Whether you attribute it to the extra beer I had indulging yesterday‘s dinner buddy Helmut (doubtful), better sleep (possible), or the fact that I was greeted by an adorable puppy as I came down stairs for breakfast (100% the reason), I was in a good mood from the get-go. My legs were still fatigued, but not overly so, and theoretically I didn‘t have so much vertical to do anyway. But generally, my body felt better. Not empty. And my brain fully oxygenated. Both good things.

After a short but unpleasantly steep climb to start the day (seriously, there are 20% climbs everywhere, and I‘ve hit all of them), I had a glorious, semi-flowy, offroad descent through forest:

This was followed by a long, gradual climb against the river Isar. The road was incredible. Well-maintained, mostly for cyclists, and generally fairly well covered by trees to keep the beating sun off your back. You knew you were riding through a river valley, but you couldn‘t see much until it opened up suddenly and you were smacked in the face with this spectacular view of the valley and the mountains in the distance:

I pulled off the road right alongside a couple older cyclists and remarked how beautiful it was. The guy agreed, and said it was silly that people go to Spain (guilty), Italy (guilty), or France (guilty) to cycle when Germany has so much to offer. I said “yeah, people forget that Germany has spectacular landscapes as well,“ a sentiment he certainly appreciated. Which, coming from me, was nonsense, because you have to KNOW something before you can forget it. Still, was more situationally appropriate than saying “oh yeah, I had no idea Germany had good things to offer.“ You understand.

Anyway, the road continued up, and on one of the more prolonged, steeper sections, I was past by a 12 year old on an e-bike. Which, as of writing, brings the total number of children who have past me on a climb on an e-bike to one, while the tally of senior citizens is now at five. More power to them (pun definitely intended).

I get spat out at a golf course which courteously shares its cart paths with cyclists:

(Can you imagine a golf course in the US doing that? I can‘t)

And then not too far from the golf course, and only about 15km from my destination, I stumbled upon Barmsee, this little slice of heaven:

My destination was a campground which had a warning on the website: arrive early or you may not get a place. Well, tent spot be damned, I wanted to swim. And I did. And it was heavenly.

But then I got to the campground and I just about shit myself when I saw the signs saying FULL/FULL/FULL. I asked anyway, which was good, because FULL didn‘t apply to cyclists with tents, only cars with tents. Thank god, because I really didn‘t feel like spending 250€ on a budget hotel. But the drama didn‘t end there…

After getting my tent set up and with darkness now set in, we started to see lightning. At first it was far away, 10 seconds or so before the thunder, but then it came closer. 8 seconds. And closer. 5 seconds. A little boy a few tents down started to cry for fear. I nearly joined him for my karmic, comically shit luck. But then I figured, what the hell, it will be funny eventually. And then the skies cleared, stars came out, and I went to sleep.

Link to ride