Freilauf Podcast #3:
Worldwide group tours for 56 years
Walter Bogner
Walter Bogner has been traveling the world by bicycle for 56 years with groups of up to 40 people. His trips have taken him to places like Vietnam, New Zealand, and Mauritius. Traveling alone was simply too boring for him.
Spending two months cycling with a group of 16-year-olds
Even as a teenager, Walter, a native of Graz, would follow his parents on their holidays by bicycle. At 20, he decided he no longer wanted to travel alone. He sought out like-minded individuals throughout Styria to join him on his travels, often combining his work and involvement in youth work with his passion for travel. This led to Walter spending a full 60 days on the road in 1974 with a group of 16-year-olds. It's probably unimaginable today that their parents would have allowed it. Since then, the average age of his group has risen somewhat, as have their expectations regarding accommodation. Single rooms are a no-go on Walter's group trips: "...the participants should get used to each other.".
Proper planning is important for a cycling trip.
Preparing for a cycling trip is very important to Walter. It's the only way to travel safely with a group and to get to know the surrounding area and local culture. Walter isn't a fan of simply following a route, because then you only have the route itself in mind, not what there is to discover to the right and left. He learned to read maps as a child, so Walter prefers to familiarize himself with what the new region has to offer before the trip even begins. A lack of accommodation or unexpected hills don't pose a problem for him. What surprises him more is how little many travelers research their destination beforehand.
“You have to prepare for every trip, then you'll get more out of it.”
Walter in our interview
Walter is one of Graz's pad pioneers.
Walter Bogner's experiences are featured in the book "Cycling Adventurers: Departure and a Passion for the Extraordinary." Graz-based cyclist Richard Resch has compiled 111 cycling biographies of cyclists from Graz and Styria. It's a collection of engaging, adventurous, motivating, and unusual stories. From Johanna Pacher, who at 84 still embarks on tours, to Walter Bogner, who has been organizing group trips for over 30 years, to filmmaker Astrid Rampula, whose round-the-world cycling trip changed her perspective, as well as the Schedlbauer family of cyclists and the cyclebee founders and tandem cyclists Katharina and Matthias Köglberger—a wide variety of cycling styles and approaches are presented here. In addition to current cycling stories, the book also illuminates the historical development of cycling in Styria since the first Graz cycling adventurers around 1900. With impressive photos and detailed travelogues, the book offers something for everyone and inspires a desire for the adventure of cycling holidays!
Order your copy right here.*
*If you buy the book via this link, you support cyclebee through paid advertising.
Tobias Hochreiter, who follows SK Sturm to their away games during his sporting European tours, is also represented there.
You can listen to the interview with Tobias here!
