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Alle Fragen rund um Österreichs zentrales Motorrad-Wintertreffen
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In wiaggio, winter 2014: Tauerntreffen, EstEurope,Elefanten

Di 09 Dez, 2014 11:25

I'm finally telling you how my first Tauerntreffen was one of the best experience I ever had :grin:

Friday, January 24th 2014
It’s 7 PM, another long working day is gone; my bike is waiting for me outside, packed with all the stuff to get the Elefantentreffen in Germany. But wait, the meeting will take place next week, so why am I leaving today?
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Like every year, me and my friends organize our “Elefanten” well ahead. We decide together when to leave and which itinerary we will follow, according to the needs and preferences of each one of us. But this year I will have the whole week free, so I will leave on the previous week-end. Omar and Ivan will follow me on a tour among Krakow and Auschwitz, in Poland, and in Czech Republic. I know these places very well.

They will leave on Monday, so I’m planning a lone trip for the week-end. I remember about a very particular meeting in Austria, where a sort of invitation was needed. I look for it on the internet, and here it comes, the “Tauerntreffen”: its organization looks serious and very meticulous, I like it at first sight. They underline that, to get the meeting, it is necessary to ride the bike along a ski slope. Obviously, the slope will be covered by snow, as the meeting take place at 1.725 meters above sea level. It is essential to begin the trip only if you are convinced to face this challenge, that they call “rally”, and only if equipped with suitable outfit.
After reading the rules, I send my invitation request, in English. I can’t believe it, they accepted me immediately! I will finally be able to test my snow-chains on a challenging route…
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It’s dark, and cold, who would leave at this time? It’s Friday night in January, I should have a shower and get out for a beer; but there’s a group of new friends that’s waiting for me in Austria, to celebrate together a week-end of travels, bikes and snow. An event that, for better or worse, I will remember forever.
From Lugo di Romagna (Italy) to Trieben (Austria), where the event take place, it’s about 700 kilometers; I foresee around 6 hours driving to get there. I’m leaving an hour late already (that’s not strange…), and I take the motorway to recover a bit of time. The rain joins me, keeping a warm temperature of 8°C ‘till Udine. It’s late, and I should go ahead, but I’m hungry and I’m losing concentration: I must stop and give up to a bleeding light-and-quick meal in the service area. I get a call from Urska, a biker friend from Slovenia, inviting me to stop at her place for the night, it’s just over the border. But I prefer to go on to Trieben, in this way tomorrow morning I will have more time to face the hard slope.

“If it doesn’t stops raining, I will find snowy road over Tarvisio’s” – I think – “As that time on Bernina’s pass”. But it stops. The road begins to climb; I love this part of the motorway, even if it’s not possible to enjoy the wonderful Friulian view during the night.
I feel the engine working hard, not understanding whether it could be due to the climb or to the temperature, it’s getting colder. I just crossed the border, I’m in Austria, so I must stop to get the Vignette, and I can give the motorcycle a rest. In the parking lots there are not any other bike.
If there’s a country where I love the highway, this is Austria: continuous flyovers allow you to enjoy spectacular panoramas, and tolls are cheap. With just 4.90 Euro, the cheapest Vignette for motorcycles, you are allowed to travel along Austrian highways for ten days!
After an hot tea, I’m ready to leave again, but a guy is approaching me.
“Hi, is it you, wizz? The one who reached Moscow last December!”
We talk like longtime friends, he’s going on a biker party as well, in Nurnberg.
I get back to the highway, the bike keeps faltering: with constant throttle, I feel it going with three-cylinders, but when I accelerate it gets better.
“Hold on, I promised: this will be the last one.”
We covered 120.000 kilometers in our four years together, taking me everywhere I desired, from Sicily to Elba’s off-road tracks, then three times in Russia and Nordkapp later.

After Villach, I should cut from Klagenfurt, but the road is windy and there are high possibilities of snowfalls: I’m forced to extend up to Graz. I will be arriving very late: Andreas, the organizer, optioned a room for me in Trieben, but probably it is too late now to cancel it. It’s almost midnight, so I decide to stop again to call him, I will explain the situation. He still stands up, many people reached the meeting already.

“Andreas, I’m sorry but I would arrive into the night. I still have time to look for a room in Graz through http://www.booking.com , where I could get around 2 AM.”
“Wizz, nobody in Austria would accept you in at that time. Keep riding to Trieben, while I call the hotel and look for a solution. On an extreme case, someone will keep you up to the hut with a sidecar or snowcat. You will sleep somewhere warm.”


Andreas solidarity is AMAZING! We just knew each other few days ago through e-mails!
I get back to my journey, while temperatures are dropping down: those 8°C I had in Udine have become just a memory, yet they have only been few hours ago. I reach Graz a little before 2 AM, temperature is under zero now (-3°C). I stop for a quick refuel, without even taking the helmet off; I check the mobile, there’s a new sms:
“Wizz, get to the Triebener Hof, it’s a guesthoes in Trieben town center. The door is open, get to the first floor: room 103, you will find the keys hanging. See you tomorrow, Andreas.”

I leave the pretrol station with determination hugging me from the rear seat: there are only a hundred kilometers left. The road gets climbing again, it’s night, it’s late, it’s cold; but I will get there.
This trawel just began, but I’m already excited! Who knows what I will get tomorrow!

But surprises are not over yet: I get inside a tunnel, one of those so long that you feel like going to the other side of the world. Finally, I’m out, and it’s snowing: just few centimeters, but they are sufficient to bring my attention to alarm level. It’s 3 AM, it’s cold, I’m very tired and I’m getting sleepy. I must arrive.
After the tunnel, the road is clean: I think they already put snowplows in operation. In fact, I reach them after few kilometers, they are three: one for each lane. I’m attacked by their salt, but visor and windshield defend me; shortly afterwards, there’s my exit: I’m arrived!
I follow the junction to the main road, where the situation is very different from the highway: nobody is cleaning the road, so I must drive over 3 centimeters of snow.
I put my feet down form the footrests and face the first turn, left to the town, with rear wheel trying to drift. I proceed with constant throttle and moderate speed, there is no sense to install snow chains at just 5 minutes of riding left. Here it is Trieben, hell of roundabouts. I feel the bike heavy, with its one week stuff; but drifts are so immediate at every turn that I quickly learn how to control them, managing throttle and my position on the bike. It almost get fun: look at this idiot, in the dead of night, cold and tired, with an overloaded bike, having fun drifting on the small roundabouts of this sleeping village. It keeps snowing, impassive, maybe trying to cover all.
Here it is, Trieber Hof: a typical Austrian guest-house. The entrance-way has a ramp down, the last difficulty and I’ll be sleeping in a warm bed. There’s a corner of the house where the roof can give cover to my bike.
Finally, I took the night bag off, I go the entrance: the door is open. Light turns on automatically, I go upstairs, here are the rooms: 101, 102… 103. The key is hanging.

I get inside, take boots and trousers off, they are soaking. The jacket is not that bad.
It’s 3:30 AM; the room is so warm that I faint over the bed.

(...continues in the next pictures...)

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Re: In wiaggio, winter 2014: Tauerntreffen, EstEurope,Elefan

Di 09 Dez, 2014 17:21

:grin: :smt023

Re: In wiaggio, winter 2014: Tauerntreffen, EstEurope,Elefan

Di 09 Dez, 2014 20:22

great story, mate.
looking forward to reading more!1!!

g max ~:)

Re: In wiaggio, winter 2014: Tauerntreffen, EstEurope,Elefan

Di 09 Dez, 2014 20:47

:popcorn:
I am waiting to read more about your own TT storry...hurry up :-D

and wellcome here Wizz :smt039

Greatings from Totti

Re: In wiaggio, winter 2014: Tauerntreffen, EstEurope,Elefan

Di 09 Dez, 2014 22:20

:smt023 go on please :popcorn:

Re: In wiaggio, winter 2014: Tauerntreffen, EstEurope,Elefan

Mi 10 Dez, 2014 01:00

Uwe Steinbrecher hat geschrieben::smt023 go on please :popcorn:


Are you that Uwe that gave me the Dnepr braking lever to replace my cluth one? :-D

Re: In wiaggio, winter 2014: Tauerntreffen, EstEurope,Elefan

Mi 10 Dez, 2014 01:38

No, he is the other Uwe. The one you look for is KNEPTA

Re: In wiaggio, winter 2014: Tauerntreffen, EstEurope,Elefan

Mi 10 Dez, 2014 08:26

Thank you! :)
I'm translating another part of the story and going to post it soon!

Re: In wiaggio, winter 2014: Tauerntreffen, EstEurope,Elefan

Do 11 Dez, 2014 09:21

Saturday, January 25th 2014
Last night I collapsed, I forgot the lights on: I reach out to turn it off.
The lightning of the room, however, doesn’t change. “Damn, it’s 10:30 AM!”. I run to the window, it is still snowing: I can’t see my bike from here; have they clean up the road? I collect my stuff and go down, I want to leave immediately to the meeting. The forecourt is completely covered with snow, luckily the bike was partially protected by the roof. An Italian man is getting out from the restaurant to prepare his Vespa.
“We are going back home” – he says – “the first group of our friends left this morning, but they said the road is impracticable; some have fallen”.
“Some have fallen…” – This sentence give me a strange sense, I don’t know why: it resound in my mind, maybe taking me back to those “fallen” who fought wars, or maybe remembering me the times I crashed with the motocross… “Fallen… Some have fallen…”
“And even if I fall? It’s not a race, all I need is to don’t hurt myself!”
I get inside the restaurant, they can still give some breakfast. Two eggs, one sandwich, a juice and a big coffee with milk. It’s 11:30 AM and I’m at the fuel station already. I fill the bike tank also and I’m ready to go. It’s still raining, but the road is prepared with salt, so snow cannot stick. There are many sidecars ongoing, it’s not difficult to find the right way to the rally.
The event site explains that from the refueling station to the hut there are just 15 kilometers, 9 of which are on a “normal mountain road”. A very nice road, made of narrow curves between cottages and wonderful views over the snow-covered valley. It continues snowing, while I cross a signboard informing about max slope of 16%, road inclination changes immediately. Asphalt is getting white. The road get narrower, taking me to a place looking too narrow so that snowplows can get here: I think there won’t be any “extra” help from now on, all that snow will be waiting for us on the road surface. But I’m not the only bike climbing up, I notice some tyre track ahead of me. I keep riding, without any problem up to 2-3 centimeters of snow, although the road is quite steep. I get over a very tight right bend, with a long stretch after: a group of French people on Ducati stopped to put snow-chains on. I take this opportunity to stop me as well, so that we can go on together. On the front tyre I assemble my homemade chains, wired with a section of inner tube, while on the rear one I put on the stainless steel harpoons made by my friend Dante in December, before I was left to Moscow. I tested them on 10 centimeters of ice, out of my Russian friend’s Dacia, and they were great; Dante got a great idea. This time I wire them with some straps instead that inner tube, hoping they will resist the stress from the traction. Before leaving for this trip, I assembled my chains many times in order to get trained and quick in the installation, so now after few minutes I’m ready to leave again, but my new friends haven’t finished yet. I decide to leave alone again, it’s late, I’m not sure I will get the finish line this time.
Snow fall has stopped, but the situation after the next bend is not easy…

(...continues...)
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Re: In wiaggio, winter 2014: Tauerntreffen, EstEurope,Elefan

Mi 17 Dez, 2014 08:32

Your experience of the trip is making good reading, next part please. :grin:

Mark

Re: In wiaggio, winter 2014: Tauerntreffen, EstEurope,Elefan

Mi 17 Dez, 2014 08:33

Won't be long until the next one.

Mark
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