2022-2014

2022

Lugano

Solo ride

Switzerland

583 km, 2 days

Last ride of the season. Tried (successfully) to find a bit of autumn sun in Ticino. And the old cobblestone road at St. Gotthard Pass is truly amazing each single time.

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Piedmont and Provence

Solo ride

Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland

2.962 km, 8 days

Yesyesyes! First ride with the Scrambler with real offroad segments. While the Unteralp in Switzerland near Andermatt was a very easy-to-ride gravel road, some parts of the TET in Northern Italy were much more difficult. My absolute highlight was the Alta Via del Sale between Italy and France.

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Maritime Alps

Ride with Marcus and Sebastian

Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Switzerland

3.252 km, 8 days

AKA “Pommes für alle”. About time!! After half failed or completely failed attempts in 2020 and 2021 due to personal circumstances, lockdowns, bad weather, bad karma or bad whatever the three of us urgently needed to hit the road again together. Obviously the weather thought it had to make up to us for the last trips, we had hot sunny days with always more than 30°C up to 39°C maximum. Averaging these values with the last two years the temperature was always fine 😉

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Lausanne

Solo ride

Switzerland

842 km, 2 days

While I drove quite quickly North of Zurich and Bern to Lake Geneva, I spent a relaxing time there and went for a round trip crossing Gurnigl Pass on the next day. Riding back to Winterthur, I passed Lake Lucerne, Grimsel and Furka Pass and wanted to go on a small off-road stretch from TET Switzerland, the Unteralp gravel road. A boss-level obstacle hindered me from doing so: There was no way through Andermatt because of the 64th Central Switzerland Yodel Festival. Didn’t dare to mess with yodellers, alphorn blowers and flag-wavers, maybe next time…

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Black Forest

Solo ride

Switzerland, Germany

308 km, 1 day

First trip with my new Swiss-Bavarian BMW R nineT Scrambler made by VTR Customs. Wonderful bike, but riding with off road tires on tarmac for the first time made me feel like a complete newbie again. Thanks to the winding roads in the Black Forest that improved quickly. Still I was being overtaken most of the day… and enjoyed it. Nothing beats the happy feeling of riding a new bike on a warm spring day.

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2021

Grand Tour of Switzerland

Solo ride

Switzerland

1.282 km, 7 days

Me wife and me found a new modus operandi when in Switzerland: She uses the comfortable and insanely punctual trains from SBB or the “Postauto” (Swiss bus network that goes everywhere. If the Swiss will ever get to the moon, they will do so with a Postauto connection). I jump on my motorcycle (surprise). Anyway, the Grand Tour of Switzerland is an experience, no matter the mode of transport.

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2020

Switzerland and Northern Italy

Ride with Marcus and Vanessa

Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy

1.277 km, 5 days

First mid-pandemic tour where we faced ordinary challenges: Too hot, too long distances on some days and similar customary obstacles. In summary, I’m simply thankful for a few normal days on the bikes.

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Maritime Alps

Ride with Marcus

Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France

1.975 km, 5 days

We were young and naive. Ok, not that young and not fully naive. But still: as we tried to tour pandemic-shaken Europe to the Maritime Alps we thought we could make it. On the exact same day we drove into France, we heard that Provence and Côte d’Azur were declared virus high-risk areas and that health regulations would apply if you return home from such a region. We thought “great we didn’t go down and stayed in the mountains”. Then we learned that the full name of that whole region is Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. Damn. Rode home as fast as we could without further stops before the plague got to us. Still had some very nice moments on the tour.

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Team ride-out Bavaria

Ride with colleagues

Germany

609 km, 2 days

As the same travel restrictions were still on during our annual team ride-out, at least we managed to two very nice days. My colleague Max found very attractive routes I partially didn’t know. Although I have been living quite nearby, it was my first trip to Kuchelbauer beer garden with its impressive Hundertwasser Tower. Forgot to take photos however.

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Franconia

Ride with Marcus

Germany

728 km, 3 days

AKA “Flachlandjochen”. Being confined to stay in Germany and being ordered by our company to take at least half of our annual vacation in the first half of the year, we thought: Let’s make the most out of it. Beginning was fine, I do not think that famous Rothenburg ob der Tauber is ever that empty in June. But then the weather changed and without the options to simply jump over to the other side of the alps we decided to shorten the trip. Anyway, better than not riding at all!

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Bavarian Forest

Ride with Marcus

Germany

406 km, 1 day

Oh boy, travel restrictions everywhere you look. So Bavarian Forest it is. Hmpfh.

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Almería International Press Event

Several rides

Spain

212 km, 2 days

International press event for the new BMW F 900 R, F 900 XR and the S 1000 XR with the latest evolution of the BMW Motorrad Connected app. My job: Jump on one of the new bikes in the early morning, ride about 40 minutes to the first coffee stop on the journalist itinirary at bar “El Fogón” and set up shop there with app demos before the journos arrive. Having a lot of fun talking to Inma behind the counter in a mixture of Spanish and English every morning and getting a freshly made cafe con leche en vaso in the second I entered the bar. In the evening, we always gave a first product overview for all newly arrived journalists and discussed details over drinks. Could spend all workdays like that.

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2019

Northern Germany

Solo ride

Germany

2.176 km, 6 days

About time for another round trip from South to North and back. Visited friends and Family in Hamburg and Lüneburg via Essen (Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex is an absolute must-see!) and found out that a BMW R nineT Urban G/S is not the wisest choice to ride 820 kilometers in nine and a half hours on maximally boring A7 😆

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Tour de Ländle

Solo ride

Germany

702 km, 2 days

Visited my brother-in-law and his girl friend with friends and family in Stuttgart. Took the opportunity to visit the famous Blautopf (blue pot) spring in Blaubeuren. Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart planned by Mies van der Rohe is also impressive every time. I especially like the interior design of homes 14 and 15 by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. And I am very relieved that the rest of the world does not have a Kehrwoche (week of sweeping, very Swabian).

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Apulia

Ride with Marcus and Sebastian

Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy

4.053 km, 12 days

AKA “Bella Italia”. Sebastian, Marcus and me riding for a wedding to Apulia! Via Austria, Slovenia and Croatia (somewhat shortened due to rain) where we took the night ferry to Ancona. Then crossing Abruzzo and visited Campo Imperatore where they used to hide obese Italian fascists. Feeling sorry for seeing still unbelievable damage in Abruzzo due to earthquakes. Had to be extra careful and on time as we had to deliver the groom safe and sound in Martina Franca. Therefore, I decided it would be safer if I threw my bike away in a slippery corner instead of Sebastian. Not much damage to bike or rider and my wife was even so kind to express-deliver a new valve cap when she arrived 🙂

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Team ride-out Austria

Ride with colleagues

Germany, Austria

608 km, 3 days

Team ride-out to Austria. Couldn’t find photos and / or memories anywhere. Must have been good.

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2018

South Tyrol

Ride with Alisa and David

Germany, Austria, Italy

896 km, 3 days

Took some days off for a kind of classic ride through the Dolomites with Mendel Pass and Timmelsjoch.

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Bretagne

Solo ride

Germany, France

2.992 km, 6 days

My sister and her family were spending their vacation in a summer cottage in Brittany with a spare room (=mine for a few days 😊). Brittany has an astondishing landscape and people, weather not so great for riding but still fine in summer. And nothing beats a fresh pain au chocolat for breakfast and oysters for lunch. Going there is a bit boring around Paris region, but on the road you also find stunning nature, buildings, culinary craft and even race tracks.

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Strasbourg

Solo ride

Germany, France

1.136 km, 4 days

Going to Strasbourg for a long weekend. Visiting Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Heidelberg, getting one of the best Döner Kebap in Mannheim and saw the Graduation Tower (Saline) in Bad Dürkheim as well as the German Wine Route.

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Abbey Round Trip

Ride with Diego

Germany

173 km, 1 day

Although only a short one-day trip, this one holds fond memories. Diego, a friend from Spain, came to visit with his family and we managed to find some time for a ride through the beautiful landscape around Lake Starnberg and Lake Ammer with snacks and drinks in Schäftlarn Abbey and Andechs Abbey.

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Milan International Press Event

Several rides

Germany, Austria, Italy

895 km, 3 days

Second international press event for me with the C 400 X scooter and connectivity for urban navigation. Even after more than two years at BMW Motorrad I was still thrilled by the atmosphere amidst people working professionally on motorcycles (or scooters). Journalists are much less “problem oriented” finding some detail that can be depicted as garbage but asking far more customer oriented trying to find out if a feature can add benefit. And the whole press team together with the mechanics are striving for perfection in presenting the bikes while still having so much fun together. Marvelous.

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Maritime Alps

Ride with Marcus and Sebastian

Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Switzerland

2.927 km, 9 days

AKA “Frankreich ohne Regen”. Go to the Maritime Alps they said. It will be sunny there they said. True: In breaks between pouring rain we saw sun behind the fog sometimes 😆

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Lago di Garda

Ride with Alisa, Sabine and Theresa

Germany, Austria, Italy

1.501 km, 5 days

A statistically very unlikely event: a motorcycle traveling gang with 3 girls and just 1 guy. Higher mountain passes still very cold at the and of April. Lots of snow. And some pigs. Normally I avoid Lago di Garda as it is so overcrowded but Alisa and Sabine knew some pretty nice routes.

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Product Launch Training Sardinia

Several rides

Italy

378 km, 3 days

First product launch training with BMW Motorrad Connectivity and getting into direct discussion with retailers from all over the world.

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International Press Event Andalusia

Several short rides

Spain

37 km, 1 day

My first international press event with BMW Motorrad Connectivity. Ample opportunity to talk to journalists on the first days as riding was close to impossible due to pouring rain. Colleagues from the press team advanced to expert meteorologists in finding dry slots in the rain radar so at least photo shooting and first impressions were possible.

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2017

Alps

Ride with Marcus and Alisa

Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France

2.048 km, 6 days

Met with Marcus in Belfort (he came from London. Went through Switzerland and Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse to Northern Italy and did some classics there (Stelvio, Gavia, Tonale, Mendel, Fedaia, Valparola, Sella). Alisa rode the last part with us via Jaufen Pass and Timmelsjoch back to Austria and finally home to Munich.

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Bavarian Forest

Ride with Alisa and Bernie

Germany

381 km, 1 day

Short but beautiful daytrip with remarkable food and view at Wirtshaus Hafner in Perlesreuth. Always happy to find traditional restaurants with real hand-made regional dishes.

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Wales

Ride with Marcus and Sebastian

Germany, Belgium, France, UK

3.355 km, 7 days

And here we go again to the UK. Or Wales. Which clearly is not the same. Marcus, Sebastian and me were impressed by accurately cut green and flowers next to race tracks, not so well done motorcycle service with a dangerously loose oil filter (so we marked our territory at the Old Tredegar, still feeling sorry for that), traditional full British Breakfast for better traction and the opportunity to test four different navigation solutions on my motorcycle simultaneously. Oh, and for whatever someone else besides Marcus managed to advance to the rank of “Sheepslayer”.

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Team ride-out Slovenia

Ride-out with colleagues

Germany, Austria, Slovenia

2.300 km, 4 days

Team ride-out in Slovenia with off-road focus. Bled is a beautiful place. And Samo is one of the best colleagues you can ever imagine.

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Northern Germany

Solo ride

Germany

1.815 km, 4 days

Went to Northern Germany for the wedding of my good friends Marcus and Vanessa. Krabbenbrötchen (crab sandwiches) never taste as good as when arriving directly in the harbour with your motorcycle.

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Dolomites

Ride with Marcus and Sebastian

Germany, Austria, Italy

1.120 km, 4 days

Finally found an opportunity to bring my best riding buddies Marcus and Sebastian together. Didn’t know back than that this started a tradition. Saying it with Willy Brandt “Now grows together what belongs together”… or maybe better with Anthony Kiedis: “Road trippin’ with my two favorite allies / Fully loaded we got snacks and supplies” 🏍️🏍️🏍️🧀🥩🧀🥩🧀🥩🍔🍔🍔🍕🍕🍕🍿🍿🍿🫓🫓🫓🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍻🍻🍻

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Team ride-out Austria

Ride-out with colleagues

Germany, Austria

699 km, 3 days

Had a workshop in Austria with international BMW Motorrad colleagues. As soon as the job was done during the day, we jumped back on the bikes. Still feeling honoured that our Thai colleague whose international motorcycle driving license was not valid yet joined me riding pillion. Tried to make it as comfortable as possible with a K 1600 GT. Absolute highlight: We arrived at the near Grossglockner High Alpine road one hour before closure and with heavy rain clouds arriving slowly from the West – which meant: we had it all for ourselves. I have never seen that road so empty.

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Enduro Park Hechlingen

Ride-out with colleagues

Germany

42 km, 1 day

Hechlingen: That’s where you get the best smile to km ratio. Still surprised that we did almost 40 kilometers inside the park area, only leaving it for lunch. Huge.

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2016

Austria and South Tyrol

Ride with Matthias and Sabine

Germany, Austria, Italy

896 km, 3 days

Getting acquainted with the BMW Motorrad product range part 2, this time with the S 1000 RR. Note to self: Hairpin turns are not the best spot for a first trip on a superbike 😆. I seem to have a talent for bringing great bikes into sub optimal conditions.

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Berlin

Solo ride

Germany

1.344 km, 2 days

At the end of 2015 I moved on from the car side of BMW to my new and always-in-my-heart home BMW Motorrad. Now talking about motorcycles the whole day long was no longer tolerated nerd behaviour but actually part of the job. When getting acquainted with the product range, I formed a hasty opinion about the six cylinder touring bikes as being too large and clumsy for me. My colleague in product management responsible for the touring bikes asked for a fair assessment with a proper long distance ride. Thanks, Oliver! The trip to a conference on automotive apps in Berlin was a piece of cake on the K 1600 GT. Only stopped for refueling and arrived very relaxed.

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Pyrenees

Ride with Sebastian and for some parts Sabine and Häupi

Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland

4.534 km, 12 days

That was the kind of honeymoon trip I’ve been dreaming of. My wife and me visited wonderful places in Northern Spain and the Pyrenees, had excellent Spanish and Basque food and on top of that I had the most exciting ride there with friends while my wife opted for the faster approach via plane. For the first leg of riding back I met with Diego in Pamplona who obviously had a different road planned when saying “let’s meet for a ride through the Pyrenees”. Wrong bike and not so capable of doing off-road riding back then. Need to repeat that part with a proper bike.

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Eifel and Vosges

Ride with Marcus’ family and friends

Germany, France

1.639 km, 3 days

This time it was me that joined a group, rather than the other way round. Marcus et al. started in Western Germany (Ruhrpott) and we met near Koblenz for a ride through the Eifel region, visited Nürburgring and went on through Alsace. While I went East through the beautiful Black Forest, the other guys had some more days to spend and went through France.

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Lagos

Ride with colleagues

Portugal

1.426 km, 4 days

Some years ago BMW offered an unbeatable deal to the motorcycle lunatics in their staff (if you qualify target criteria). We provide a week of spare time, they provide travel, lodging and preseries motorcycles for thorough customer testing. Riding was more ambitious than I assumed with very long predefined riding days and of course no breaks in public locations. Nevertheless, one of the best vacations I had. Lots of fun with the pack.

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2015

Great Britain

Ride with Marcus

Germany, Luxembourg, France, UK, Belgium

4.534 km, 12 days

And now for something completely different again! As my good friend Marcus moved to London and re-engaged in riding motorcycles it was time for a tour together, this time taking my Triumph Bonneville “home”. The weather was mostly… British, but didn’t stop us from having fun, admiring the Vincent Black Shadow again in Sammy Miller’s Motorcycle Museum and even ran into Sammy on our way out. We felt very honoured that the legend himself gave us a tour through his workshop. Extremely nice chap.

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Newchurch

Solo ride

Germany, Austria

378 km, 1 day

The Triumph Tridays transformed the Austrian market town Neukirchen am Großvenediger to a kind of British Motorcycle Embassy every year. With my Bonneville freshly (moderately) customized I felt it was finally time to visit this amusing event. First time seeing the breathtaking “Original Motodrom” Wall of Death from 1928.

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Barcelona (not)

Ride with Sebastian

Germany, Austria, Italy, France

2.864 km, 8 days

Well… how should I call this trip…? Intended to go to Barcelona on my reliable R 100 R. Sebastian and me rode via Black Forest (Highlight: “Hotel Lawine”) through the French Alps to Nice. On the way to the Verdon Gorge I took a closer look at the (no longer existing) tire profile. Seems like I left too much rubber in the French Alps… and although the strongly committed BMW Motorrad dealer in Toulon tried everything, a new set of these no longer commonly available tires during holiday season took several days. The guy in the workshop said that with almost any other form of breakdown, he would have solved it in a matter of hours. Ok, I get it, tires seem to be important… So I joined my wife and family in Barcelona by train and picked the bike up on my way back. Going there in an air-conditioned TGV was almost too comfortable 🙂

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2014

Marseille

Ride with Sebastian

Germany, Austria, Italy, France

2.830 km, 8 days

Marseille might not seem like the typical location for a city holiday in Provence, but it is a very interesting place. Sebastian joined me for the first part of the trip through Austria and South Tyrol. Mendel pass and Tonale pass are still some of my all-time favorites. But the French Alps and Provence are even more exciting to me.

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Kraków

Solo ride

Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria

1.929 km, 4 days

Another human-factors conference taking place in an interesting location, Krákow. Why not heading east on a motorcycle? Well, after that trip I realized that it’s not really my cup of tea…