We travel to compare our imagination with reality.
It was a long ride up to John-o-Groats, the most northern town of Scotland. I visited Inverness a couple of times in the past. And despite the poor weather it was again a pleasure to stroll around and enjoy the typical architecture of the area.
John-o-Groats is remote, obviously. But that provides it’s magic and tranquility:
MOST NORTHERN POINT OF SCOTLAND!
Quite late I prepared for next day’s biking trip to Orkney. I do enjoy extreme landmarks :-
Edinburgh is such a fascinating city and has thousands of visitors anyway. They host that multicultural “Edinburgh Festival” with great formal and informal events of classical music, theater plays and the fringe comedians.
The variety of architecture is amazing and the harbor and views to the sea make it very special indeed.
Had a whale of a time in that street market. Chatted to a professional photographer about post production …
I cycled from the camping ground to town and all around. At the Festival area there was a huge crowd and I locked the bike away and enjoyed the thrill of street art and performances.
Today is a transit day with short stops to stay alert. One was in Gretna Green near an M6 Motorway junction.
Channel of River Esk
Coffee and scones made my day.
Approaching outskirts of Edinburgh. Found great camp site at Morton Hall.
Camping south of Edinburgh:
https://www.meadowhead.co.uk/parks/mortonhall/
Driving north bound to the Cotswolds and stopping in Moreton-in-Marsh to buy some cheese in “The Cotswold Cheese Company” with charming personnel.
Carry on to Broadway just to visit this legendary hotel again. The Lygon Arms.
The day only started to become explorative, so I carried on to Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s home town.
Finally driving to Knowle and to Hollywood south of Birmingham, where I also lived in the late 90-ties. Grimshaw Cottage is in Knowle and the current owner, a charming couple showed me around how they extended and improved the building. I was impressed to say the least. Hollywood is the bottom picture of this collection.
During my time in Birmingham I visited the city center often and this time I also looked around to maybe find some parking at a hotel. But all searching was in vain. So I drove northbound again. The goal was Scotland. It became later and later and finally dark night before I by pure luck found that parking lot at Aston Court Care Home and Hospital.
Oxford in 2019 meant going down “memory lane”. I lived the from 2000 to 2002 and enjoyed the place very much. They have the oldest purposeful built music hall in the world and I went there many Sundays for the “Coffee Concert“. Other highlights were a New Years Concert in the “Sheldonian Theater” built by Sir Christopher Wrenn (who also built Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London), a piano concert in the Apollo Theater with Vladimir Ashkenazy, then one of the top 5 pianists and conductors worldwide and last but not least, many weekend outings to nearby Cotswolds.
Oxford city center scenes
Cycling to the outskirt villages.This one is Radley, where I lived for 2 years.
Around Radley and the River Themse with the typical river boats and locks and inns.
My last item on the agenda of that day was to visit the BMW Oxford Plant where I worked from 2000 to 2002. It was great to see some of the structures I coordinated as project manager are still in place and working well.
This morning I took the bike again and rode around Brügge and found new smart places and enjoyed every minute.
The four apocalyptic horsemen.
Take the famous route Calais – Dover to the chalk coast and drive to Oxford Camping.
Oxford Camping was very well placed and was hosted by helpful people.
When I left Norddeich I suddenly had difficulties with the gear change of the FIAT Ducato motor home. There was quite a resistance to get the lever over the neutral position into the next gear. Immediately I thought about the worst case: clutch or even gearbox faulty and huge cost and lots of time involved. What to do? I found a FIAT dealer not too far away with Google Maps and arrived there soon. I described my observations and asked for a quick check. The manager came out to the vehicle and pumped the clutch pedal – with his hand! He explained, that my model-year had this little misalignment of the clutch pedal from time to time and it can be reset by pulling the pedal upwards a couple of times. How mu8ch do I owe you? Nothing, it was my pleasure. He made my day… and I moved on west bound to the Netherlands.
Joyful Utrecht in the Netherlands
After that relaxing stroll I moved on to Brügge in Belgium. I found a suitable parking near town.
Thanks to the summer season it was still daylight enough to have a look.
Another most delightful town.
In the morning I took my bike onto a ferry and sailed to the island of Norderney. It is a famous place amongst the North Sea lovers.
Walking through the Dunes
To a remote beach
This side not so remote …
Testing a section of the “Wattmeer” with beautiful slick.
An interesting day closing down gracefully.
Schwerin Castle is a jewel amongst all castles of Germany.
But also the town of Schwerin is picturesque and stylish.
Dropping off my wife Ingrid at the Hamburg airport and carry on to the North Sea to Norddeich/Norden
Found a great camping site “Womopark Norddeich”
https://womopark-norddeich.de/
The towns at the German “Ostsee” are all quaint and posh and a pleasure to visit.
E.g., Wismar
Ferienpark Seehof north of Schwerin
https://www.ferienpark-seehof.de/
In Malchow we had a great breakfast at the lake and “watched ships rolling in”.
Kühlungsborn is a sea holiday resort with lots of history and tradition.
From inside the camping ground during a morning stroll.
The town of Waren at Müritz
Cycling around the Müritz took all day and delivered about 65 km.
We spent the morning also in Stralsund and extended the exploration with the bicycle.
Legendary “Gorch Fock” military training vessel.
In the afternoon we traveled to Waren an der Müritz and still put in a round of golf.
Golfclub Fleesensee https://fleesensee-golfclub.de/
Camping- und Wohnmobilpark Kamerun Neumann/Thomä GbR
https://www.campingpark-kamerun.de/
I believe we drove the motor home to a parking near the Nationalpark Jasmund and walked on foot to the beautiful chalk coast, to Sassnitz and back. What a delight to also climb down to the shore and stay underneath the huge chalk rocks.
Impressions of Sassnitz.
First glimpse of Stralsund.
Caranvanstellplatz “An der Rügenbrücke”
https://www.caravan-center-dahnke.de/
Sight seeing in Greifswald. A quaint place.
Crossing over to Rügen
Motor home parking average, but useful.
https://www.lohme.de/
First exploration with bicycle.
Leisurely strolling around charming Stettin.
Crossing over to Germany and heading for Heringsdorf / Ahlbeck
Relaxed cycling on one of Germany’s most beautiful nature reserves “Naturschutzgebiet Löcknitztal”
Nest stop in Stettin / Poland
Camping Marina in Stettin / Poland http://www.campingmarina.pl/
Luther’s Wittenberg
Wittenberg is the place where Martin Luther in 1517 proclaimed his 95 Theses onto the church portal.
From Wittenberg to Potsdam …
Palais de Sanssouci near Potsdam south of Berlin
Erfurt
Left Luther in Weimer, right Luther in Eisleben
Luther’s Wartburg
Schiller and Goethe in Weimar
Leaving our home town Haag and our home for a while.
Short rest in Donautal still in drizzle. Later in Bamberg in cleared up and we enjoyed the famous Townhouse on the river island.
Relaxing stroll around town. The river Main makes its mark.
Since I cycled up Sani Pass with three BMW colleagues in about 2005 but could not reach the top because of inaccurate time planning, I wanted to come back and finish the job. We did not know that the SA border post closes at 16:00 p.m. I was fetched by our back up vehicle. Although I was not as fit as my tow other friends who reached the top in time, I would have made it, had we started earlier in the morning. I believe in 2005 we started at the Premiere Resort Sani Pass, a fine hotel about 8 km from the SA border post. That makes then about 22 km to the top and about 1.400 m uphill.
This time I was not fit enough for this variant, so I decided to start at the border post only. 8 km and 900 m uphill.
19.11.2019, On the way to the hotel and pre-run late afternoon.
From the hotel to the South African border post there is basically one large construction site to upgrade to road with asphalt. Understandable, but ending a legend of a tough ride where 4 wheel drive vehicles were mandatory.
From the border post upwards it is still a little challenge.
20.11.2019, Driving with Volvo through construction site until border post.
Arriving at border post.
I had quite a few stops, partially because the bike became unstable and of course because I needed to catch some breath. One starts at about 1.900 m altitude to go to 2.873 m. Not only breath, but relax the muscles as well 🙂
While getting closer to the top the mild berg wind rose to almost gail force strength. That made it impossible for me to get onto the bike in the last steep sections without being blown off again. I tried numerous times but had to concede. The last 500m altitude I had to push the bike.
Just one beer in the highest pub of Africa and some nice conversation with locals. Soon I went back down. I was concentrating as much as possible but could not avoid a bad fall. Front wheel got stuck between two stones and I fell head over heals onto the hard road. Luckily not onto the rough rocky surface but just the hard clay. Needless to say it still was hurting a lot. But no injury. My guardian angels decided to let me fall, but protect me still 🙂
In 2018 I was already in Sicily, in the USA, at the Plitvice Lakes and Croatia. Now I had to ride around Upper Austria again.
But after 2015 and 2017 with the Racing Bike and light luggage, I took the Touring Bike and a tent.
27.07.2018, Haag – Elisabethsee
28.07.2018, Elisabethsee – Grundlsee
29.07.2018, Grundlsee – Wolfgangsee
30.07.2018, Wolfgangsee – Leitgeringer See
31.07.2018, Leitgeringer See – Passau
01.08.2018, Passau – Haag
2016 was a year of cycling. My total mileage was 5.600 km and 42.700 m uphill. It started in March with the Cape Town ARGUS Cycling Race which I had accomplished about 8 times before. Next came to substantiate a long standing dream end of 2015 to cycle to Rome. We trained hard for it and did it in June.
Cycling with a touring bike and a tent is most enjoyable and gives a great sense of freedom.
To cycle to the Lake of Neusiedlersee in Burgenland was the proof of the pudding in July.
In total I cycled about 550 km and 4.000 m altitude and the trip lasted 7 days.
Somewhere on the way back between Neusiedler See, Semmering and Maria Zell the idea was born also to cycle to the French Pyrenees to Saint Jean Pied de Port, the starting point of the Camino Francais.
2016 was a year of cycling. My total mileage was 5.600 km and 42.700 m uphill.
It started in March with the Cape Town ARGUS Cycling Race which I had accomplished about 8 times before.
Next came to substantiate a long standing dream end of 2015 to cycle to Rome. We trained hard for it and did it in June.
Cycling with a touring bike and a tent is most enjoyable and gives a great sense of freedom.
To cycle to the Lake of Neusiedlersee in the East of Austria was the proof of the pudding in July.
The cherry on the top the was one my greatest adventures so far.
To cycle from Haag in Austria to the French Pyrenees to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the starting point of the Camino Francais.
Cycling: 1.500 km / 6.500 m uphill in 11 days
Walking: 850 km to Santiago de Compostella and Finesterre in 33 days.
The sad part of this story is that I did not reach Saint Jean Pied de Port because my Pinarello was stolen in Carcassone. Part of it was fun as I slept at the Police Station in a cell, because the place was 100% booked. So I carried on by train to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. I was left with my wallet and my iPhone. All my luggage and the Passport were gone. Much more to tell some other time…
From Carcassone I took the train to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port via Toulouse, Lourdes and Bayonne. All went smooth although I did not speak a word of French.
After I finished the Camino Francais I took a rental car to travel to Santander and Madrid. From there it was by train again to Barcelona, where I met Ingrid. By train we reached Carcassone to fetch my Pinarello, which the Police had found soon. Train to Toulouse and air travel with Brussels Airways to Vienna including the bike. It is all about Logistics…
After my retirement in Mai 2015 I could eventually get more often on one of my bicycles again. A long standing dream was to cycle to Rome on a racing bike with light luggage. Two good friends, Heinz and Bruno cought fire to accompany me and we started in June 2016.
The total distance was about 1.200 km and 5.500 m altitude.
We planned 8 days for the journey and managed it well.
Day 1,09.06.2016
The day offered a light drizzle in the morning. We decided to start with a little help from friends: Helga, Heinz’s wife, drove us a few kilometres to Spittal / Pyhrn. There the rain has subsided and we jumped onto the bikes.
Arrival in Radstadt
Day 2, 02.06.2016
Transfer from Bad Gastein to Mallnitz – Later Dinner in Sillian
Day 3, 03.06.2016
Break in Bozen, sleeping in Auer
Day 4, 04.06.2016
Break in Trento
Stage in Verona
Day 5, 05.06.2016
Break in Padua
Day 6, 06.06.2016
Stage in lovely Florence
Day 7, 07.06.2016
Stage in Lago di Bolsena
Day 8, 08.06.2016
Tired Bikes 🙂
Day 9, 09.06.2016
For sight seeing
Day 1, 10.06.2019, Haag – Passau
Day 2, 11.06.2019, Passau – Landshut
Day 3, 12.06.2019, Landshut РW̦rthsee
Day 4, 13.06.2019, Wörthsee – Öschlsee
Day 5, 14.06.2019, Öschlsee – Lindau
Day 6, 15.06.2019, Lindau – Meersburg
Day 7, 16.06.2019, Meersburg – Konstanz
Day 8, 17.06.2019, Konstanz – Bregenz
Day 9, 18.06.2019, Bregenz – Pettneu
Day 10, 19.06.2019, Pettneu – Innsbruck /by bike) – Haag (by train)
2015 was my first year of semi-retirement and provided lots of opportunities for sports. As a teenager I only once had the chance to ride a small motor bike to one of the lakes and sleep in a tent. I always dreamed about to repeat this some time using a bicycle instead of the moped. And here we are. I reached the main 14 lakes and was very pleased with that…
8 days with lots of fun.
Day 1, 21.08.2015, Haag to Ebensee
110 km, 1.200 m uphill
All set and ready to go in Haag.
First brake in Kremsmünster
From the lake of Traunsee I wanted to cross a hill to the 2 lakes of Langbathsee. It became on of the toughest stages I had to accomplish, because I lost my way and it was too late to turn around.
First nights rest in Bodensee at the lake of Traunsee
Day 2, 22.08.2015, Ebensee to Obertraun
40 km, 195 m uphill
Day 3, 23.08.2015, Obertraun to 3 lakes
78 km , 750 m uphill
Day 4, 24.08.2015, Obertraun – Mondsee
78 km, 786 m uphill
Day 5, 25.08.2015, Mondsee to 4 lakes
98 km, 825 m uphill
Day 6, 26.08.2015, Mondsee – Scharnstein
75 km, 643 m uphill
Day 7, 27.08.2015, Scharnstein to 3 lakes
55 km, 440 m uphill
Day 8, 28.08.2015, Scharnstein to Haag
78 km, 774 m uphill
Back home safely.
During my professional life at the BMW Group time for sports was rather scarce. But when I retired in May 2015 I was on the move. I looked up the route from the official website from the “Race around Upper Austria“. In order to navigate with Google Maps I had to simplify the one or the other stretch. I also avoided the full amount of uphill sections (Original 9.300 m).
I needed 3 1/2 days for about 570 km and 5.800 m uphill.
The 4 stages of the 3,5 days:
In August 2017 I set myself a new target to finish the round in 3 days, down half a day from 2015. Here is the result:
The 3 stages of the 3 days:
The pictures are the same of both events, and should give an impression of how beautiful my home province is.
Haag – Großraming – Unterlaussa – Unterlaussa Church
Hengstpass – Windischgarsten – Kirchdorf – Gmunden
Altmünster – Weissenbach – St. Gilgen – Fuschl
Hof – Seekirchen – Seeham – Ort/Innkreis
Osternacherhof – Schärding – Passau – Engelhartszell
Oberkappel – Ulrichsberg – Bad Leonfelden – Freistadt
Kefermarkt – Kefermarkter Altar – Ennsdorf – Haag
One could repeat the following statement again and again: every new National Park was the same impressive than the ones before. Although we thought every day, this must be the highlight of the tour.
