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Andy's bike touring career

back to overview: Andy and Waltraud
Bicycle Touring before 1992:
  • Switzerland, the Provence and Cote d'Azur in France, and the Riviera, Apennin and the Alpes in Italy: A tour through Southern Europe in 1983; 3700 km in 18 days
  • A tour in the Austrian Alpes and Hungary in 1984; 1800 km in 13 days
  • Through Norway to the polar circle in 1985; 4500 km in 32 days
  • A round trip in Iceland in 1987; 2000 km in 25 days
  • A tour through Belgium and Ireland in 1988
  • First mountainbike expedition in South Greenland in 1989
  • A tour through Czech-Republik and Slovakia right after the opening of the borders in 1990; 1800 km in 17 days

Bike Racing Competitions
  • Den Store Syrkepröven, a 550 km race from Trondheim to Oslo in Norway (seven times since 1991)
  • Arber Radmarathon, a 250 km race in the Bavarian Forest in Germany (several times)
  • Ötztal-Radmarathon, a race in the Austrian Alpes with many steep passes!
  • Paris-Brest-Paris 1999 and 2003: The most challenging and oldest  long distance bike race in the world. 1200 km non-stop!
  • Frankenwald-Radmarathon: a 230 km race of continuous up and down. Many short steep uphills and downhills.
  • 24h race in Sulingen (several times): the nice atmosphere during the race is worth it!

Bicycle tours prior to 1992

A Tour through Southern Europe: Switzerland, France, Italy (1983)

This was my first bike tour. I started in Kronach, my home town in North Bavaria, Germany. From there I rode to Switzerland, to Lyon, southward in the valley of the Rhone, through the Provence, along the Cote d'Azur and the Riviera, across the Apennin Mountains and the large plaine of the River Po. Then I went across the Alps and through Austria back to North Bavaria. Altogether I covered 3700 km in 18 days.

Tour in the Austrian Alps and Hungary(1984)

Starting from Kronach again, I cycled to Vienna, and then to the Balaton Lake / Hungary. From there through Austriaand across a number of alpine passes to Bavaria back to Kronach. This was 1800 km in 13 days.

Denmark and Norway: Crossing the Arctic Circle (1985)

From Flensburg in North Germany (where I arrived by train) I cycled to the north coast of Denmark. There I took a ferry to Cristiansand / South Norway. Along the Norwegian coast I rode to Oslo and from there via Lillehammer to Trondheim on the road E6. I continued north, crossing the polar circle and arrived in Bodö. From there I took a ferry to the Lofote Islands and Vesteral Islands. From Fauske I took the train back to Kronach. On this tour I covered 4500 km in 32 days.

A rough round-tour on Iceland (1987)

Arrival on Iceland by flight to Kevlavik. From Reykjavik I started South, along the coast to Skaftafjell. There I visited the largest glacier in Europe, the Vatnajökull. Of course, I was the fist biker, to ride on the hughe glacier shield in over 1000 m a.s.l.! From there I went on to Egilstadir in East Iceland, to the waterfall Dettifoss and to the lake Myvatn. From Akureyri I turned into the high plateau on the Sprengisandursvegur. Then, I took the road through the center of the island, which is very desert-like, to Landmannalaugur. From there I went to the Gullfoss, and visited the geysers. After a visit to Thingvellir I returned back to Reykjavik. From there I did another short trip to the Vestmanneyja Islands. This tour was 2000km in 25 days and often rough roads!

A tour through Belgium, England, Wales and Ireland (1988)

From Brussles / Belgium I rode to Gent and Dünkirchen. From there I took a ferry to Ramsgate. After a trip through all of South England, I rode to Exeter, Bristol and Wales. From Fishguard I took the ferry to Rosslare in South-East-Ireland. Along the southern coast I rode to Killarney, where I visited the National Park. From there I rode the 'Ring of Kerry' and to Dunquin (Dingle), to the Cliffs of Moher and visited the Aran Islands. Through the Burrans I went to Galway. From there I crossed the Island back to Dublin, from where I returned to Germany by ferry and train.

A crazy tour in Southern Greenland (1989)

Together with Winfried Napp-Zinn, a friend from Cologne, we took a flight from Copenhagen to Nassarssuaq in South Greenland. For four weeks we explored the areas around Narssaq and Qaqoroq per mountain bike. It was mostly off-road! There are no extended trails outside settlements in Greenland, so we had to fight with swampy and rocky terrain. This tour was a trip between backpacking and off-road biking. But we have been the first guys, who ever had realized a bicycle tour in Greenland.

A tour East after the opening of the borders (1990)

Together with the friend Norbert Hetz I decided to explore the new countries that have openend also for bikers: The Czech Republik and Slovakia. From Bayreuth, North Bavaria, Germany we cycled to Pilsen and continued to Brünn. From there on we went to Olomuc, Gottwaldov, Zilina and some Slovakian mountains. We spent some time in the Fatra and the Low Tatra and the High Tatra and also in the Karpartian Mountains in eastern Slovakia. At the Ukrainean border we were not allowed to continue East. So, from Kosice we took a train back to Cheb and cycled back to Bayreuth. This tour was 1800 km in 17 days.