Last week – 27th of May to 3rd of June – we spent a week in one of Germany’s cycling mecca’s of “midrange hills”, the Hochsauerland.
The Hochsauerland hills will bring you up to 800 meters and it has one of the best websites to plan your trips: Bike Arena Sauerland.
Once again, Medebach was our base camp and this time we even stayed in the same apartment as last year.
I did look at the site to see if there were any new interesting routes, but I was struck by a cervical herniated disc injury a week before we left.
That type of injuries are – like the lumbar ones – not new to me, since my car accident back in 2002.
Coupled with the fact that I’m not getting any younger, the problems I have fluctuate, but they are a constant nuisance at best.
However, this time, it was (is) so intense, that I’m worried I will not be able to just add it to this stack and keep doing my thing.
A MRI was made 2 days later, but I won’t see a neurologist before next Tuesday…
So, much like last year, the trip to the Hochsauerland 2023, wasn’t worth much in terms of training for the Tour de France 2023.
I mean, I still cycled every day, but I quickly realized that I would have to settle for shorter trips and even during those, I got more (pain) than I could handle.
Then again, I cycled on the Giant Revolt gravel bike, which – with the fat tyres – weighs significantly more than the Émonda climbing bike.
And the many cortisone (corticosteroids) injections I got the last 6-9 months, as well as new meds, have also caused a personal increase in weight.
If I manage to shed a few kilograms and if I get the Émonda in time – delivery has again been pushed back 2 to 3 weeks – at least that problem will be solved 😎
Okay, enough with the excuses, let’s get to the report of the Hochsauerland 2023 trip.
Summary
The VeloViewer wheel looks like this:
It’s almost identical to last year’s in terms of distance and moving time, but with almost 2,500 m of elevation difference less.
I covered a similar area as the previous times, making trips in reversed direction or slightly altered to avoid various obstacles.
The biggest “new miles” badge was obtained during stage 5, when I cycled – more or less – the Hessentour.
As I wanted to start and finish in Medebach and did not want to end up riding over 100 kms, I altered the route a bit…
Nearly 64 kms of that trip where not travelled before.
The average grade was – sticking to my “50/50” rule – just under 3% against 3.5% last year.
Both my longest and shortest rides were longer than last year’s: 120 (116) and 67 (48) respectively.
My Epilogue was nothing like last year’s cluster fuck, but it was the least interesting and most annoying – i.e. busy roads – of this year’s trip.
Saturday – Prologue
As before, I picked a spot close to an exit of highway 46, near Arnsberg.
When I plotted the course clicking Medebach as finish, I got a ride that was too short and I pulled the course down to (near) Elslohe.
That changed the total to around 75 km and a little over 1,100 m of elevation gain.
Which would have been fine, if it hadn’t been for the wind that was a head wind 80% of the trip…
Link to Garmin.
Sunday – Stage 1
Against my better knowledge, I picked the Trans-Rothaar tour, but I was smart enough to cut the bottom loop of that, which still left me with a 120 km trip.
However, as the altimeter gain was about the same as yesterday, I was able to finish the stage, hanging by a thread towards the end.
Like yesterday, I “scored” around 30 new kms this trip.
Link to Garmin.
Monday – Stage 2
Knowing that over a 100 km stages were out of the question, I picked – and modified – the Kleine (Short) Rothaar tour.
Instead of the shortest route passing through Winterberg, I opted to avoid the horrible Elkeringhausen climb and passed north of Winterberg, adding more to my trip than I should have.
I only got 5 new kms for my trouble, which were mainly due to the fact that I took a shortcut west of Zuschen…
Link to Garmin.
Tuesday – Stage 3
Wednesday – Stage 4
I plotted about half of the Olsberger Hessenrunde but – by accident – in the opposite direction.
To make up for it, I did the same route on Wednesday, but I avoided the busy B-roads I had to travel the day before.
This added some 13 kms for a total of 81 – against Tuesday’s 68 – which was still manageable, although Wednesday’s trip (also) had 200 m of elevation difference more…
Both rides combined gave me a whopping 8 new kilometers 🤣
Link to Garmin: stage 3 and stage 4.
Thursday – Stage 5
As mentioned above, this “Hessentour” was almost completely in new territory for me.
It took me to many quiet roads and overall, I think this was the nicest tour of the week.
Before I left, my Garmin EPIX warned me that I was about to die, but I’m kind of used to that.
However, as my nights did not bring me the good sleep I normally get between stages, I could feel for sure that my battery was drained.
Link to Garmin.
Friday – Stage 6
Today’s route was a cut-out from the Kleine Rothaarrunde, like stage 2.
I realized too late that I would have had a different tour – albeit over the same roads – had I gone counterclockwise in Hallenberg.
This time I did turn towards Zuschen to close the loop.
It did not make a difference to the new roads travelled, as they only count once, going either direction.
With less than 2 new kms, this was the least I got this week.
Link to Garmin.
Saturday – Epilogue
Foremost on my mind was avoiding last year’s cluster fuck, so I triple checked nearly every way-point of the route.
Second was plotting a stage towards the highway again, but as the shortest route was too short for my taste, I added a few kilometers.
And I got 28 “new kilometers”, about as much as during the Prologue 🥳
If only I had checked that those where not following one of the busiest roads running parallel to the highway, this epilogue would have been more enjoyable.
As it was, Paula noticed that she hadn’t seen me this stressed all week.
Taking into consideration the pain and sleepless nights I had, I guess that means it might not have been a cluster fuck, but I will have to try harder to get a good epilogue next time.
The End – Until Next Time!
I didn’t even mention it yet, but the weather throughout the week was near perfect.
The wind chill was annoying sometimes, but at 20 degrees, that’s not really something spoiling the fun.
After the previous three trips with cold and generally speaking miserable weather, this year’s Hochsauerland trip was a relieve.
If only I can ride at “full capacity”, such as it is, one day, it will be perfect.
Then again, as far as my physical problems are concerned, I’m not holding my breath.
So I’ll take the weather win and quit while I’m ahead.
