Pfälzerwald MTB Park: Tour 13

We actually wanted to spend 4 days in the Rhön and ride the Trans Buchonia there. But the weather gods weren't kind to us and - like almost everywhere else in Germany - it was just terrible weather. 😪 So we changed our plans and went to a place where the ground was still perfectly passable even after 4 weeks of constant rain: the Palatinate. And what can I say - it was awesome! 🤙😎

The tour goes along a lot of forest highways if you consider the length. In many places you don't ride on a good trail but instead, for whatever reason, you ride on the parallel forest path. This is probably because it is an official route. Once in Rumbach, you can charge up. There were also some very good uphill and downhill sections, but I wouldn't ride them again, there are much better ones.

DONE. All driven. 😊 Today was the last tour of the MTB park Palatinate Forest on the program. With Oliver (@Palatinatrails ) I was able to win a "willing" 😉 comrade-in-arms for this tour. It started, logically, in Dahn, following the original route. Refreshments at the Drachenfelshütte and later at the Schmalstein Hütte. Again and again long driveways on forest roads or down to the next trail. Some of these were slippery after the rain. The hairpin trail on the Wölmersberg is not my thing, I'd rather have other people drive it. Would I do the tour again. Not necessarily. Still, it was a successful day. 😊

After a hearty breakfast we went on the Mtb - Tour 13, which is advertised as about 85 km and 2000 HM. After a few stretches were closed, shelter sought and cuts on our part, I think there were still considerable meters and kilometers to get out. It went over some trails, some of which require a lot of driving skills. Changing the rear wheel e.g. 🙈 About forest highway, but sometimes on the bike path. There were many old castles to see, but we might explore them in another tour.

Altitude ⛰️⛰️ detention in the Palatinate Forest 😉. After the week in Holland, a few more altitude meters 🚵‍♀️ were needed. In May it was too wet for the tour and now it's really summer. What can you do 🤷‍♀️. How was the tour for me 🤔🤔🤔. Hot 🔥 as hell 👹 and heavy as hell 🐷🐷. Simply amazing 😎 and super proud to finally go to dinner. I wish you all a relaxing evening 🙋‍♀️. See you soon.

The Tour 13 from the Palatinate Forest to 95% followed by Eli. Wölmersberg left out as in Tour 12, as well as the hairpin descent from the Great Eyberg. Kick turns are not my thing.😔😁

Today's trip was not a good one. I got the full bill for one-sided training, weather and overconfidence. What happened. For decades I have wanted to do the 13er Tour like the Lambrecht Tour. So far I have always failed. What was the reason today? If I were to formulate an excuse, it would be the humidity that completely paralyzed my engine room, or rather its cooling. I had never done an MTB tour of this length in the EB area before. During breaks at or on the Hügeli my pulse never even dropped below 100. New experience. By the time I reached Gifthügel 3 it was clear to me that Kai, if you got up too late again, you can forget it. It's just great that I remembered my "break" on the other side diagonally to the circular route. Anyone who has ever cycled in the Palatinate knows: there is no such thing as diagonal flat. You might save kilometers (in my case it was 20 km and 600 meters of altitude in the end - and that was a good thing). No sooner said than done, left out the Dahn. A bit of a cycle path and the start again in the north. It's a matter of honour, only take a shortcut but then ride the correct route again... yeah, right. Another 3 hills. grmpf Why do I call them that? They aren't particularly high but the climbs seem endless (never look up) and some of them are really steep. In addition, there were some trails to ride uphill or forest paths that were paved like an old Roman trade route (see pictures). What can I say, I reached my limits on the mountain because of: no cooling (@AnBo ☺️🚴‍♂️ just under 6 l for 60 km ;-) ), no wind, humid and different riding. I think that's the crux of the matter. Being fit is one thing, but racing bikes and mountain bikes have completely different pedalling requirements. I'm glad I did it, to test my lack of fitness in the forest for Belgium. On the other hand, I swear I will never tackle such challenges again when the humidity is 50% and the temperature is 30 degrees. Especially not if you snoozed the alarm. :)  Conclusion. My legs aren't heavy today, my thighs are burning. But I'm also proud that I made it to the end and didn't just roll along the "road" directly to the starting point. Speaking of rolling, I could have saved myself the backward roll down the slope when pushing up the trail.  P.S. The MTB 3 is very well signposted. Because I didn't have a speedometer (just the clock this time), I often thundered past turns. Then I went back for an honorary elevation. In some places you can see that it isn't ridden that often. I felt like I had to lift Sylver over 6 trees that were standing across it. A shame for my sport. Apparently everyone just does gravel now. :) But I have to say, flowing down the trails was really fun, even without the wind. :D

I wanted to go on a long tour again, and I'd been wanting to go to the Dahner Felsenland for a long time. Voila. For my taste, part 13 of tour had too little single trail. I'll plan shorter future tours and focus on highlights that I couldn't see up close today because I was already suffering from cramps starting at kilometer 25. Anyway, it was still nice. The two map sections show impassable sections: - The red circle marks three large trees stacked on top of each other - it was a nice climb. - The red line marks a path that no longer exists - a disaster. I'm currently treating my cramps with electrolyte from brown bottles - cheers!