seven days of spring.

It's the end of February and spring allowed us to escape from our daily stress and leave the long, dark, and sweaty hours on the turbo behind us.

At least for seven days.

Seven days of spring is a solitary adventure taking place in the hinterlands of western Germany. Concentrating on getting lost on purpose to discover some new unridden gems of roads in an environment that seemed to be more familiar than it is while ignoring all numbers that show us how well trained we are or do they even do that?

The origin of this little solitary adventure goes back to the impact that the last few years had on our development and the reason why we ride our bikes.

This pressure caused by the continuing comparison of each other's accomplishments increased so much that it seems like the love for this unbelievable sport disappeared completely.

Driven by the bodyweights, PB's and lengths of others our health and passion become secondary just to fit into something that we aren't.

But don't get me wrong I'm not against challenging ourselves or competing against each other. It's just this unhealthy relationship to all this data-based riding that keeps me worried.

Since last December I've spent such a huge amount of time on the turbo that this bright spot of spring-like weather seemed like the perfect opportunity to switch to real roads again instead of sweating and suffering on virtual roads and overcome that stress of the last months.

Even if I like, I mean really like suffering, and virtual roads give you the perfect setting for that, it's not the reason why I started cycling.

Riding bikes as a way to get away from the familiar environment and discovering new territory was the number one reason I started cycling in my childhood and have been stuck to it ever since. Later my love for suffering developed.

But that's a different story.

Thirteen degrees celsius on the first day was a mellow introduction to what the upcoming week is going to offer. Leaving home in the morning without gloves and overshoes made me almost forget that it's just mid of February.

For that one week, it was just me, my bike, and my little camera. I closed every page on my Wahoo that showed me any kind of numbers. Just left the map activated. That's it.

This way I avoided every just so little hint about the fitness I developed in the last few months. Focusing on the rhythm my legs dictated and use this whole adventure as a self-care "therapy".

Looking back to it now I can say it was such a great decision to go for this solitary adventure. Not only have I discovered many beautiful roads that I'm looking forward to ride with friends during summer but also have I rediscovered the reason why I love riding bikes.

The scent of unguided and unimpeded adventure.