Hohkeppel to Gefell

 Our first mega ride from Hohkeppel to Gefell in the Eifel. Alessandro and I rode this distance together on our mountain bikes. I was absolutely dead after this ride, completely at my personal limit. The biggest problem was the heat, over 33 degrees most of the day! I drank over 5 liters of water during the day!
But, we made it!

New Route for way home from Work ...

Way home ...

First ride with new bike: Canyon Nerve 8.0 by zgadgeter at Garmin Connect - Details

Although we picked up our bikes over two week ago, I literally did not have a chance to ride my new toy, until today.  Apart from a short delay this morning, I successfully got out and rode the new gadget, for about two hours (37 kms).  Apart from the fact that this bike seems very agile and light, the rear suspension feels a bit strange. When riding my normal (non-fully) bike you always feel a slight "kick"when riding over undulations.  On this fully suspended bike it feels a bit like something is loose on the back of the bike. Strange.
Apart from that, unfortunately my fingers began to turn numb after a while, and at about 23 kms I had to give my "behind"a small rest.  Not sure if it's the new seat or whether the cushion in the pants I had on lost all it's cushioning.
So, now it's on to the rest of the training season, in preparation of the big event!

First long ride...Alessandro wins!

One important factor in this endeavor is obviously to train, a lot!  As we picked up our bikes only some days ago, the time to trains has been limited, but Alessandro found time.  Respect!

On Friday he rode his bike from Bergisch Gladbach to the Eifel somewhere, approximately 122 kms.  He told me that he would be riding in the Eifel, but I thought he meant "in" the Eifel, not "to" the Eifel.  Nevertheless, he made it, and so wins as being the first among us to take a long ride.. here a picture to prove it!

New bikes!

To complete this endeavor you need two things: training and good equipment.  Training is what is going to happen in the next months.  Good equipment is what we achieved on March 28.
We searched for a few weeks for factors that would help us decide the best new bikes we needed to complete this journey.  I spoke to experienced MTB colleagues, and received many recommendation.  However, quickly there crystallized a  common theme: Canyon.
A strictly mail order bike manufacturer that apparently is the best deal in town at the moment.  Canyon manufactures (assembles) their bikes in Koblenz, which happens to be 1 hour drive south of where we live, so a trip was planned.
I think both Alessandro and I were positively struck by the location and view of the factory.  Very modern and very simple. Bikes, not much more.
We looked around for a while, and then consulted a salesman, who as it turned out was also an avid biker.  Subsequently we learned that all the people who work at the factory are bikers.
Basically the salesman was very friendly, gave us some good tips, good advice on bikes specific to our Alps plan, and then told us to look around at the competition.  No hot sell, no pressure, no criticism of the competition, etc. His parting words were "I'm guessing you will be back". 
At the time we had no idea how right he was. After some subsequent weeks of searching for the optimum bike, perhaps something better than Canyon, we decided that for the money this is the best deal in town.
So, Alessandro decided on a Nerve 7.0 and I gave myself the luxury of a Neve 8.0.  I figured that i had to have some advantage to compensate for my age, and the 0.35 kg of reduced weight would give me that!
Our new horses!
Canyon Nerve 7.0
Canyon Nerve 8.0

Some weeks ago a colleague told me that he and some other colleagues were planning a crossing of the Alps on a mountain bike.  At the time i simply acknowledged this plan of his, and i went about my other work business.  However, somehow the thought stuck in my mind and kept thinking about the novelty of this idea.  Years ago i was also really "into" MTB and still had a bike from them, albeit long past it's optimum.  I remembered how satisfying the rides were.  Getting complete physical challenge, while enjoying nature and spending time with friends.  Somehow, like so many things in life, i lost the connection to this interest, but found this thought of traversing the Alps very nagging.
After a few days i concluded that i would join my colleagues, and spend the next months getting fit enough to avoid being the "weak link" of the group.
I mentioned the idea to my son, and i guess it nagged him too.  After a few days he told me that would very much like to join this endeavor and prepare for the adventure.
So, this is how this blog began.  An idea, and two novices that will be doing something (very) challenging later this year.
Here we go ....