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