KTMeet 09 (Farewell Cuba !)

By kirk // Events // Comments Off

KTMeet 09, Brezoi, friendly meet-up of KTM owners and fans, stitched together by Panic Squad Cluj-Napoca and Free Bike Team Rm. Vâlcea, has just ended, leaving behind a great memory.

It all started in December of last year, when the snow and cold weather forced us to cut back on “orange” riding, and we had more time on our hands to daydream. As the crisis was upon us, we struggled for some time to find financing for the meeting, but with no luck. Thus, we found ourselves with very little very late, but in the end we reached our goal.

The location was selected to be as central (with regards to the country) as possible, and after the talks we had with the mayor, we settled on a 1ha camp, with running water, electric current, toilets, showers, kitchen, a few trees, a span of green, and a dozen dogs for… “protection”.

The morning of Friday, August 28th 2009 found us at the camp gates. Defenetly one of the most stressful days of my life, considering it kept raining untill 2 in the afternoon, there were only three of us there, and we had no ideea how many people will come, and knowing we were supposed to honor our deal with the mayor on Saturday, namely a parade and a show in the town center. No matter how wild we let our imaginations roam, a parade of three people and two bikes, be them KTMs, was still a sorry sight.

But then the sky cleared, and nightfall catches us around the fire stirring an orange-tinted gulaş in the company of fifteen to twenty people. Tales of latest orange adventures ran long into early morning, and the departure on Saturday’s ride caught some of us with just a few hours sleep.

Litres of coffee are consumed while Ştef reveals his secret weapon, a couple of large speakers and Metallica. With a short delay, people are on their way. Perfect weather for riding, the sun is shining, but it’s not too hot.

The itinerary for the rides was put together by Ştef and the guys from Free Bike. They had marked the course for the EXCs beforehand, and Clau created a fairly detailed map for the dual bikes from memory using just a pen and a sheet of paper.

Those of us that stayed behind were visited by the mayor and the chief of Brezoi’s police, and we settled the details for the evening’s parade and show.

That evening, 17:30 catches all of us gathered for the group photo before the parade. We line up behind the police car and we’re off. The police was very cooperative and they cleared the path for us to run the entire length of the road that crosses the small town.

I took part in my share of motorcycle parades, but this was the best received. We were the attraction and I can only imagine how thirty-something KTMs sound from the audience.

As the parade ended we were supposed to put on a small show on a street in the town center, closed down specially for us. There, the festivities for the town’s celebration were also on their way. I forgot to mention earlier, but that same weekend, “Târgul Lotrilor” was happening and anyone and everyone from Brezoi was there.

We were expecting to maybe catch the attention of a few kids at best, so we were very surprised when we passed the fence the police had set up to close traffic and everybody was waiting for us on both sides of the road. The show’s sensation were the dirt bikers, let by Clau, who wheelied, stoppied, crashed, got up and then did it all again, and then more. All this was very well received, the people cheered, they congratuled us, shook our hands, and yes, some even asked for autographs. Ştef would know best about that.

We were invited by the mayor to join their festivities, to dine and drink with them, and we defenetly didn’t mind some barbacue and a cold one. The whole time we were there, people kept coming up to us and giving us their best, and inviting us to come back other times as well; a very welcoming community.

It was a great site, in the midst of the crowd, a few tables filled with people dressed in orange and our customized event shirts, having the time of their lives.

We came back to camp as it got dark and built a fire, but only after getting our beer from a nearby bar, stored specially extra-cold for us. After all, we had a movie to see; and we’re talking about nothing less than the launch of the Enduro Manicao-Depresiv 2009 official DVD. For those of you less familiar with the event, EMD is a brainchild of Ştef and his crew, the 2009 edition being its fourth.

A long night follows, animated by jokes and tales on two wheels, with a few people catching the sunrise still by the now exhausted fire.

Then came Sunday, and you can’t help it but feel a little off, knowing this is the last day and soon you’ll be going back to your daily routine. One by one the people are saying their goodbyes and departing for home, leaving with the memory of a fun weekend and with the promise of coming back next time.

To get an idea of the area and how beautiful the scenery is, I recommend you take a peek at the pictures from the rides, as I cannot put it into words.

Our regards to the guys from Free Bike Team Vâlcea, to Ionuţ-spionuţ from Bistriţa, to our “fisherman friends” (inside joke) from Bucharest (Eugen especially for the storytelling and jokes), to Galaţi (long way from Galaţi!), to Argeş, to Sibiu, etc. (I’m sorry, my geography isn’t that strong), to everybody that was there, and last but not least, to our very own first edition “mascot”, Iepuraşul (in translation, “the little bunny rabbit”) from Tg. Mureş.

I don’t want it to sound cliché, but we’d like to thank Ştef, Clau and the rest of Free Bike Team, the Brezoi Police and Mayorship, led by the mayor, Robert Schell, for all their hard work and making this event possible. And I’d like to thank all who attended, because this actually was an event put together by all of us, with little to no resources. We just provided the time and the place and everybody came through.

We’ll be waiting for you next year.. at least twice as many, twice as orange and twice as well organized.

Stay tuned to this station for news on the next KTM-meet!

Kirk, Panic Squad Cluj-Napoca, signing off.

P.S.: the original “Farewell Cuba!” title is also an inside joke, don’t worry if you don’t get it . Join us next time and perhaps Eugen will let you in on the secret.