After more than twenty years I got my cross country skies and shoes de-dusted and back onto the trail. As an absolute beginner we went back to Bernau this morning to try out the 2.7km Hof-Loipe, an easy track in the sunshine offering classical and skating at the same time. It is very well suited for my level. No doubt, a long way to go but good exercise and fun.
Today paradise was just a 40 minutes drive away from home. Some snow under blue sky up in the Black Forest were another Christmas gift granted to us and we decided to return to a place, which we visited many many years back but has never slipped our minds – The Krunkelbachhütte lies above the picturesque village of Bernau at 1294m altitude. Great place to rest & enjoy.
A bit of a crazy ride today driven by an early appointment in Mainz. What started off with the torch and low expectations was totally turned around in no time by a homemade decent piece of “Schwäbischer Quarkkuchen“ and foggy flakes within opening blue skies. No doubt, autumn remains amazing!👌
Despite the sky not opening up at all today – although promised by the weather gurus – I jumped on the bike again to enjoy another fall 🚴♂️ ride. It took me partly along an old railway track converted to a bike path. Quite nice la.
There is more to explore in this lovely wine region.
Bob, the bike mechanic from The Cycle Hub in Dún Laoghaire did a perfect job, not only in servicing the bike with his magic hands to become a “non-friction“ machine but also by packing it properly into a box for the flight. No damage.
My booty was getting itchy and the weather supported me to better get my act together: unbox, assemble, test ride.
Looking forward to some more bike trips during my extended stop-over in this lovely wine region along the Rhine River.
We are back in Kappeln, this time moored at the waterfront city marina. It was a hard decision, which of the 35 spots to choose as they were all empty. I really wonder, why there are not more boats around yet. Well, plenty of small fishing boats hunting for hering at this time of the year but hardly any sailors.
Our sea trails and Susan’s vacation are coming to an end. The journey continues and a new adventure is going to start shortly.
The devils got two names. Low Viktor and High Wiebke working hand in hand to develop a pressure drop of 50mbar over a distance of approximately 1500km between its center points. They kept us on our toes for the last 48 hours. It has now moved on and Babet (international name for Viktor) is still raging the NE part of the UK.
Following the news, this storm has disclosed the weak areas of our coastal infrastructure along the German part of the Baltic Sea. From devastating damage seen in Damp for example to minor losses like here in Kappeln. This does not mean that all areas within the Schlei Fjord enjoy the same level of protection but due to its geographical location, I think, Kappeln has minimum exposure overall. Massholm and Arnis are already very different.
Peak water levels were finally about 25cm higher than predicted by BSH. In my opinion, some more conservatism in the calculations would be better and could prevent last minute evacuations happening last night in Massholm, Arnis & Eckernförde.
My sympathy is with those, who got affected despite paying utmost attention and care before it was too late.