2010-01-28 49 12
| Thu 28 Jan 2010 in Regensburg, Germany: 49.0983223, 12.0846867 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
In a snowy field in a hollow near the hamlet Kerm, about 10km north of Regensburg.
dawidi
I wouldn't have attempted this expedition if the cycleway up the Regen valley had been in as bad a condition, snow-wise, as the cycleways and minor residential roads in town. But for some unknown reason, cycleways (but not bike lanes next to roads) around here are being cleared very well this winter.
So I got myself to Lorenzen rather quickly, where I had to abandon the valley cycleway and go uphill on a country road. From satellite imagery I had deduced that the best way to the hash would be following a tractor trail around the northern corner of the forest next to the hash; that way I wouldn't have to cross the hamlet and alarm people (and dogs). However, the trail, while discernable from the field, was covered in snow about 20-30cm deep - too much to cycle in, but I managed to push my bike through it, the last 500 meters or so, to the coordinates. I did get some snow into my only ankle-high boots, but somehow my feet didn't really get wet.
Since I had gotten rather warm while pushing the bike through the deep snow, I could comfortably spend about half an hour at the hash, taking a panorama of long-exposure photos. It was a very quiet place, and the only direct light sources beside my own was one window from the hamlet up the hill; however the moon occasionally came out from behind the clouds and Regensburg lit up the sky near the horizon, so it didn't really get dark.
An hour after reaching the hashpoint, I had pushed my way back to the top of the hill and got back on the road. A short moment of panic ensued as I realized, while already coasting downhill on the slushy road, that my brake pads were covered with snow and only produced very minimal drag - but after a couple of seconds of braking, their friction came back to normal.
I had left the office around 18:50, arrived at the hashpoint at 20:00, and made it back home not that long after 22:00.
Coordinates reached.
Very snowy bike.
View back into the hollow.
Civilization has me again.
