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Mission "A 21 Chicken McNuggets, please!" or "What we actually did NOT want to drive" - Rosenheim - March 2002
Act 1:
(Clausthal in the exam period March-April 2002; -2°C to +2°C sleet; lots of bored students)
The phone rings, a call from Marcus in Bonn. He tells Rike not only about his latest carnival acquaintances, but also about the possibility of buying a second-hand kendo in Rosenheim. Marcus describes the seller as a particularly nice "canoe dinosaur" who immediately invites us for a test drive.
For a weekend in the south of Germany??? Only one person comes to mind: HD, always in the mood to paddle and a car that can take up to 7 people and 5 boats anywhere quickly.
Despite - or perhaps because of - the exam period, only HD, Rike and Claus from the RainRiders decided to join us.
After two weeks of impatient waiting, there was about a week of sporadic discussion about which streams we could go down. In the course of this, Claus and Rike made it quite clear that they didn't want to go so far and then only paddle Saalach Au- Unken or Entenlochklamm (we'd already had enough of these in the summer due to low water).
Now the only open question is who will go in which car and with which boat. Marcus is still looking for passengers from the Bonn area, although his success and the planned departure time remain a mystery to the Clausthalers.
The only certainty is that a "useless girl" is going (doesn't paddle, doesn't have a driver's license)" (quote from e-mail HD). There is still high water in the Harz Mountains and as the weekend is still too far away, HD, Patrick and Claus paddle the Oker again on Thursday, the day before departure. After that, the boat issue is resolved. Claus tested his NANO under real conditions and decided to leave it at home (it was a 2nd choice idea). HD takes the Quadro as well as the big Hurry. And Rike took the all-rounder fighting fish.
Well, back and forth, but in the evening Marcus gives the green light, saying the water levels are fine. HD wants to announce the departure time in Clausthal on Friday morning.
Act 2:
(Clausthal; Friday 11:42 a.m.; 3C, showers)
Email from Claus to Rike: "We'll have to ask him again what HD means by "tomorrow morning"!"
Act 3:
(Munich; 12C, moonlight; vacation mood)
We left at around 4.30pm. HD did get in touch before 12 noon (11:59 am).
A check call from near Würzburg revealed that due to a classic communication error by some telecommunication specialists ("it leaves at 6pm" then became "it leaves at 8am (PM)"), the "Bonners" had not yet set off. Since we only suffered from the SLO classic "falling-down Berger" on the A3 for about 5 minutes on the way, we rolled out our sleeping bags at 9:30 pm. We decide to spend the night in Munich's posh area (thanks to Ira and Wulf) and quickly go to the movies. We load ALL the boats into the car out of boredom and then surf the web thanks to our DSL flat rate (quote from Matthias in ICQ at 00:25: "How do you do that, being online now?! I think you're on vacation? Or is that Anja? Greetings? Matthias").
Act 4:
(Langenpfunzen near Rosenheim; Saturday 9:30 am; sunshine 13C)
At 8:00 am we started looking for a way out of Munich (without first applying for a visa for Upper Bavaria as recommended by Marcus).
Well, we made it to Rosenheim on the A8, right on schedule, and a few traffic circles further on we arrived at the Brötchen, Birgit, Kanudinosaurier Wilfried, the Kendoweibchen and the Golfrest ("Bonner" minus 1, Carsten (Dagger Honcho) had parked his girlfriend ("useless girl...") with acquaintances in Rosenheim for the weekend - also a 2nd choice idea). And then suddenly we also had a Peter (Dagger EGO).
We actually took a bold approach and the guy on site seemed to be competent (as far as Teufelsschlucht or Brandenberger are concerned), but during a leisurely breakfast, Marcus HD not only outdoes us by saying that his car with boats on the roof drives 5 km/h faster (190 km/h to 195 km/h), but we also have to realize that unfortunately, apart from the Saalach, nothing in the area has enough water. And so we decide to drive to Unken after all.
Act 5:
(On the Saalach; 17C, sunshine)
In order to gain a little more excitement, we decide to start a little higher up, at the end of the Teufelsschucht, about 150 m above what Marcus and Rike are really looking at. Claus with his ocean liner is happy, Carsten and Marcus are already a bit porous, Wilfried is just carrying his Gatto and HD his Quadro (still) without any worries or concerns about getting in. Rike keeps a low profile. Then it starts and somehow almost everyone has enough to do with themselves. HD is surprised that his super-light paddle has so little inertia that it feels like it doesn't exist. The Quadro also somehow has the urge to disappear in the current as soon as a wave bigger than 7 cm appears in front of the boat. Unexpectedly, we are already at a step, which we all bob down without any problems, but only some of us can play in it:
Wilfried eagerly does backflips with the GATTINO, Peter does a few "mystery moves" (at this point it was probably already possible to be pushed to the bottom with kendo's) and Rike is so busy with the eddies that she doesn't even notice the "now-Peter-disappears-again". Marcus can't help it either (when Claus comes back out with a kendo...) and gets a good shake up. HD is actually satisfied that he can watch the whole thing in a reasonably stable way. After that there is something tricky (like the first thing on the abseil route, only more undercut and more massive), but which offers 2 slots as a bypass, which Claus and HD use pronto. Rike and Marcus, however, have the spontaneous urge to carry the boats for a walk.
Further down, it becomes much safer, as there are various "wink-wink" spots for undercutting or playing. Our expectations of "Au bis Unken" at low water were far exceeded, it was great fun.
Act 6
(Evening in Lofer-Land; hungry; tired; moonlight)
Wilfried and Birgit show us two game sleeping options before we find a good restaurant after 5 parking lot stops, which is not too expensive and open, offers warm food but not only fish, has enough space for 8 people and is located in the Alps. The food was good. "tele.ring(A07) wishes you a pleasant stay!" After dinner, we say goodbye to Birgit and Wilfried (thanks again for a great day!).
We decide on the campsite "Am Wasserfall". There, the Sharan becomes a large tent (i.e. six of us sit and drink in the "trunk"), which is also somehow strange.
The three of us can sleep in the back, but as Rike said later: "You have to like each other... ". HD concludes: "Sardines in a tin should be very friendly, otherwise every tin will burst." (So Beni watch out!!!) But it fits! Surely it would have been even more comfortable if HD hadn't squeezed half of the already sparse 120 cm free for himself...
Act 7:
(Waterfall on Sunday morning; sunshine)
Not (yet) caught, so far so good. Now the general opinion is "Saalach was quite nice, but today it should be something else". The only ride we can think of is the second "We don't really want to do that", the Duck Hole Canyon. After paddling, the "useless girl..." still has to be picked up from Rosenheim, so the radius of action is limited.
The fact that Marcus can't remember the name of the woman he has a date with on Monday becomes a running gag.
Act 8:
(Country road; somewhere in Germany or Austria; sunshine)
We drive for an hour to the supposedly permitted deployment site, are horrified by the ease (the heaviest of teeth water), until Rike makes the most serious mistake of the weekend: AFTER WE HAVE UNLOADED AND PUT EVERYTHING IN PLACE, WE NEED TO DETERMINE THE EXIT, when she reads in the book that we are not allowed to paddle here this month. Hooray, pack everything up again and head back towards Au. After a brief discussion about which car has to read the map, Marcus and HD have a "race" on the country road. Carsten grumbles. The map reading probably takes a back seat to this fun, but we can't find the right exit from Reit im Winkel, so we keep going in circles around the market square. Soon everyone knows us.
Not everyone is as fast as we are - then back on the open country road. Marcus overtakes three cars at once, we can't get past them in the Sharan until the phone rings and Marcus says: "The road is clear for a long way behind the ambulance". We can no longer see the Golf, but we can see the ambulance coming towards us...
Act 9:
(on the Saalach; sunshine)
We are already on the water at 2 pm. Then just the familiar, but without mystery moves and such, just played down. Then we say goodbye to the "Bonners", who have to pick up a forgotten Jack Wolfskin bag in Langenpfunzen and a "useless girl" in Rosenheim.
Afterwards we went up to Lofer, greeted Hubertus and admired the siphons in the Teufelsschlucht gorge.
Act 10:
(highway flying low; sunshine ;-) )
We need 6:30h from Lofer back to CLZ, including refueling (car at Aral, people at BurgerKing). The "Bonners", who left an hour before us, are only home two hours after us.
Mission "It wasn't that cheap after all..." - Philosophical insights from the BOOT - February 2002
We're off to BOOT 2002 today! We meet in a good mood at 0620 in the café parking lot for departure. Michael and Sven realize that they could have come here together instead of each driving their own car from home 9. We have an appointment with H.D. and Anja in Goslar at 0700. As I should be in bed with a cold, I take a detour with Claus to the pharmacy on emergency duty in our beautiful town. Loot: A bag full of modern chemicals, which should enable me to weigh up and carry out my planned purchases with a clear head. On the way to Goslar, I wake H.D. up on his cell phone - he denies it, of course. Soon we're driving towards Düsseldorf in Sven's Golf and H.D.'s Sharan, I'm busy with my drug cocktail while the others have breakfast, and we find out that Anja and H.D.'s two-way baby monitors have a range of several kilometers and are very practical when driving in convoy. Provided they are switched on. With H.D. as the "convoy-leading" driver, Anja as the B-
GPS, me as the radio operator and Claus as Claus, we have a lot of fun. Sven, Beni, Friederike and Michael have a bit of confusion as a result. Anyway, we soon park in parking lot 2 field 22 F at the Düsseldorf trade fair. "Leave room to park!" one of us says to H.D. as he pulls up right behind the Golf. We take a shuttle bus and dive into the trade fair.
Michael wants to stroll through the halls and look around; the rest of us have more or less firm buying intentions. At BOOT you can compare products side by side and haggle over prices, that's what we intend to do. My main goal is a new paddle. My Eskimo Akrobat is getting old and I'd like a reliable, perhaps lighter, more advanced paddle. I throw in a Lemocin and think about it. It's quite simple, I just have to think about a few things: Aluminum, glass, carbon fiber shaft? RIM, poly fiberglass, carbon fiber, Kevlar-carbon fiber blade? Blades attached or shaft and blade in one piece? Shrunk or glued? Symmetrical or asymmetrical? Shaft wet-in-wet or thermally ovalized? More Kevlar on the edge or more on the surface? Scratch protection top layer against notch effect? 60, 65, 70, 75, 80 Angle offset? 202, 200, 198, 196 cm length? 1750, 1480, 1300 or 980 grams? Straight or ergo? And what do I want to pay for it? I rush to the manufacturers' stands and ask the representatives questions. Everyone is convinced of their concept. I usually get expert advice and explanations, even to my rather detailed questions. Plastics and fiber composites are not exactly my specialty, but with basic mechanical engineering, paddling experience and common sense, I can get a pretty good idea. I walk back and forth, weighing up the arguments of one against the other and trying to figure out which paddle offers me a good compromise between safety, fun and price. After a few hours, we are hungry and decide to sit down for a meal. The others eat their sandwiches. I take ACC acute and Lemocin. Friederike is happy, after almost 2 years she has finally found a good whitewater lifejacket for female proportions! Sven, like Beni, is searching fruitlessly for an inexpensive, well-fitting, stable helmet. Claus is flirting with a poly-carbon fiber paddle, which seems to have a good price-performance ratio, and H.D. and Anja have got hold of a life jacket for the youngsters. H.D. in particular is often encouraged by the "low" euro prices to take a closer look at products, his interest grows, and only then does he realize that it's not so cheap after all. Well. So far, so good. To mentally relax, we make a detour to the diving hall to buy knives suitable for white water. After an hour of searching and a dose of Endrine Mild, I realize that they don't exist. At least not here. We discuss this stubbornly. Back in the canoeing hall, I annoy everyone, including Jochen Lettmann, for hours with questions about the various paddles on my shortlist and try to give honest, objective feedback on the other people's intended purchases. Is the paddle jacket too tight? Well, a carbon fiber blade does have its advantages...what did you ask? It's already afternoon. A decision has to be made. Another ACC acute.
I find myself comparing models from ever higher classes (and price categories!) in my mind. Does the euro also have an influence on me? The purely rational level is already a few meters below me. What the heck, I'm a connoisseur, why shouldn't I risk investing a little more money and probably get a lot more riding pleasure in return? A super-stiff, reasonably light and yet reasonably stable paddle with a sensible design has its price and doesn't last much longer than a mid-range paddle. Nevertheless, the idea appeals to me immensely, I've somehow had enough of my old barbell and my paddling technique is slowly approaching the limits of this paddle.
slowly approaching some of the limits of this paddle. I can also negotiate a significant discount here at BOOT. Patrick wants us to bring one too! In the meantime, however, I'm so convinced of a paddle other than his dream paddle that I call him and tell him about it. His choice is soon made, great, and what do I do? Lemocin. Slowly we all meet up again, and Claus has adopted a nervous look and usually sneaks around the paddle stands. Soon he's blaming me for the fact that he's suddenly interested in a higher quality trowel than he was this morning. No medication will help. The trade fair closes in half an hour and I've already had Lettmann put a certain paddle on hold for me. My brain and my stomach have found a very good compromise between safety and riding pleasure. On the way to the parking lot, I think about the fact that the price factor no longer plays such a decisive role, but I still think my choice is a good one. I will test the paddle in the swimming pool and compare it with others, and if I don't like it, I can return it. I think that's a very fair deal. Even if something in my gut - as well as about 20 competent people I've talked to about it in the meantime - tells me that I'll never give this paddle back once I've used it...
I talk to Michael about this and that while we trot along side by side after the others across the huge parking lot. Out of the corner of my eye, I see that they have finally found our cars again. Still talking to Michael, I realize that something is not right, they are somehow in a different mood than before, and there is something in the air. My cerebellum (or maybe it was my spleen) realizes as we get closer that the Sharan won't have any problems parking: Sven's Golf is gone. Gone. No longer there. Air. Fuck. I don't get it. What's happening here? The first thought that the parking lot management has towed the car away for some reason doesn't come true. The police don't know anything about the car either. Frustrated and resigned, we drive to the police station to hand in the report and file a complaint. I take Endrine and Lemocin.
At the police station: No, we weren't mistaken. No, definitely not. Yes, the cars were right behind each other. Yes, right here. Of course we can describe the car. An old Golf 3 with rather few kilometers, and - turbodiesel. We also know what's inside: jackets and all sorts of small items, some of which are difficult to recover and some of which aren't cheap. Not to mention the car itself; who can just pull a new one out of their sleeve? We still can't believe it. The new Sharan has not been touched. In passing, we learn that other cars have been stolen from the exhibition grounds today. It's strange how little I realize what's happened. It's so crazy to take the risk of being caught because of such an old car. Of course, that doesn't help Sven.
After the formalities have been completed and the ADAC generously rejects my plus member request for logistical help, we decide to apply our knowledge that (subject to various rules) the only restriction on the number of people in a car is the payload and the driver without a P-license may transport a maximum of 8 people plus himself. We make ourselves "comfortable" in the currently 5-seater Sharan - aaaaaaaah! off the paddles! - and look forward to the discussion with the usually uninformed officials who might cross our path. To be on the safe side, we don't get on directly in front of the police station.
It's very communicative with 8 people in a car. We talk about a thousand things, including paddles, the stolen car, paddles, upcoming paddling activities, the melting snow, water levels, family planning, career stress, money issues, paddles, cars, travel... until we arrive back in the Harz Mountains. We realize that it was *convenient* that Sven and Michael both came to the cafete by car from Heim 9 this morning; now Michael can take Sven home with him. What remains is a queasy mixture of all the impressions of the product developments on the kayak market, the conversations and the insane amount of information that not only I received about paddles today, and the bitter aftertaste of a stolen car.
Conclusion: Maybe your car will be broken into in Romania. Already experienced it. Maybe someone steals equipment from your car in the south of France. We've been there. But maybe someone will simply take the whole car. And in the middle of Düsseldorf. Been there, done that. My conclusion: shit happens, and it happens all over the world. Even at home. Don't let it stop you from traveling, experiencing other countries and other people. You can get hit by a ceiling light in your living room. And what did you get out of it? With this in mind: Stay in flow.