Yesterday I got my first electric bike. I had put a deposit on it a couple weeks ago when we first got here, and thinking I didn’t have anywhere to put it at the hotel, decided I would have to wait to get it til I moved into the actual house we’ll be renting. I ended up asking the owner of the hotel if I could maybe keep it on my balcony, or lock it somewhere. She very kindly allowed me to store it in the storage garage she has at the end of the parking lot, and gave me access to the key. That arrangement made, I went and purchased the bike.

I thought about just going for a ride right away after getting the bike to the hotel. Yesterday it was bright, sunny, and clear; however, it was also really cold, and I wasn’t sure I had enough cold weather gear to deal with it. The weather app claimed it would be above freezing and sunny today, so I decided to wait.

The weather app lied. There is no sun today, the air is the same color as the sky due to the landscape being dominated by a fog in the distance. Logically the fog is right here as well but up close everything looks pretty clear, covered in a crystalline frost that almost looks like snow. It really decided to look like December.

I inexplicably packed a balaclava, which made me bold enough to head out in the fog. I wore leggings under pants, and a hoodie under my real jacket. My new cycling gloves have full fingers, and I knew that once I got moving I wouldn’t notice the cold. Another small dilemma was figuring out how to access my phone for directions while riding, since I do not have a phone mount. I noticed a zip tie still on the handlebars from some tag from the store – my phone has a kick stand on the case that I managed to wedge into the zip tie, and my phone was able to sit perfectly on the stem, rather securely attached to the handlebars. Yay random zip tie!

After a small misinterpretation of the map, I set out on my adventure. I knew 15 miles might be a bit much for my first time back on the bike in years, but I also still have altitude fitness advantage, and my bike is electric so I figured I could up the assist if need be. I had 50% battery on the bike, and was going well within the estimated range of the various modes, so I figured it would be fine.

Komoot is a trail and adventure app that several people have recommended to me for biking and hiking in Germany. The route I took was based on a Komoot Tour and took me basically around the base, passing by a Celtic monument, a bunch of really gorgeous frosted fields, through some dense forests and a swampy area, and finally back through Ramstein to the hotel.

It was difficult to get photos for the most part; stopping and undoing my impromptu phone mount was not my favorite, and interrupting the nice cadence I had through many of the landscapes was unattractive, especially toward the end when I was getting tired and starting again after stopping was a hurdle. Riding the e-bike with the assist helped in the start ups, however, so I will have to get used to that.

The frosted fields were gorgeous, looking like something out of a Christmas card or some far off fairy-tale landscape where one might meet mythical creatures and ice queens. It was a quiet route, but there were a surprising number of other folks on the trails walking or biking as well.

I was ready to be super defensive around traffic, and probably always will be, but the cars were actually respectful, gave me enough space, and gave me right-of-way at crossings. I could certainly get used to people obeying traffic laws.