Hot Biking

Wednesday: hilly intervals, 14.5K, 550 height meters, 1:27 hrs
Thursday: slow jog, 10K, 1:05 hrs.
Friday: rest
Saturday: biking, 73K, 735 height meters, 3:22 hrs

The rest day on Friday was not planned. A visit to the gym would have been necessary according to the usual schedule. But this was forbidden because I got an injection into my right elbow to cure a tendon injury. A bike tour was also impossible as I ran out of time (Germany's World Cup Quarter Final started at 5pm). But the rest day turned out to be the best option after 15 days of consecutive training. I felt really recovered today and had a great bike tour through the hilly countryside south of the river Ruhr. It was a hot trip with the temperature at 32°c which is 90° Fahrenheit. At the end I managed to find an ice cream parlour where I could watch the first half of the England vs. Portugal match. Then I arrived at home in time to see most of the second half and the bad end for the English team.

I took my camera with me:

The trip led me to a small reservoir called "Hasper Talsperre". It is a beautiful little lake with trees bordering its banks all around. Even on a sunny Saturday afternoon like today one meets hardly more than a dozen people walking around. It is a wonderful calm place because visitors have to walk about 1K to get to the lake. While there are other reservoirs nearby which can be reached just by stepping out of the car. These lakes are managed by marketing companies and on a sunny Saturday afternoon they are visited by thousands of people.

A swarm of trout in the lake.

The dam was built in 1904 and restored in 1994.

In May there takes place a nice run of 11K starting in the valley and circling the reservoir. I took part last year and enjoyed the route very much.