Since the pool's never open, I went swimming on my bike

Then visited a few people who I didn't know in the German countryside...

 

It was one of those sketchy days, when you need ALL weather gear. Stupidly, I leave the house with a post-it note map, wearing a tank and shorts. About 40 minutes into the ride, it's suddenly night. Though obviously dimwitted, I turn around and head home. Somehow had been oblivious to the blackening sky before.

 

Within minutes, icy shards pelt my arms and face. Not hail, but sure feels like it.I pedal harder. Soon the rain is so heavy, I can't see. My glasses fogging up doesn't help. I continue on, waiting for the big hills that I know are coming. 

 

What luck... Downhill both ways? There really is a god.

 

Or Fuck, you are lost in a thunderstorm. 

 

The latter.

 

I'd seen a car a ways back with people in it, so I turn around. But their license plate is Czech. I bike up a driveway and ding the bell. A man answers and curtly states to continue on the way back I was going. (What, no offer of a ride?)

 

A little further down the road, I ask two German men in an SUV. After a delay in recognising "Edelsfeld" they say continue on, straight down the road. I know I need to turn somewhere, but I keep pedaling. Last stop: two little girls answer the door. Shortly followed by their mom and two more kids. She says, "Go to the next town, then right, then continue on over B-85." Finally someone whose directions I could trust. She offers me to come in and dry off, but I can't see the point. It was nice though.  (Thank god again for my crap German skills.)

 

Two hours later, I arrive home, soaking, and hop in the shower.