Ramblin’ on a bike, like the title says. Come along for the random thoughts and things that happen on a typical ride. Today I’m in Germany, visiting Koln. I reflect on my experience in Belgium and enjoy the countryside of Westphalia.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro/Westphalia
04:01 Road Signs
06:29 My Experience in Belgium
16:49 FC Koln
23:17 German Parks
29:06 Outro
[Music] okay hello hello hello we’re back for another [Music] ride I didn’t know if I was going to ride again in Europe but here we are in Germany out in I believe this region is called Westfalia I’m staying in Cologne so this is out east I already ridden out east I’m like 30k out half a little less than halfway done with my Loop this morning it’s the second C list I’ve seen this morning it’s already [Music] 8:30 um got out got out early I’m trying to beat the crowds and be back before the morning ends enjoy some time in in Cologne in the city center got in yesterday on the train from from Belgium uh yeah and so we’re out here I wasn’t sure whether I was going to ride or not but we had dinner yesterday and figured I should just do it and just do it get it out of the way early not be thinking about it all week and plus I got out early enough it’s 8:30 I’m a little less than halfway done but probably only got a couple more hours even if I’m chilling stopping and taking videos and getting lost in the city every now and then I come up on some construction site and I have to find a way [Music] around but my little map here is pretty pretty trustworthy um yeah it’s beautiful out here I was riding through out of the city and you would enter like neighborhoods and then you’d enter a little pocket of like a I assume was a park but like this forested area then back through another neighborhood then another little Park Forest Area and they keep getting keep it was kept doing that as as we kept going east and the neighborhoods kept becoming more and more oh we lost the sidewalk here neighborhoods kept becoming more um oh man my camera mount came off they they were getting more nice more and more nice every time until we just reached like this area and now it’s [Music] just grasslands and Hills really nice [Music] dang I hope I’m allowed on this I’ve been trying to trust the road signs but somehow it always feels like I’m doing something wrong I didn’t see anything say I can’t go on this and I don’t believe this is a highway so hopefully it’s so okay I’m trying to ride as hard as I can slightly uphill 450 Watts come on pass me pass me thank you thank you dka that it’s beautiful out here there’s all these little Creeks River pretty large river back there actually all right how much of this do we have 3 km till the next turn jeez three and A2 all right hopefully there’s not that many cars it’s Saturday morning the square was still dead in the main city center when I left it was like 7 out east here I assume in the countryside there’s not going to be much traffic so I’m not too worried about it it’s just I don’t want to be riding somewhere I’m not supposed to ride but I think this is okay wow awesome out here [Music] lots of goats and sheep out here I’ve seen so far um it’s nice out here I’ve only been here one afternoon really so I don’t know how I feel about it yet about the city and all that but Belgium was [Music] amazing amazing I love the riding out in Flanders and Woodard and like that area where I did the the the flandrian challenge beautiful but man Gant or gaun was absolutely amazing so much energy in that small City it’s one of the main cities of [Music] Flanders but it’s small it’s not it’s not too big it’s not too small for a city like that is so cool lots of energy um I ended up me meeting uh I don’t know a local Legend I guess or like a local musician everyone knew and went to a little party they kept calling it a jam session but it was like a proper like underground show a come on pass me please pass me please damn I got to turn it on again but anyways he was telling me that the city is a university town like college town and a music town so lots of music venues artists and lots of University kids which yeah I no there lots of groups of young young people vibrant I loved it it was awesome man I guess they can’t pass on the a solid white line but yeah I could easily see myself living in Gant it was it was awesome and the train systems super efficient just I mean we went out and visited all all the other big cities so we took the trains in the morning early I mean not too early sometimes it was early but probably around 9 8:30 around that time um and so we were riding with the morning commuters and it’s just so awesome oh shoot I get to that other [Music] side we’ll play it safe and go on this pedestrian Corridor up this but uh yeah with the morning commuters the train was super efficient and yeah I don’t I don’t want to be going up that windy little thing those cars super efficient trains clean fast the people on there were all getting business done they were all going to go somewhere students I assume young adults going to their jobs and they were like commuting between major cities and the longest trip was 30 minutes can you believe that I mean you could live in the countryside and still be at your job in an hour just only because you had to transfer a train if that if not there’s usually direct trains going to the major cities from the smaller towns I mean if we had that in the United States yo if we had that in San Diego County it’s game over for for everybody I mean that’s the equivalent of like me I live in Oklahom but I work in in San Diego I can take the trolley but I still have to take a bus to get to the trolley station then I got to wait for the trolley get on the trolley the trolley takes 45 minutes to get to where I work not even not even downtown it’s like Mission Valley takes like 40 minutes like the whole the whole trip is like an hour and a half an hour 15 minutes it sucks this the equivalent of this was I would just get on the train boom oh even better I could ride my bikee everyone rides a bike in Belgium there’s bike specific parking lots like the size of like car parking structures bike parking lots everyone rides their bike around town or you bike your R ride your bike to the to the train boom leave it all day and get on the train boom I could do that easy 10 minutes to the train 30 minutes on the train oh did I run a red stop lights change so fast oh damn it I’m going to turn around stop lights change so fast F around here man I feel like this one has been a ramble but it’s so good uh we need better trains like trains and bikes facilities would solve all our problems we would see all the small little towns in Cal in San Diego County like explode and I’m talking like tiny like towns from the past like h hakuma mostly y’all never even heard of hakuma used to be an old train Town out east right before descending into the desert um dang I want to ride down this but all right we’re sending it we’re sending it um yeah little towns like that hakuma Ramona like if we got trains going there to those places we saw so much housing stuff like people can now live out there comfortably those now become the like start becoming little towns and little cities as opposed to kind of just like towns they become functioning towns like yeah we got to bring that back H somehow somehow I got to make it happen I guess I guess technically I’m in the industry so anyways that’s that that was that was Belgium I I loved it I could easily see myself living there Countryside or in the city of gent amazing amazing I’m on the third of three climbs I have on the route today there might be some other Rolling Hills and stuff but nothing to be considered a proper climb and I’m off on a little side side road so I think there’ll be a little less traffic than that main one we were just on um yeah Belgium loved it Germany we’ll see no plans yet we just said we’re coming and we’ll figure it out oh look at all these chickens and a couple Ducks um tonight at least we’re going to the the cologne game Who football Bundesliga cologne is currently in the relegation battle to stay in the in the first Division I think there’s three more games left they have to win they have to win all the games remaining or else they’re out they have to win all of them and hope that team above them loses or ties at least one it’s that close and in that case they I don’t they’re not even saved they have to play a playoff one game against the champion of the second division or no sorry the third place I believe yeah third place of the second division cuz the first two go up automatically third place of the second division playoff to see who goes up and who comes down colog has been struggling lately past few years they’ve been in the re relegation fight and uh I think like two three years ago they had to play a playoff and they won and stayed so they’re here again and it’s looking tough but it’s not impossible I think they’ve won four games something like this and it’s a 34 Game season so they’re not doing good they have like 23 points something like that yeah we’re going tonight I’m excited for [Music] that look get on this pedestrian walkway I’m excited we’re in the standing supporter section it’s going to go crazy I already know it these fans are Relentless with the energy that you see on TV I’m sure will translate into being there live um but the Bundesliga champion has already been crowned byon lusin is 3 weeks ago two weeks ago two weeks ago they clinched it they clinched the the title with like seven games to go or whatever six games seven games absolute Beast they haven’t lost all season in any competition which means they’ve won or tied all their games no [Music] losses pretty amazing um lus and’s little town or I guess I don’t know if it’s a city considered a city it’s got to be we’re actually going to go buy it a bit later we we’ll go by the stadium um they don’t play here today so they won’t be there won’t be people walking around there or at least as many yeah we’ll go by there later what what oh that was my turn [Music] I think way down here that’s all clone that’s [Music] the the uh the cathedral the T-Mobile tower I think city building I’m pretty sure that’s what it [Music] is this is the last little forested part that I remember and then kind of start getting back into the city I don’t really know what it’s called out here but we’re on the way to lusen I know that for sure we 45k in so we got like another 30k to go maybe less if we don’t get lost um this is nice I like that there’s a lot of little like like Forest like I wouldn’t even call this a park this is a forest within neighborhoods I notice people don’t wave so far this morning no one’s like wave even the four or five cyclist that I’ve seen Jesus my stupid Mount I hate it I’m going to have to engineer something when I get back home oh pretty br um yeah but no one waves Belgium people are nice but no one waved so I don’t know it’s just a European thing I guess and I’m just a weirdo like hi wav for the most part people have been nice oh TT crew the boys are out see get a wave ready there we go nice small little wave saw the camera it might not be German yeah that’s nice I love how there’s little parks for like that whoa look at these horses oh sorry you know it’s cold but it’s not it’s not bad it’s nice it’s real nice rained a little bit yesterday didn’t matter much we were on the train for most of the day or at the train station waiting around but yeah pretty close to done with our it’s our trip here I think I’m going to put the camera away but I’ll check in again once we get to lusen and the buyer lusen Stadium um but it’s been good I’m definitely coming back I’m definitely going back to Belgium I want to do more riding out there no camera just me my route I already did the flry challenge so now I’m just going to go and like hit some intervals on some of those cobbles and uh just enjoy the countryside and uh hopefully hopefully this time with friends and if my friends want to do the challenge I’ll do it with them again of course of course we’ll definitely have to document some of that that but yeah I I got to come back it’s I I love that I loved Belgium anyways I think we’re back in the metropolitan areas suburban suburban neighborhoods so yeah check in a bit later [Music] well that was the Bay Arena buer luse and the Champs that’s it from us I’m going to log off we finish up this ride and enjoy the rest of my European tour or european vacation uh it was awesome I’ll be back someday hopefully with more people some buddies go ride more bikes um yeah awesome great riding here in Cologne West faia we got the we’re riding here in this little creek trail look at this a I lost it there’s a creek yeah down there beautiful you forget how important uh running running river running creek is to to living it’s so nice you just listen to water flow we have the river in San Diego but it’s like dirty and dry a lot of the times we’re in a drought anyways no more rambling I’m going to finish off the ride that was it that was me in Europe we’ll be back again soon but for now see you guys peace out [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music]