How to love early morning cycling

Not everyone wakes up at the same time. I tend to sleep as long as I can, others just automatically wake up at sunrise. As someone who used to cycle about 15 miles to work every day, Jona definitely belongs to that latter group. That’s why, on this trip, we often get up at 6am.

I won’t pretend I liked early morning cycling from the start. In fact, each morning I heard Jona’s gentle yet determined “Ja-an, wakey wakey”, it stirred up a certain grumpiness in me. I just didn’t see the point: Every summer day has more hours than I would want to spend on my saddle (in spite of my super comfy Brooks leather saddle), and after all those kilometres ridden my body craves for every minute of recreational sleep it can get.

However, over the past two weeks I started liking early morning rides for their unique atmosphere. The fresh morning sun sheds a warm light onto the world and bathes fields and forests, rivers and roads into glowing yellow colours. The above photo shows the German river Main between Frankfurt and Würzburg last Monday morning. I was particularly fascinated by the wind turbines sticking out of the morning mist.

But there is more: Before 9am the country roads are mostly yours, even on work days. While cities drown in peak hour traffic jams, virtually no one seems to drive between villages in the morning. Instead of being pushed aside by huge lorries during the day, the early cyclist enjoys the excellent tarmac of a German Bundesstraße all for himself.

So, here’s my advice: If you’re totally exhausted from the other day, try to sleep in (as I still oftentimes do). But if you want to enjoy the freshest, most beautiful, and least busy time of the day for your ride, wake up with the sun and hit the road at 7am.