Tags: Bike

According to the weather forecast, today was supposed to be the last day of reasonably good weather and warm temperatures for the foreseeable future. So I really wanted to go on a short bike ride today after work. In the end, the ride wasn’t that short, but because I made sure not to overexert myself, it wasn’t any more tiring than a 20 km ride, even though it was 40 km. And that was despite the fact that I still had sore muscles and didn’t sleep very well and much last night. Towards the end of the tour, a few drops of rain fell from the sky, but I’m not made of sugar.

Of course, I had to take a photo of my bike with the sunset in the background… Sadly, the camera on the Galaxy XCover 7 isn’t the best to catch the beauty of the sunset. But the bike setup has changed quite a bit since September. And when I got home from this lovely tour, my lovely fiancé had French fries for me. 😄

Warm weather, a bit of sun, and a Saturday without appointments. A perfect day for one more longer bike ride this week. For me, today meant heading out through the surrounding area, including through a valley (Reitlingstal) that I always find beautiful to ride through, but also for hiking. (Here are also some photos from November.)

Today I tried my new Magped pedals for the first time. Why Magped and not proper clipless pedals? I’ve already had bike accidents and appreciate being able to free myself better in emergencies to avoid falling. And yet today I still managed to damage my new shoes a bit right away, because when starting off after a traffic light, I got caught on a pin of the pedals. 😅

The tour was nice; even the climbs in between were okay. Only on the last part was there quite a headwind that slowed me down and made me tired.

First ride with my favorite bike this year. Just a quick round around the local airport. But I saw Highland cows on the way, a beautiful sunset, and got to breathe fresh air. It’s finally a bit warmer again. And most important: It’s not dark already at 5pm!

It’s been one week since I got my new walking pad, a King Smith WalkingPad Z1. I bought it refurbished on eBay with a couple of coupons, which brought the cost down to about 194 €, saving me about 100 € from the new price. In just the first week, I’ve already averaged more than 10,000 steps a day, all without even going for a walk outside. I think that’s pretty great.

In the mornings, I walk for an hour while I work, and then again for another hour in the early afternoon. Sometimes I wear shoes, sometimes I’m barefoot. By the end of the day, I can really feel it with a little muscle soreness.

While a walking pad won’t replace a real workout, I recently realized I wasn’t moving enough. I have a standing desk, but neither sitting nor standing all day is good. But moving is. So far, I feel like I have a bit more energy and can focus better.

I also bought two new small upgrades for my bike. I got a new bell because my old one was pretty quiet and people often didn’t hear me, which wasn’t very safe. I also replaced my grips with Ergon GP3-L Evo BioKork ones. The grips are more ergonomic, and the bar ends give me an alternative hand position on longer rides.

Yesterday, while my fiancée was attending a work event, I decided to explore a cycling route around Braunschweig. It was approximately 53 km through relatively quiet areas, including many forests and fields. The paths were often bumpy and not suitable for high speeds, but I prefer enjoying nature anyway.

The bike handled the task well. No squeaking, no other problems. However, I apparently didn’t drink enough or eat anything during the ride, so I was really exhausted afterwards. Unfortunately, I sometimes make this mistake, but hopefully I’ve learned my lesson this time.

The navigation wasn’t ideal this time either. Because the route was based on a published route on Komoot, I made my adjustments on Komoot, downloaded the GPX file, and imported it into Osmand. However, something messed up the directions. Osmand kept telling me to turn left when I should have turned right. This caused a lot of confusion and a few wrong turns.

Nevertheless, it was a nice ride and I enjoyed doing some exercise outdoors again!