My most memorable adventures of 2023

When scrolling through my trips and adventures I was surprised to see how many I did this year, but it wasn't hard to pick a few that stood out to me and share them with you.

🇩🇪 Saarbrücken - 🇫🇷 Sarreguemines
My dad fell sick this year (but he is much better now) and I spent periods of time in Germany and the Saarland. I did take my bike so I can go cycling in the morning hours - and clear my head. That's what cycling does for me mostly.

But cycling this and other Tours in the region showed me a former coal and steel region more beautiful than I had imagined - and how much you see when cycling, as compared to driving along the highway. I was truly astounded - and recommend Saarland as a cycling destination ;-)

🇨🇳 Huizhou
Beautiful countryside in China - that is what I was looking for. But as komoot is (not yet) the leading planning app in China I struggle sometimes finding nice routes to try. So I thought of joining this bike race, but not really for the racing part, more for the 'the route is fixed and I don't need to think about the planning' part. And I wasn't disappointed. Amazing landscape, wonderful people... And I finished in the top 25% :-). Will certainly try something like this again.

🇺🇸 Santa Barbara, CA
Friends, sunshine, food, wine ... and a bike. So much fun, so much laughter, so many memories. Not much to add really :-)
My wife and I extended a trip to California on the back of a business trip, and had her BFF living in New Jersey come down to join us. It is not always the distance you ride, but whom you ride with, and how much you laugh and giggle. Smiles, not miles!

🇩🇪 Moers
My Godchildren are the best (of course). And I love spending time with them and their parents. This summer we went out for ride, one at a time :-). Super nice catching up while riding, and the ride itself too. Will certainly repeat next summer.

🇨🇳 Huzhou
One of my more recent tours. When I started cycling in Shanghai everything was new and a discovery. Venturing out of the city and trying to find a nice route. And even though not always pretty, it was fun seeing more of China than just the bling-bling downtown. But I felt that I had fallen into a pattern of always going established routes recently, and I had to get out and do more discovery. This was one of the routes, and it was what I was looking for. A fun discovery ride. Need to remind myself to do this from time to time.

🇨🇳 Shanghai
The cycling community in Shanghai (and China) is large and growing. But the komoot community is still relatively small and making a friend on komoot in the megacity Shanghai is definitely memorable. :-)
Started with a question, then exchange of contact details in the comment section and then a meet up and sharing a section of a ride. Ending that day in a delicious bowl of noodle soup. Have shared some rides since, and will certainly continue in the future.