During this morning‘s self-inspection roll call, my attitude showed up with the middle finger blazing, my stomach turned up upside down, and my legs didn‘t bother to turn up at all. Awesome. Can‘t wait, eh. I rolled out, and it started raining. I definitely didn‘t need that, given my mood. The mental storm clouds rolled in, and I started thinking “I‘m def gonna flat today,
A bunch of bikepackers came into camp yesterday. All of them pairs, and most of them couples. Get it? Anyway, the American in me wants to chat them up, but they kinda stick to themselves, so interactions are a bit limited. I‘m just gonna go for it next time, to hell with German customs. The ride Today‘s ride was definitely the most fun thus far,
The morning after I woke up sleep-drunk and stumbling around following my first night in the tent, though I slept much better than I expected. Still, I was in a bit of a haze as I walked to the loo, thinking more about bodily functions than time or place, which is my head snapped back in surprise when I finally looked up from my feet
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
Meh I woke up feeling...not great. A little empty, a little off. Don‘t know if it‘s because I didn‘t sleep well, or maybe because my bee sting yesterday had caused my finger to swell to 1.5x normal, or what. Regardless, I wasn‘t super enthused about the day ahead. I knew I‘d have days like this. Was curious how I‘d react. Turns out, pretty well. It‘s
It hurts! Well, shit. There was a fair bit of deep knee bending coming down the mountain on my hike yesterday, which unfortunately meant that I woke up with sore quads today. Uh oh. I also mentioned yesterday that I don‘t have enough gears or muscles to power through long stretches over 15%. Comically unintentional foreshadowing. Today I had one stretch 400m long that averaged
Day 2: the biking Started with good vibes, good legs, and no hurry. Figured I had a shorter day, as I was only planning on about 65 km. The route was similar to day 1 in that I was generally headed towards mountains. What‘s amazing about Germany is that there are so many off-street bike paths. Day 2 had a few, but also my first
Started in Munich I really don‘t know why I look so grumpy. Not the enthusiasm you’d expect from a “I’m just starting a month-long stretch where I do nothing but bike in beautiful places“ face. It was there though, I promise. I was giddy. I spent the first hour giggling my way out of Munich and into the Bavarian countryside. Which is quite nice, by
Hard to believe I‘m sitting here in Munich, having spent the last 72 hours prepping for a trip that didn‘t work out and then finding a solution that would. What didn‘t work? Well, the original Eastern Europe plan, obviously. But as a workaround, I had rerouted myself to start with friends in Milan, go to one of their summer homes in the Italian riviera, and
Considering the circumstances, this was a pretty timely read. While the book was published a good few years before COVID19, the US's leading voice on today's pandemic, Dr. Fauci, is one of the experts often referred to or cited in the book. Funny that he's now a household name. Anyway. The book. It's a crash course on the immune system and the history of immunology,
