The big bike ride
Every now and again you get it into your head that you want to try something and even though the logical thing to do is to try it when the conditions are good and you're more likely to enjoy it, sometimes that doesn't happen and you go ahead and do it anyway. And enjoy it more because of the challenges presented by weather, wind and the sheer silliness of it all. So it was with the Big Bike Ride of last week where Jens, Thomas and I rode home from work.
Not really the actual start but a lucky photo!
For some background we normally drive to and from work on the very decent German roads and the spectacularly fun autobahn. The trip is exactly 50km by road and takes us about 40 minutes. This particular Thursday that we rode home came after the hottest day of the year so far at 35°C, was forecast to also be 35°C with afternoon thunder storms. The route we took is a little more direct as we got to utilise the extensive bike path system which took us past some lovely little lakes and through some very soothing green forests. Not quite so exciting and stressful as the autobahn concrete ribbon. All in all the ride was about 40km which is exactly 35km longer than I've ridden for a very long time and probably 25km further than I've ridden since being in Leipzig and riding around to all of the various lakes that we've been to.
The Route
It had been hot and humid all day and the storm clouds were brewing as we left the office. We escaped just before the storm hit Thalheim and managed to stay ahead of the leading edge of the worst of it for about 35km. Of course the leading edge of a thunder storm (and a particularly energetic one) is usually full of strong gusting winds coming from all directions, in this case mostly as a persistent headwind no matter which way we rode.
A storm was a brewing
So maybe it was a silly idea. At least we enjoyed ourselves and managed to see a bit of Germany that most people on the autobahn don't have a clue exists. Maybe next time though without the wind and the thorough soaking from the tropical rain at the end of the ride?
Not really the actual start but a lucky photo!
For some background we normally drive to and from work on the very decent German roads and the spectacularly fun autobahn. The trip is exactly 50km by road and takes us about 40 minutes. This particular Thursday that we rode home came after the hottest day of the year so far at 35°C, was forecast to also be 35°C with afternoon thunder storms. The route we took is a little more direct as we got to utilise the extensive bike path system which took us past some lovely little lakes and through some very soothing green forests. Not quite so exciting and stressful as the autobahn concrete ribbon. All in all the ride was about 40km which is exactly 35km longer than I've ridden for a very long time and probably 25km further than I've ridden since being in Leipzig and riding around to all of the various lakes that we've been to.
The Route
It had been hot and humid all day and the storm clouds were brewing as we left the office. We escaped just before the storm hit Thalheim and managed to stay ahead of the leading edge of the worst of it for about 35km. Of course the leading edge of a thunder storm (and a particularly energetic one) is usually full of strong gusting winds coming from all directions, in this case mostly as a persistent headwind no matter which way we rode.
A storm was a brewing
So maybe it was a silly idea. At least we enjoyed ourselves and managed to see a bit of Germany that most people on the autobahn don't have a clue exists. Maybe next time though without the wind and the thorough soaking from the tropical rain at the end of the ride?
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