He later confessed to me that he had been dealing with insomnia since 2018, though it was certainly made worse by his lack of travel. People suffering from sleep deprivation and low oxygen levels show a lack of concentration and poor memory, they are irritable and moody. Life becomes a waking dream, the brain processes slow and its chemistry changes. This lack of oxygen to the brain causes it to react, waking the person in order to deal with the problem.Īny person that has spent a night at a high altitude will recognize these symptoms and will know how debilitating the lack of sleep and lack of oxygen can become. He was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, a condition in which a person’s airways relax while sleeping, preventing the flow of oxygen to the brain. Angry and frustrated at being unable to sleep, he eventually sought help. His journey was cut short by the Covid pandemic, and he was caught in Canada when the borders closed.ĭuring this time, largely unable to travel, a battle with latent insomnia took its toll on his psyche. ![]() Iohan did make it to Argentina, though not to the tip of South America as he had hoped. He just happened to be there, filming it all as it unfolded before him. The star of his videos was the natural world and all its inhabitants. He eschewed the self-centred introspection and the generated drama seen in many travel logs, opting for more of a documentary approach. The videos he produced were sparse, but lush at the same time. Always pushing forward, looking for the next route, he moved inexorably toward his goal. We know of his journey through his videos, photos and writings as he documented his passage through the vast landscapes and his interactions with the animals and the people he met along the way. That iconic opening set the stage of an epic journey that played out over seven years, covering two continents and fourteen countries, with detours, twists and turns, good times and bad times.Īll throughout, Iohan remained this unflappable force, responding to dire situations with characteristic good humor, willpower, and optimism. “Oh man, I love you!” replies the trucker. When we first meet Iohan on his journey, he’s conversing with a trucker while both are rolling down a stretch of ‘highway’ plowed onto the ice somewhere in Canada. How far he could push himself, and his bike, in some of the most remote places on the planet? However, he was not interested in going places where nobody had gone before but more in exploring his inner self. Post-war efforts to restore East German auto industry concentrated on facilities in Zwickau and Zschopau: Wanderer plants never recovered.Iohan’s journey was one of discovery. The Siegmar and Schönau plants in Saxony were destroyed during World War II, closing this chapter in the history of automobiles. A subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp, KZ Siegmar-Schonau, was operated during the war to provide slave labour for the Wanderer vehicle plants. In 1941 all civilian production was replaced with military vehicles. During the Great Depression, in 1929, the motorcycle business was sold, and in 1932 the company formed part of Auto Union with Horch, Audi and DKW. ![]() ![]() They had about 6000 employees in this time. Motorcycle production continued in Chemnitz alone. Below: Schönau plant and Wanderer motorcycle from 1902īy 1926, when Wanderer introduced a successful Typ 10, the company was making 25 vehicles a day parts were made at the old plant in Chemnitz and assembled at the new site in Siegmar, delivered by rail right to the assembly line. Wanderer machines were of advanced design boasting unit construction engines and front and rear suspension as early as 1915, at which time they were supplied to the German army - Wanderer supplied almost half of all machines used by the German forces during the Great War.Ībove: Winklhofer and Jaenicke. Between 19 they built their own single cylinder and V-twin engines. In 1902 the Chemnitz factory began manufacturing motorcycles, and in 1903 - automobiles. They were also making "Continental" typewriters and calculating machines. Since 1892 they manufactured modern “safety” bicycles. One year later they presented their high wheel bike named Wanderer. The workshop named Chemnitzer Velociped-Depot was founded in Chemnitz, Saxony in 1885 by mechanics Johann Baptist Winklhofer (born 1859 in Munich-Bogenhausen) and Richard Adolf Jaenicke (born 1858 in Chemnitz). See also: Wanderer Gents, Wanderer Ladies (bicycles) and Wanderer 1937 (a motorbike). Wanderer bicycle, manufactured by Wanderer Werke AG in Schönau next to Chemnitz (later Karl-Marx-Stadt).
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