"I ride a motorcycle all year round. You often get into tricky situations", tells alice wansch, who made her way from losbergsgereuth to ebern for the christian pit stop at the old sports ground. "And it has already become a tradition. You meet nice people here and get to talk to them."
Tradition is perhaps a bit much to say, but nevertheless: this kind of ecumenical service is now taking place in ebern for the ninth time. Motorcyclists from the area meet for a church service in ebern to get a blessing for the upcoming travel season. Even the clergy arrive on two wheels: deacon sven steffan and pastor bernd grosser. In the round are two-wheelers from yamaha, BMW, aprilla and how they all are called, women and men, but also motorhomes. Old and young, mixed.
On the road with the band from ebern they gathered to experience faith and to enjoy the summer evening with like-minded people and with a bratwurst and non-alcoholic drinks.
He's been at it from the start
"From the very beginning, i've been at the services", says 71-year-old horst keeb from ebern. Keeb, who lives in ebern, has been a passionate biker for 50 years. He has already ridden more than 700,000 kilometers all over the world. Keeb has just returned from a motorcycle tour in america. He has already ridden through gibraltar and the north cape."Riding a motorcycle means a lot to me. I do this out of passion, he says.
Just like alice wantsch. The blonde lady has been riding a two-wheeler for 14 years: "riding a motorcycle pushes me to my limits, I can test myself out. You ride mostly alone on the bike, but there is always a community there."
For alice wansch it will soon be over the alps. At the motorcycle service in ebern, she can pause and "experience" the blessing for many more accident-free kilometers. This was the motto of the clergymen's address and prayers, and at the end sven steffan blessed the vehicles and their crews.