The really nice thing about Germany is that you don’t really have to know where you’re going to find yourself somewhere.
Europe trip 2012 began in Munich and the selection of my first nights accommodation was somewhat random, based merely on location and price. I had to be close to the airport as my Subaru–MarathonMTB.com teammate Mike was arriving the following day and it had to be cheap! I entered these two criteria into trip advisor and came up with a guest house with a beer garden (Arcobrau beer) and bowling alley in Marzling called Galth of Nagerl, run by proprietors Christa und Franz Nagerl. It was perfect!
On arrival at a new and unknown bike destination, the local bike shop (LBS) is usually my first point of call. I find the LBS staff to be the best with advise on local rides, plus I like to stickybeak and there is always some foreign gadget that I really cant do without! With today’s technology maps are readily available and local bike shops are relatively easy to find, thanks google. In Freising, only a bike path away from Marzling, I Googled a LBS called The Real Bike Shop. Promising, as I could could both understand and pronounce its name. I called in there to pump up my tires, purchase the multitool I had forgotten and enquire on a ride for the following morning. The advise from this particular LBS was less than useful, or so I thought, “follow your nose”!
So without a further questioning I returned to Marzling to try and find a suitable map!
The whole “follow your nose” thing doesn’t sit well with me, especially in an unfamiliar country with limited local communication ability. In my room was both a yellow and a white pages, both have maps in them so I searched for the patches of green. Not too far from Marzling there was an extensive patch of green called ‘Freising Forest’, promising name, so I took photos of the maps on my trusty iPhone and tried to imprint a picture of the map on my brain. Unfortunately my grasp of the German language is limited to a crash course undertaken on the plane. I did pass but no verbalization was required. Therefore, also on my phone, I have a picture of the place I am staying, just in case. My iPhone always goes on every ride so it makes sense to load it up with as much information as possible.
The following morning mike was scheduled to arrive around midday so I had a few hours to play. New bike, first ride in a new country and a need to justify stopping at the bakery in Freising for a croissant, I figured 2 hours would be perfect. I had a direction in mind and the security of my iPhone, plus some trusty euros so off I went.
The strange thing is that following all this preparation I looked at the maps on my iPhone 0% and followed my nose 100%.
I found a bike path that headed out of town in roughly the right direction and not too far along I found a forest with sign posted Nordic walking trails, so I played around in there for a bit. The bike path continued indefinitely and along the way there were many sign posts with place names and distances. In reality you are never too far from anywhere. So all the preparation in the world is seemingly unnecessary in such an organized country, all you have to do is follow your nose.