The 50 Mile Bike Ride

Fifty miles is no exaggeration. I pedaled every single one of them. Jessica, Jennifer, and I met Mr. Griffin and Dr. Basile for a day of bike riding. I treated myself to a chocolate croissant this morning because I knew I would burn the calories during the bike ride. We went along the Danube, stopping after about an hour for coffee. We hopped on a wooden boat with our bikes that took us to the other side of the riverbank. This old man with a huge paddle shuttled us over. Then, we proceeded to bike for another 2 hours until we came to the town of Kelheim, which happens to be where I had just TRAINED 2 weeks earlier to view an old monastery. We parked our bikes at the bottom of a hill and hiked to view Ludwig I's memorial. I took a picture in front of the memorial where I am sporting some spandex biker shorts that were padded in the butt and I am very thankful for them! I would not have made the 50 miles without them.

Inside the memorial was a beautiful marble floor surrounded by stone angels that had plaques of all the battles. I climbed 165 stairs (this is after 25 miles of riding) to the top of the memorial to look down at the city of Kelheim. We left the memorial and road our bikes another hour and a half. We were all very hungry for lunch (even though it was now 4:20 p.m.) We split a huge cheese plate with bread. I got a milchkaffe (milk coffee) that have become my favorite thing to order here. After the lunch/snack, it was time to bike the rest of the way. It was a very difficult ride back because my lower body was in serious pain. There were a few tears shed, but at 6:30 I made it home! I loved biking through the country side of Germany and passing so many little towns. My favorite is seeing churches with a steeple in every single town I passed. Even though I may not be able to sit down for a week, seeing Germany from a different perspective is worth it!