Lang goes back to nature

By Susan Westemeyer

Sebastian Lang evidently just can't get enough of stage races. When the Gerolsteiner rider can't find one to ride, he'll make up his own, even if it is winter. So he set off this morning on a four day 500km mountain bike tour from Erfurt, Germany, to Oberammergau, Germany. "This is an idea that has been floating around in my head for a long time," he said. "I really wanted to get back to nature, avoid the asphalt and do this on a very minimal basis." To do this, he will overnight in youth hostels and take only the most necessary equipment with him. The most important thing, he said, "is to have as little as possible to do with civilization, to have time for myself and my thoughts. Sort of a 'trip to the inner me' on the bike."

Lang set off Wednesday morning from his home in Erfurt with the goal of reaching his parents' house in Sonneberg in the early afternoon, about 110km through the German forests and backroads. On Thursday he plans to continue on to Nürnberg, where he will meet up with a friend who will go on to Oberammergau with him, arriving there on December 16. On Sunday the two will head back north, taking the train part of the way home. "But I'll be on my own again in the woods for about the last 200 km," Lang noted.