Mike's Bikes

A crazy, witty irishman who enjoys corny jokes and riding bikes led our group on our very first adventure through Germany. Morale was low at the beginning of the bike tour thanks to a nine hour plane ride and many miles of walking through the streets of Munich, but once we hopped on our bikes we were all happily reunited with our childhood selves! A few turns around the busy city streets, dodging BMW's and Mercedes as they zoomed passed, made for a hectic start and a difficult job for our jet-lagged legs to keep up. We pepped up for our tour guide after some of his jokes began to resonate with the group... we were functioning on about 3 hours of sleep, remember. On our bikes we explored the beautifully historic town of Munich, seeing city hall and the oldest baroque church in the city. "If it ain't baroque, don't fix it!" Thanks for the advice, Kevin. We also visited a restored palace, the old opera house, and the Izar River. The water was freezing cold because it runs down from the Alps, but that didn't stop the locals from going for a swim. People were "surfing" at the river on a manmade contraption that simulated a wave. You can find surfers there at any hour, including 4 a.m. with celebs like Ryan Gosling! That basically means we hung out, right? The group rounded out our bike tour at the Chinese Beer Garden where we cooled down with a couple liters of beer, giant pretzels, and a tasty pimento-cheese-like dip referred to as "angel's poo."

True exhaustion hit after only about two hours of sleep on the plane, biking for three hours, and walking 7.31 miles around Munich (thats an exact number, thanks MyFitnessPal). We were ready to sleep for days. While waiting to meet up with the rest of the group, we all laid flat in the center of the Marienplatz, one of the busiest spots in Munich, standing out like the true Americans that we are. We finally made it back to the hostel, skipped dinner, and got in our beds before 9:30 p.m. That's 3:30 in the morning back in the USA... can you blame us? As tired as we were, and still are (let's be honest), I already know that this bike tour will be one of the biggest highlights from this spontaneous, adventurous trip.