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1. Austrian Indian Tour 2005

Nockalm, Mt. Grossglockner, Lofer - 02.-04.09.2005

At the morning of the 2.September, the day wich I have waited so long for, was here. The Austrian Indian Tour 2005! Together with Florian Gsottbauer, Dorit, my father and Karla and Peter Prill, wich had arrived the day before, we stopped at the parking square of the skijumping arena Bischofshofen. A littlebit later all the other riders had reached the meetingpoint and the group was ready. After I had handed out the tourmap and told a few words to welcome the riders, we started the tour. Althought we had expected good weather, we had a raincloud above us, wich seemed to follow us… To my astonishment, the group didn´t loose its good mood. After we had passed Radstadt we took the first „mountain challenge“, the Tauern Mountainroad. It was raining strongly, but the riders saw the bad weather, just as one more challenge. After 40 miles we met Horst Strangmann with his Four, who had waited at a gas station. At that location a very nice part of the tour began. The road got narrower and we went up to reach the Nock mountains. Short before entering the pass, we had a break at the Dr. Josef Mehrl Hut.

 

It was still raining, but we moved on and rode the Nockalm Mountainpass, were we experienced the first steep uphill curves. At that point, the weather went better each mile. At „Ebene Reichenau“ the sun was shining. Through Bad Kleinkirchheim and Radenthein we went on to the Millstätter lake. At this point we lay good in time (honestly) and none of the motorcycles had technical problems. Just the Chief with sidecar of family Schlüns from Berlin had its second battery, missing charging from the alternator. As the road heading to the Mt. Großglockner Road was very flat, we raised our speed. Reaching Heiligenblut, the Chief had problems again. The alternator was not the only problem. With too much oil in the crankcase the sparkplugs were sprayed with oil, on steep uphill sections the second gear wasn´t staying in the gears. But after a short repair we were able to move on. With every curve on the Mt. Grossglockner Road the smile in my face went bigger. There were just a few miles before we would reach our first daytour finish, all the motorcycles had made the way and about two thirds of the total road millage was behind us. At 7.15 p.m. we reached the Wallack House. After some last photos with the wonderfull landscape of the alps behind us, we went to our rooms and met a littlebit later at the biggest table in the guestroom of the house. Family Wallner had prepared a perfect 3 course dinner. As we had two birthdays to celebrate, there was cake for everyone afterwards. The day had left its marks on us and so we went to bed early.

 

After a rich breakfast we started our motorcycles and went on to the „Franz Josefs Hight“ were the glacier of Mt. Grossglockner can be seen. We stopped at two other sightseeing points, called the „Hochtor“ and the „Fuschertörl“, and rode our motorcycles to the „Edelweisspitze“, one of the highest - per wheel - reachable points of the alps.

Ridding down the road heading to Salzburg was easier than thought. Using the second or third gear, you nearly hadn´t to use the breaks. As we reached the village Fusch we met Richard Schönfeld and his friend. He hadn´t made it to the meetingpoint on the first day, because of very bad weather. As they wanted to see the best part of the Tour, they rode the Grossglockner Road in the other direction, while we went on to ride through Salzburg. After some more miles it was the end for the Chief with sidecar. The problems got bigger and there was no more comfortable riding. With a trailer, the motorcycle was brought to Lofer, were we met the Schlüns in the evening. After another 30 miles we had a stop at the Piller Lake to have some rest. Now it wasn´t far anymore to the final destination of the tour, Lofer. With reduced speed, we enjoyed the last minutes in the saddle. At the Hotel Bräu, we were warmly welcomed with sparkling wine and beer.

 After getting to our rooms, we had a 3 course dinner and a very nice, long evening. On the next morning we had a nice breakfast and a big goodbey with all our friends. Some rode home, others used the chance to have some more days in Austria. Horst Strangmann, Florian Gsottbauer, Dorit, her father Arnulf and I went up to the Loferer mountains, just for some extra miles.

 

I just can say: What a perfect weekend!!!

 

A very big „thank You“ goes to my girlfriend Dorit and my father Fritz. Dorit for her perfect support with the escort vehicel and the trailer. Without her quick response and her big patience, we wouldn´t have had such a nice ride. Also for her nice photos, taken along the track. My father Fritz for helping me find the nicest routes and for his support with map material for all the riders. We are looking forward to see your video!

 

Greetings from Austria, were the 2.Austrian Indian Tour will start in 2007!

  

Florian F.

 

 

We have made over 250 photos of this event, but there is not enoght space on this site to show them all. For 5 Euros, a CD with all the pictures can be ordered. Just send a short E-Mail.

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