And another holiday ....

Just got back from a 6-day holiday. Last Friday my wife and I drove to la-Roche- en-Ardenne where we spent 3 days in a hotel. Last Monday we drove to Biersdorf- am-See in Germany, where we spent another 3 days. Since we took the car as our main means of transportation, I could take a bike with me. Since I did not want to stick to asphalt, I took my 700X.
It seems that summer already arrived early last week, sunshine all day and temperatures over 25°C. On my first ride on Friday, I reached the top of a local route. When I took the picture that is shown here, I suddenly realised that there was total silence in the midst of the forrest ! No cars, no motors, no airoplanes to be heard, just the birds singing in the trees and the wind touching the leaves. Amazing, these places are hard to find these days !

Although there are many mountain bike routes in La Roche, I stayed mainly on the roads. The 700X was no real mach for the rough MB-routes through the forests, especially not when going down. The routes were so rough with lots of big rocks and ruts from the trees that I only managed to ride downhill while braking most of the time. With lots of up -and downhills, I got more than my share of work out on the roads. Unfortunately, most of the roads were in no good condition, but that did not stop me from riding my bike.

When arriving in Biersdorf-Am-See, one could tell that you were in Germany only by the state of the roads. As usual, most of the roads were in excellent condition and showing only little damage of the past winter. I rode a new part of the Prümtalradweg around Bittburg and some parts of the Kylltalradweg and the Nimstalradweg. The Dorint hotel we spent are nights was located near a lake and with summer temperatures but no summer crowds, the location was as heavenly as in tourists brochures.

Not all was rosy though. In comparison with earlier holidays with the 700X I did not suffer from my butt. It did get very sweaty with these temperatures, but it never got uncomfortable. The only thing I noticed was my lower back. I never had issues with my back before, but lately when riding either my Z Pro or the 700X I noticed that my lower back started to hurt after a while. Especially when riding uphill. It might be that the forward reach is just a little too much for my back (and my age isn't probably helping either). It is true that I do not ride my CF-bikes as much as my recumbents, but the main idea is to ride a bike that is more comfortable than a regular bike. I'm considering ordering an Alterra Road frame and swap the components from the Z Pro. The Alterra has a different frame geometry, which might do the trick. Stay tuned to find out.