Anke-Eve Goldmann translated this report written by Ellen Pfeiffer for WIMA News: It must have hurt Lida Abrahamova very much when we moved the 1969 WIMA rally to Austria, as she had already organised everything at Červená. (Editor’s note: we assume this was because of the Soviet invasion and subsequent occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968.) She seems to have forgiven us, since she came to Austria and even brought some of her friends. The meeting place was the small village of Ampflwang. The camping enthusiasts had a meadow to themselves, just behind the Stehrer Inn. Thanks to perfect organisation by Christa Spathe, all schedules kept to time.
We started with a cross-country ride through rough terrain. The lap had to be completed twice. The girls nudged their heavy road bikes elegantly around the course and nobody was surprised to see Jana win. She managed to get her Trials bike around the course without any penalties, displaying grand style. Riding the fastest time as well, she left the rest of the group behind her. At this point I would like to mention the good care taken of us by the Ampflwang Motorcycle Club. This evening, we had an opulent dinner at a reception by the Austrian Motorsports operating director, Rolf Arnold. He told us how proud he was to have WIMA in Austria for the first time.
On the following day we rode to Salzburg in order to visit one of the salt mines. When we arrived, the mine was closed due to overcrowding. We decided not to wait and did a most exhilarating ride around the Alpine lakes of the region – Attersee, Mondsee, Wolfgangsee and Fuschlsee. The wonderful weather kept spirits high. On Wednesday we had the Orientation Run. According to a map, several very small villages had to be reached. It turned out that all of us found nine control posts. The 10th, I hope, is not waiting any longer for somebody to pass. In the end we shared the winning points, finishing the night around a campfire.
Then we visited a glass-blowing factory, and at Bad Ischl finally our salt mine. We rode into the mine on long benches. In our mining outfits we were fit for every possible sort of exploration. After that action-packed day, we crawled into our sleeping bags earlier than the day before, because the following day we had plans for a Mini Rally. The task was to build the word ‘Stehrer’ from the capital letters of towns or villages in the neighbourhood. The fewer kilometres needed, the more points. We all made secret plans, only to find the others in almost the same spots!
Nevertheless, the results were clear enough to decide who was the overall WIMA rally winner: it was Christel Berg. She had been training hard to win for years, and finally she was able to take the trophy home! The large basket purchased in Yugoslavia appeared to be quite useful. The trophy for the longest ride to Ampflwang was a plate given by Rolf Arnold, and it went to Janet, who was the youngest competitor as well. Jana was virtually covered with trophies. In fact, we had so many nice gifts that Christa had a lot to do to distribute everything correctly. Traudl was very happy with the trophy for last place, donated by our international president, Louise. That trophy was so beautiful, that I think we shall have a fervent competition for last place in our future WIMA rallies.
