I'm Back - On The Bike

I' back - on the bike. I finally got a bike (a bicycle) - my mother's old Dahon Glide P7. Though I am working for a bike company the company couldn't provide me with a bike (unless I buy one of course). The Glide is a nice bike if you want comfort and speed is of no concern. So I have been using this Glide for the last couple of weeks to get to work or get around Stuttgart. If you know the very hilly area around Stuttgart and if you know the Glide, you can imagine that doesn't go together too well. But anyways, it is still nice to be able to cycle again for a couple of reasons.

Get some excercise before work (it is a 20 km ride from where I live at the moment to the office)

Safe some money (using the public transportation is absurdly expensive - I will write about it later)

I don't have to spend half an hour in the crazy traffic (everybody thinks he is Michael Schumacher, while everyone else is stupid).

But when I thought, the conditions for cycling would be great, I was proven wrong. There are some really nice cycling areas or cycling paths in Germany, and the last few times i was cycling in Germany was during the Eurobike in Friedrichshafen (Lake Constance). That was really beautiful with a real cycling path for most of the time.

But Stuttgart is a "Car City" as people say here (after all it is the home of Benz and Porche), so it looks like there is not much focus on improving the cycling conditions here. Often you actually have to share the road with the cars. Sometimes they just paint some lines on the street, paint a bike on the road and that is your cycling path - like this:

Sometimes the road is not even wide enough for two cars and a bike passing each other, so the cars actually have to use the "painted on" cycling path. You perhaps remember the failed cycling path on DunHua North Road (敦化北路) in Taipei.
But there are real cycling paths which are not too bad. But then there are crossroads like this in the middle of nowhere and no signs - three paths going in three different directions, and no sign where to go:

 

But there are nice sceneries too, here a couple of pictures to give an idea about this somewhat hilly area. Actually the last couple of days has been warm and sunny and suddenly all the trees are in full bloom. I will add more pictures of this finally spring like secenery.

This area is famous for its wine: