Isn't it nice how long a day stretches out when just enough happens? That an eventful holiday feels like you've been away from it all for a week after just two days? An uneventful routine working week, on the other hand, only leaves you with a startled "Oops, Thursday again!". But what makes the difference between an enriching experience and obsessive entertainment?
An overly efficient series of planned events - first a tour of the castle, then a barefoot walk, followed by a flying fox and dinner with friends in the evening - can quickly degenerate into stress. In recent years, the term "microadventure" has become established as an eventful alternative to the event rush. Not that its prophets have invented anything entirely new: easily achievable endeavours with the thrill of measured uncertainty have always had their appeal. But we owe the fashionable label the well-deserved attention for the art of deliberately letting things happen. Even if some of our suggestions are labelled as "adventures", they break routines and pack more life into the day. Or the night. And most of them are completely free.
1st Picnic de Luxe
Just like in the travel brochure, only better. Real glasses and a picnic blanket, good food and actually a fresh shirt at the destination - a classy picnic requires plenty of preparation, a cool bag and selected company. For once, the sporting aspect of the cycle tour is less important than the opportunity to transport the goodies to the most beautiful places by bike.
2. travelling upstream
- all the way to the source. In the low mountain ranges in particular, a river flows in every large depression, the blue line of which ends somewhere in our immediate vicinity. Some springs are tapped and marked, others are just a large puddle in the forest. Cycle as far as you can, then continue your search on foot. There's no shame in narrowing down the effort beforehand with an internet search.
3. simply drop it
Sleeping outside. When a light breeze blows across your face at night and there is no light switch to chase away the darkness, you are far away from everyday life. The effort is minimal: sleeping bag and sleeping mat, perhaps a beer and a lunch box with pasta salad, plus a litre of water for washing up and morning coffee. And that's the greatest thing anyway, when you wake up at the edge of the field and blink into the sun. NOTE: Planned camping is illegal almost everywhere. We recommend asking the landowner. In any case, common sense dictates that you avoid protected areas and notorious Instagram spots, refrain from making noise and campfires and leave no trace.
4. collect herbs
In spring, many things grow that invite you to embark on a culinary adventure: Beginners head for a sparse deciduous forest to collect woodruff for the May punch, while more experienced foragers venture into daisies, goutweed and ground ivy for salads and side dishes. Although there are guided "wild herb walks", a wild herb cycle tour is a pioneering endeavour. Recipes and information can be found on the "Unkrautgourmet" blog or at preciousnature.net
5 Honey, where are you?
A plastic box full of game pieces in a branch fork, a waterproof bag behind a road sign: people have been playing "geocaching" for around 20 years. Using a mixture of GPS information and descriptions, they search for things that others have hidden just for them. The level of difficulty of the search ranges from children's birthday parties to extreme sports, and participation is generally free of charge. There are said to be several million caches (hiding places) worldwide. Basic rules and hiding places can be found on the Internet. The largest platform geocaching.com is a bit more commercial, opencaching.de is a smaller alternative.
6 I think it's beeping!
Blackbird, thrush, finch and starling ... are very vague terms for birdwatchers. Was that a mistle thrush, a song thrush or a juniper thrush? Experts can recognise them by their song, and an app such as the birdwatching app from Naturschutzbund Deutschland (nabu.de). The task for a cycle tour (until July, because after that the songbirds become silent): recognise three bird species on the way by their song. The edge of the forest is usually particularly busy. The first person to recognise three species correctly determines the route home.
7. light into the dark
Almost everyone has a favourite route that always works. A safe bet for cycling fun without having to think or plan too much. Strangely enough, we usually cycle them in the same direction. That can be changed - and feels completely different. But the special kick is to cycle them in the dark, only in the beam of the bike headlight. Cycling into the sunrise would of course be particularly beautiful. But do you want to get up that early?
8. two speeds
One route, two experiences: Our perception of a cycle tour depends on speed. What happens if I cycle the same route as fast as possible one day, but take three times as long the next? Our non-binding suggestion: start at full throttle, enjoy the tunnel view and the stinging legs - before the smell of damp meadows and perhaps a footbath in the river complete the picture of the tour the next day. Which was better, and why? Not an easy question.
9. random routing
Determine the turn-off sequence before the tour and without a map, for example: right - left - right - right - left ... Start at an out-of-town starting point in the chosen direction and apply the turn-off rule to every route you can see, up to about half the planned duration of the excursion. Then use a routing app such as Komoot to return from the point you have reached - even their route selection is sometimes adventurous enough.
10. among others
After many months in the home office, without club sports and pub evenings, the need for other faces and more or less non-committal conversations is often great. Cycling together is considered rather harmless under corona aspects, and so the first group rides could soon provide new inspiration and contacts. Many local groups of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrradclub (ADFC) offer excursions that are also open to non-members. More detailed information can be found on the Internet at tour-dates.adfc.de
