To Offenburg from beyond

Offenburg is a couple of hours south of Frankfurt. 

Initial plans were to fly to Frankfurt, catch a train to Offenburg, and then a taxi to the bike shop. Unfortunately, RyanAir fly to Frankfurt Hahn airport and don't hint at the fact Hahn is two hours west of Frankfurt. We discovered that gem after booking the flights.

No plan survives first contact, right? So we adapted and hired a car to drive the 3 hours to Offenburg.

Adapt or fail

a well taped cardboard box
We learned that RyanAir will only allow helmets on spare seats–one helmet per seat by the read of it. Otherwise your life-saving equipment needs to go in the hold to be crushed, battered, and invisibly compromised by damage.

Our new Shuberth C5s had arrived only a couple of days ahead of the flight in two smart boxes within a single purpose sized box. Mrs G called RyanAir and confirmed a 'suitcase' can be a box and what the maximum dimensions can be. 

The box fitted the bill.

Into Hahn

Typically, the Friday flight out was at around 6am and we needed to wake up at 2:30am to get to it. The flight was that expected of RyanAir and the arrival at Hahn missed our expectations. It was a grim spot on a grim day. 

We were marched along barbed wire fences like we'd arrived at a secure holding facility. Only the watchtowers were missing. I don't recommend the airline or the airport.

hahn airport apron with people walking through the temporary barbed-wire fencing

We booked a small automatic car with Eurocar and received a small manual one. It was too far to walk back to complain.

Drive to Offenburg

We drove onto the autobahn and received a puncture warning. We drove off to a service station, learned to pump air, what KPa are, and inflated the tyres. We drove on while Mrs G studied the German owners book under supervision of Google Translate and found how to turn the air pressure alarm off. As we drove into the Offenburg office, it fired again and the staff didn't seem bothered to learn of it.

The Holiday Inn Express was a short walk and check-in went without a hitch. We freshened up in a comfortable room, unwrapped the helmets, and called a taxi to the bike shop.

We arrived

It was just after 4pm when we were welcomed with a coffee and found Sherbert lurking among the other showroom bikes.

woman smiling next to a white goldwing 2023 in a Honda bike shop





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