18.-21.5.2023
“I must have missed a great meeting. It’s stupid that you can’t have everything” (Gea on 23.5.).
Gea is absolutely right, but can’t split herself in two when she is touring the desert landscape of Morocco at the time, accompanied by Claudia.
We booked the Voralpenhotel Schmoller in Hipping near St Georgen/Attergau on Eva’s recommendation, thank Eva, because it exceeded our expectations. The house is beautiful and quiet, the hosts and staff are very friendly, the wellness area including the swimming pool is spacious and clean, and the food…mmmmh, best try it out for yourself! Anita couldn’t resist the massage offer, Bärbl and Astrid went straight to the sauna anyway after the first cold and wet day of travelling.
Our bikes are allowed into the covered shed, which will keep out the sun rather than the rain these days. On the day of arrival, the weather is not very friendly. But our fellow women are still present in large numbers, represented are Bavaria, Switzerland, Lower Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol, Vienna, and Upper Austria is represented at the last moment by Eva, who is actually almost on her way to the Iron-Ass with an a…cheek.
Unfortunately, President Chris has to return home on the first evening, as there is no dog-sitter available. So the annual general meeting is swiftly conducted in the early evening, Chris, Julia, Michaela, Jasmin, Su, Anneliese, Berti, and (absent today) Laura retain their functions, and then there is time for the social part.
Salzkammergut and greater Berchtesgaden offer routes at their best. Rossfeld. Postalm. Curves, curves, curves. Pass heights behind wisps of fog, blue-green lakes, blossoming trees, grazing cattle, snow-covered peaks, tempting culinary creations. Let’s put aside exact tour descriptions for a moment and let the ladies themselves have their say:
“It was a lot of fun. Looking forward to the next time” (Jasmin, 21.5.). Let’s remember Elfi’s brazen attack on the guitarist of the Vorarlberg bicycle group, who played music so happily in the next room in the evening. After a few schnapps, he sang with us! And whatever lyrics were not memorised, Anneliese quickly called up on her smartphone.
“Good morning ladies! Paule, Anita and I landed in Sillian yesterday late afternoon after a cool round. Thank you for the fine time, for the many stimulating conversations and especially for the great entertainment…many many thanks to Julia for the invitation to dinner…” (Sabine P., 22.5.23). Some of the participants added even bigger or smaller laps to the meeting, which really pushed up the total kilometre count! Elsbeth, who came from Switzerland, wrote on the same day: “Hello everyone, it was a wonderful DACH meeting. Barbara and I rode over the Reit im Winkel yesterday and later over the Flüela Pass. I was tired but satisfied. We were very lucky with the weather and the traffic on the way there and back. No traffic jams and not a drop of rain. The singing, the laughter did us a lot of good…in general the whole days. We are looking forward to meeting you at the rally in France. Today we drove the Klausenpass, the Iberegg and the Sattelegg. Total since Thursday 1800 km…”
And this despite the fact that one of Barbara’s side panniers dared to jump off on the motorway, but luckily Elfi was able to pick it up and transport it further!
Sonja can only “…agree with you…it was really fun and nice to meet you in person. Unfortunately my rear tyre came apart after the Gaberl and I had to be picked up by a friend with the trailer, but what the heck, luckily we, Bine, Elfi and I, took a break and saw the damage in time!” And Bine, who had to say goodbye to her speedometer cable, posted: “One of the Ducks got home well too. Totally tired. But overjoyed. Thanks for the great togetherness…the rides together…the guides who always guided us home well…the fun and laughing together… A weekend that was good for the soul.”
So DACH meeting 2023 had a lot to offer, and I conclude with my own reflection from 21.5:
“It was a super nice and fun DACH meeting, thank you all for the company, leading guides, route tinkering, alloholisse 😉 and non-alcoholic rounds! …I hope for an equally happy reunion in the near future!”