By Kelly Enright“The wheels on the bus go round and round…” is the song that came to my head as I thought about the bike tour that Dr. Tanner, Whitney and I were about to embark upon. (Just a note: We’ve been calling Dr.’s Sidel and Tanner just by their last names so if I refer to them as such, don’t be surprised). After not waking up until the exact minute we were supposed to be leaving, I rushed around to get ready, only to find out that Tanner wasn’t quite ready either! We eventually made it to the meeting place in time only to meet Lenny, our very enthusiastic, opinionated and entertaining American tour guide.
After getting our bikes, and a lesson on how to ride in Germany, we were off. A few of the tips included trying to remember how to use the brake where you push the pedal backwards (that was first grade, right?), making sure to stay in a single file line (there were about 30 of us) and being constantly prepped for the Biergarten (beer house/restaurant) that we would be stopping at for lunch. In Germany, bikes are not granted right-of-way on the street, and I experienced this within seconds of take off. The cars whiz around you, as do the pedestrians, and the most stressful part of the trip proved to be paying attention to every car, tram, person, and even dog that was within 30 feet of me. Considering there were 1000-year-old buildings, cute German boys, and other bikes around me, this proved to be quite a challenge.
Throughout the trip Lenny told us historical facts with the few interjected smart-aleck remarks to keep us entertained. Our first stop was the famous English Gardens. If you’ve read my previous blog posts, I had quite the experience there last week. Lenny stopped the tour at the end of the “nude quarter”, (of course, right? Like I didn’t have a good enough ‘view’ last time I was there!). Anyways, Lenny described one certain naked-man that usually meets his bike group every morning. Apparently he likes to pose right by the group and even takes pictures. This sounds hauntingly familiar to the man that I witnessed “flopping” around, showing himself off for all to see. Unfortunately (well, I thought we were pretty fortunate), our friendly fella wasn’t there today. But as Tanner and Whitney hadn’t experienced the nakedness yet, the tour continued by biking through this nude quarter. Maybe someone is trying to tell me something about this topic, because I can’t seem to escape it!
After that excitement, it was time for lunch. We stopped at the Biergarten, where most of the group on the trip got at least one of the liter beers the guide continuously talked about. We all regrouped and set off for the river surfers. This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen since being in Munich. On a small river in the middle of the city, about 20-30 feet wide, there was a random spot where the water dipped down and then rose to a crest, just like waves do at the beach. There were surfers here all decked out in their wetsuits and with surfboards, of course. They proceeded to jump onto the wave and go back and forth until they wiped out. It was so fun to watch, and since it was right in the center of the city, quite a random sighting. This is a very dangerous activity, and is not “allowed”, but of course they do it anyways. After this, we continued biking to other sites of interest, until we arrived back at our destination. This weather was perfect, sunny but with a slight breeze. It was a huge plus that the tour was technically “free”. Yes, readers out there in internet world, I said the f-word. FREE!! The only cost is an optional tip to the tour guide. He operates his business completely on tips, and I think this is part of why it was so enjoyable. You really could tell that he enjoyed what he did, and he kept everyone interested on what could potentially be a boring bike trip. And considering he catered mostly to college students, I’d say he has a very successful business going! However, Whitney and I both discovered something else free that we weren’t so happy about. That little thing called sunburn. While I had sunscreen on my face, there is that beautiful little line at the top of my forehead where I didn’t quite reach, so I have a little racing stripe of my own. Whitney looks like our own little farmer girl with her tank-top pattern. But it’s all in good fun. Except for when you go to the local pharmacy and they don’t know the word Aloe. We learned our lesson, and as Whitney put it, “Man, that German sun is intense.”
If you ever come to Munich, we recommend Discover Munich Bike Tours. Visit their website at Discovermunich.net.
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