Tim Ortkamp — 2025 Cycling Tour

Daily Stats*

Distance	119.0 km
Time	7:03:08 h
Avg. Speed	16.9 km/h
Max. Speed	38.3 km/h
Avg. Heart Rate	129 bpm
Uphill	1500 m
Downhill	1888 m
Avg. Temperature**	25.0 °C

Elevation profile [m]

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

Daybook

Preface: my navigation device messed up the route recording for the second time after leg 5, so unfortunately I can only provide the planned elevation profile. It wasn't to be the only glitch ...

But let's start at the beginning. Once again in perfect weather (sunny, blue skies, light wind, temperature around 20°C), I left Rodt with a short warm-up climb, then rolled along flat or downhill terrain through Emmels to Born. Shortly before Born, I switched back to the RAVeL (to my delight), which was to take me past the Freiherr von Korff Bridge (see first impression). Interestingly, one of the bridge arches is used as a climbing wall, a very original location in my opinion!
A few hundred meters later, I was already leaving the RAVeL again just to ride through Deidenberg, where I had originally planned to spend the last night, towards Amel. Passing Valender and Halenfeld, I reached the first big climb of the day, a little over 100 meters of elevation gain up the Robichsknopp. Already at this point, I could feel the strain of the previous day and tried to conserve my energy (with limited success due to the gradient). After passing through several small villages and fields, I made my way to Kronenburger Lake, which offered a great view on the water from the dam.
The next part of the trip was pure déjà vu. By the time I drove through Jünkerath, I realized that it had only been two weeks since I had driven the exact same route in the opposite direction. In Jünkerath, I passed two cars that seemed to have had a bit of a “cuddle.” I guess the driver of one of the cars wasn't having such a good day ... After Jünkerath, I took the flat Kyll Cycle Route to Lissendorf and continued across the fields to Hillesheim. I was only a few kilometers away from places like Dahlem and Gerolstein, but from now on, there would be more to come!
And so there were several intense climbs, sometimes leading out of villages, sometimes across fields, and sometimes through forests. Two tough climbs with gradients of up to approx. 16 % led via Walsdorf and Stroheich to Boxberg. These climbs were made even more difficult by the massive amount of gravel on the ground, which caused the tires to lose grip in places and meant that riders had to ride carefully to avoid losing their balance (see third impression for a lightweight example). I had mentioned the glitches in my navigation device: in this section, it led me along a mountain bike trail, so it was no wonder that the terrain was like this. I guess without the wider tires on my Giant ToughRoad, I would have had to push more than just once (where the gradient was definitely above 20%). This stretch was just one long series of ups and downs (perfect for touring cyclists with a lot of luggage), and I spent most of it alone on forest trails, surrounded by bare trees, pushing on toward the treetops with my legs getting heavier and heavier.
Nowadays, with the experience of several partly longer bike tours, I realize when the stress limit is reached, as every climb usually causes pain in my thighs and my exemplary straight back on the bike gradually turns into a "pensioner's hump". Accordingly, I was very happy when I left the forest behind Ulmen and was able to visit the local supermarket to refuel for the remaining 25 kilometers after having cycled about 92 kilometers. How exhausting could this comparatively short residual distance be?
Well, at first it stayed fairly flat and paved (probably the greatest benefit of leaving the deeper Eifel region), and I rode alongside the heavily protected Büchel Air Base. To help matters along, clouds slowly rolled in and hid the sun behind them. Via Faid and Brauheck, the route ran along the highway. In fact, it was even fun to roll over the asphalt in my tired state and be able to ride at “unfamiliar”, constant high speeds. A privilege I didn't often have today ;-) Tapping into my reserves of strength and already dripping with lactate, I reached the Moselle heights of Ediger-Eller shortly afterwards and from there the final descent. The fantastic view of the Moselle and the village of Ediger-Eller with its imposing church tower was a reward for the effort I had put in, and I really enjoyed the serpentine ride down. With light rain falling, I finally arrived at my accommodation.
A little anecdote: in Ulmen, I bought a pizza, assuming that the accommodation would have a microwave. Well, bad assumption, so I had to get creative. The result is probably the most innovative method of baking pizza that I have ever used (see last impression), and maybe the lions from “Höhle der Löwen” should consider investing in it :-)

Phew, today's leg pretty much wiped me out, especially after yesterday's. Lots of steep climbs, difficult terrain, unusual paths (...), and of course the sun made this the first route where I wished it would end sooner, and the first where I had to dig deep into my reserves. I guess the good news is that it will actually be done soon. One more night's sleep, then it's on to the last high-altitude stage before I arrive in my familiar surroundings near Darmstadt!