"The Hardest Part Is Over, Let It In"

Daily Stats*

Distance	100.3 km
Time	6:56:08 h
Avg. Speed	14.5 km/h
Max. Speed	41.2 km/h
Avg. Heart Rate	137 bpm
Uphill	1580 m
Downhill	1124 m
Avg. Temperature**	30.0 °C

*measured by Garmin Forerunner 945 & Sigma ROX 4.0
**measured at the lower back

Daybook

Rob Thomas sang the lines “The hardest part is over, let it in” in “Little Wonders,” and that pretty well describes how I feel after today’s leg from Trier to Dahlem in the Vulkaneifel.
When I woke up in the morning, I immediately sensed the tiredness from the previous cycling days in my legs. “This could become an adventure,” I thought, ending with “ Yes, it will ”. With a touch of skepticism, I then departed from Trier. Normally, you hope that the first climb will be mild. In my case, it only took about 3.5 km before the road suddenly turned sharply right and headed uphill into the forest. This turned into a climb of about 4 km with a gradient between 5% and 20%. In the final part of the climb, the terrain changed and instead of forest floor, there was now a country road until I finally reached Rodt. Pretty sweaty, but hey, at least I was pumped up afterwards. Thanks god I found the wooden observation tower shown in the first impression on the edge of the village, so I could use the visit as a breather ;-)
The following section from Rodt to Kyllburg felt very rural, with sometimes better, sometimes worse ground conditions, lots of unshaded areas (we approached 30°C again!), and occasionally the smell of farm animals and manure in the air. This part was actually fine, with only one remarkable uphill section towards Kyllburg. At this point, around 41 km had been completed!
Kyllburg then apparently tried to sabotage today's leg: the normal cycle path along the railway tracks, which would have provided a direct connection to St. Johann, was closed due to track work. This meant I had to take a detour via Malberg and Mohrweiler to get back on my track. Without accurate navigation, I managed the moderate climb from Kyllburg towards Malberg. In Malberg, I had a great view of the local castle (see the second impression's background). Taking the main road, I then turned off towards Mohrweiler. In principle, this connection is only 3 km long, but it winds steadily uphill like a serpentine. I "dragged" myself and the bike up in the lowest gear, and luckily there was little traffic in either direction. However, the additional 250 meters up were unavoidable ... Flying blind, I rolled through Mohrweiler and down the forest paths, and finally found the retreat house in St. Thomas (just before St. Johann), where I had to take a break after this thrill.
Although accompanied by a steady yet gentle ascent, the route from St. Thomas to Gerolstein was very pleasant, running largely along the Kyll River. With a view from above of Gerolstein (why didn't I receive a fresh Gerolsteiner as a welcome gift?), I rode uphill past the Felsenhof, a sprawling bungalow park and campground. Then another climb after Gerolstein drained my remaining fluids, and I had to ask some locals in a place called Niederbettingen for tap water. Thanks again, even though you'll probably never read this post :-)
The final part was once again quite rural, and strengthened by fresh water and the still functioning lowest gear, I reached the community of Dahlem and the small tiny house I had booked for the night after almost seven hours of driving (net)!

Today's leg was a little monster: lots of elevation gain (more than I've ever had in one leg before) and still a three-digit distance. It may sound strange, but in the end I actually wanted it to be three digits ;-)
That's it for today, I'm getting tired, but I'll fall asleep knowing that "The hardest part is over, let it in".

Impressions

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