Text/photo: Kenneth Nordahl-Pedersen
Ole Andreas has summed up his 2024, with a focus on this year’s models. Here, Kenneth follows up with some reflections on his motorcycle year, but with most focus on the experiences.
For me, a motorcycling year usually starts with a trip to warmer climes to get some two-wheeling in and shorten a frustratingly long winter. This year I rounded up a good group and traveled to Spain and Andalusia in early February. It was some great days on the then brand new BMW R1300 GS. It’s always fun to try new models. The GS was impressive, but to tell the truth, it was absolutely no downer to switch to the “old” R1250 GS. We brought both.
Just a month later, I was lucky enough to be invited to Portugal and the Portimao track, and the launch of Honda’s new CBR-RR models. Despite my diligent efforts in the weeks leading up to the event to get the leathers to fit, it’s fair to say that this type of task requires considerably more tenacity at the age of 53 than it did earlier in life. As you can imagine, the leather suit was a little tight, and the R bikes haven’t gotten any roomier over the years. I came to the test ride with a good dose of performance anxiety, which wasn’t helped by talking to the other journalists taking part. They were all formerly active racing drivers, and it didn’t seem that long ago. Things went pretty smoothly, even though I wasn’t the fastest. Okay, I was the slowest – in my group, but I had probably kept up well with the flu group that came after us. It was also nice to have a chat with John McGuiness himself. The man has more than 110 starts in the Isle of Man TT and has 23 wins. He showed that it’s possible to drive really fast even after you’ve turned 50. I was probably more at home two weeks later when I got to try Honda’s new E-clutch solution on their CBR 650s on winding mountain roads in the south of France.
In the fall of 2023, I was invited to be part of Norseman Adventures. Much of the winter was spent planning two super-exciting trips to Mongolia and Georgia, and when it became all roads in this country, I was super-motivated for a great motorcycle season. Unfortunately, many of the weekends were rained out, and the season’s only destination in Norway, Lysebotn, never materialized. But there was a spring rally to Sundvollen on May 1, and a gravel weekend at Finnskogen in June. The absolute highlight of the year was the aforementioned trip to Mongolia. It has been a dream for many years. In 2020, after two years of planning, a couple of good friends and I were going to drive to Ulan Bator. Unfortunately, the plan was halted by the pandemic, and the dream was allowed to live on as just that. Until this year. It’s important not to let the best get in the way of the good. I’m still dreaming of taking a few months off and driving all the way, but it’s a demanding project. I set up a trip where we flew to Ulan Bator and organized a round trip to the Gobi Desert on light off-road bikes. I could spend a lot of time talking about that trip, but I’ll do that on another occasion. Suffice it to say that it was an adventure and a special experience, and highly recommended. Some of the ingredients were otherworldly landscapes, fermented horse milk and overnight stays in yurts.
As if that wasn’t enough, I only had two weeks at home before I took a group to Georgia and the Caucasus. It was another fantastic trip, with lots of great experiences together with great people. Georgia is full of history, food experiences, wine, nature and hospitable people.
When we got home, it was suddenly August, and a summer leaning towards fall. At this time of year, I always get a bit stressed about all the trips I thought I’d take during the winter months, and which I don’t seem to have time for this year either. Even my little joy-spreader of a Vespa 300 needed some attention in August. The weekend trip I had planned with it never materialized, but there will be a new spring soon. Mountain driving is always important in August, and the Straand Treffet rounded off the season in September. However, I don’t park until the first nights of frost have arrived, and I always hope for a few nice days in October. That’s how it turned out this year too.
At the time of writing, the year is at its darkest, and it’s time to summarize, as I’m doing here, but also to start planning for the coming season. I’m really looking forward to the Laos trip in February, and the summer vacation trip is being planned. It looks like it will be both the Transfagarasen and the Alps. In the time before and after, I intend to try out many new Hubriding routes, and report here on På2Hjul about both trips, bikes and many other motorcycle-related things.
I can’t wait for 2025!
