The hills are alive with the sound of,
err Harleys? Yes I'm just back from Austria, the land of lederhosen, Red Bull,
Heidi and the goats.
I'd been invited out to the launch of the new Kranked mountain bike movie,
and stayed on for a little road and mountain biking amongst other things.
People are always asking what did you do, what happened and so on, so I figured
I'd give you a brief summary of a typical week on the road;
Friday;
all night drive to the airport. Sleepless and wide-eyed I drive straight to
a press conference in Hinterglem. A hike up a mountain to see Hans Rey, Cedric
Gracia and Tyler Klassen open the new Adidas Evil Eye north shore style MTB
trail is followed by a short ride and a rather late night at a bar where goats
dance, sing, and even flash their bits. After 40 hours I eventually get to
sleep.
Saturday; freeriding and shooting with Tyler super T, the star of the new
movie. Official film launch is followed by another ride and more late night
goat dancing, still no sign of Heidi.
Sunday;
can't remember this one too well, I seem to vaguely trace a hung over day
riding around and taking pictures. All the freeriders have left town, after
much alcohol and half a pig I end up in a biker bar, where strange beings
in leather frequent dark corners. Finally I meet Heidi, though seems she's
aged a little.
Monday;
the big day, a planned mega ride over the Grossglockner Pass with Namibian
Champion Mannie Heymans. Elected to shoot from the car and ride later, just
as well. Evening out with Heidi, the town is filling with Bikers - it turns
out a massive Harley Davidson convention is due to kick off, oh dear.
Tuesday; ride to Grossglocner, oh it's a long way when you've been off the bike for a while. Went to a dance bar, but was the wrong one - a Wallace Arnold coach was parked outside, while lederhosen clad locals performed strange dances for the silver hair crew. Meanwhile back at the biker bar the silver hairs with leather and horns are increasing in numbers.
Wednesday; stuck on the computer most of the day, then it rained. Harley fest livening up, some of the strangest sites I've ever seen are all around. I kinda feel out of place.
Thursday;
out biking with a group of Swiss, great weather and trails - lots of nice
pics taken before braving the Harley fest again. Now 8000 bikes in town, officially
it's open and it is mad. My accreditation gets me everywhere, so I get to
see the best of the table dancing, the street fighting and get force fed ratwurst
at 3 am in the morning.
Friday; time to get outta here and say bye bye to Heidi and the bikers. It's off to the freeride bike park at nearby Leogang, where it turns out Kona are launching next years bikes - end up bumping into several old mates before rushing back to the airport for a late night flight home. Three am and it's all over, safely back in Wales.
Some useful web links to find out more about the above.
www.bike-hotels.com - a great chain of Austrian bike
friendly hotels.
www.saalbach.com - all the info you need on the area
www.mr-african.com - Mannies site
www.hansrey.com - Hans Rey site
www.leogang-saalfelden.at - all about the bike park
