Day 10
Warth, Austria – Sauerlach, Geramany – 244.8 km

I suppose it would be fitting that our last day of riding would end with some rain. Still, I fell pretty fortunate that we didn’t get much and really had nice conditions for the entire trip. There was a tornado in the mountains with golf-ball sized hail, but we never saw any of it.

I was really feeling the effects of riding every day on a sportier bike. The engine vibration, the ergonomics and the miles finally took their toll and I just didn’t have it in me to push myself or the bike anymore. A really nice couple named Keith and Katy let me follow them into Sauerlach for the “ride home.”

Aside from a little bit of rain, Austria was another really pretty country. We even stopped to check out the “Disneyland” castle of Neuschwantstein. We never went inside as the tour would take over three hours.

Lunch was another fabulous picnic lunch on the shoreline of a lake. The water was a brilliant aqua color that we normally don’t see here in the U.S. You could see down about ten feet into the water before the bottom dropped out of view.

I even maxed out the BMW on the Autobahn. I got it up to somewhere around 230 ~ 240kmph (142.6 ~ 148mph) before it wouldn’t go any faster. That’s still not as fast as my Aprilia, but it’s plenty fast. Scary to think we could clip along at 160+kpmh and a Porche would blow by you like you were standing still.

It’s true that you can fly on the Autobahn, but that doesn’t mean that you can ignore the warnings and signs. You have to pass on the left, and the speed limits can dynamically change depending on the road conditions ahead. So you had to stay pretty aware and alert lest ye be taken out by someone else. It’s too bad that in the U.S. we couldn’t have a highway system like this because it made getting between cities really fast. The U.S. drivers would kill each other on it and I’m not sure the legal system could handle all the lawsuits that would erupt.

Dinner was nice and we all had some time to say our goodbyes with some last few drinks at the bar. Several of us plan on staying in touch and riding together when we can. I even have a hook up in Austria for skiing and boarding, now. Maybe next year.

Would I do it all again? You bet!!!