Strompie
Race Dog
I booked another trip for September this year, but then the world stopped. We are physically in August, but I am emotionally still working on April. So here is a ride report of my 2019 trip through Austria and the Northern parts of Italy. Maybe next year, we can do it again!
It is sometimes the impulsive moments that sends your life on different course altogether. One of my bucket list things has always been to tour Europe on a bike. Once you make the decision and add a date to your dream, you can start saving and planning. If you don’t, it will forever be just that: a dream. Being the lazy type, I approached Edelweiss Bike Travel to help me with the tour. It does add a lot to the final price, but then you have peace of mind that everything is sorted. Bike, bookings and the all-important route. They offer a range of tours, but I am not one to ride in a group. For that, they have self-guided tours. And their range of bikes is quite extensive. I picked a tour and a bike and booked it. Now there was no turning back.
Shortly after booking, I received a big envelope with an Edelweiss logo on it. First, I was amazed that our Post Office actually delivered the thing and then I could see, on a map, exactly where I would be riding. The route is carefully laid out with coffee and lunch stops and interesting places to visit. My one son, Ian, went to Italy in 2018 with his wife and the travel bug bit him pretty hard. When I showed him on Google maps where I would be riding he pointed to a coffee shop and said to me: “Dadda, I want to sit there and just watch the people go by.” His Trafalgar tour was quite hectic and all he wanted to do was just sit and observe. Impulsively I said: “So, come with me.” He looked bemused, not knowing that that was even an option. In that moment, my solo adventure became a father and son outing.
Edelweiss is based in Mieming, a small town just west of Innsbruck in Austria. The tour starts and end here. On arrival I organized riding boots for Ian and we were handed the keys to our Ducati Multistrada 950. As Ian has never been on the back of bike for any length of time, we took the bike around Mieming for a quick shakedown, testing our communication and just getting familiar with riding on the wrong side of the road.
It is sometimes the impulsive moments that sends your life on different course altogether. One of my bucket list things has always been to tour Europe on a bike. Once you make the decision and add a date to your dream, you can start saving and planning. If you don’t, it will forever be just that: a dream. Being the lazy type, I approached Edelweiss Bike Travel to help me with the tour. It does add a lot to the final price, but then you have peace of mind that everything is sorted. Bike, bookings and the all-important route. They offer a range of tours, but I am not one to ride in a group. For that, they have self-guided tours. And their range of bikes is quite extensive. I picked a tour and a bike and booked it. Now there was no turning back.
Shortly after booking, I received a big envelope with an Edelweiss logo on it. First, I was amazed that our Post Office actually delivered the thing and then I could see, on a map, exactly where I would be riding. The route is carefully laid out with coffee and lunch stops and interesting places to visit. My one son, Ian, went to Italy in 2018 with his wife and the travel bug bit him pretty hard. When I showed him on Google maps where I would be riding he pointed to a coffee shop and said to me: “Dadda, I want to sit there and just watch the people go by.” His Trafalgar tour was quite hectic and all he wanted to do was just sit and observe. Impulsively I said: “So, come with me.” He looked bemused, not knowing that that was even an option. In that moment, my solo adventure became a father and son outing.
Edelweiss is based in Mieming, a small town just west of Innsbruck in Austria. The tour starts and end here. On arrival I organized riding boots for Ian and we were handed the keys to our Ducati Multistrada 950. As Ian has never been on the back of bike for any length of time, we took the bike around Mieming for a quick shakedown, testing our communication and just getting familiar with riding on the wrong side of the road.
