Tag: BMW

Scandinavian ice skating

RUSH HOUR IN JOKKMOKK

We’re in fourth gear, full throttle, and the left bender is approaching ominously. Walls of ice zoom past my peripheral vision as I focus on the right turn-in point – some 100 meters before the actual bend. Get that one wrong, and 1,300 kilograms of metal and ape flesh hurtling forward at 120km/h will meet a very abrupt and painful end. I apply a quick left jerk to the steering and a good liftoff to give the front of the car some extra grip. As the machine rolls and changes direction, I do an “all-in” slam on the gas pedal and apply a full opposite lock. We’re now in full dynamic drift, doing some 200 meters worth of “Scandinavian ice-skating” all the way to the back straight of the frozen track, somewhere north of the Arctic Circle.

I wear a smile of an adolescent who just lost his virginity. Fred, the Swedish coach from Stig Blomqvist Driving School, on the other hand, sits next to me emotionless. You know, Swedish.

“Want to meet your childhood hero?” he asks as a matter of fact.

Continue reading “Scandinavian ice skating”

Bucket-list item #4 – Sturgis

WHERE HALF A MILLION BIKERS COME TO PARTY

Harry is the world’s biggest dick. No, not figuratively as in “ass hole,” but literally as in “two-meter-high standing Pekker”. Cocks aside, Harry is really a nice dude with a friendly disposition to all who pass by. He’s just another massive guy that happens to clad himself in an inflatable penis outfit, complete with a set of two giant balls to keep him company. Not anything out of the ordinary in this crazy, unreal place. Standing on a busy street corner, he hands out small purple penis necklaces to whoever cares to drop by. I stop by for a quick chat with Harry, take a lovely photo of him and his wife, get the odd-looking freebee, and move on. In this shrine to in-your-face individuality, and like-or-not freedom of expression, Harry’s unorthodox costume hardly makes a ripple.

Muslims go to Mecca. Hindus have the Ganges River. Hasidic Jews pilgrim to Mt. Meron for a nightly feast. The Vatican is where Catholic Christians look for inspiration. And bikers? Harley worshipers? V-Twin aficionados? Where do they go to pray?

Continue reading “Bucket-list item #4 – Sturgis”

Best Black Blast!

WE TOOK A PORSCHE, A BMW, AND AN ALPINE FOR  A DRIVE IN THE BLACK FOREST. WHO WILL COME ON TOP?

I woke up at around 2am to the sound of a loud bang coming from out of the window. I’m not easily awaken – a capacity my wife had long detested – so it must have been going on for some time. I get up and open the window to a raging hurricane and a broken, thick wooden shade. I wrestle with it for a few long minutes. Finally, I manage to anchor it wide open against the outside wall of the castle. When we got to our hilltop hotel outside Baden Baden earlier that evening, everything was calm and pleasant. Naturally, we paid no heed to the “Hurricane-force” wind alert from our weather app. I fall asleep thinking, “did we park our Boxster, M2, and Alpine near a tree?
Continue reading “Best Black Blast!”

Back to Black. Black Forest’s complete driver’s guide – part II

5 ADDITIONAL SCHWARZWALD ROADS YOU SHOULDN’T MISS

With more than a thousand Kilometers of great driving roads, little traffic (if you know where and when to go), and few and short connecting sections, the 130 Kilometers (85 Miles) area between Baden-Baden and the Swiss border is the quintessential petrol-head’s playground.

But to unlock this “drivefest” extravaganza you need the right key.
Read below.

Continue reading “Back to Black. Black Forest’s complete driver’s guide – part II”