Germany Aug 2012, pt. I - Eurobike

Some pix taken during my late August trip to southern Germany. Part I, the Eurobike trade show:

Sweet Ford Modeo Estate diesel rental car. Solid, roomy, torquey and great brakes and tires...

 ...I had it maxed out at 221 km/h (≈137MPH) on an open, downhill, unrestricted stretch of the Autobahn.

Since the Eurobike trade show is in the relatively small city of Friedrichshafen, lodging accommodations can tend to be "creative" at times. This year a group of us stayed at a Catholic academy:

 Dorm style:

 My thoughts exactly:

Weingarten in the morning:

 Weingarten street art:

 ???:

 Covered roadway between Weingarten and Friedrichshafen:

 Snack #1

 Part of Electra's 80 meter long Eurobike stand:

Anodized 3D violet makes a nostalgic appearance. I bought one of these headsets for my friend who owns the wonderful Velo Hangar shop in Solana Beach:

BOO!

Show-going pooch:

Don P and Thor "The God Of Thunder" Hushovd:

Snack #2:

 Interesting wine-carrying rack on a Schwinn:

 German-style marketing, paint-on jerseys:

Sweet lighting:

Snack three, salty-sweet licorice fish from northern Germany (Hamburg): 

 One of many, repeated texts that kept coming through over multiple nights as I tried to sleep:

Sorry, no Don Jose here. Now beat it.

Eurobike & Such – So Far

cannabis-based tea as seen in a Swiss vending machine

I thoroughly enjoy Eurobike, it’s everything a trade show should be – fun, located in a great location and (relatively) affordable. Pretty much everything Interbike isn’t. Located in the small city of Fredrichshafen in southwest Germany and along the coast of beautiful Lake Constance/Bodensee. The venue (“messe”) is spread out amongst about 13 large buildings and comprises just over one million square feet of exhibits. Even getting there is fun (aside from sitting for seven hours in coach from Dulles(t) to Zuich). Once we landed we grabbed a rental car – or more accurately a Euro van.

The Mercedes Vito would fail miserably in the US. No dual-sliding doors, one skimpy cupholder, designed with a t-square and underpowered by a buzzy 109 HP diesel engine with a six-speed manual transmission. All-plastic interior with a hard-surface floor. No in-car entertainment system. Heck, there wasn’t even an auxiliary input for my iPod, so we listened to Swiss radio where they still talk over the beginnings and ends of songs. Even though it was a stripper model, it was still a blast to rail around the German countryside with. But before we got to Germany we had to drive from Romanshorn, Switzerland on the western coast of Lake Constance to grab the ferry to Friedrichshafen.

The ferry ride is a super-relaxing ride across the lake, taking about 40 minutes.

Modern and with a bretzel-und-bier-equipped snack shop up top too.

More to follow…