Out of the Rhineland

The plan, such as it was

Back in Lisbon I had a grand idea: ride to Dresden, one of my favorite cities in Germany, spend the summer there and explore the region on weekends. Motorcycle, open road, the whole brochure.

Then I came home to Cologne and did what I do best with grand ideas. I postponed it. For weeks.

What finally got me moving wasn’t discipline. It was subletting my flat. Once someone else is sleeping in your bed, the plan stops being optional.

Longer than a day

This was my first ride longer than a couple of hours, let alone longer than a day. I had no idea whether I could actually do it. Spoiler: I could, but the first day made a decent case against it.

It was hard. It was also, if I’m honest, a bit boring.

I’d decided against the motorway, to see more of the countryside. Right behind Cologne I found out that western Germany doesn’t have much countryside left. It has villages. You leave one, and a couple of minutes later you’re riding through the next. Plenty of fields, hardly any forest.

Most of the day went on country roads, through villages and towns, stuck in Friday traffic that had apparently also decided against the motorway.

So when the first proper hills turned up, I was relieved. Finally, a hint of the roads I’d actually come for.

Lesson of the day

Never underestimate how long country roads take. A “short” 200 kilometers is still a whole afternoon. Probably longer.