Sheep with tails are less prec

There was a moment on my ride today, sandwiched somewhere between riding through this vineyard,
and meeting this not-so-little little buddy,
when I thought, “I could really get to like Germany.” There are bike paths and bike lanes that run everywhere. Riding through the downtown is so easy that it feels as though bikers and pedestrians are the priority, not cars, and every road feels like Pearl Street, Boulder with cobblestones and shops with funky diverse housing above. Replace a few of the German bike-commuters with some Pata-gucci’d jogger moms and Ironman triathletes, and Offenburg would feel a lot like Boulder. It amazes me that such pedestrian/eco-friendly cities, considered novel and progressive in the U.S, have existed for centuries in Europe.

It’s also funny how so many American resort towns have appropriated the feel of towns like Offenburg (I mean, I guess I knew Vail’s quaint architecture wasn’t entirely original, but until coming here, a part of me still believed). I think I half expect the stone storefronts here to sound hollow like the particleboard facades of so many Colorado Ski resort towns. No town can have it all though. I got hopelessly lost on my ride today and searched in vain for someone in an orange jacket to point me home. I found my way home, but alas, my play button remained un-pushed. That one will go over all but two or three heads.