Freiheit - Fulda 190 km

When I typed Fulda into the navigation app this morning and saw 190 kilometers, I had to smile slightly. After I had also looked at the elevation profile of the route, I already knew, more or less, that I would not make it all the way to Fulda today. Maybe in the past. But today?

I packed up my things at my beautiful sleeping spot in the forest. I had slept surprisingly well on the sleeping mat. Only the noise of the distant motorway was annoying from time to time. I did not receive any visits from larger animals, but the occasional snail found its way onto my pillow. A kind of company, too. I had not had snails in quite a while. After breakfast, I set off and thought to myself: It will be fine. Let’s see how far we get.

The first ten kilometers were appropriately difficult. Rolling terrain, heavy legs, that sluggish morning body that had not yet quite understood that it was supposed to function again. Until I found a bakery with coffee.

Warm.

From then on, things actually went quite well. Through the hilly landscape of southern Lower Saxony toward Göttingen, through an area that had still been closed off by the explosive ordnance disposal service the day before. The things you come across here in Germany.

I did not see much of Göttingen itself. The bike path leads through the city in such a way that you are almost always riding through greenery. Pleasant, but not exactly ideal for sightseeing while passing through by bike. And I really did not have time for more.

By lunchtime, I had covered my 65 kilometers. I was sitting in the grass, taking a break, when I received a very positive phone call. Good spirits crept into my exhaustion, and I set off again.

Ahead of me now lay the Frau-Holle-Land Geo-Nature Park. And the three spikes in the elevation profile were on the agenda. To be honest, I do not remember all that much of it, as I am just realizing. I must have been completely cooked, as they say.

At some point around two o’clock, I also started trembling, and I knew: It was time for another break. From then on, I took it more easily. More breaks, more drinking, more eating. Also because the sun had come out again and it was getting increasingly warm.

Eventually, I made it to Bebra. And from there, I saw them again, or rather, consciously noticed them again: the signs for the long-distance cycle routes, like the R1, which I love so much in Hesse.

Hesse really does have beautiful long-distance cycle routes. Well signposted, good infrastructure, lovely valleys, decent paths. And the one I took led directly to Fulda.

So despite the exhaustion, I let it roll.

I am especially proud of the final forty kilometers. Although I was already cramping and it still went uphill quite a bit here and there, I kept the pace high. Especially just before Fulda, someone had apparently built a few extra spikes into the landscape.

Very kind.

But I arrived well before sunset at a destination that had actually been set far too ambitiously.

190 kilometers.

What can I say: Hesse and its valleys are truly beautiful to roll through, even when they keep steadily climbing.

Tomorrow, I had actually planned to pull off another feat like this. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, a spoke on my rear wheel came loose, and I will probably have to look for a repair shop first.

Maybe I will just ignore it and risk it.

Which would, of course, be stupid, so probably exactly what I will be writing about tomorrow.

In that spirit.