Bike Training

There were of course years I did not even get on a bike when I lived in the USofA, but whenever I did, biking was always lots of fun.  In Tallahassee I had a bike that Michelle's former roommate abandoned and Werner and I would go out and ride the St. Marks Trail, around the neighborhood, over to Publix to shop, even once to Governor's Square.  Yow.  That was tricky back in the early 90s.

Before moving here, we bought me a new bike. And then, biking became a passion.  There were so many overnight trips and day trips and going-to-the-market trips and visit-the-wherever trips.  Biking became part of everyday and something to do as a vacation.

I won't go through the many trips - many are here on the blog! - but this most recent one was a sort of training trip for the larger Bodensee/Lake Constance trip we've booked for the end of July.  Little issues have kept me from biking as much as I would like (or need!) for our Bodensee tour, so we planned a mini-trip:  Wunstorf (a bit north of Hannover) to Nienburg,  then Nienburg to Verden.

Google is a bit crazy thinking it takes 2 hours 25 minutes.  They must have had Tour de France bikers gauging that trip!  Of course it was supposed to be about 53K and ended up 70, but still!

Weather?  Sunny cool/warm. The whole day was blue and breezy and in the 70s - just perfect.

On our biking map, a Mammutbaum was marked, so we went to find it.   Mammut  is almost English - it means mammoth - but when you put it with Baum, it means redwood tree.  Germans love their trees and forests and there are some mammoth redwood trees here.  We pedaled around and looked and even asked a few folks, but they had no idea where the tree was, so we finally just gave up and started off in the other direction.

There were a few interesting little bits in Wunstorf - a church founded in 871 CE, destroyed by fire in 1010 CE and rebuilt in the 12th century.  Of course, there have been some changes over the years, but the core is still there.  Amazing.

Across the street are the buildings that housed/house the church staff and  tend to the needy.  The needy are always with us. Such lovely details of brick and wood.

 Bike trails.  There were so many sorts and they're all good - asphalt, wooded, gravel (not my fav).

Tooling along, the sign that said "Jewish Cemetery" didn't register till I was already past, but I called ahead to Werner - gotta take a detour!

Cemeteries in general are usually outside of the city, but of course in times past, the Jewish cemetery were quite separate.  This cemetery served several surrounding communities and I had to wonder how they transported the departed to this so very out-of-the-way wooded space.

 

Then we got to the Steinhuder Meer, a large lake on the outskirts of Hannover that is a magnet all year long but especially in summer.  

There are so many bikers there, the public busses have bike trailers!

The lake was full of sailboats and kayaks and canoes and sailboarders and the banks were full of strollers and walkers and bikers.

Good grief, time to get a move on!  Already more than an hour out and only 15K done.

The fields are ripe or ripening.  Here, wheat.  Some had already been harvested.  The canola beans are drying and the corn is growing still.  There were lots of farmers out on this Sunday.

Lunch.  I get grumpy when I'm hungry, and we'd been looking for a bench to sit on for some time, but it seems everyone else was looking too and they were all full.  Finally, finally, we found a very rustic place to sit and have our sandwich.  Naturally, I packed too much, but ...

Next little pause was at the Loccum Abbey .   It was set up in the 12C. and converted to Lutheran after the Reformation.  It's still active, used as a seminary and training center.  I don't think I ever get over how OLD things are here.

Next, an old manor house, Burg Schüsselburg. It's not quite as old - 16th c - but still a residence.  And not only for people - there's a stork nest on top as well.

And finally, we get to the lovely Weser.

And just one more little stop at another small church. It's Sunday and most days they're not open, so we take advantage.

So small and charming and intimate.  The deep window is my favorite shot.

But it is getting late and my knee is not happy. In fact, my knee is screaming at me.  We change routes a bit and take the shorter way to the B&B but still I have to stop pedaling now and then.

Since this was to be a tune-up for the larger, bigger, longer, more demanding Bodnesee tour, this is distressing.  But I can't do anything today but just get off the bike.

Nienburg is so cute!  And our B&B is still as cute as we remember from 2006, though downgraded from 4 stars to 3.  And the owner forgot to check her calendar so didn't really expect us so we were happy to still have our room!  What a hoot!!

Rest, shower, clean up, have a cocktail on the terrace, go to dinner.

The rose - droopy, droopy - might be a symbol for my knee, but the rest of me is happy to be sitting and getting ready to have a nice evening meal.  And we did.

After a night's rest, we took a walk to try out the knee, had our ample breakfast on the terrace overlooking the river, and then headed out.

Scenes of downtown old Nienburg.  Storks in the town, too!  How cool.

Test:  Fail. Knee wins (or loses, I guess, depending).  After just a few minutes, it was clear that the knee wouldn't make it 10K much less 50, so off to the train station.  Sigh.

I have an appointment with the orthopedist next week, too close to the planned trip to suit me, but so it is.  A couple of trial runs this week have been OK, but I didn't try more than 10K.  So, keep your fingers crossed for my knee.  The rest of me is just fine.