I wanted to get an early start because of the predicted heat, but predictably, I did not, because I am me. Balls. I was sweating by the end of the first 100 meters.

It was hard to say goodbye this morning. When I part ways with people dear to me and I know I won’t see them for a long time, it turns my stomach in knots. It’s beautiful, of course, to care that much, but the goodbyes are always awful.

The ride though, was fantastic. The first bit was on bike paths through more agricultural land popping in and out of towns/cities:

And then a glorious, multi-kilometer long stretch of road (in the sense that it was a fairly major road) with new pavement, winding its way slightly downhill along a river through pretty lush forest:

Soooo nice to not need to turn every 500 meters to stay on a bike path, and even nicer because there were no cars. I caught up with a few guys doing a weekend bike tour and chatted with them for 10 minutes or so, as they had a mini boombox pumping out tunes. Good vibes. They quickly took a break, which left me to my own devices.

With 150km on the plate today, my plan was to find a good cadence, set the cruise control at 200-220 watts, and just enjoy. So being on a road and not needing to turn was great, because I could definitely get into a rhythm.

I hit a town about 2 hours in, and at that point in time it was already hot. I mean, it was noon, so it makes sense. When I say hot, I mean brutal. Was over 95F/35C. Definitely not ideal conditions to ride another 100km. I had a quick snack, filled my bottles, then got back to it.

I had aimed to eat lunch in Karlsruhe, so the goal was again just to find my rhythm and go. I guess it worked, or maybe I got a little overheated, because I remember virtually nothing until I got to my lunch spot about and hour and a half later. Apart from the construction, Karlsruhe is a pretty city. I know, because I rode down the main street which is theoretically only for trams or pedestrians, provoking head shaking and finger wagging from two different cops, but thankfully no tickets or scoldings. So you can take my word for it. Or google it.

On my way out, a very friendly lady on a bike started chatting me up. She was local, but also an avid bike tourer, and conveniently headed in the same direction, so we rode together for 20 minutes or so, chatting about our favorite tours and what we‘ve got planned next. This was exactly what I needed, because it kept me from pushing too hard, and distracted me from the heat (the she did say at one point that it was 40C/104F).

We parted ways when I headed north up the Rhine. In the vicinity of the Rhine. I couldn‘t actually see it, which was kind of a bummer, but on the other hand, I had 25km of this:

…which was glorious. Back to my strategy, though after 4 hours and in 40 degree heat, cruise control was down to 180-200 watts. I got so hot after 15km in the open that I took a short detour down to the river, where I promptly soaked my head, shirt, helmet, and gloves. And took a picture for you all, of course:

A river. What can I say.

After that, I turned west and got smacked in the face with a warm and fairly strong headwind. It was at this point that I really wished I had a cycling buddy with me to share the misery. Barry, my usual cycling adventure buddy, would most likely be in his semi-fake grumpy mood, which would both amuse me, as it always does, but also force me to keep my spirits up so we wouldn’t spiral downward into an even darker place. Or, if he weren’t grumpy, then I couldn’t be grumpy either. But he wasn’t there, so I cursed the headwind and plodded along, not particularly jazzed about my current situations.

With about 20km to go, the wine country started to show its face. It was almost enough for me to forget about my throbbing, most likely bright red face, and the incessant, shitty headwind. Almost.

It definitely lifted my mood though. So I labored on, coming to a town about 5km from my destination. Lost in suffering, I thought the heat had finally gotten to me when I saw camels on the side of the road. But turns out I just missed the sign for the zoo. But that was a helluva double-take!

The ride