It's funny, you know. I've thought on numerous occasions over the past month about how incredible it was that something as simple as two steel triangles and two wheels could carry me almost all the way around an entire country with such ease. Then my rear wheel exploded, and with it the illusion of "ease". But still. Bikes are incredible machines. Since moving to Europe,

My tour is over. I‘m not sure when exactly it happened, but I managed to absolutely trash my rear rim: (in case it isn't obvious at first glance, look at where the spokes join the rims...not good) I have a guess how it happened. Some of the cycle paths are on raised curbs, and thus at intersections and such have the traditional curb cutouts which

I think most cyclists will tell you that there‘s something pure, something zen about rolling along with good legs on quiet roads, hearing nothing but the whirr of a well-oiled chain and the hum of your tires on the pavement. It‘s beautiful. It doesn‘t happen too often to me, partially because riding around Berlin tends to be pretty loud, and partially because I don‘t oil

Visiting friends I left the national park feeling great, having had the rest day and two easier cycling days before that. Legs were great and spirits were high, especially as I was headed to Wuppertal to visit friends. The ride started off gorgeous, not surprisingly. But, as expected, it gave a taste of what‘s to come, transitioning from forest to agricultural land... ...to this suburban

Resting in a national park Today was a day off in the sense that I was sleeping in the same hotel for another night and trying to avoid doing any hard exercise. But given my compulsion to exercise and the fact I was in a beautiful national park, I still managed to bike about 25km and hike for 2 hours. The motto of national parks

After the temper tantrum my body threw yesterday morning, I was essentially forced to ride slowly and keep my heart rate down during the day‘s ride. This is called active recovery. Well, it helped. I woke up feeling goooood this morning. Ambitious. My first thoughts were, “oh yeah, I‘m gonna wreck these climbs today“. Was that kind of morning. I want to ride my bicycle

First, a quick guide to the two title idioms for the non-native English speakers: Dragging ass means to move slowly, typically because of low energy levels. Hauling ass is essentially the exact opposite, to move fast. What a drag I woke up what I can only describe as rough this morning. Felt like when you wake up during your deepest sleep, except then the feeling

First, a rant I hate the wind. My cycling buddies will tell you that I‘m generally game mentally and can endure a lot of suffering physically, but none of that applies to the wind. I hate it. I just f%$&ing hate it. No tailwind is worth a headwind. A tailwind is a +3, whereas a headwind is a -30. You do the math, and you

A weird kind of disappointment So after riding a tiny bit of the German Wine Road yesterday, I was looking forward to riding more of it today. Except that I was riding west, and the wine country runs essentially north south. So while I thought I‘d be riding through something like Napa, I actually rode another five minutes in wine country before heading into the

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