Sunday, the last day of every week, the highlight of any week for most cyclists I know, and still…I don’t feel too delighted on every sunday ride for various reasons. I mean, there might be great reasons for riding on any given sunday, just like I wrote in the last blogpost,“Why Sunday is the best day for cycling!”. However, if sunday is the perfect day for cycling, then why do I feel so angry and unhappy most of the time, when I return home from a sunday ride?
Well, I’m going to answer this question today! Here are some reasons for why I don’t like to go cycling on sundays:

–Popular places in town are so crowded by people!

On a sunday ride I usually like to do a quiet ride, with places and routes, that are impossible to visit or ride during the week, because of traffic or construction work for example.
However, everyone who ever tried to visit the Phoenix Lake or Phoenix West in Dortmund on a sunday afternoon knows, that it’s best to just stay away from those popular places, too. It’s noisy, overcrowded by people, the traffic is insane and it’s just no fun to ride bicycles in such environments.

-Sunday is the day after Saturday!

Saturday afternoon and evening is party time! That’s a worldwide phenomenom. Party time in summer time, means it’s outdoor party time, which leads to outside garbage, broken bottles and shards all over the town. As a cyclist on a sunday ride, you have to be so aware of shards and other garbage, that just waits to cut your tires wide open. There’s no time to enjoy the views at all, because of all the threats on the ground.

-“Sonntagsfahrer”!

The german word for unexperienced car drivers, who don’t drive cars on a daily basis, but like to drive on sundays to visit places for a walk or do a weekend adventure, because traffic is low and the streets are free.
They are not necessarily bad drivers in terms of skills, they just drive cars differently compared to commuters or daily drivers. As a cyclist on a sunday ride, you always have to be prepared for unusual driving and be ready for an unusual reaction on your bike. Keep your eyes on the road, there’s no time for enjoying views and landscapes!

-Long rides on the weekend take a huge part of your weekend time!

Spending the larger part of the weekend on your bicycle means you’ll miss every awesome roadbike race on TV. Of course, you can watch the highlights later in the evening, but it’s only live once. They don’t give you all the expert insights in the highlight show and there’s also no time for all the historic buildings and background knowledge to the race’s region and culture.
Besides, you’ll probably going to miss or at least be late for every summer BBQ with family and friends.
It’s a shame, but you always have to estimate carefully on what’s more important to you. Luckily, there’s the good old german summer. Heavy rain and strong winds in combination with a nice summer storm can have a huge impact on that decision from time to time…

Of course, not everything’s bad on a sunday ride. I had a lot of great sunday rides on the bike, roadbike as well as gravel and mountainbike and I know, that sundays are perfect for outdoor time on a bicycle. So, you shouldn’t take this article too serious. However, maybe you’d like to read about the great and awesome things of a sunday ride instead, here’s the link to the last blogpost:“Why sunday is the best day for cycling!”

-Dennis