A motorcycle trip from one extreme to the other: the fact that we were in the right place at the wrong time – i.e. in the northern hemisphere at the start of winter – meant that both man and machine were pushed to their limits. At the beginning in particular, when we were going through the snow-covered mountains of Washington, the Xchallenge and HP2 Enduro frequently had to demonstrate just what they were able to cope with. But crossing mud fields and fords, or climbing steep slopes on snow covered trails with deep tracks – this wasn’t hard on our light enduro bikes, in fact it was a lot of fun. Nonetheless, the huge variety of terrain required a lot of riding skill. Once it was so cold that icicles started to form on Ramona’s front mudguard. On the climb up Steens Mountain in Oregon, Herbert and Ramona slipped at the same time on a left-hand bend covered in a wafer-thin layer of ice. Luckily both of them had learned the correct falling technique a long time ago. Later, in the south of the US, we had the extreme opposite of rain and fog: in temperatures of around 35 degrees we sweated over a tyre change in the Mojave Desert and whirled up sand clouds on the dry tracks between the Joshua trees.
With this kind of temperature difference, it was important for the team to be able to rely 100% on its equipment. When we were surprised by a dust storm in Black Rock Desert, we were glad our tents were able to stand up to the wind. In terms of clothing, the motorcyclists stuck to the onion principle: several layers of different materials which you can successively add or remove as required.

 

 

Topic: Curiosities

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