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1988 Tour of Yugoslavia

Dates	:	July 18 to August 6, 1988
Car	:	1980 Triumph TR7
Distance	:	6300 km (3900 miles)

Europort - Nijmegen - Kleve - Kalkar - Xanten - Sonsbeck - Geldern - Kerken-Moers - Köln - Bonn - Bad Neuenahr - Nürnburgring - Mayen - Polch - Hatzenport - Emmelhausen - St Goar - Mainz - Oppenheim - Worms - Ludwigshafen - Hockenheim - Karlsruhe - Ettlingen - Straubenhardt - Bad Herrenalb - Gernsbach...

...Baden Baden - Freudenstadt - Schiltach - Schramberg - St. Georgen - Triberg - Furtwangen - Titisee - Lenzkirch - Schleitheim - Schaffhausen...
(21 meter drop, with a flow of 700 to 1080 m³/s)

...Feuerthalen - Stein am Rhein - Kreuzlingen - Konstanz - Allensbach - Radolfzell - Ludwigshafen - Uberlingen - Friendrichshafen - Lindau - Oberstaufen - Immerstadt - Sonthofen - Oberstdorf - Nebelhorn - Sonthofen - Hindelang - Tannheim - Weissenbach am Lech - Hofen - Reutte - Lermoos - Imst - Innsbruck - Wiesing - Kaltenbach - Zell am Ziller - Gerlos - Mittersill - Zell am See...

Took the cable car to 1320 m above sea level and walked (climbed) further up to 2000 m, from where the picture of Zell am See (900 m above sea level) was taken.

While relaxing by the lake side a red Pitts Special acrobatics plane took off from a nearby airfield. It was making a series of rolls while climbing at a 20 degree angle. In the middle of the lake, at a height of some 300 feet, it shot up into the sky, abruptly transitioning over from the rolls into a 360 degree loop. After that it disappeared from view behind the mountains. Later that day it appeared again, doing the same thing, rolling at an incline. However, this time the pilot made half a roll less, perhaps mistaking the blue of the lake for the blue of the sky. Instead of shooting up into the sky, he started his loop inverted and slammed into the lake, disintegrating the plane on impact with the water. Killing himself in the process.

Drove the route: Bischofshofen - Hochkonig - Saalfelden - Uttendorf - Enzingen Boden. Enjoyed the 13 great hairpin bends in the road that were both challenging and rewarding, with the most beautiful scenery around.

Took the cable car and a walk up to the Weiß See which is surrounded by 3000 meter heigh mountains (and obviously above the summer snow line). Absolutely breathtaking!

...Bruck - Fusch - Gross Glockner...  T w e n t y - e i g h t  of the most challenging hairpin bends, had me blasting up the mountain. Made at least 10 overtaking moves, preferably in the bends. Overheating and fading brakes made going down the mountain a lot less fun. That bus I blasted past going up the mountain, caught up with me again, going down... Obviously his brakes were better than mine.

...Rijeka - Kraljevica - Klenovica - Senj...
Entering the “Jadranska Magistrala”, the 2000 km long coastal road that leads along the Adriatic. The traffic was a little challenging, but I managed to keep up with the motorcycles.

...Biograd - Vrana - Biograd...

Okay, so I was going to find these ancient Roman ruins that were marked on my map. While searching, roads turned into country lanes that turned into tracks. I mean deep tracks! I had to ride the shoulders to prevent the bottom of the car hitting the ground. Then my way was blocked by a manure truck with a flat tire. That had me backing out of that track for 20 minutes. Suffice to say that I never found the Roman ruins...

...Benkovac - Skradin...

...Sibenic - Vodica - Biograd...
While blasting down some unpaved road, I managed to crack the front spoiler by hitting a 20 cm deep ditch that ran across the road. Days of hot weather notwithstanding this thing had water sitting in it, that deep !

...Biograd - Sibenik - Split (Roman fortifications) - Makarska - Podgora - Douzen - Dubrovnik...

Walked in and around beautiful “Stari Grad” Dubrovnik, which has an old town center with a fortification wall around it. Many small stair case streets make for a romantic setting...

(now apparently quite damaged)

...Dubrovnik - Metkovic - Mostar... (Sadly, now destroyed)

Got stopped in Jablanca for speeding! Rightfully so, I was doing 94 km/h (according to radar) in a 40 km/h zone (having a great time...). The penalty had to be paid on the spot. The officer showed me the number 2500. I thought he meant 2500 Dinar per km/h too fast, but it turned out the 2500 Dinar was the whole penalty. In real money that amounts to about a buck, fifty. That made my day.

Further down the road I got held up by a rock slide that had completely blocked the road. Took an hour or two for a shovel to turn up and clear enough rocks to let traffic through.

...Jajce - Banja Luka - Zagreb...

While cruising in fifth gear on the highway to Zagreb the gearbox locks up. That was the end of that. The car was trailered to a small garage in Zagreb, where a mechanic worked until midnight to try and fix the problem. Turned out that all gears, except fourth, were gone (damaged layshaft). On top of that the clutch was gone. By midnight the car was back together again with a Ford Transit friction plate replacing the broken original.

With the fun being over, I set out to drive the 2000 km home, non stop and in fourth gear. Stopping only for gas and a half hour nap, the trip was completed in 30 hours.
Don’t let anybody ever tell you that the engine of a TR7 is not flexible. All you need is 4th..!