So imagine a ridiculously beautiful day. Perfect temperature, few clouds in the sky. Just Beautiful. Got it? K, now imagine that you were invited by a few Germans to go a bike ride through the forest on this beautiful day. Sounds pretty good right? Ok, now imagine you’re riding along in the middle of woods, haven’t seen a town for miles (or kilometers since we’re in Europe) and you suddenly come upon a huge festival with several hundred people, possibly thousands, all grilling, dancing, and celebrating. That, my friend, is what Germany is all about.

So Friday was the 1st of May and here in Germany, they call it the Erste der Mai which is a holiday something like our Labor Day. I’m not exactly sure of the history behind it but neither did many of the Germans we asked so it’s ok. Apparently, the common theme is for people to take a day off, go out in the woods, and eat and drink and be merry. And that we did.

Chandler and I were invited by some Germans to go on this bike adventure. We weren’t sure how long we’d be gone or where we were going but they promised it would be fun. And that it was. We left around 11 in the morning and made our way first to a town called Babenhausen, which has a really beautiful old church. From there, we continued into the wilderness on a bike trail leading to a city called Herrenberg. I must note that this city was about 20 Km(12.5 miles) away. It was somewhere in this 20Km that we stumbled upon the fest. It had a name but I can’t remember what it was. I bet you think this is where we stopped for the rest of the day but no. As much as I would have liked to stayed, we were only there long enough to enjoy a juicy steak sandwich and rest our legs before continuing our journey. We made our way to Herrenberg but to get there we came down a huge hill. Coming down was a lot of fun but none of us had much interest in trying to go back up it, so we had to consult the map for a bit and found a different trail that would bring us back to Tubingen. The new trail stayed more along the roads but it gave spectacular views of valleys and fields filled with flowers.

We eventually decided to stop for dinner and found a nice field with some trees for shade. One of the Germans pulled out a small Picnic grill which was basically a tin foil box filled with coals. So we had our small grill and it’s a good thing they brought the Americans along because they weren’t having the best luck getting the coals to stay lit. Chandler was able to get it going and somehow I ended up nominated as the grill master for the evening. We had weisswurst and potatoes, pretzels and some little breaded cheese things, a big loaf of bread and even potato salad. We actually brought more food than we could finish off. It was quite the feast.

With our stomachs filled, we mounted our bikes once more and continued our ride. We made our way back to Tubingen with the sun setting behind us. Chandler and I parted ways with the Germans and made it back to our rooms completely exhausted by around 10 or so. I think the total length of the trip was somewhere between 40-45Km (25-28miles).

Short video later but for now some pics here(the last 7 are from the ride):
http://picasaweb.google.com/theinvisible77/Germany03#

And on another note, I'm going to Scotland today. Awesome.