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Published: August 5th 2010
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Frankfurt to Linz 552km
It is going to be hard not to make lots of comparisons to last years ride in Western Australia and I won’t even try not to. Start with the bike. In Perth it was an Ocker with a couple of bikes in his back shed who explained everything about the bike so fast that with jet lag I never got any of it. In Frankfurt we have a major bike dealer including a host of spanking new BMWs and an owner who speaks in precise English and reminds me of Burkhard (1-2 of you will know what I mean). The bikes reflected their respective environs as well. Oldish 100,000km version (Oz) verses newer 24,000km version (Germany). The fact that one of the side bags had an Australian flag (must be coincidence surely) was just icing on a very nice cake. No instruction needed -it was good to get back into that familiar BMW feel - upright, study, balanced, safe.
To my surprise our 4 year old Garmen GPS worked - still not sure if the US $150 for the European maps is worth it, time will tell. Was on the autobahn in no time and heading
SE towards a distant Istanbul. So the contrasts to last year continue. Last year the trucks, or more specifically those 54 wheel road trains were a bane on the narrow Aussie roads; this year the many 18 wheelers were a blessing of sorts. Only they prevented all our formula 1 racing. Very quickly I came to know Bloody Maniac Winding (BMW), the four circles of death (Audi), the Very Wicked (VW) and last but not least 9/11 (911), which speaks for itself. Toddling along between 120-130km/hr I was frequently left with the impression I was standing still by cars passing by doing at least 180 km/hr. I remember Howard Stern commenting on his autobahn driving experience (I never thought I would quote Howard). “You never see accidents on the autobahn. At first I thought it was safe driving, but came to realize it is complete vaporization.” Rear view mirrors are not good enough without magnification. By the time you see that dot in your rearview mirror it is too late, a blink later they are right behind you and flashing madly. Thank goodness for a bit of power.
I took the A6 through Nurenburg (thoughts of the trials) and
then on to the A1 and into Austria. Not really a great deal to report, rolling green manicured surroundings for the most part, punctuated by the occasion whiff of cow shit, but without a cow in sight. Again, reminiscent of the smell last year of rotting kangaroo carcasses, with not necessarily any to be seen. A bit of research at the typical autobahn/motorway/freeway café stop indicated Linz might be interesting and was about my maximum distance for the day. Linz was a bit oversold by Frommer in my opinion, but then again perhaps it was because I was tired. Found an Ibis near the station. Initial thoughts of a quaint Austrian style hotel faded when all I could think about was a nights rest. It suited my purpose and managed a walk to old town and a quick butchers at the Danube.
I had made it further in the first day that I expected. 552km not bad considering I had got straight off the plane from the US. Could be stamina, but more than likely Ambien which knocked me out on the plane.
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