Heloooohooo! :0)

I'm back again and ready to tell you some news!
Yesterday I made a test drive with all of my luggage! It was a small disaster, but an insightful...
But I start from the beginning. :0)

Friday evening

On Friday I did my last shopping tour to get the last missing items for my big tour. repair parts, tools and some bandages and stuff. A complete list with pictures and description I will post right before the tour begins I think. :0)
I sorted everything by kind of luggage. So one heap for tools and repair stuff, one for clothes, one for toiletries one for Robert food and so on... Then I filled my water bottles, placed my rear bags next to everything and went to bed... But it was already late... The clock showed 1:30...

Saturday morning

The misery creeps closer... I awoke at 6 o'clock, ate a very small bite, packed everything together and hauled the bags, the bottles, the tent, the camping mat, the sleeping bag and my ukulele downstairs. After getting my bike out of the basement, I corded my whole luggage on it and made my third mistake... I mounted my cyclocomputer onto my bike...
Right on time at 7 o'clock I started my tour... Up to that point everything felt fine for me... I planned to drive at least 60 km, maybe more if luggage and body would acknowledge this decision... But I set a maximum of 100 km for me.

The first half

Now the fun part started. :0) Haha! I swung myself onto the bike and headed towards Baumgarten. In Kleptow I made a small brake to carry out a magic trick including two bananas and a fast disappearance. Naf naf! :0) And then ambition seized me... I wanted to see how fast I could get with all the luggage and started to strain myself. :0) I drove through Carmzow, Hedwigshof, Moor, Brüssow, Frauenhagen, Grünberg and finally reached my daily goal, Schwaneberg. :0)
My body feeling was fine, I was happy to passed the for now 31,9 km (measured by Google Maps and my cyclocomputer) with an average speed of 19,6 km/h! At this moment I was very proud of this accomplishment... Unfortunately this resulted also in me not taking beaks to make photos... I just made one nature photo...That makes me a bit sad now...
I spent a great hour in Schwaneberg! :0D Here it was nice and comfortable. :0)

The breakdown

Now the "fun" part started... I leaved Schwaneberg at 10 o'clock. I had a good portion of air on my back and therefore became a good speed! Haha! My cyclocomputer showed me an average speed of 20,4 km/h. \o/ But then my power drained... And now I've made the biggest mistake of the day...
My body told me:

• You are tired
• You are hungry
• You exhausted
• Keep it slow, make a brake, finally eat something

But then my head came in:

• You just have to get 10 km more
• I can eat at home
• Hang on
• I can get the 20km/h average

And idiot me listened to the head...
My tummy growled, my legs were powerless, my head hurted I was at the end of my energy... After 64km I was home... Completely exhausted...
I took the luggage from the bike and hauled everything upstairs.. It was noon... Now I wanted to eat and sleep a bit... But there was no sleep, there were cramps... That wasn't a nice feeling and the day was over for me...

What did I learn from this

Fortunately there is always stuff to learn from stupidity. Haha! And because I don't want to be mean I share my "wisdom". Or lets say obviousnesses...

Rule #1: Eat properly before you go on a big ride.. Wait! Eat always properly! Bodies need energy to work!!
Rule #2: Sleep well and long enough! Bodies don't just need energy, they also need rest to work like you want it to!
Rule #3: (More a reminder for me, because I don't know how you can handle it.) I will let my cyclocomputer at home or will stick something over it, I can't drive relaxed when I get my average speed and current speed thrown in my face all the time. I always want to drive faster then it's good for me.
Rule #4: Listen to your body! If he says "I'm hungry", take a brake and eat something. If he says "I can't go any further", take a break and rest a bit! It's that simple. ;0D

The luggage conclusion

The luggage survived the tour better than I! :0) Everything was still on it's place at the end. I just have to sort everything better. Or I have to remember properly where I put my stuff.. Important and often used stuff have to be right where the bananas are, on top! :0) Haha! The weight was okay. :0) I just should drive more relaxed and appropriate to the weight. And I have to find a solution to pack my ukulele waterproof...
The bottles did a great job again! At the end of the tour they were empty. I could have refilled them, because I had two 1,5L water bottles in the luggage, but the bottles got empty as I arrived in Prenzlau. :0D

This entry maybe wasn't that happy like the others, but it was an important one, I hope. Also I hope that it was enjoyable nonetheless. :0D

See you soon, be careful and have a lot of fun on your bike. :0)
Robert