Mini Games

An American colleague/friend who also owns and loves a Mini Cooper S was over for work recently, and the subject of autobahn driving came up. When asked my "top speed", I decided to cop to 190 km/h, which I achieved during my vacation last year.



This required a certain degree of honesty since 190 is, by any Teutonic standard, a crawl. I could feel my German co-workers cringe.

I found some personal redemption when I checked and found that 190 km/h = 118 mph. I had been thinking it was under 110 mph.

But I was still feeling emasculated when I headed to Leipzig, so when I found a nice, straight stretch with no scary trucks ahead and no Lamborghinis behind (that I could see) I took it to 200 km/h. 124 mph will have to do. The Mini's really meant for curves and quick sprints in the mid-range. And, as I get older, my death wish diminishes.

Returning from Leipzig, I opted for the curves. It had rained. The fields and trees lining the perfectly maintained backroads were green and glistening, so I set the navigation system to "Avoid Highways" and played a little game much better suited for the Mini.



Duck.....Duck...Geese.

The cow/turtle/ostrich in the road picture is admittedly a bit cliche, but I was amused (and happy that they were pretty easy to spot on a straightaway, rather than nestled beyond the apex of a tight corner).

They clearly didn't see the issue at hand (car+goose=mess) and there was no good reason for them to be there. I was in the land of Spargel (asparagus) not fois gras. And they didn't budge. So after a couple of oncoming cars passed, I pulled into the other lane and scooted by, then flashed my lights for the next 500 meters or so to warn oncoming cars.