had made it onto the Nordschleife. Driving myself, on my own bike - unreal! Having driven literally thousands of laps around the Nordschleife in race cars on the simulator, I knew the track by heart and it felt like I had driven here many times before. Seeing everything in real life, close-up and personal, was something else though. A computer screen loses a level of depth and really doesn't capture the rollercoaster that the Nordschleife is. There are so many steep ups and downs, as well as crazy bumps in the track, that are almost not noticeable in a game. What an incredible experience!
Trip Recap - Would I go again?
All set and done I drove around 360 km, a bit over five hours of active driving, including two hours on the Autobahn. So I was absolutely knackered when I got back home after almost 10 hours.
Was it worth it, even with standing in line for over an hour? Absolutely. If I get the chance to go again, I certainly will. When else do you get a chance to drive on the best race track in the world, at a touristic pace in a relatively safe environment without other cars on track? Correct: only during this one special day, once a year. See you there next time!
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me via one of my socials!