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Day ride from Olching, Germany
Day ride from Olching, Germany
Kilometers - 167
Passes - None
Today is meant for day rides from Olching, Germany so we can get used to the bikes and acquire first-hand experience with the German driving techniques, navigating tips, passing rules, road signs, etc. which Rob imparted to us during the 2 hour lecture last night after dinner. Brian led as he had driven and navigated in Germany before. Navigating is no easy feat. The road numbers often mean nothing because despite the amazing signage regarding speed limits, passing zones, tank weight limits, etc. the Germans don't believe in posting route or highway numbers. You just have to know what town you are traveling toward and follow the signs from the town you are in. Sometimes you don't know you took a wrong turn until you hit a town that is not on the route you wanted to take. Getting lost became an accepted fact of life and at least two people navigated every trip to back up the main navigator.
The sound of water trickling down the gutters woke David up so of course his first impulse was to take a digital picture out the hotel window. Paige on the other hand went for a run...her first and the last on tour.
Here is Brian standing next to David's motorcycle (they had identical motorcycles) as we inspect the bikes for existing scratches and marks. When you return the bike 14 days later you get billed for everything that wasn't there when you picked it up today. Brian hated his bike for the first four days until we figured out how to raise the seat and adjust the hand controls so that they were set in a geometry for a 6'4" person rather than a 5'6" person. Then he only moderately disliked his ride.
Here's Paige with her bike for the next two weeks. It was a BMW F650ST, grey with a bright purple seat that everyone else on tour recognized. All of the other bikes were either R1100R's (like David's and Brian's) or R1100GS's which were a little more "enduro" looking.
The rain had one nice side-effect: the mosquitos weren't quite a thick! This area has had some flooding which has created lots of breeding spots for mosquitos, and they are *swarming*!
The guy with the cig perched between his lips is our illustrious tour guide, Rob Beach. His motorcycle is the one behind him with all the pass stickers on the (Al Jesse) silver saddle bags. The "Purple Pig" tended to be the last one in the stable most evenings. The guy wearing the definitely southern hemisphere hat is one of the van drivers, Graham Beker, working with Jerry Mark from Texas. Donna Beker was the "van driver in training" and she is working over on the left of the picture.
Congrats if you've made it this far in the monologue. Now you get to hear about the Beach Tours' infamous "Ach Sheisse!" award. Paige received the first one of the tour.... after 20 yards in the hotel parking lot, she went round the round-a-bout a little too fast, a little too leaned over, on brand new slick-as-snot tires with little air in them, and found, as Rob termed it, a "roving gravity pocket." The front tire slid out at about 7km/hr and the bike made a horrible scrapey metal noise as it slid across the pavement that brought everyone not already departed running over. Did we mention that this bike was brand new and had only 8 km on the odometer at this point?! The award is aptly named since the English translation was the first phrase out of Paige's mouth as the tire slid, followed by most of the other 4-letter no-no's. David got the full broadcast on the Communicator. Paige got the "Ach Sheisse" button that night at dinner as well as a silver dollar-sized technicolor bruise on her left hip. We're still awaiting the bill for the damage to the front faring, the clutch lever, handlebar end, and saddlebag rack. Many thanks to Graham who suggested that she take the bags off earlier in the morning, so they weren't on the bike when she dumped it!
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