Sliding into the Netherlands!

Sliding into the Netherlands! - September 04

What a wet morning! I didn't hear any rain in the night but my tent was all wet when I woke up. It was a chilly grey morning and I packed up as quickly as could, stopped by the office to pay for the camping spot and set off. Haselünne was a nice small town but I didn't stay long, instead continuing directly towards Lingen and Nordhorn. The sun came out as the day progressed, which made the windy bike paths through town more enjoyable. Unbelievable how courteous drivers are, always yielding to cyclists at crossings! At Nordhorn I stopped for lunch and had a pizza while watching coverage on the German news about the latest developments in Fukushima. Things aren't getting any better, and it seemed as if the organisers of the Olympics had concerns about this in relation for Tokyo's bid for 2020. It turned out that the pizza shop was only about 500m from the border, and I crossed at one of the most delightful border crossings I've ever seen! It was a dirt bike path that continued from Germany to the Netherlands, with only a couple of poles (the kind you see to prevent cars entering the bike path) designating the border. My favourite part was the slide! They had set up a little slide right there so that you could climb up on the German side, and slide down into the Netherlands! Naturally I had to try it out :) Entering the Netherlands the landscape didn't change much, but it was very clear that I was in a new country. The street signs were of course different, but also just the feeling of the road, and the look and organisation of buildings was different. I passed through some smaller villages before getting to Almelo right as school was letting out for the day. I met packs of 50 or so school kids riding towards me, many hooting and hollering and offering up high fives! It was a bit tricky finding my way out of Almelo but then followed the N350 from Wierden through Rijssen. Outside of Rijssen I began to hit the wall. Nine straight days of distance cycling was catching up with me and I wasn't feeling too great. I took a break in a small wooded area, had a banana, and after about 15 minutes set off again. Entering Deventer there was quite a bit of traffic, and it was a bit disturbing how ruthless the Bromfietsers can be. (The scooters that share the bike paths). It's a bit crazy that they let scooters going 50km/h+ share the paths with little kids riding home from school. Deventer though was a beautiful city! I passed along the outskirts of the centre past the Rijsterborgherpark to a northerly neighbourhood where my next host from warmshowers.org lived. Jos greeted me happily and showed me up to the room where I'd be staying on the top floor. Jos and his wife live in a beautiful older town home with typical narrow steep stairs. The view from my room at the top of the tall house was wonderful, with a church bell tower nearby always letting me know what time it was! I had dinner with Jos and his wife in their backyard under the grape vines, with them telling me fun stories about their travels on their tandem, their friend who they'd visited in Texas once, and other travellers they'd hosted before. We had a delicious plum pie for desert before I headed up to bed and fell asleep to the chiming of the church bells.

The slide crossing into the Netherlands!

No border patrol here - that's the Netherlands beyond the poles

Exhausted but happy on the way to Deventer

Eindelijk thuis bij mijn zus! - September 05

It was difficult to sleep so I woke up tired. I think knowing that the tour is almost complete makes me restless so it wasn't a great night despite the comfortable bed. I had a quick breakfast with Jos and made myself a sandwich for the road, it was fun seeing him enjoy a Hagelslag sandwich which is what I often have when I'm visiting the Netherlands! Before leaving town I spent about an hour wandering the streets of central Deventer. All the shops were still closed, but it was nice having the streets and squares mostly to myself. Deventer has some wonderful older buildings spared from bombings unlike many German towns, and as Deventer was part of the Hanseatic league it was obvious that they'd had some money to spend on beautiful architecture. Leaving Deventer I crossed the river IJssel into Gelderland and was soon in Apeldoorn. The ring road largely bypassed the town and I was soon instead climbing the hills of the Veluwe ridge. I hadn't expected hills like this in the Netherlands! I was feeling sluggish and a bit tired, also with it being an unusually hot day for September my going was slow. I did though get to ride down one of the longest comfortable descents I'd ever experienced. Almost 2km of just comfortable cruising straight ahead past beautiful forests! After Veluwe I was back in familiar territory with pancake flat landscapes passing little villages and farms all the way to Amersfoort. I was getting close so I didn't stop in town but got a nice tour of the city as I unknowingly took a detour through town. The last section of my ride I rode mainly from memory, passing Soesterberg and heading towards Den Dolder before turning in to Bosch en Duin! When I arrived home only my brother-in-laws mother was home but she gave me a big hug and set out a bowl of noodle soup for me! My sister was out and my nieces and nephews were still in school, so took a dip in the pool and relaxed. 10 days of riding and I'd made it down from Sweden to Holland! Now to spend some time here before heading back to the United States and touring portions of the east coast!

The view from my penthouse suite!

Beautiful morning in central Deventer

Attacking umbrellas in Deventer

Happiness will gladly enter a home where love and harmony reign :)

Arrived to the Forest and the Dunes!

Some stats from Stockholm to the Netherlands:

Number of days cycling: 14

Total distance: 1577km / 980 miles

Average per day: 112km / 70 miles

Total ascent: about 12,000 meters

Flats: Just 1!

Breakdowns: Just once a shaky front wheel hub that was tightened!

Hungarian company

Hungarian company - September 02

Marc had generously offered to guide me through Hamburg to start off the next leg of my trip, so we set off early to make sure there would be time to make it to Bremen by nightfall. It was a very wet morning, and there was a lot of traffic with people heading to work on a Monday morning. Marc guided me through some very nice wooded areas though so it was not just a scenic ride but we also made good progress. It was tricky avoiding the mud and deep puddles, with slippery roots nearly making me wipe out a few times. We got to the banks of the beautiful Alster river and rode along it and through the Alster park into the centre of Hamburg. With all the rain we didn't stop long though and continued to the Elbe where Marc was excited to show me the old tunnel that goes under the Elbe completed in 1911. It was incredible! I was hungry and a bit grumpy from the rain, but the tunnel really cheered me up! It was beautifully decorated, and it was just the perfect size. It had two lanes for pedestrian traffic, with a narrow one-way road in the centre for small cars and bicycles. Really a very cool thing to see, and I was happy Marc had showed it to me and I hadn't taken the ferry across the river. We took the car-lift up on the other side and found ourselves in a very different Hamburg, in the harbour area. This was all industrial and not very picturesque, and the bike paths were a bit tricky to follow also. At one point when we stopped to figure out where to go, we ran into a young German guy with the Hungarian name Pal. He was an amazing character. Dressed in shorts and home-made sandals, with an old german army camouflage jacket. He had another jacket wrapped around the guitar he had on his rear rack of his old vintage city bike, and told us that he was on his way to Paris! We rode together for a while and I was excited that I may get to have a travel partner down towards Bremen for the day but when he got a flat after about 10km he insisted we keep going because he might stop short for the day also, and Marc and I continued towards Buxtehude. What a shame! At Buxtehude we stopped at a Lidl for some brötchen and snacks and had lunch like two hobos standing outside the door to the supermarket. I said farewell to Marc at the train station as he was going to head back to Norderstedt, and I continued southwest. I made some really good progress but only after about 30km noticed that I had taken a wrong turn and ended up in Sittensen while I was supposed to be in Zeven. In Sittensen my front wheel also suddenly came loose and I had to make an emergency stop. I put it back on and it looked fine, although the hub was a bit loose and shaky so I had to tighten it and it was working fine then. I had to head back north about 10km extra to get to Zeven but was soon back on track. It was still raining by the way, so I was wet wet wet and even more wet. I got to Lilienthal and was happy to see that I was still on time to arrive at a reasonable hour at my next stop for the night, another family from warmshowers.org. There was construction there though, so I had to find another route, but a lovely older lady on her way to yoga generously took me along and showed me the best bike path to take into Bremen. So I followed a converted railway track into Borgfeld and along the protected natural areas outside of Bremen to the stunning Burgerpark near the centre. From there it was easy to find Finndorf and the home of Detlev and Bianca. They were absolutely the best! They helped me get all my things inside even though they were soaking wet, and after a delightful hot shower I sat down to a delicious dinner of goulash! They told me about their tour to British Columbia/Washington/Oregon from a couple of years back, and this summers tour of Austria and northern Italy down towards Florence. We also talked a lot about Detlevs work as a marine pilot and he showed me amazing videos of ships in stormy weather and marine pilots being dropped down from helicopters onto deck! I was quite exhausted after a long and tricky day so was having trouble keeping my eyes open, and headed to bed by about 11pm.

A wet day in Hamburg - unfortunately I didn't get pictures much better than this!

Marc speeding through the Old Elbe Tunnel

I had a snack of Leibniz butterkekse at this bus stop in Kirchtimke

Stadtmusikanten and the river rabbit - September 03

Yet another morning of a delightful breakfast with my hosts. Detlev had gone out for fresh brötchen at the bakery around the corner so we had a nice relaxing breakfast together. His shift didn't start until later so he also had time to cycle the first bit of todays route together with me. Riding ahead of me on his custom made recumbent bike, we rode into central Bremen and he showed me the few but beautiful buildings that had survived the bombings in World War II. It was cool to see the statue of Roland, the protector of the city. The distance from his feet to his knees used to be used as a standard of measure back in the day! I was especially excited to see the statue of the Bremer Stadtmusikanten. The donkey, dog, cat and rooster standing on top of each other, whose story represents how in the past one could gain freedom as a citizen by living in the free city of Bremen. We continued out westwards on some nice bike paths before making another stop in Delmenhorst for a coffee. Leaving town we followed the main road so progress was faster and we saw many military vehicles passing us as there is a base near Wildeshausen where we arrived next. I followed Detlev to the train station where the train just pulled up as we arrived and he jumped on. It was sad to see Detlev go, but I still had far to go to Haselünne. After getting some lunch in town I spoke with some locals who told me that just the previous week an Englishman had walked into town, on his way around the world pulling a little rickshaw! As I continued west I "put the hammer down" and sped along the roads, winding my way through Cloppenburg and Löningen before rolling into Herzlake. The bike path by the main road ended at Herzlake so I had to find my way on the local roads, and got some help from a curious 10 year old kid out on errands on his bike. He showed me the road through the countryside, past the biofuel plant and the ice cream shop to where I could continue to Haselünne and the river Hase. It was getting late and the sun was hanging low as I saw a sign for a campsite so I pulled in but everything was quiet and closed. Then an older gentleman rode by and I stopped to ask him about the place. He was camping there himself and told me about his own multiple bike trips to Iceland, and motorcycle tours of Morocco! He showed me a good spot to set up my tent, all alone because of it being late in the season, on the banks of a little pond. I made some dinner and crawled into my tent again after two nights sleeping indoors, and fell asleep knowing that my tour was now almost complete!

Cruising along the streets of Bremen

Roland and I in Bremen!

Detlev and I with the Bremer stadtmusikanten!

Crossing the A1 Autobahn near Wildeshausen with "Kraftwerk" playing in my head

Beautiful German countryside, 15 minutes before finding my campsite for the night

Hier gibt es keinen Campingplatz!

Hier gibt es keinen Campingplatz! - August 31

I woke up confused, not sure where I was. But then I remembered I was on the 2nd floor of the guesthouse at my host family in Eskilstrup! I went downstairs at about 8:30 and met my host Tage, who said he'd already let the geese out :( but suggested we have breakfast soon. We had a wonderful breakfast with his family in their little greenhouse, where they had grapes, squash and eggplants growing! Breakfast was delicious, and I even learned how to slice cheese using a special Danish cheese slicer. After putting in a new tube in my front tire that was flat again, I said farewell to my host family and headed across Falster to Guldborg, taking the road south through Saksköping and Maribo towards Rödby. In Maribo I got a bit lost, it seems like no matter how attentive one is, sometimes there just isn't any sign for the bike route so if you keep going on the bike path you end up somewhere completely different. Luckily I could estimate where I had to go so I cut across town and rejoined the route soon enough. The last 10km into Rödbyhavn went on a narrow dirt path lined by trees, a very soothing and beautiful last bit of cycling in Denmark. Getting on the ferry was a breeze, it was a much larger ferry than either the one in Iceland or the one to Helsingör. I strapped down my bike so it wouldn't move during the voyage and headed upstairs to the sun deck. It was very very windy outside, so I took some photos but headed down and treated myself to a hot dog and an ice-cream! I checked for maps at the information booth, and the lady there was very eager to help me so she suggested I go further south than I had planned, assuring me that I'd make it to Lensahn before sunset and that there would be camp sites there also. So I got off the ferry well rested and with lots of optimism, excited to start cycling in Germany! The island of Fehmarn where I arrived is absolutely stunning. The cycling took me past fields and along tree lined bike paths, into the town of Burg. An incredibly picturesque little town with lots of historic buildings, and this weekend I happened to roll in on a giant motorcycle festival happening in town! It made me laugh as I walked my bike past all the motorcycles lined up. Lots of people were dressed up, my favourite was an old man with a giant moustache who had built a model of the Fehmarn sound bridge on his helmet and had American flags all over his motorcycle. As I continued south I rode along the coast and watched the wind and kite surfers enjoying the strong wind that was slowing me down. At least someone was enjoying it! The bridge across to the mainland wasn't very long but the wind was very very strong making the windsock point straight out and nearly blowing me off my bike a few times. The sun was slowly dropping so I tried to hurry and decided not to take the turn to Sütel where I had intended to stay, but to continue on as the people on the ferry had suggested. I rode through Heiligenhafen and into Oldenburg asking there if there were any campsites, but no, none there. So by this time the sun had set and I had to turn on all my lights and bike carefully through the dark towards Lensahn. Once there I took several roads around town looking for campsites listed on my map, but none were to be found. I stopped at a pizzeria to ask for help, but they were really busy so it took about 15 minutes for someone to help me and they only said 'nope, no campsites here, but there are plenty in Neustadt'. So it was about 9:30pm and Neustadt was another 15km away, so I tried to stop at a bread and breakfast instead but nobody was there either! I had no choice but to continue on. I rode through the dark with the stars shining brightly above me making for a really beautiful but tricky ride, and finally arrived at Neustadt and found the campsite at 11pm. The reception was closed so I just found a spot amongst all the campers and set up my tent on the rock hard ground. I had a quick bite to eat, some dark German bread with cheese, a banana and some Ritter Sport chocolate! Quickly brushed my teeth and was in my tent by 12:15, finally falling asleep at about 1am… what a day!

A typical Danish church not far from Guldborg

Wildflowers along route 88

The last ten kilometres of Danish cycling were all like this!

It was windy leaving Denmark!

 The MC rally I stumbled upon in Burg

It was windy also on the bridge from Fehmarn! (Note the windsock!)

Moin Moin! - September 01

The tent was hot from the morning sun when I woke up, and people were bustling around the campsite when I got up. At the reception they greeted me with a friendly "Moin!" , the north German version of Guten Morgen! I settled up and they gave me a map of Schleswig-Holstein which ended up being quite useful in picking out the villages I had to pass through on my way to Hamburg. The route was quite straight forward, I didn't go down the "Bäderstrasse" to Lübeck but instead headed west from Pönitz through Bad Segeberg. I was still impressed by the bike paths, all along the main roads there were really nice and safe bike paths, with a reasonable amount of weekend traffic of both people just out on a weekend ride to more serious racing cyclists speeding along. As the day progressed it got gloomier and greyer, but the rain held off. About 10km from Norderstedt I turned off the main road according to the directions I had gotten off of google maps, and I went along some really pleasant country roads by some wonderfully manure smelling cow farms. Having passed through Wilstedt I suddenly faced a roadblock, and was surprised to be in the middle of the bike course for a triathlon! I watched for a while and cheered people on, they seemed happy to see me because there were hardly any other spectators around at least in that area. Having crossed the course I was in Norderstedt and after only a little while found my way to the apartment of my next host Marc from warmshowers.org. He was a very friendly young single guy who was very active in the local cycling community but was struggling to find enough time off of work to go on his own proper tour. We went out to the local döner place and I had a 'Jumbo' Döner which was delicious, the way German döner often is. Marc took me on a short tour of Norderstedt on the way back home and told me some history, about how the town was comprised of four villages that had all joined together after the war, and showed me some of the older buildings and their special style typical of the region. We had a nice conversation that evening, but I found him to be a little bit too pessimistic about most topics. Perhaps it is a German trait to be a bit negative, and therefore they always strive to improve? In any case, I was happy to be sleeping in a comfortable pull-out couch bed with a real mattress, and although it had been an easy day today, I still felt the previous nights long ride and was happy to get some rest!

I had to take refuge under a bridge from a quick rain shower

The landscapes of Northern Germany that accompanied me towards Hamburg

Triathlon in Germany!

A sexy Ford Ka in Norderstedt ;)