Head in the clouds and a REAL adventurer.

Over the years, I have met many motorcycle riders and offered them a place to stay at my home. Several readers of this blog are amongst them. Some stayed a day , some a month or longer. Whenever I invited them I was serious about the offer and so I take it that when people invite me they are acting likewise. These chance meetings often turn into long lasting friendships. A few months ago when I was in South Africa and looking at Cape Town and the Table Mountain from a place called Signal Hill, my brother Frank and I met a couple (Christiane and Gerd) from Innsbruck in Austria. Both in their 60's or so I thought. The conversation turned to motorcycles whereby Christiane told me that her father had been a world traveller on a motorcycle. In parting they invited me to stay at their place if I happen to be in their neighbourhood. I few days ago I was in the Innsbruck stayed with them for a few days. It was more than interesting to say the least.

But let’s go back a bit first.

I had set my mind on riding one of the best and highest passes in the Alps connecting Switzerland with Italy.The Passo Dello Stelvio (Stelvio Pass) is the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps; at 2,757m (9,045 ft) high. This route takes the SS38 from Bormio to Prato Allo Stelvio through the famed pass. The road is highly regarded, and in the popular British TV series 'Top Gear’ it’s called the ‘greatest driving road in the world’ (Season 10 - Episode 1: 7 October 2007).

The route takes you over the Stelvio Pass in a 50 km, 60 hairpins, 45 minutes thrilling ride (if you are lucky to have no traffic).

The switchbacks are very sharp one needs the plan every inside turn carefully to avoid crossing the line facing downhill travel. (I have included some pics I had one file which shows what not to do when riding a bike through these sharp bends)

At the top of the pass I stopped at the shops and down came the rain. The temperature had dropped to 2 degrees C and not before long I noticed light hail. The guy at Richard’s Wurst shop offered a nice bratwurst roll snack and told me that more cold was heading this way in the next hour. The rain came from the Italian side. So I better got going again. Just down the road I turned right to go down the even steeper Umbrail pass and soon ended up in the lower and slightly warmer regions. This area is very spectacular; the Alps change over into the Dolomites which replace the Alpine slopes with rugged rocky terrain. At the end of the day I stopped just south of Brixen or Bressanone which is inside Italy.

The next morning I had planned my route for the day to head towards Graz and ride south from there into Slovenia and Croatia however, just before closing my computer I noticed the email from (Gert and Christiane) in Innsbruck with the message that they love to meet me again. So I headed north instead and spend a very pleasant two days with them. I did some touring in the area and went by cable car to the top of the mountain right behind their house. Now comes the interesting part for many readers. Many of my friends are overlanders/adventure riders and have ridden from Europe to Australia or vice versa and north and South America etc.

These days, when we plan and prepare for a long distance tour we go through great detail about setting up a bike, equipment to take, the latest and best tires and suspension to use etc. And then we go on our world trips to ride mostly bitumen roads or long sections of nicely graded dirt road. (with some exceptions) Now hear this. The father of Christiane was a world traveller extra ordinaire and an adventure rider. After watching some black and white films and reading his stories I can only say the man was a real adventurer.

In 1933 he set off on a trip from Austria to Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and India. (Later he returned and went via Burma all the way to China in a specially made car). He carried a passenger who did some filming and taking photographs. Those were the days without much communication where people had very little knowledge of the world. This man was indeed a real adventurer as he went off into, what was mostly the unknown. After returning he took trips into the Sahara with some weird cars. I was privileged to meet his 92 year old widow who accompanied him at times when they used cars. Fascinating life and stories. If you are interested you can read about at:

www.maxreisch.at

and see his original films at YouTube.

Auf den Spuren Sven Hedins (1983)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwbXTMxH jCM

Von Kufstein bis ans Ende der Welt (2005)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V19EBGQw a4w

Ein Leben im Reisefieber (2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EQ9-i5r lT4


More on Max Reisch later.