By Max Mayer

[Editor’s note: Max and Gord Charles completed this trip shortly before Gord died in his sleep on October 22. Gord was a long-time member of the EBTC, a friend to all, and our vice president at the time of his death. See the November issue of Spokes for additional photos and comments about Gord.]

Data

Arrival in Frankfurt: September 1
Return to Edmonton: October 3
Total Riding Distance: 1600 km
Days on Bikes: 22
Days on Trains: 2
Days Sightseeing/Hiking: 10
Room Cost: between 46 to 82 Euros for a double room, shared 50/50 (included breakfast)
Rooms at no cost: 6 nights
Meals (including Beer or Wine): 10 to 20 Euros
Weather: mostly warm, from 5C in the mornings to highs of 33C; some rain in Salzburg and Vienna
Cycling conditions: 90% of Trip on well-planned bike trails, mostly paved. Beside the rivers, the trails were flat, but in some areas grades were up to 18%

Highlights

• Heidelberg: site of world famous university, population 140,000, 20% of them students.
• Danube River: From the Neckar to the Jagst Rivers, we joined the Danube close to the source, then later we joined the Isar River, back to the Danube via Passau to Vienna. The last 85 km we experienced headwinds up to 40 km/h. The River was busy with numerous tugboats and large tour boats. The Danube is the second longest river in Europe, after the Volga.
• Vienna: During our two days in Vienna we took an extended sightseeing tour, visited the famous Schoenbrunn Castle, home of the Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. The castle and palace has thousands of rooms.
• The Alps: We planned a train ride from Vienna to Krimml to visit Europe’s largest waterfalls. Unfortunately there were mudslides in that area and we could not get connections. So we left the train earlier and rode to Zell Am See in the Alps and then north to Salzburg. Along this route we had many serious climbs, visited the world’s largest ice caves near Werfen (1800 steps on a guided Tour). We took guided tours in some picturesque Canyons and then rode over Pass Lueg, where Napoleon was held up by a handful of Austrian Freedom fighters in 1809. They dis- lodged huge boulders from the mountains to block his ad- vances for several days. (I learned all this while I attended school in Salzburg many,many years ago).
• Salzburg: Birthplace of Mozart. We visited most of my familiar places, schools, churches, etc. We had dinner in a wine cellar that was founded in 803. We drank Beer in the Augustinerbraeu (founded 1492), visited the castle and some of the 29 churches that date back as much as 1,000 years. The Red Bull energy drink is an invention of a native of Salzburg. He built two glass-enclosed hangars at the airport. They are open to the public and house displays of many pri- vate jets, helicopters, racing cars, and small planes. This was a delight for Gord; he held a pilot’s licence. The owner of this place is extremely wealthy. He owns a soccer team, sponsors auto/motorcycle racing as well as downhill skiing, has a restaurant on top where he changes his chefs from all over the world every two weeks. I have no Idea how much a meal would cost there! We left Salzburg and rode to Berchtesgaden, took a tour of the Kehlsteinhaus (Hitler’s Eagles Nest), then rode to Bad Reichenhall and Munich.
• Munich: We stayed for several days, sightseeing, some hiking in the mountains. The Oktoberfest was a MUST. We were lucky to get seats in one of the 13 beer halls. Our "Tent" held 8,300 people and it was full by 1 pm. A lot of interesting sightseeing in Munich, including the Feldherrnhalle where Adolf Hitler started his Nazi movement in 1923.
• Rhine Region: From Munich we took a Train to the Rhine region in Bingen. We spent more time with friends, rode 86 km one day along the busy river; it is a highway for large boats, more than the Danube. We spent a day in Bacharach to celebrate their 650th anniversary. The Parade lasted more than 5 hours, and the wine was dispensed free to all onlookers. We had our own personal wine glasses in a leather pouch around our necks (given to us by my friends). I can’t remember how many times we held out our hands to get refills. After the parade Gord sat next to the mayor and his wife—they are friends of my friends. On the 3rd of October we boarded our return flight at the Frankfurt Airport.

I could go into much more detail, but this gives an idea of places we visited, some of our activities and some costs. I have to thank my German and Austrian friends for their hospitality. One of them, who lives in Salzburg and whose name is Max too, went to school with me since grade 2. We had many great times together, and we have remained friends all this time. Other friends were from Bad Reichenhall, Munich, Neuburg, Weiler, and Wein- heim. All these people have come to Canada on ski trips, and I had the privilege to be their guide. Their hospitality and generosity came as a real surprise to Gord. Everybody accepted him as their friend too. I kept busy translating the various German dialects to English so Gordon could keep up with the conversations, and after a while he started to understand some phrases and practised them on everybody, especially some of the ladies (waitresses, salesclerks, etc.). They all liked his smile, and for some reason he was hugged much more than I was.

Gord did not drink his coffee in the morning, and so he always gave it to me. Coffee is an expensive commodity over there; beer is much cheaper. He usually asked for milk. On the outskirts of Salzburg, we stayed in a 300-year-old farmhouse, and our corpulent landlady did not have any milk. She had sold all her cows. So she rode her bicycle to another farmhouse to get fresh milk from a cow each of the five mornings we were there. (She lost her husband two years ago, and I believe she had a crush on Gord).

In closing, we had many great memories. I considered him my best friend. We had many rides together, including some multi-day camping trips in the mountains, but this was the highlight for both of us. At no time did he complain about any discomfort or pain. Almost every morning he said, "What a great day! What a great country!" He was talking about a bike trip to China sometime in the near future, and he often talked about the bike club, its members and the many great people he considered his friends. This is how we will remember him.

There are more than 1000 pictures that Gord and I took on this trip. If anybody would like a copy of the CD that contains most of them, please let me know. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .