lifestyle


John Hermann and Wildcat Canyon By Gene W. Calbow #124264


FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS, JOHN Hermann has been a true ambassa- dor of BMW motorcycling. Recog- nized throughout the BMW community, John Hermann’s accomplishments include over one million miles on BMW motorcy- cles, recognition as a “Friend of the Marque” from BMW Motorrad, and authoring a noteworthy book that has received international acclaim as the best English guide for Alpine riding in Europe titled Motorcycle Journeys through the Alps and Beyond. “Beyond” refers to Corsica and the Pyrenees. The book is in its fifth edition and based on his almost 80 motorcycle trips in the Alps. Locally, San Diego riders have


102 BMW OWNERS NEWS September 2016


enjoyed his friendship and vast knowledge in everything related to riding, roads and motorcycles. One such ride has become a


John was riding with friends through


Indian reservation back country on Wild- cat Canyon Road. The road was and is a public road patrolled by the California Highway Patrol. As John relates the story, “I was riding my beautiful silver smoke BMW R 90 S, and I’d recruited three friends to go for a ride out to Wild- cat Canyon. We left from Bob’s Big Boy on El Cajon Blvd. They were leading, and just north of the dip I saw them go off the road, and then I saw why. A red Datsun pickup was headed straight for me. It didn’t deviate until it hit me and knocked me and the 90 S down. The


tradition in the BMW Owners Club of San Diego (#4 in both the MOA and RA) of which John Hermann is member #0013 and an Honorary Life Member. “The incident” occurred in 1978 when


driver got out with a piece of pipe that he swung at my Bell Star helmet yelling ‘Get off the reservation.’ Eventually, my three friends returned, and we limped back to civilization. The driver was finally brought


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