I had heard about the ride (Bodensee Radmarathon = Lake Constance Bike Marathon) from a friend of mine and it sounded too cool to skip (3 countries, along the shore, 3rd biggest lake in central europe, sweet tshirts), but I waited until I knew how the weather was going to be before I committed to riding 220km. Plus you got a gold medal is you survived the whole thing and finished in under 12 hours.
The ride itself was great, the support every 30-40km was great with plenty of free snacks and drinks and little places to eat lunch. They even had banana flavored energy drink.
The route was relatively flat and avoided traffic areas pretty well, which was nice because around kilometer 200, I was semi-delirious and probably would not have been too safe in a high traffic area.
I also learned that the term radmarathon (biking marathon) cannot be thrown around willy-nilly. It is officially a ride over 200km so my earlier stunt in Emmental at 110km doesnt count (and after doing this, I am thinking that it definitely shouldnt)
Bodensee (Lake Constance) Radmarathon at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail: Share GPS Tracks
Showing posts with label germany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label germany. Show all posts
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Starbucks and Riding
I hadnt run very much in the last couple days and my running database was beginning to hassle me about it. So yesterday I decided to go explore this park in Mannheim. The park itself was right on the river and has fantastic part dirt running paths that run along the Necker. It was especially nice because it was still fairly early (7am) so the place had an almost glowing sensation to it. I think I have found my replacement for the esplanade while I am here. I also was able to run by the 'Space Needle' of mannheim which is much uglier and less impressive when you get right up to it. Anyway it made for a nice run and as a gentle reminder that all my hard work from the spring wont just vanish in a poof of smoke if I take a few days off.
After that I was in a great mood to go to work with which was extended when I finally was clued into the bigger picture for what I am working on. I am pretty sure I can't tell you but I feel much less like a lab monkey at this point, and if the project works out I will have been a tiny part of something very cool.
After realizing that without DAADs money infusion soon I will be dangerously low on cash, I had the sudden realization that there are a number of places that take credit cards (after being abroad for awhile you start to think no where takes credit cards). After getting out of work yesterday I decided to bike over to starbucks in mannheim. The resturaunt was as always in a prime location and they even had hot sandwiches. I got chicken and pesto and a small coffee milkshake. After doing this I felt motivated to possibly bike a bit longer. I wandered around pretty aimlessly for awhile and discovered a town with basically one entrance/exit which made me feel quite dumb searching around for another one.
Eventually I ended up at this ferry (the rhein doesnt have many bridges outside of real cities) I assumed like the canby ferry it was free for bikers and of course I assumed incorrectly. This was however the first time german has really helped me out. The toll guy on the ferry clearly didnt speak any english (I didnt even try), but when I explained to him I didnt have any money with me he just said next time pay double. After that I continued to bike down to speyer, to make a real ride out of the day. The ride was fantastic. The roads out here are so wonderful. I got down to speyer and basically just turned around, there was not much still to see.
For the route back I decided to take the bike paths. My experience in Bielefeld taught me that basically all bike paths blow so I tend to avoid them. It was getting dark and I had a car pass me quite quickly without giving me more than a foot of room so I thought I should at least try them. The bike path was absolutely perfect. It reminded me of the Minuteman Trail in boston only less busy, slightly wider, and no intersections. I was able to really just ride without distraction nearly the entire way back. All in all it made for a pretty great day, but I do need to find some cycling partners.
Motionbased of my Ride
After that I was in a great mood to go to work with which was extended when I finally was clued into the bigger picture for what I am working on. I am pretty sure I can't tell you but I feel much less like a lab monkey at this point, and if the project works out I will have been a tiny part of something very cool.
After realizing that without DAADs money infusion soon I will be dangerously low on cash, I had the sudden realization that there are a number of places that take credit cards (after being abroad for awhile you start to think no where takes credit cards). After getting out of work yesterday I decided to bike over to starbucks in mannheim. The resturaunt was as always in a prime location and they even had hot sandwiches. I got chicken and pesto and a small coffee milkshake. After doing this I felt motivated to possibly bike a bit longer. I wandered around pretty aimlessly for awhile and discovered a town with basically one entrance/exit which made me feel quite dumb searching around for another one.
Eventually I ended up at this ferry (the rhein doesnt have many bridges outside of real cities) I assumed like the canby ferry it was free for bikers and of course I assumed incorrectly. This was however the first time german has really helped me out. The toll guy on the ferry clearly didnt speak any english (I didnt even try), but when I explained to him I didnt have any money with me he just said next time pay double. After that I continued to bike down to speyer, to make a real ride out of the day. The ride was fantastic. The roads out here are so wonderful. I got down to speyer and basically just turned around, there was not much still to see.
For the route back I decided to take the bike paths. My experience in Bielefeld taught me that basically all bike paths blow so I tend to avoid them. It was getting dark and I had a car pass me quite quickly without giving me more than a foot of room so I thought I should at least try them. The bike path was absolutely perfect. It reminded me of the Minuteman Trail in boston only less busy, slightly wider, and no intersections. I was able to really just ride without distraction nearly the entire way back. All in all it made for a pretty great day, but I do need to find some cycling partners.
Motionbased of my Ride
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