Roth’s beautiful bike course

Today we rode a lap of the bike course in beautiful sunshine. It was awesome. I love this course. The roads are like silk. There are lots of stretches where you can really put your foot down and fly, and yet there are lots of turns and no one stretch is long enough to become a mental challenge. It’s a misconception that it must be flat because its so fast- it’s definitely not flat. The famous Solar Berg is very short and not very steep- but the crowds that line the road to allow just one line of bikes up is what makes it a highlight of the ride. The scenery is gorgeous all the way- you pass through lots of little villages and corn-fields.

It was strange riding the course today- the last time we rode it was in the race last year- in absolute misery. Today the memories came flooding back- I remembered exactly how I was feeling at certain points on the course- and it wasn’t pretty. Today I could laugh. Kristian and I are both in a totally different place this year. We’re fitter, un-injured, happier and less stressed. So far the sun has been shining and the trip has started off excellently.

Some of today’s happy snaps…

Claudia had all our favourites for brekkie this morning

Thalmassing on the bike course

Me in Thalmassing, a little village on the bike course

We weren't able to pack much High5, so we had to buy local

Kristian, somewhere on the bike course