We have all been waiting, waiting for better weather, warmer weather, touring weather. And waiting for the Covid numbers to go down so that we feel safe traveling. Here in Germany the infection rate is high, but the hospitalization situation is not in the red zone. So as the days get warmer, we are mentally getting ready to travel again. 

On my son's birthday a couple of weeks ago, we were having dry and cool weather, but good enough for a bike ride into Munich where he lives, about 20 km, with a boxed birthday cake strapped to the back of my bike. I was looking forward to an afternoon with him and his three daughters, my lovely granddaughters. The cake survived the ride, and we all survived the fun celebration. Survived yes, but we all came down with Covid. It seems we had a super-spreader there, probably the youngest granddaughter. 

Fortunately, Janos didn't accompany me to the party and the whole time sharing living space with me, he never got infected. We wore masks, washed our hands a lot, opened the windows a lot, kept our distance. It seemed to have worked. For me it was a scratchy throat, then fever and fatigue, and towards the end a pesty cough. It all lasted about a week and after nine days I tested negative. 

While I was in quarantine, the weathter was getting better and better. It was a crying shame not to be out on my bike. When I could go out again, the weather was still fantastic. We made plans for a short ride, just two days, to test my stamina. Would I be back to normal? Well, yes, otherwise I wouldn't be writing a journal!

So long, Covid!