ConnectingRides… what’s that supposed to mean?

If you know me from BMW Motorrad, you might have expected “ConnectedRide”… digital stuff for motorcycle tours, navigation and mainly app features I’ve been working on for many years.

Looking back to my free time activities over last more or less 15 years, it was largely connecting one motorcycle tour with already planning the next, connecting with friends I haven’t seen for a while during these rides and connecting with other people in that special way a road trip makes possible, especially when on a motorcycle.

And whenever my friends and me reflect about past rides, unique uniting memories turn up. Riding motorcycles together is in itself a connecting experience. I’d like to share that with a timeline summary. If you are riding yourself and you are interested in route details, gpx files, etc. just reach out to me.

This page is to keep friends and family updated and whoever might be interested. And yes, I know, in most cases I am somewhat behind in keeping the blog up-to-date. But I am inspired by President Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger in the Simpsons movie (“I was elected to lead, not to read”) – so I am here to ride, not to write ๐Ÿ˜† Hey, but at least the live tracking is up-to-date…

Live tracking 2024

Powered by www.greenalp.com with corresponding Android app Real-Time GPS Tracker 2.

Blog 2024


France: Arcachon โ†’ Switzerland: Winterthur

1201 km in 3 days

August 17-19, 2024


Ice Age

Actually, there are only two valid methods for getting home after a motorcycle tour. Either spend as much time as possible in the holiday region and then ruthlessly blast through the remaining stretch home, or incorporate enough beautiful places into the return trip so that it feels like a vacation right up to the last kilometers. Whenever possible, I try to go for the second option.

This time, the journey back began in the Bordeaux region with the almost kitschy-beautiful wine village of Saint-ร‰milion, then over the 14th-century Vieux Pont to Bergerac. My nose wasn’t big enough to stand out there particularly. So, onward through the Perigord to the Vรฉzรจre Valley, where I first had to look up the word “Abri.” It’s a rock overhang created by erosion, which in this valley was used for extensive housing development in prehistoric times, including by our Cro-Magnon relatives.

I was a bit disappointed to see no saber-toothed squirrels there. Maybe “Ice Age” was not a documentary after all.

The overnight stay in Brive-la-Gaillarde was surprisingly entertaining because the hotel owner himself rides an R nineT, so we had plenty to talk about. The next day, I continued through the Massif Central and the exciting landscape of the Chaรฎne des Puys, a chain of volcanic mountains in the Auvergne-Rhรดne-Alpes region, to my last overnight stop on this tour in Clermont-Ferrand.

There, the friendly receptionist at the “Le Lion” told me I could park right in front of the door, but that would be unguarded.

Hmmmโ€ฆ when I came to my motorcycle the next morning, I found a very attentive guard with obviously good taste in motorcycles (as the last photo below clearly shows).


France: Biscarrosse Plage โ†’ Arcachon

31 km in 1 day

August 13-16, 2024


Beach life

After a few nice days at the beach in Biscarrosse, we were looking forward to a few nice days at the beach in Arcachon and Cap Feret. Besides lots of sand, these places probably have the highest concentration of Citroรซn Mรฉharis. Beautiful. And there are lots of really good oysters that you can eat right by the sea.

For motorcycle riders, once again there’s particularly good service, like often in France: When I asked if the folks at the hotel had a safe spot for my motorcycle, they just said: “Best to park it right next to the main entrance by the window. Then someone at the reception will have a direct view of it 24/7.” Motorcycle paradise.


Spain: Pamplona โ†’ France: Biscarrosse Plage

312 km in 1 day

August 10-12, 2024


I really don’t know

Marcus started his journey back home to Germany very early, while I get to enjoy another day of riding with Diego through the Basque part of the Pyrenees. Which brings us straight to the problem: I really don’t know how to properly list the mountain passes here: Basque, Spanish, French, English…? I’ve rarely had so many options and so little clue. Oh well: Urkiagako lepoa, Izpegiko lepoa, Ezkisaroi lepoa, Otxondo mendatea.

Diego and I share a friendship built on motorcycling; we’ve already done a day tour through the Pyrenees in 2016 and another through the foothills near Munich in 2018. We should really go on a longer trip together sometime.
A particular highlight of this tour was a stop at Pastelerรญa Malkorra for coffee and Txantxigorri, a typical pastry from Navarra with the surprising ingredients of fried pork, lard, bread dough, and sugar.

Important update some weeks later: My friend Virginia from Pamplona informed me that I had mostly been riding through Navarra. So forget about regional and linguistic challenges. I was in Navarra, that’s it ๐Ÿ˜„

Music: “Driffield Beats” (c) by Mike Allen licensed under CC BY-NC-ND


Spain: Sos del Rey Catรณlico โ†’ Bardenas Reales โ†’ Pamplona

188 km in 1 day

August 09, 2024


Desert for dessert. And pintxos. And beer.

The last day of our tour together. We can’t say that we saved the best for last because the past days have been so sensational. But the semi-desert Bardenas Reales in Navarra is definitely a special highlight. The older ones among us immediately think of locations for Western movies. The younger ones are more likely to shout, “Oh, the Dothraki Sea! Where are the Khalasars?” The motorcyclists are like: “Hehe, rad dust trails!” ๐Ÿ˜

But in any case, it’s an incredibly impressive landscape that you wouldn’t necessarily expect in Europe.

Sebastian then started his journey back via the ferry in Barcelona to southern Italy. Marcus and I headed to Pamplona, where after a quick refreshment, we basically had dinner from 4 PM to 10 PM. Relevant magic words:
ยกPintxos y caรฑas!


Spain: Vielha โ†’ Sos del Rey Catรณlico

295 km in 1 day

August 08, 2024


Los Pueblos Mรกs Bonitos de Espaรฑa

Why are we riding on bumpy, dusty, uncomfortable trails through the mountains? It’s hard to say. Marcus summed it up nicely along the way. We had barely driven a few meters off-road when he asked over the intercom, “Do you also feel it? It immediately feels like freedom” That’s how it is, somehow, riding motorcycles in general, but it gets stronger with less infrastructure. And there are pleasant surprises like the change to reddish rocks and paths. Sometimes, the surprises even come with a delay, like when you’re back home. Just before the off-road part, we stopped at a viewpoint, which was nice, but not particularly impressive given the consistently beautiful landscape all around. We kept driving.

When I was looking at the map while writing this, I realized we should have been looking in the other direction. Then I might have seen the monument for Pau Donรฉs, the singer of my favorite Spanish band Jarabe de Palo, who passed away in 2021. The sculpture looks out over his village of Montanui, and the viewpoint is now called “Mirador Pau Donรฉs.”
So, I guess I’ll just have to go backโ€ฆ

Our destination was Sos del Rey Cรกtolico, one of the (officially) most picturesque villages in Spain. And it is, as Marcus’ aerial photo shows. Again, we were allowed to park right in front of the hotel and again the food was sooo delicious. I have to go back there.


Spain: La Seu d’Urgell โ†’ Vielha

180 km in 1 day

August 07, 2024


And I looked up and behold, a pale horse

It was the day of the apocalypse. Or so we thought. Several signs pointed to it. But more on that later. The day began very warm once again. The traffic through Andorra reminded us that quite a number of people actually live in the Pyrenees. And they all seem to want to shop tax-free in Andorra. Interesting: Recently, an eSports convention took place there at the Andorra La Vella Congress Center.

Strange: Everywhere in the mountains, there were signs about esports โ€” even at the mountain bike downhill trails and ski slopes. It took us a while to realize that “esports” in Catalan means “sports” (capitalization matters…). Still, the esports ski slope was great as they had a restaurant at the Coll de la Botella (beautiful road and name). At 2073 m, it was refreshingly cool with our coffees in the shade.

The descent from the Coll de Cabรบs to the village Alins was part of the outstanding tracks of the ACT Pyrenees and as breathtaking as they promised. We only used a few small sections of the ACT tracks on our tour, combined with our own route ideas, but we definitely have to come back for the full ACT experience.

It was quite amusing, though, that the border between Andorra and Spain marked a change from the impeccably smooth tarmac on the Andorran side to a gravel road in Spain. It seemed like Andorra wanted to make a statement. However, we enjoyed the ride on the gravel road even more. ๐Ÿคฉ

As I said before, we felt as if we were caught in the Apocalypse, at least according to the King James Bible, Book of Revelation 6:8.
Fortunately, all documented on video:

โ€œAnd I looked up and behold, a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death [not visible in the video, perhaps the frame rate was too low], and Hell followed with him [that must be the brown horse in the upper right, didnโ€™t look particularly unfriendly]. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.โ€

As the empirical evidence in the video clearly demonstrates, Revelation 6:8 failed to mention that you could avoid being caught in this unfortunate scenario, as the aforementioned pale horse is irritatingly outfitted with a cowbell, providing ample acoustic warning and sufficient opportunity for a strategic retreat to one of the unaffected three-quarters of the earth.

Also in terms of dramaturgy, the introduction of the cowbell did not contribute positively to the pale horseโ€™s intended threatening aura. Its significance remains largely unclear and must be dismissed as an unsuitable means of paraphrasing โ€œfor whom the bell tolls.โ€

Additionally, I’d say that โ€œto kill with [โ€ฆ] deathโ€ is a rather substandard illustration of the procedures available in the biblic annihilation toolkit.
I would give this specific instance of a revelation no more than two stars on a Google review.

Anyway, we are going to ride to a village called โ€œSos del Rey Catรณlicoโ€ tomorrow. Should be safe there๐Ÿ˜„


Italy: Genoa โ†’ Spain: La Seu d’Urgell

229 km (+821 km ferry) in 2 days

August 05-06, 2024


On-board entertainment

On the ferry, we continued our strict re-hydration plan. There was a surprisingly decent restaurant on the ferry, by the way. And with our own on-board entertainment program it was actually quite a lot of fun. The very affordable 300g portable projector with Bluetooth audio really was an upgrade to our tour equipment.

When approaching Barcelona, parts of our travel group had difficulties with remembering names again, re-baptizing Gaudรญ’s famous cathedral to “Hagia Sangrรญa”. Close enough ๐Ÿคฃ

We left Barcelona as fast as we could. Not only because of the overtourism. Mainly because 38ยฐC were a good motivator to get going. After about an hour and a half of highway riding we reached higher altitudes and it is surprising how much you feel every single drop of degree in temperature. We were already highly thankful when it was around 34ยฐC and the headwind stopped having a negative effect. In the mountains it was lovely. We rode on roads connecting nowhere with nowhere but with high-quality tarmac in between. Felt like paradise.


Germany: Goldern โ†’ Italy: Genoa

774 km in 3 days

August 03-05, 2024


From Panigale to Genoa

In my sabbatical last year, I initially wanted to do the Pyrenees as well. Didnโ€™t work out. But it was for the better because I would have done that trip alone. Now, Marcus, Sebastian and me were able to enjoy together one of the nicest trips I had done in a very long time, although we only had one week. Basic plan: Via South Tyrol to Genoa, take the ferry to Barcelona, ride the Pyrenees on- and off-road for a few days and then split to spend the rest of the vacation with our families. So off we went with a little bit of rain in Austria and a fortunately quick crossing of the Brenner pass. Left us more time for caffรจ in Italy.

Penser Joch and Mendel Pass were as wonderful as ever, but the real highlights were the view and the Aperitivo in the wonderful Hotel โ€œPenegalโ€. The name of the mountain was too complicated for some of us so we always called it โ€œHotel Panigaleโ€. Much better.

On the next day we had to wait about 5 hours at the ferry in the burning sun. We decided it was important to stay hydrated and opened our own little beer garden in the shade of some trucks. There was a strange smell all over the place. Agreed on it as the smell of AdBlue, as we didnโ€™t like the (more probable) alternativeโ€ฆ


Germany: BMW Motorrad Days

427 km in 1 day

July 05, 2024


BMW Motorrad Days

Finally, the BMW Motorrad Days are back in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The weather on Friday was beautiful, and I took a sunny ride there with my colleague Alex. My favorite customizer was also back in action. In fact, I couldn’t walk five meters without running into a familiar face. So nice.

For the ride home in the evening, I had incredibly lonely roads – after all, there was the quarter-final match of the European Football Championship between Germany and Spain at the same time.

Riding my motorcycle was clearly the better choice, and not just because of the game result ๐Ÿ˜„


Italy: Montecopiolo โ†’ Milan โ†’ Switzerland: Winterthur

770 km in 2 days

May 01-04, 2024


Milan or Madrid – as long as it’s Italy

Although there is no proof that former German national football player Andreas Mรถller ever said the “Milan or Madrid” thing (and he denied it several times – though who wouldn’t?), I can’t go to Milan without thinking of it. Anyway, Milan is kind of special to me. I first went there in 2016 and, in the following years, mainly for the EICMA. Judging from the surroundings of the exhibition grounds and the fog in November, I had the unjust impression of a not very inviting location.

But after discovering the city center in 2018, with many tips from friends and especially when visiting the restaurants and bars in Isola, I fell in love with that place. And – like in every Italian city – you can make so incredibly many breaks during a touristic walk for a quick caffรจ that you don’t get tired at all.

So, on the way back from the Transitalia Ways, my wife and I took the opportunity to spend a weekend there, which pretty much felt like a complete holiday.


Italy: Montecopiolo โ†’ Transitalia Ways โ†’ Montecopiolo

409 km in 3 days

April 28-30, 2024


Transitalia Ways

Three days of riding on the nicest roads and gravel tracks in Tuscany, Umbria and Marche lay ahead. We were extremely lucky with the weather. Shortly before, it had been continuously very cold and rainy, but now it was clear and stable. Some of the tracks were still a bit muddy. We stuck to the easier routes, while others waded through deeper mud.

The food was indescribably good. Mirco chose a location for each day that particularly reflected the style of the region. I think I really gained weight in that short time, and it wasnโ€™t just because of the especially creamy and very official “MTR Transitalia Ways” tart on the last eveningโ€ฆ


Germany: Goldern โ†’ Italy: Montecopiolo

746 km in 2 days

April 26-27, 2024


Riding to Transitalia Ways (with challenges)

One of the most exciting riding events last year was the Transitalia Marathon. So what could be better than to start this year with the Transitalia Ways, offered by Archie Greene of MTR Tour. Archie is not only a fully certified tour guide, but also one of the marshalls of the Transitalia Marathon (TM), organizing the Transitalia Ways as a kind of “best of” together with the TM mastermind Mirco Urbinati. My first organized tour (not organized by myself, I mean). The first challenge was to get there. The temperatures dropped at the beginning of April and our plan to ride through Austria via Nassfeldpass needed to be canceled due to snow.

Carina, Dominik and me (the dream team from last year’s TM) managed to arrive in Sterzing only half frozen. But Dom’s bike didn’t start the next day due to engine problems (if we knew back then the severity we wouldn’t have tried Tool Time at the hotel parking…). Anyway, what we witnessed then was one the best customer experiences I could imagine. As soon as Archie was informed that we got stuck, he 1) organized a ride for Dom to Rimini, 2) organized a rental F 900 GS and 3) said all the time “well, simply come here, we will always find a way”. MTR Tours: no problems, only solutions.


Blog 2023

2023 at a glance

Those were the 2023 days… Tracking in Tuscany partially interrupted to comply with Transitalia Marathon regulations.
Click map for details.


Switzerland: Winterthur โ†’ Transitalia Marathon โ†’ Germany: Goldern

2427 km in 6 days

September 22-28, 2023


Transitalia Marathon

Switzerland: Winterthur โ†’ Italy: Rimini (682 km)

I was so excited! Ulli, a good friend of mine, asked me again and again to once join the Transitalia Marathon. The event name is a bit misleading. No running and no competition. Just very scenic off road rides across Italy from coast to coast on roads and tracks that are partially restricted.

As I finally owned a more or less suitable bike and Ulli organized starting slots again, I was so much looking forward to it. A bit of a stretch to get there, but the atmosphere at registration and technical inspection in itself was already so much rewarding. So many (ca. 400) nerdy people from all over Europe!

Day 1: Rimini โ†’ Cittร  di Castello (181 km)

The celebration of sending the riders off was quite something. Everyone was called on stage, handed over the official time cards and received final instructions. It was quite rainy during the night and the first day started muddy (not in Rimini, they do have roads there).

For lunch, the organization team built a pop-up catering station right on the historic central place of Mercatello sul Metauro. And it even got better: First the sun came out and then finish and dinner were right in the middle of the also historic central place at Cittร  di Castello. Breathtaking.

Day 2: Cittร  di Castello โ†’ Chianciano Terme (215 km)

At the beginning of day two, I teamed up with Sergio and while we were not the fastest, we achieved far more stops for a caffรจ than the average participant.

Sergio was also kind enough to help me out of my substandard off road parking space. On the route we met Carina and Dominik and the dream team was complete.

Day 3: Chianciano Terme โ†’ Follonica Terme (218 km)

While on day 2, I cleaned my motorcycle rudimentary from thick layers of mud (that do not go well with air cooled engines), I managed to get a far more elegant dust coating on day 3.

We continued the tradition of excessive Espresso intake, leaving us to be some of the last to arrive at our destination. Needed to go to bed early (and more sober than the days before) for an early start.

Day 4: Follonica Terme โ†’ Rimini (348 km)

And an early start it was indeed. But with more than 300 km to to, we needed every minute. Maybe because there was again the occasional coffee stop.

And again. And again. And then I punctured my tire, but in a dedicated team effort we defeated fate. Of course, we were also among the last to arrive ๐Ÿ˜†

and after that… Italy: Rimini โ†’ Germany: Goldern (783 km)


France: Trรฉgastel โ†’ Switzerland: Winterthur

1172 km in 2 days

September 06-07, 2023


Going home

Time to head back home again, at least for a while. But I miss my wife, and my motorcycle misses the workshop crew at VTR Motorrad. So: Onto the highway and as quickly as possible heading east. Actually very uneventful, but on highways, you encounter the strangest species.

Somehow, I ended up at a petrol station right in the middle of the Goldwing Fan Club of supposedly Central France. Okay, Goldwing, strange enough. Level up: Goldwing with a trailer. Level up again: Three-wheeled Goldwing. Time to head homeโ€ฆ


Ireland: Dublin โ†’ France: Trรฉgastel

368 km (+653 km ferry) in 2 days

September 02-05, 2023


The North (of France, this time)

My sister has been spending her holidays with her family in Brittany for a few years now. How wonderful that I was able to visit them all! On the ferry, I could take my time, enjoy a last Irish breakfast and watch the harbor entrance, because the motorcycles were parked in a niche on the upper deck and all the cars had to disembark first. After a short trip through Normandy to Brittany, I finally arrived in the beautiful town of Trรฉgastel. And after the long time in England, Scotland, and Ireland, I am really looking forward to French cuisine.

For example, at Lโ€™Atelier de lโ€™Huรฎtre, where fresh oysters can be enjoyed directly from the producer with a glass of wine. But what I was particularly looking forward to: fresh baguette!

Scenically, the Cรดte de Granit Rose lives up to its name. The incredibly impressive colours of the rocks cannot be conveyed properly in photos. And besides the round rocks in rosรฉ, there are also beautiful round grey rocks lying around in other places. Sometimes in gardens where they are bigger than the houses next to them.


Ireland: Monkstown โ†’ Glencullen โ†’ Dublin

417 km in 3 days

August 30 – September 02, 2023


The oldest and (formerly) the highest

For my last days in Ireland, I saved a few particularly traditional pubs: Johnnie Fox’s in Glencullen, founded in 1798 and impressively positioned 278 meters above sea level in the beautiful Wicklow Mountains, formerly the highest pub in Ireland. Probably also the only pub with a grave for one of the regulars and almost certainly the only pub with its own confessional. Seemed to be necessary.

After a short tour through Dublin, I visited The Brazen Head from 1198, pretty much the oldest pub in Ireland (of course not undisputed). On this occasion, I must say: not all modern things are bad. For example, alcohol-free Guinness, which is incredibly good to enjoy during a motorcycle tour. With a non-alcohol-free beer on the surprisingly sunny deck of the ferry to France, my Ireland adventure came to an end.


Ireland: Burren โ†’ Killarney โ†’ Monkstown

517 km in 2 days

August 28-29, 2023


Cliffs of Moher and Ring of Kerry

In my youth, Ireland was always a place I longed to visit. After finishing school, my first trip as an 18-year-old was there, with a good friend. I was particularly captivated by the Cliffs of Moher, and I had several posters of them hanging in my room. They’ve changed quite a bit since 1995! Well, the cliffs themselves haven’t, but the surroundings have. In the ’90s, you could still walk around freely. In 2005, I found an “impressive” (instructive and funny) warning sign that you could fall off. On my recent visit, I was quite surprised to find that it is now completely safe even for American tourists.

There’s an official parking lot, a visitor center, and the whole shebang. Very domesticated. How wonderful that I had just heard about the Kilkee Cliffs shortly before. A bit further south, slightly smaller, without a visitor center. And with seagulls instead of people.

The next day, I headed to the Ring of Kerry. Also very nice, and very enjoyable on a motorcycle. Definitely drive clockwise, as tour buses and trucks are required to go counterclockwise, and you can enjoy the route much better this way.


Ireland: Westport โ†’ Newport โ†’ Burren

319 km in 2 days

August 25-27, 2023


Harr, Harr, Pirates (and Rocks and Dogs)!

If you thought (male) pirates made for good stories, wait till you hear from Grรกinne Nรญ Mhรกille (or Grace O’Malley). After her father’s death, she took over the O’Malley dynasty leadership. Irish law, however, did not allow a female descendant to become clan leader. So she took her father’s fleet and began with the highly esteemed occupation of being a pirate. She did not only manage to negotiate two of her sons out of English captivity,

but left the talks with Elizabeth I. with acknowledged clan chief titles for her sons, continued her special line of work and lived to a ripe old age. I visited some of the castles she lived in and saw plenty of other picturesque ruins surrounded by more green stuff. Until I reached the Burren, a karst landscape in County Clare where green is swapped with grey, and it all looks more like a lunar landscape.

By pure luck I found a wonderful cottage (Burren Lakeside Cottage) which is normally completely booked out during summer. Gerry, the owner, told me that his last guests needed to leave earlier than planned. I was more than happy to fill the few gap days until the next booking.

I wouldn’t have needed three bedrooms, but a cottage with lake access and the most adorable and relaxed Jack Russel Terriers I have ever seen was just perfect. The dogs were obviously highly trained to obey Covid physical distance regulations while waiting for my attention ๐Ÿ˜„

On the other hand… their affection for me sometimes intensified to a kind of stalking-like behaviour…

Anyway, one of the most peaceful places I got to spend time in. Would love to come again some day. And they even had washing machine, pure luxury on tour!

As the time of my departure neared, the dogs guarded my motorcycle particularly well in precaution.


Ireland: Cong โ†’ Westport

225 km in 1 day

August 24, 2023


Of true and false heroes

Cong is a kind of Ireland-Disney-Wonderland, as the tourist authorities managed to conserve it very much like in the 1950s. Back then, the John Ford movie “The Quiet Man” was shot there featuring John Wayne. As a child, I admired him in Western movies. It was much later that I learned what a stupid reactionist the guy was. Quite the opposite of a hero.

A true hero on the other hand was Patrick (or Pรกdraig) Henry Pearse, an Irish teacher, author, political activist, one of the leaders of the Eastern rising 1916 and for some days the first president of the Republic of Ireland before he was court-martialled and executed. Pearse’s cottage as a school played a huge role in preserving the Irish language and is now a museum.


Ireland: Ballyshannon โ†’ Arvagh โ†’ Cong

319 km in 2 days

August 22-23, 2023


Sligo to Galway

Ben Bulben, a large flat-topped rock formation, is said to be the home of the Fianna, a band of warriors from the 3rd century with legendary leader Fionn mac Cumhaill. In this rare case, the anglicized name sounds better to me: Finn McCool. Anyway, wasn’t at home that day.

Continued the tour mainly consisting of green, lonely and ancient. Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery might have been interesting but after having seen plenty of Neolithic tombs on the way there I was somewhat too lazy and prioritized the next pub visit instead.


Ireland: Letterkenny โ†’ Ballyshannon

255 km in 1 day

August 21, 2023


Donegal

With the Wild Atlantic Way Ireland offers overwhelming 2.500 km of scenic coastline roads along its Western shoreline. I went for a semi-informed partial approach. The lonely landscape and a slightly stormy weather in Co. Donegal made for an impressive experience.

Having reached Ballyshannon, my destination for that day, I found out that my pannier frame gave up. Wasn’t a good idea after all to force too much luggage into the bags every day. The day was saved, once more, by the outstanding performance of zip ties.


Scotland: Girvan โ†’ Northern Ireland โ†’ Ireland: Letterkenny

427 km (+75 km ferry) in 2 days

August 19-20, 2023


The grass may be greener on the other side

Always wanted to see Northern Ireland. Supposed to be a very beautiful place. Which it is, in some way. Everything green, friendly people as far as I can tell. But not only for somebody like me who is not a huge fan of putting up national flags every two meters, the density of Union Jacks everywere is annoying.

And as soon as you witness the memorials to “volunteers” on either side you can’t really imagine that the Troubles are over. Talked to Canadian tourists a while later and they also felt a burdening tense atmosphere. Decided quickly to find out if the grass is greener in the Republic of Ireland. Somewhat felt like it.


Scotland: Kingussieโ†’ Girvan

313 km in 1 day

August 16-18, 2023


Scone Island

Almost unspectacular trip South to Woodland Bay near Girvan for some days at the beach before heading to Ireland. Became somewhat spectacular when a giant scone appeared on the horizon. Turned out to be Ailsa Craig, an island also known as Fairy Rock. That’s at least something if I can’t get a giant scone.

Girvan Beach and Woodland Bay offered prime spots to watch the sunset. Decided (not a very difficult decision) to honour a friend’s tradition of riding the motorcycle to the beach having a wee whisky sunset (invented in Wales, but also works adequately on the Western shore of Scotland, empirically validated).


Scotland: Tainโ†’ NC500 โ†’ Kingussie

632 km in 2 days

August 14-15, 2023


The North (of Scotland, this time)

Very happy to have spent time talking to Dennis, the owner of Shandwick House B & B (highly recommended!). On the one hand because I got to play with his adorable Dalmatians. One the other hand because Dennis convinced me that the famous scenic road North Coast 500 is nice but very crowded especially in the West whereas the inland roads near Shin Forest and Loch Naver are beautiful and empty even in high season. Went there, marvellous.

Luckily I remembered that driving on the left means I should make the trip along the remaining coastal road to Dunnet Head (Scotland’s most Northern mainland location) and John O’Groats in clockwise direction for better views. At the end of a small gravel track I stumbled across a very remarkable pier that could be part of the “Scotland’s most instagrammable locations” collection with rocks and sea and green and everything. Still a hidden gem however, happy me.


Scotland: Glasgow โ†’ Ellon โ†’ Tain

638 km in 3 days

August 11-13, 2023


Magic

I have been to Stirling several times and the Wallace Monument never fails to fascinate me when it pops up on the horizon. Pretty sure J.R.R. Tolkien had that thing in mind when describing Sauron’s Barad-dรปr tower.

Another piece of magic: Small twisty roads through the Scottish Highlands even look lovely when it’s raining.

And in Ellon I found something that looked like magic as there are usually not too many shiny blue two meter tall bunnies in broad daylight.

As I witnessed the phenomenon even before hitting the BrewDog brewery later that afternoon, I was delighted to find out it was part of a charity organisation’s raising awareness to things presumably associated with colourful extra large hare.

Higher-order magic is wielded at BrewDog. Started by 2 people (+1 dog) in 2007 with 1.000 hl beer to more than 1.800 people and a million hl beer in 2023 is massive.

Not a sign of magic but of natural human stupidity was Culloden Battlefield. Hmph.


Scotland: Kintyre โ†’ Inveraray โ†’ New Lanark โ†’ Glasgow

386 km in 3 days

August 08-10, 2023


Glimpses of Utopia

Unexpected things… While nice scenery, lakes, more lakes and lakeside lakes were in the realm of the common things, the village New Lanark really was a trip back into that part of the 19th century where knowledge started to arise that human beings could also be treated as such even in a cotton mill. While the improvement in living conditions in the beginning was more in the range from completely and utterly unacceptable to just unacceptable, the visionary mind of Robert Owen gradually established social and welfare programs while keeping the business successful. Quite impressive.

Also very impressive at least from my current point of view are the works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow. I still remember my first time in Scotland about 20 years ago and I couldn’t care less at that time… Had other things in mind than architecture and design. An interesting fact about his “House for an Art Lover” is that it was not built before 1989, yet strictly according to original plans. Although deemed to be strongly superior to other contributions in a competition set by a design magazine, he was disqualified for being late with some final stuff. I fully sympathize with Mackintosh here… Luckily, the idea was revived later on.


Scotland: Islay โ†’ Campbeltown
Scotland: Barley โ†’ malt โ†’ wort โ†’ wash โ†’ low wines โ†’ spirits โ†’ cask

120 km (+60 km ferry) in 2 days

August 06-07, 2023


All about Whisky in one place

If you went to Scotland and only had time to visit one distillery you should go to Springbank in Campbeltown. It is like stepping into another world.

Springbank is an independent, family-owned distillery producing three single malts (Springbank, Longrow, Hazelburn) and the only distillery in Scotland with the whole whisky making process on-site including bottling and reassembling casks.

This is not merely a theoretical opportunity to see more, the Springbank people are strongly committed to show you everything. Sometimes you have to wait with the tour until you can enter an area safely.
Feels much more real๐Ÿ˜€
Additionally, they have a very low degree of automation. No computers in production and so many manual processing steps that they employ even more people than much larger distilleries.

Malting: Watered barley is spread out for 6-7 days on malting floor to germinate. Resulting malt is then dried in a kiln over a fire in hot air (but <70ยฐC) and various degrees of peat (ideally: a lot).

Mashing: Dried malt goes to the mill and then to the mash tun with hot water (65-95ยฐC). The resulting peated porridge is called “wort”.

Fermentation: Wort is cooled to 20ยฐC and pumped into the washbacks. Yeast is added delivering a “wash” with about 6-8% alcohol.

Destillation: Wash is distilled first in the wash still, separating alcohol from water, yeast and residue. Delivers “low wines” with about 20% alcohol. Low wines go to the spirit still, where the first (foreshot) and final runnings (feints) are channeled off for reuse while the heart of the run with about 68% alcohol are collected in the spirit receiver.

Filling the casks: Spirit is reduced to maturing strength 63% alcohol before being filled in to the casks.

And then: Waiting


Scotland: Islay

189 km in 3 days

August 03-05, 2023


Dreich, but great fun. And so many legends.

Brace yourselfes, it’s going to be a veeery long post with funny words.
Despite photos below showing blue skies, the headline of “The Ileach” summarizes our Islay stay almost perfectly: Dreich (dreary), but great fun.

With the Islay Hotel in Port Ellen we found a well located home base with a surprisingly ambitious cuisine and good internet and landline connections (important for our luggage hunt, see below…)
We made lots of walks on the island, e.g. to An Oa (the Oa peninsula) or to the Rhinss of Islay.

There are lots of cliff shorelines, some sandy beaches, bog, moorland, dune grassland, maritime grassland, and marsh. With rain and wind. Maybe not the most welcoming environment, but spectatular nevertheless.

The most important landscape aspect however: Black gold (peat)… And luckily fresh golden gold, barley, is also cultivated again. But it’s so difficult to grow and process that most barley is Scottish. Here, I provide some landscape photos to break the inevitable following monoculture of distillery pics.

BRUICHLADDICH. One of my absolute favorites. Not only because of the whisky. It’s the distillery, its story and the people.

First thing that strikes you in any contact with Bruichladdich is the magnificent branding with the distinctive turquoise color scheme introduced when reopening in the early 2000s, officially called “BRUICHLADDICH AQUA”. Legend has it that the ocean near shore had exactly that same color when the later owners first visited the place. Obviously no hyperactive design/marketing-persons with the need to annoy later retail personnel by choosing absolutely ridiculous color names, proving their achievements in advanced googling were involved (there are some in the motorcycle industry, I can tell you…). And I like that they are using no-nonsense functional sans-serif DIN1451 Mittelschrift from 1931 as corporate typeface.

Now to the guys that resurrected Bruichladdich. Two London wine merchants, Mark Reynier and Simon Coughlin teamed up with Gordon Wright of Springbank distillery. They already had whisky history together by opening the independent whisky bottler Murray McDavid in the Nineties.

The company was named after Reynier’s Scottish grandparents’ side: Murray and McDavid.
Reynier, Coughlin, and Wright bought the ruins of Bruichladdich distillery for GBP 7.5 million, thereof 5 million for the still aging whisky casks and getting all of the distillery for 2.5 million. But this can only be regarded as a bargain from today’s point of view knowing about the later success. Back then, it was a brave and fearless investment as whisky sales were low and tons of investments had to be made. They even renovated all the original Victorian equipment, disassembling everything and putting it back together after renovation. Which was so much more expensive than simply buying new stuff. Fun fact: there are still no computers in production!

The mean thing with whisky is that the return on investment comes so many years later when the first product is sold. But they managed all challenges, produced finest spirits by making (later) legend Jim McEwan master distiller in 2001 and letting him do his magic. They have really earned the product and financial success. Bruichladdich was sold in 2012 to Rรฉmy Cointreau for GBP 58 million and the new owners didn’t change anything.

CAOL ILA. A Coal Ila was actually the first whisky my wife liked more than 20 years ago. But as much as we admire the whisky, the distillery marketing did not fully win our hearts, a bit over-professional. And they vigorously pointed out at any possible occasion that Caol Ila is the Islay part of blended whisky Johnnie Walker. I don’t get it.

It’s like when you are making champagne, but you insist on telling everybody that you are world-renowned for your white wine in plastic containers.
Anyway, the distillery tour was fine. They tried a modern all-senses approach in telling the story of whisky and our young female host was extraordinarily competent.

LAGAVULIN. Then (different day, of course), we enjoyed the Lagavulin Warehouse Experience. That’s the official title as everything now needs to be an experience. In that case I’d rather call it: The Iain McArthur Exerpience. Or: Drinking cask strength whisky before noon and getting properly baptized (see photos below). Iain McArthur is an undisputed living legend with 53 years in the whisky industry.

Although rather small in stature, he has an incredible aura and a voice actually twice his size. This 40 years work anniversary clip is well worth watching.
He even managed to explain why the hell they are still using colorants and chill filtration: Because the second they stopped, people would loudly complain all day long as something looks a bit different. I really can relate to that.

Iain started his lecture with a bold statement promising to provide us with the “best whisky you can get” accompanied by the crucial question to the audience which he seemed to know a definite answer to: “Which one is the best whisky?”

While we were still contemplating about (ideally) a smart reply or wondering if he really wanted us to say “Lagavulin” out loud to keep the peace, he burst out laughing “The one you get for free”.

Our first whisky came as a surprise addition on top of the degustation list, it was just recently bottled. As it came without any additional cost it was… ehm: the best whisky ๐Ÿ˜„

I think what surprised me the most at the tasting were: 1) How good a Lagavulin can be – in cask strength without any further processing. And 2) how much love and energy Iain invested to makes his guests happy. I mean, he’s been doing this for quite a while now…

TOOLS. I am an enthusiast when it comes to tools and machinery. I like high-tech stuff and smart home amenities, but at the same time I aprreciate craftmanship and the use of traditional hand tools. My new favorite is the valinch, a long tube for extracting spirit from the cask by applying negative pressure (i.e. sucking).

It is used for sampling whisky via the bung hole without having to empty the contents of the cask.

A fine and simple solution but the lower the filling level gets, the harder it is to fill the valinch. At the last and almost empty cask, all of us visitors failed. Fortunately, the suction force is strong with Iain.

Then I was thrilled to learn about a failed business model: Porteus and Boby malt mills. They were the best. Almost all distilleries in Scotland have one or the other. They were so good, never broke down or needed to be replaced. That’s why in a field with a limited customer base needing only one device both companies went bankrupt. The youngest mills are from the beginning of the 1970s, most are older. Still going strong.

I also understood that ladders are very important in any distillery as you are constantly climbing at, in or above large filled or empty volumes. Bruichladdich has the best ladder.

In all independent distilleries we visited, they used sophisticted production process spreadsheet tables.
No need for computers indeed. They got everything covered.

Coming now to the true expert malt processing tools of which I hope to use the correct termini technici: malt blower for blowing malt around, different malt movers for moving malt around and Whisky Thor’s malt hammer for hammering against pipes and tuns if the grain got stuck.

Finally: More evidence that the world would be lost without cable ties and gaffer tape. Including the world of whisky and its malt moving tools ๐Ÿ˜„


Scotland: Islay โ†’ Glasgow Airport โ†’ Oban (and back)

332 km (+154 km ferry) in 2 days

August 01-02, 2023


Unexpected(ly nice) roundtrip to Oban

Felt lucky and went to Glasgow Airport first in the hope to talk to real humans there instead of hotline chat bots. And โ€“ wow! โ€“ our luggage just arrived from the transfer airport Frankfurt.

Went on to Oban with more time for tourist things than we thought. Picturesque harbor town with really yummy seafood. Had less healthy food on the ferry back to Islay for balance.


Scotland: Glasgow โ†’ Islay

226 km (+64 km ferry) in 2 days

July 29-31, 2023


Islay (but not for long)

Had a rough start on our tour to Islay because my wife’s luggage did not arrive. It was quite unclear how, when, or even if it will get to the island, because Swiss Air, Lufthansa and Glasgow Airport luggage handling did not know where it went missing. But all three parties were absolutely convinced that it was the fault of one of the two other companies involved and initially denied any responsibility even in locating the luggage.

Went for shopping to get at least some additional clothes and basic toiletries. The clothes part was remarkably difficult as Islay is really a veryvery small Island. And of course, it was Sunday…
So we kept ourselves warm with a first distillery visit at Laphroaig. Highly recommended!

And after even more time in hotlines queues, we were convinced that they won’t help us in near future. As Glasgow was the next city with adequate shopping facilities, we decided to go back there the next day.
Luckily, a very friendly guy at Caledonian MacBrayne solved the difficult ferry situation for us by finding a ferry connection with open vehicle capacities for getting back to Islay via Oban. Kind of nice to unexpectedly win a road trip to that very nice town! Funny side note: Swiss Air answered to our (not positive) customer feedback about two weeks later (!) with a helpful tip. Guess what? They recommended to contact the airport ๐Ÿคช I guess you can safely say that all airlines are the same crap. Better ride motorcycles.


England: Harwich โ†’ Scotland: Glasgow

767 km in 2 days

July 27-28, 2023


Bonnie Scotland

I was very much looking forward getting to Scotland, but the way there was also worthwhile. Made a sightseeing stop in Cambridge (sorry, Marcus: I meant “the other place”) and gladly accepted the opportunity to explore state, matter and condition of the real world at the Reality Checkpoint in Parker’s Piece. Not sure about the outcome due to the occurrence of a lonesome wiener dog walking (or emerging?) into the scene. According to McCracken (2014), Plato uses animals to represent choice of lives. The dog “models a philosophical disposition for a particular kind of philosophy student, one who has civic, military, or political aspirations” (p.541)1. Ok, makes sense at Cambridge.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a fantastic green meadow wonderland to ride through and when I finally stopped for a break at the Tan Hill Inn I learned that it is according to the Guinness Book of World Records the highest Inn (528 m above sea level) of the British Isles. Hmm… how can you get a world record with a national reference?

Anyway, after that I finally arrived in Scotland and spend some time in Glasgow until my wife arrives for our journey together to Islay. Got a new set of tires at Douglas Park Motorrad (thanks to Scott for the outstanding support!!). I also found out that there is fine street art in Glasgow and barking is prohibited.

1) McCracken, J. (2014). Dogs and birds in Plato. Philosophy and Literature, 38 (2), 446-461.


Germany: Neustadt in Holstein โ†’ England: Harwich

655 km (+198 km ferry) in 1 day

July 26, 2023


Full English Breakfast

Ferry day! Always excited to use ferries with a motorcycle. Feels like a bit of adventure. Normally the staff positions bikes in front of the vehicle crowd, providing a nice petrol heads meeting for free. But before getting there, I had a 600 km + stretch ahead of me. Decided that a slight detour does not really matter anymore and visited the Bert von Zitzewitz motorcycle dealership. What a fantastic place! Located in the middle of nowhere (23758 Karlshof), the motorcycle workshop and sales rooms are based in beautiful former farm buildings with old brick walls and a very estate-like atmosphere.

Good thing if you want to go for a test ride: You are right in the middle of the nicest landscape. But the best part is that they keep the family racing history alive at that place. Trophies from three generations everywhere. And bikes! Davide was so kind to help me out with some nuts and bolts to upgrade my luggage fasteners. I can’t help the feeling that my motorcycle goes somewhat faster ever since ๐Ÿ˜Š

Bert, Davide: Thanks so much for showing me around. Henceforth, I name thee (Motorcycle) Kings in the North ๐Ÿคฉ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ†๐Ÿ๏ธ๐Ÿ’จ๐Ÿ”ฅ

After a quite boring highway stretch to the port in Hoek van Holland and the most comfortable ferry ride I ever had from to Harwich I woke up in England.

Skipped ferry breakfast for more sleep and immediately started cultural immersion. Had a full English Breakfast at the “Foxes Den” in Assington and fancied a noice cuppa tea.

Ok, and immediately after that I fancied a cappuccino even more because 1) it really wasn’t easy for me to switch to “hot brown water” (Ted Lasso) for breakfast and 2) far more importantly because Vanessa and Steve of the Foxes Den were operating their espresso machine with so much love I simply needed to try it.
Will definitely return some day, even if only to drink their coffee again. And for the breakfast. Ideally both.


Germany: Goldern โ†’ Neustadt in Holstein

902 km in 3 days

July 23-25, 2023


Heading up North

Starting my solo tour this year to Scotland, Ireland and France. The first part in Germany was reserved for visiting friends and places I have not been to for a while.

The first stopover was in the cozy historic town Coburg. My route then led me to friends in Lรผneburg. I accidentally went to full tourist mode when I passed the Lรผneburg twin ship lift (Schiffshebewerk). Being built in 1974 as the largest ship lift in the world at that time, lifting 2x up to 12 thousand tons in a vertical difference of about 40 meters. Didn’t know all that so I was very much surprised to stand in front of that concrete giant dominating the flat landscape.

Next stop was Lรผbeck for some sightseeing. Felt very Hanseatic. And I felt very old remembering that the Holsten Gate was depicted on the old German DM 50 banknotes. Printed until 1991.

Finally, ever since I’ve read “Ein Sommer in Niendorf” by Heinz Strunk I feel the urgent need to get a Krabbenbrรถtchen (local crab sandwich) at Klรผver’s harbor smokery when I am in the area.

For the next night I stayed in Neustadt in Holstein and met with friends for dinner. Meanwhile, my bike was located at the most secure parking space of the entire trip.


Italy: Sarentino โ†’ Germany: Goldern

462 km in 1 day

July 15, 2023


Penser Joch, Austria, Bavaria

Last day of our trip. Sebastian, Marcus and me are heading home. Sometimes riding home can bring a bit of blues… The remedy: Starting the day with one of the best breakfasts at one of the nicest placest we know in the alps, the family-run hotel Hรถllriegl in Sarentino. Don’t go there, only disadvantages: Even when staying only one night you will inevitably and substantially gain weight because of the excellent restaurant and the aforementioned breakfast. And you will not be able to start riding early because the rooms and beds are far too comfy (and… uhm… maybe because of the fine selection of regional wines on the evening before).

And if you would go there, our chances of getting rooms will decrease because it is a charmingly small place ๐Ÿ˜‹
So starting from the hotel you should not go to, we were directly on the road to our favorite pass in the alps, the Penser Joch. There may be passes with more curves or better view points, but for us it became a very special place over the last years being either the first or the last highlight of so many tours. Then we went to Austria, Pustertaler High Mountain Road, Thurn Pass, via Kรถssen, Chiemgau and small twisting roads finally back home to Lower Bavaria.

Music: “Whiff of Lightness” (c) by Tomasz Raszko licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Italy: Piacenza โ†’ Sarentino

340 km in 1 day

July 14, 2023


Trento & Lago(s)

Ok, I have to admit it: I do not like Lago di Garda that much and always tried to avoid it and the surroundings. Plenty of trips West and East of it, but to me it was always too much traffic, too many people, too many uniformed persons on the street side taking pictures… While that is not wrong, I was wrong nevertheless because I missed out on so many beautiful lakes and if you do not take the coastal road at Lago di Garda itself traffic is perfectly fine and the streets are wonderful (as presumably everybody except for me already knew ๐Ÿ˜„).

We started our lake day in Carpaneto Piacentino and drove quickly via Cremona on the motorway to Brescia. Then South East of Lago di Garda to Lago dโ€™Idro, via Passo dellโ€™Ampola and Lago di Ledro back to the North side of Lago di Garda. Passo del Ballino to Lago di Molveno and via Sella di Andalo to Lago di Andalo to the Lago di Santa Giustina and finally via our beloved Passo della Mendola and Bolzano to our stopover in Sarentino.

Music: “Blues Rock Soundtrack” (c) by SoundForYou licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Italy: Imperia โ†’ Piacenza

352 km in 1 day

July 13, 2023


On Ligurian Roads

Went from Imperia to a very nice hotel in the middle of nowhere near Piacenza. In the first part in a classic maritime Italian seaside scenery followed by the most amazing twisting roads in Liguria and partially Piedmont without ANY traffic – in high season! Go to Liguria with your bikes!!
Very funny side effect of live tracking a motorcycle tour: Claudio, a friend from Italy, texted us during one of our stops: “Are you going to stay there? It’s 20 minutes from my holiday appartment. Meet for dinner?” ๐Ÿคฉ๐Ÿ‘

Almost unfortunate that we already booked a hotel near Piacenza. But… not unfortunate at all, as our host there sent us to the Antica Trattoria Bergamaschi da Luigi in San Protaso where we had on of the best dinners of the tour with a cook being so friendly to prepare small versions of various of their completely homemade dishes so we could try almost the whole menu. No wonder our new friend (dog Amelie, belonging to another patron) tried her best to get a share of our meals…

Music: “Action Funk” (c) by OctoSound licensed under CC BY-NC-ND


Italy: Cuneo โ†’ Imperia

146 km in 1 day

July 12, 2023


Alta Via del Sale

Finally getting to the highlight of our tour, the Alta Via del Sale or Upper Salt Road. Well, we thought it would be the highlight. Ok, it was, in a certain way. But Finestre and Assietta of the day before really were our favorite!
Before heading to the Salt Road, one of us (=me) had to be punished for being quite fallible, contrary to the belief we built some days ago on our infallability status.

Securing screws and bolts with Loctite makes sense on a motorcycle anyway. If you fail to do so, especially when going off road, may lead to an exhaustive search for lost items… or to a visit of the nearest hardware store to replace them.
Damn, I hate it not to be infallible.

But shortly after me looking disadvantageously stupid lying on an OBI parking lot under my bike, we were rewarded with beautiful skies and not too many people on the road.

Our route lead us from Cuneo to Limone Piemonte and then to the Alta Via del Sale and finally Imperia. At the beginning of the Salt Road we met a very relaxed guy on a scooter who apparently just came from the other side, thereby causing a serious dent in our “hero of the day”-feeling for riding an ambitious road. Parts of the road were later on disguised in heavy clouds. Less clear views, but great atmosphere!

When the air compressor 7.5 Amps blade fuse broke due to a short overload while refilling the tires at the end, Sebastian impressed us with a genious life hack: Simply cut the fuse in half, fix it together again so that the remains of the fuse wire slighlty overlap and start again. And indeed: When electricity kicked in again, it self-resoldered the fuse wire. I like. Original Dr. Hergeths’ self-healing fuse (patent pending) in action.

We recovered from all of that by having Aperitivos and far too much to eat. Like always. But… man: ITALY!!

Music: “Hurricanes” (c) by Josรฉ Manuel Gonzรกlez Nรบรฑez licensed under CC BY-NC-ND


Italy: Turin โ†’ Cuneo

238 km in 1 day

July 11, 2023


Finestre! Assietta!!

Breaking news: If you eat and drink too much you donโ€™t sleep well. Should keep that in mind when growing up some day. For whatever reason (maybe because it was included anyway) we still had a surprisingly long breakfast in our hotel and a perfect start into the day with a bright sun in the sky and a friendly concierge in opening our garage and taking a picture of our departure.

Our route on that day lead us via Susa, Colle delle Finestre and Colle dellโ€™Assietta to Cuneo.

The first highlight wasnโ€™t off-road but the mad manโ€™s idea of a tarmac road in the first part of the ascent to Colle delle Finestre coming from Susa. There was a sequence of about 20 180ยฐ harpin turns with straight parts of only 50 to 100 m between them. Felt more like on an ascending Supermoto track than on a real road. Have a look at the screenshot of my SatNav system. Even the Stelvio pass looks like a straight road in comparison!

Music: “Tutorials” (c) by Tim Taj licensed under CC BY-NC-ND


Switzerland: Brig โ†’ Italy: Turin

264 km in 1 day

July 10, 2023


From Apero to Aperitivo

Our route: Simplon Pass, Domodossola, Lago dโ€™Orta, parts of TET Italy along Sesia river, Turin.
After Simplon Pass we entered directly into the stage of stopping very often for a caffรจ.
Along Sesia river we tried our first kilometers going off-road on some easy flat gravel road sections of TET Italy. Although really simple, I am always astonished how strange it feels to not drive on tarmac roads on first contact after a break.
We were lucky enough to find rooms in our favorite hotel in the middle of Turin near the central station. 3rd time there. One of the main perks: We can park our bikes in the hotel backyard in a very, let’s say: “adequate” garage. But we would take any well-guarded option there as a friend once told me that it does not even take 30 minutes to get your bike stolen on a bad day in that neighborhood.

The first “Negroni incidient” of our 2023 tour happened while still being at the hotel (hmm… exactly like last year as soon as we crossed to Italy…). But there is almost no better place for a Negroni incident than Turin. And the setting is perfect to make you look like a capo (or oligarch?) during a simple phone call.
Our dinner was exceptional (as could almost be expected in Piedmont), following the advice of Sebastian’s Italian friends. And while in Switzerland an excessive amount of Swiss flags in any possible location reminded us constantly in which country we were in, the reminder in form of antipasti in the national colors of Italy was much more of my taste (haha, “taste”, because… ehm, never mind).

Music: “Driving Indie Rock” (c) by Muza Production licensed under CC BY-NC-ND


Switzerland: Winterthur โ†’ Brig

284 km in 1 day

July 9, 2023


Philosophically advanced Schwytzerdรผtsch

We crossed lake Zรผrich via the very scenic bridge from Rapperswil to Pfรคffikon. Then across Etzelpass and Sattelegg, throwing a glance at Walensee, and arrived after Klausenpass and Furkapass in Brig.
Luckily we found a supermarket that was open on Sunday and could enjoy lunch with regional products near Klausenpass.

Brig is a very nice place (the town in canton Wallis, not the naval military prison in American English). Historic city with impressive mountains around and several good dinner locations.
As we were a bit late, we had to couple apero with dinner which lead to an exotic combination of pizza and Aperol Sprizz.

All of that, however, is not nearly as remarkable as the sign Marcus took a picture of near the hotel: โ€œNicht fรผr Hauskehricht !! Fehlbare werden gebรผsstโ€ which in my best effort I can only translate to โ€œNot for household waste !!โ€

Ok, that part was simple. But now this: โ€œFallible ones shall be punished.โ€ The word-for-word translation of the second part sounds in English almost as ancient as in standard (non-Swiss) German.

If you follow that proposition to the end, it means that only an infallible person will be able to use that trash bin correctly and, therefore, shall not be punished.
The first Vatican Concil from 1870 states that the only human being to be regarded as infallible is the Pope and even only if speaking ex cathedra.

But they failed to proclaim anything about waste management. That leaves so many important philosophical questions unanswered.
But at least we were now on a mission: As we did not put anything into that green box this makes us, and of course our road trip, INFALLIBLE. I think.

Music: “Action Rock” (c) by CH JOY  licensed under CC BY-NC-ND


Germany: Goldern โ†’ Switzerland: Winterthur

426 km in 1 day

July 8, 2023


Final preparations pt. 2 + off we go

During my first off-road season with the X-Scram the heat tape around the exhaust was damaged by stone chipping. Wanted to prevent that with a Game-of-Thrones-like approach. Not sure, but it may be the first motorcycle with a chain armor (and I will now and forever get weird ads because I visited too many live role-playing websites selling chain armor).

And drinking is important, too! So the last improvement in “making an offroad-touring bike out of a 9T Scrambler” was to add a Stanley thermos flask for cold water held by custom-made leather straps hand-made by my good friend Aurel as a birthday gift (or Christmas? Anyway…).

So at the end we were finally ready to go – starting with a proper breakfast and heading towards Austria where Marcus and me will meet Sebastian. And then off to Winterthur ๐Ÿ˜Š


Germany: Goldern


July 7, 2023


Final preparations pt. 1

Last year I did my first off-road stretch with the X-Scram nineT Scrambler Tรถff. It was great, but I only had a manual pump to refill tire pressure when going onroad again.

So I desperately needed an on-board socket to power an AirMain compressor. Luckily, Wunderlich provides one that fits perfectly into the 9T.

Unluckily it is connected via CAN and therefore only supplies up to 1 amp (which I found out after it arrived). Decided to make lemonade out of lemons and fitted a new additional second CAN bus powered USB socked for my smartphone with the Wunderlich cables while connecting the new on-board socket with a 7.5 amps fuse directly to the battery. No more manual pumping ๐Ÿ™‚

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