Day 29 - A Meeting with an Old Friend
Sunday 7th August 7 2016
In the morning I message my old friend Charly Kaller hoping he is at his home in Heilbronn.
I first met Charly in the summer of 2007, when I was on a bike tour of the German and Austrian Alps. Since then we have made a number of tours together, to Sud Tyrol, Harz, Steiermark and Greece and Turkey.
One year Charly came over to the UK and he, Mick and I toured in the Scottish Highlands and Inner Hebrides.
Charly gets back to me and we arrange to meet up at his house. It's only a couple of hours away and after a pleasant ride through the rolling hills of Baden-Württemberg I arrive there at 10:30.
We are soon out on the road. Charly is Der Tourer Fuhrer, and it is a very familiar feeling to be riding along behind HN JX4. Charly taught me most everything I know about riding in the Alps. How to glance sideways up (or down) the road as you steer into the next hairpin, so you know if there is approaching traffic. If there isn't you can swing wide and use the whole of the road to sweep around the 180 degree curve at twice the velocity you can otherwise achieve.
How to swing in on left handers so you can get a shot at overtaking slower traffic in the hairpin. He may be 76 now but I can't keep up with him in the twisties if he doesn't want me to.
We head off on a round tour of the wonderful Baden-Württemberg roads stopping for lunch at a biker favourite Gasthof for a massive grilled steak in onion gravy. It's like eating a truck.
Then onto a biker meeting point I have visited on many occasions with Charly. Löwenstein Biker Treffpunkt is heaving with every type of machine. We have coffee and the time slips by as Charly gets into conversations with his many friends there.
But I have to get to Luxembourg tonight. It's after 3pm now and my destination is more than 350km away. Finally Charly is done yacking and we set off for the autobahn. Charly leads me onto the A6 and We stop in a parkplatz for goodbyes. We agree that I will contact him for a possible tour in the Harz mountains in September. And then I am on my way.
The big K flies down the autobahn. It is what it was designed to do and although it is an amazingly versatile bike it was designed with these German motorways in mind. 160kph comes and goes. I get my head down and settle on 150kph as a comfortable speed to get the miles done.
From a 15:30 start I am rolling into the High Chapparal bar at 19:15. This is a favourite haunt of mine, a great stopover when travelling to and from the Alps from the UK. I am greeted warmly by owner Ed, a Harley chopper rider and all round fine guy. Dutch by birth he has made his home and a fine business in the heart of Luxembourg, running a biker-oriented bar, restaurant and camping ground at Heiderscheidergrund on the banks of the fast-flowing River Sûre.
After a welcome Erdinger Weizenbier I set up camp, surrounded by Harleys, and soon fall asleep.
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| The road down from Schurrenhof |
I first met Charly in the summer of 2007, when I was on a bike tour of the German and Austrian Alps. Since then we have made a number of tours together, to Sud Tyrol, Harz, Steiermark and Greece and Turkey.
One year Charly came over to the UK and he, Mick and I toured in the Scottish Highlands and Inner Hebrides.
Charly gets back to me and we arrange to meet up at his house. It's only a couple of hours away and after a pleasant ride through the rolling hills of Baden-Württemberg I arrive there at 10:30.
 |
| The legend himself |
We are soon out on the road. Charly is Der Tourer Fuhrer, and it is a very familiar feeling to be riding along behind HN JX4. Charly taught me most everything I know about riding in the Alps. How to glance sideways up (or down) the road as you steer into the next hairpin, so you know if there is approaching traffic. If there isn't you can swing wide and use the whole of the road to sweep around the 180 degree curve at twice the velocity you can otherwise achieve.
How to swing in on left handers so you can get a shot at overtaking slower traffic in the hairpin. He may be 76 now but I can't keep up with him in the twisties if he doesn't want me to.
We head off on a round tour of the wonderful Baden-Württemberg roads stopping for lunch at a biker favourite Gasthof for a massive grilled steak in onion gravy. It's like eating a truck.
 |
| A traditional Baden-Württemberg greeting |
 |
| A snack for lunch |
Then onto a biker meeting point I have visited on many occasions with Charly. Löwenstein Biker Treffpunkt is heaving with every type of machine. We have coffee and the time slips by as Charly gets into conversations with his many friends there.
But I have to get to Luxembourg tonight. It's after 3pm now and my destination is more than 350km away. Finally Charly is done yacking and we set off for the autobahn. Charly leads me onto the A6 and We stop in a parkplatz for goodbyes. We agree that I will contact him for a possible tour in the Harz mountains in September. And then I am on my way.
 |
| The Löwenstein Biker Treffpunkt |
The big K flies down the autobahn. It is what it was designed to do and although it is an amazingly versatile bike it was designed with these German motorways in mind. 160kph comes and goes. I get my head down and settle on 150kph as a comfortable speed to get the miles done.
From a 15:30 start I am rolling into the High Chapparal bar at 19:15. This is a favourite haunt of mine, a great stopover when travelling to and from the Alps from the UK. I am greeted warmly by owner Ed, a Harley chopper rider and all round fine guy. Dutch by birth he has made his home and a fine business in the heart of Luxembourg, running a biker-oriented bar, restaurant and camping ground at Heiderscheidergrund on the banks of the fast-flowing River Sûre.
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| A very familiar camp site |
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