From: noemi@maui.cs.ucla.edu (Noemi Berry)
Subject: The European Adventure, Day 4
Organization: UCLA, Computer Science Department
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 08:35:34 GMT

This is the next installment in the tale of my 9-day
motorcycle adventure in Europe during the summer of '92.
I apologize for its length and hope that your news/mail
software will allow you to skip over it easily if it is
of no interest to you.

noemi
*--------------------------------------------------------*

10/1/92
The European Adventure
Day 4: The Day of the Escape

    As the third test of faith, the daemon Adnoh was smitten with sharp 
    thorns. Only by passing the test of lights thus crippled with bleeding
    hooves, could Adnoh be deemed worthy to carry His people to the 
    promised land.  
                                    -Demonthenese

Sunday, August 30, 1992
Heidelberg, Germany

Today I had to get to Austria to escape the German cities and my
yellow-light curse.

The day started out overcast, but not raining.  Hoping it had rained
itself out yesterday, I forewent the raingear and began the drudgerous
task of putting all my gear on the bike again.  I was about ready to go
when my conscience got the better of me -- shouldn't I do a full pre-flight
on the bike?  It had just been fully inspected in Frankfurt, I hadn't
gone gone that far since then, it couldn't possibly guzzle oil the way
my Kawi does....naaaaah.   Ever gone a whole week without a rationalization?
OK, OK, can't rationalize away safety.  I'd just do a quick nail inspection
on the tires.

Three guesses what this quick nail inspection turned up.  Yup.
A quick nail.

The nail was in the groove of the rear tire's tread, with the head of the
nail about flush with the tread.  I stared at it dumbfoundedly.  This can't
be happening to me!!  *AND* it's Sunday, there's no WAY I could get it
fixed today.

I checked the tire pressure and found it hadn't lost any air.  I decided
to ride to a gas station outside of Heidelberg and check it again.  This
time, I didn't even notice the yellow-light curse since I was so consumed
with visions of the rear tire exploding.  The follow-up inspection at the
gas station revealed no loss in pressure, so I decided to press on.  I
filled up with Super Bleifrei, and mercifully, the FT started easily, and
I was nervously on my way.

Highway droning on Autobahn 5 "south" took me to Autobahn 6 "east"
(toward Heilbronn) then to Autobahn 7 "south" (toward Ulm then to Kempten).
It got cold due to clouds, and was very windy.  Still, it was pretty and
always a thrill to ride on the Autobahn.  I cruised at about 130 kph and
made decent time in spite of frequent stops to fix earplugs, put on
sunglasses, add neckwarmer, etc.  The FT was decent for this sort of
travel, and I was glad that I could let my legs dangle without risk of
touching them down (yes, I KNOW that's a no-no!).

After hours and hours on the Autobahn, I wanted to go toward Reutte, Austria,
but the road was blocked by police because of an accident.  This sent me on
a detour *way* out of my way, partly since I didn't stop to look at my map
until I was too far gone.  It's amazing how far you can get in an hour
on the Autobahn, and how incredibly not far you get in an hour *off*
the Autobahn!  It takes forever to get through towns on the small roads
in Germany.

No crisis, though -- I ended up in Marktoberdorf, then took that to
Fussen, and was treated to some *gorgeous* views of a valley with a lake.
Two of King Ludwig's castles, including Neuschwannstein (the Disneyland
castle) were nestled in the mountains, looking really rather unnatural
against the vast slope of trees.  It was considerably cooler than last
time I was there, when I had hiked up to the castle in jeans under my
leather pants, in order to stretch the leathers.

It occurred to me that everything looked so *different* this time -- the
green looked greener, the contrast of the slope against the valley was
stronger, the lake was shinier.  The beauty of my surroundings seemed so
rich; it seemed to penetrate me more.  It was also wonderful last time I
was here -- but why didn't I feel this same brand of magic then?  The
only explanation is that now I was seeing it from the perspective of a
motorcycle, and last time I had been in a car.  As someone said later,
it's the difference between seeing something on TV and actually being there.

I continued on to Reutte, crossing the Austrian border along the way.
I made it!  Nearby was Lermoos, a town that was finally looking to be
off the beaten tourist track, where I stopped at a pizzeria at 6pm. 
Germany and Austria were so expensive with the rock-bottom dollar that
I had a lot of pizza and pasta there.  But you know how it is when you've
been riding all day: the importance of the quality of food is inversely
proportional to how long you've been riding.  That must explain why
bikers have so little class when it comes to food :-).  The man who
served me the pizza told me in English that he thought it was wonderful
I was riding a motorcycle.  "More girls should ride motorbikes!" 

Motorbike, by the way, was doing OK after its day of hard work, though I
sometimes heard a curious <pop> sound from the engine.  The rear tire
hadn't lost any air, luckily.  It was hard to move the FT around at low
speeds and I was learning fast about choosing my parking spots
carefully.  My tank bag was not permitting full-lock on either side,
which was really annoying.  Oh, for a pair of hard saddlebags!

While munching my oregano and cheese pizza, I looked out at the mountains
and the white buildings with wood trimmings and flowers, marvelling at how
different Austria was.  It was just fantastic here, with green mountains
oddly juxtaposed with completely bare, rock-like mountains.  The towns
were sparser along the way than in Germany, and the roads sometimes go
*around* the towns.  So THIS is where the good motorcycling is!   After
a good hour of unkinking the hours of autobahn out, I scribbled to myself
"hope I find a place tonight?"  I wanted to use every drop of daylight
for riding, which is longer in Europe.

Continuing on some decently bent roads, it was finally dark enough to
stop and look for a place to stay.  Too dark -- and too late.  I went to
six GastHofs (Guesthouse) and didn't find one zimmer (room) frei (free). 
Each attempt meant finding the Correct parking spot (not sloped, with
plenty of room to get out), removing helmet, gloves, hairband; walking
to the desk and getting a sad "no" from the proprietor, reversing the
procedure and starting all over again.  People were very friendly
and helpful, actually.  I wondered if they were so nice because even in
Europe, I was an unusual sight: a young [ok, ISH] woman in black leathers
travelling alone by motorcycle, looking forlorn and frightened, and
acting *very* foreign.

I swore to myself that tomorrow I would look earlier, even if it meant
using up a precious half hour of daylight to ride.  It was still August,
after all, the Month of the Tourist, and places filled up early.

In despair, I tried the next town (Landeck, Austria).  At the first GastHof,
the man whom I asked for zimmer frei said nothing, walked away and returned
presently with a key!!  I asked if I needed to leave my passport or anything,
and he said no, pay tomorrow.  Very trusting.  The sparse little room had
a view of a mountain and a rushing river, whose sound would be great to
help me sleep.  Relief and exhaustion did much to alleviate any complaints
about the 300 oS (oS = austrian shillings; $30) price for the room.

Downstairs in the restaurant (most of the Gasthofs have a restaurant
and bar on the ground floor), I passed the first evening of what would
become a habit.  This was my reward: time at the end of the day to have
some life-giving tea and dessert, to look over maps for tomorrow, and
to write in my journal about my day.  I resented the frequent glimpses
and out-and-out stares from the other people in the restaurant: my tension
level was high and I really needed this time to come down and become human
again, and the attention felt like an invasion of much-needed privacy. 

But I didn't want to go to my quiet little room either, I wanted to be
where there were lights and sounds and other people around -- I just
didn't want to be watched the whole time.  Mood management proved to be
one of the bigger challenges on this trip!  Seriously, I was very excited
and keyed up the whole time (type A personality or something?), and I
actually had to make efforts to relax.  I had to stay as sane as possible.

I needed that sanity.  Tomorrow's first task would be to take care
of that nail in the rear tire.  And tomorrow, come hell or high
water, I am finding an Alpine pass!

End of Day 4.

noemi
*---------------------------------------------------------------------*
noemi@cs.ucla.edu (for now)     				KotSBL
DoD #443  						'82 KZ 305 CSR
							(hang in there!)
	Next Motorcycle (NM) countdown: $3000 and/or one job
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