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Well as the title hints at, there cannot have
been a better time to go on holiday and to leave a damp England behind
than late June for the IMTC Partitour to Austria and Hungary, calling in
to as many extra countries along the way as the fancy took.
As is the Leaders privilege a pre tour band
of Friday, wrinklies and skivers assembled in Newhaven for the fast
Hoverspeed service to Dieppe. Bob Miller made up our across the pond
contingent for 2002 and arrived on a 900 Yamaha Diversion supplied by a
London based rental company, one which could cover the rental bike whilst
in Hungary.
Our crossing to Dieppe was punctuated with
roars of joy when a certain English football team scored against Brazil,
for our departure coincided at 07:30hrs with Englands final game of the
World Cup. The arrival in Dieppe also coinciding with the final whistle.
Well at least we did not have to waste to much time over the next two
weeks when we could be out in that glorious sunshine!
Our destination for the pre-tour 1st night
was the small village of Bourg et Comin, positioned in the Soissons, Laon
and Reims triangle.
The village has a plain but delightful hotel, Hotel de la Vallee. where
the excellent food and wine dulled the disappoint of not seeing England
lift the World Cup, well that was my excuse!
The small and attractive town of Gorze, Hotel Lion D’Or just west of Metz
saw the group assemble for the first time and the first meal as a group
was taken al fresco. Steve welcomed everyone and just pleaded with
everyone for assistance in the lubrication of the Varadero chain. I
believe a pair of kneepads were acquired to ease in this task.
So after a typical French breakfast we headed for Germany and the
Augsburg, destination the Dom Hotel. The location of which was somewhat
harder to find than anticipated. After stopping twice for directions I
caught site of “Alan Cooper” being shown to the hotel by a local rider,
after a quick Le Mans start we set off in hot ( as it was very ) pursuit.
Onwards into Austria we waved goodbye to the morning drizzle of Germany
and were welcomed into Austria in sunshine, Coffee and Kuchen, almost as
good as a Devon cream tea. Grunau im Amtal east of Salzburg was our
destination, a typical wooden alpine hotel ( Ponsion Grunahof, where in
perfect silence we were made very welcome by our host. The location in the
foothills of the Alps introduced some quiet roads as well as main routes
for trucks heading South for Slovenia. Our first stop in Hungary was
Sopron and the Hotel Wollner, a very comfortable hotel, in the center of
the old town, with the bikes securely parked for the night in the main
central courtyard of the hotel. The most serious task of the evening was
identifying the cheapest source of Gosser beer, which I believe was approx
50p per ½ litre. Sopron if you are passing is well worth a visit the “old
town” is delightfully free of the usual trappings associated with the more
usual European destinations. However it was here we encountered “Tesco” in
all it’s glory, located in the eastern suburbs of the town and one of
forty-eight in the country.
Budapest was our first two night break, with accommodation in the north
western suburb of Szentendrei, the Dunaparti hotel appearing like a relic
from a politburo holiday camp. Meal times of 17:30hrs to 18:30 hrs
probably hint at the style of operation. Being located in the suburbs and
with temperatures rapidly rising into the high 90’s we assembled and
headed into town in taxi’s at around £3 a head each way a quick and
painless introduction into Budapest. With the heat and abundant marshy
ground alongside the river fly-screens on the bedroom windows and cans of
mosquito spray were the order of the day.
I am reliably informed that our youngest member of the Partitour James
Walters decided he would rather walk back from the Slovakia to Hungary
than ride on the back of a Moto Guzzi! The strange thin was by the time he
crossed the Danube into Hungary he had aged 3 years and at 14 was old
enough to ride pillion in Hungary. We await the cruel photographic efforts
of his father on this matter.
With only the one day we concentrated our sightseeing to the west bank and
the Vahegy or Castle Hill. The main sites of the Royal Palace, museums,
churches and fortifications are all easily covered on foot, with coffee
taken below the Fishermens Bastion, which overlooks the Danube and
Parliament building.
From Budapest our routes to the next stop in Sezeged varied. Some headed
out over the Great Plain, others took a direct route while ours headed
west and south, crossing the Danube by small ferry before arriving in
Sezeged. This is another impressive centre of education. It suffered from
it’s location alongside the Tisa river, which in 1879 rose more than 26
feet in a few hours and destroyed most of the buildings in the City. A
massive reconstruction project was commenced with funding from many of the
great European Cities. As a result the architecture is impressive in it’s
consistency and with wide shady boulevards it was a pleasant place to
spend a quiet rest day. Here one of our party tried to learn how to fly
(The art of throwing oneself at the ground and missing) unfortunately for
Lord Ron of Vincent fame he did’nt miss!
With the end of our stay in Sezeged we turned for home and headed west for
Lake Balaton and the town of Keszethely. Here another two night stop
allowed for some relaxation or as in Steve and my case a delightful days
riding to the north of the lake. Our unplanned day took in small villages
along with quiet roads well away from the lake and the main roads. Lunch
was a picnic bought for the grand total of £1.50 and taken half way along
a dirt road section, where the only noise was the fluttering of hundreds
of butterflies. On our return to the hotel our short drinks stop resulted
in meeting some of the local couple, where their son enjoyed trying
Steve’s Varadero for size!
Our exit from Hungary was at the Helingenkruez / Rabatfuzes crossing. Our
arrival at the border coincided with one of our group ( a dodgy character
on a BMW1150RT. Why is it BMW riders always attracted the attentions of
the authorities?) in deep conversation with the Hungarian border guards,
initial concerns on unpaid speeding fines or other misdemeanors were
unfounded in this case though.
A quiet ride to our next Austrian hotel saw a
few more of the group encounter the attentions of the local police
resulting in a few Euro’s more. Some members collect sticky badges of the
countries visited, ours wanted to collect more expensive mementos of their
visits to Germany / Austria and Hungary.
From this hotel the Guzzi contingent ( Ron
Kemp, John and James Walters) headed for a flying “maintenance” visit to
“Agostinis for some suspension repairs. They
even have the Tee Shirts to prove it.
 
Roy Puddicombe and myself mapped out an
interesting day’s riding which almost doubled the days official mileage
and saw us visit Italy as well. We took in some small passes between
Bischofshofen and Saalfelden along with the popular Gerlos pass and the
Krimmler Waterfalls. An exciting”windy” ride south over the Brenner Pass
to Vipiteno allowed us to loop west and north to our last stop in Austia
at Meiming. The loop went over the Jaufen and Timmelsjoch passes which I
had not been over before. These are as popular with motorcyclist as the
Swiss passes of Grimsel, Furkha and Susten. The dialect at a coffee stop
in St Leonardo was confusing, I had to check the map to see if we were
still in Italy!
It was a mix of Latin / German and Italian according to Tony Charles and
known as Ladinish. (I guessed the spelling).
Two nights remained with stops in the Black
Forest at the Ring Hotel, Munstertal where our Guzzi riders rejoined, then
back into France for a final night at the Hotel Aux Vieux Remparts for a
final night of wine and excellent food and speeches, presided over by our
traveling Toastmaster The Right Honorable Medium White Sliced Mr Ted of
Boxcer or even K75RT.
All to soon it was time to pack the bike for the last time and head for
the ferry. Two weeks of good company, riding, weather, food and hotels.
Total mileage was just under 3000 miles.
Thanks must go to Steve and Suzie for putting this trip together, it was
great to be able to just go on a Partitour and not have any part in the
organization. Having been involved in organizing these I have really
appreciated the effort involved in the preparation.
Even better it’s only five weeks to we go Partitouring again.
Tony Noyce.
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