Back from the Austrian BRP Grosglockner Challenge!
Hi friends!
Came back from Austria early Tuesday morning 00:30 am and am I glad to be back and out of the saddle for a while!
The trip was fantastic.
Wife and I left Norway by ferry on the 28th of May and after a few hrs on the ocean we landed in Hirtshals, Denmark. Rolled off the ferry and drove close to the German border where we had booked the first hotel in "Holstrup"
Next day was nice and slow. We had till the evening to get to Hamburg Altona where we had booked a ride on the Autozug to Munich. So a lil bit of sightseeing and then to the train station. Got the Spyder onboard the train and went to the sleeping cabin for some shuteye.
At 07:30 am next day we entered Munich East Station and got the Spyder back on the road again. :thumbup:
From Munich we had about a 4 hr drive to the hotel we had booked in "Gmunden" Austria. Scenic little town placed by a wonderfull lake, well worth a visit on it's own. As we had a cpl of days to relax before the BRP event started, we did some sight-seeing and tested out a few of the nearby restaurants. Germans do know how to make a good beer, that's for sure. :cheers:
On the 1st of June we got to the event tent and got registered for the event. We got a welcome package containing a nice shirt with prints of the event and some various pr articles. There was said to be 350 Spyders/Rykers for this event, people from all over Europe, and one person from the USA, so it was a great mix of people. First day ended with bbq dinner in the event tent and then back to the hotel for some sleep.
Day 2
The days ride took us from the event tent through scenic landscape and to the city of Linz where the Rotax factory is located.
A great number of people went to the factory, but wife and I went to the Rotax Max dome instead. The Max dome has a indoor gocart circuit and the BRP had reserved it for all of us the whole day. :thumbup: After that we headed back to our hotel to relax a bit before the evening dinner in the event tent.
Day 3
Got up early. Today is the Grosglockner challenge and it will last the whole day, 130 miles one way and then the return back.
There was no set route to follow, it was up to each and one to find the way up there, so there was CanAms all over
One had till 1 pm to get there for the picture taking of all the CanAms on the "Franz Josef plateu", so we could hold a nice calm pace through the fantastic landscape.
When all that was done, we set course for the hotel again and I must admit my hiney was happy to get off the Spyder again.
We had a lil rain on the way back and that was the only rain we had the whole time, it was really nice weather, but a bit too warm.
The evening in the event tent was great, they had hired a band who did Beatles tunes and they really livened the place up. :thumbup:
Main prize on the lottery went to a German guy, he won a year's free use of the latest model Sea to Sky Spyder RT and he was really happy. Wife and I left early cause we were really tired after a long day on the road, so we said bye to the crowd and got to our hotel again.
The event is over, and we checked out of our hotel the 4th of June and started the long way home to Norway.
This time we drove all the way back on the Spyder, no train this time.
Finding places to spend the night was fairly easy as the vacation season has not started yet.
Being retired and with no time schedule, we took 8 days to get back home, and we really enjoyed the calm pace.
The only thing I had to do to the Spyder RT on this trip was to change a light bulb. It used some oil, but not too much, and I had to top off the cooling water tank once.
Yesterday I took the Spyder to visit a friend and the :cus: compressor gave in again, so now it is the garage, stripped of tupperware and going nowhere for a while! :gaah:
Just glad it waited to happen 'til after I got back home. :thumbup:
I made a movie from the trip on my Youtube channel, so if you want to see it just hit "play"
hyea: