Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 6-8)

Apolda-Rudolstadt
On the sixth day we ended up spending the entire morning and noon in the Schlachthof Pension before we had rounded up enough energy to get up and running. My bikes gears were still dysfunctional and as we strolled out of the pension round noon we went down to the town to find a cycle mechanic.

At the mechanic we were told to return after an hour and in the meantime we went strolling about the historic centre of Apolda. We found a cafe to get a cup of coffee and a glass of cola and sat near the town square, enjoying the nice weather. As we returned to the bike-shop we were met by an head shaking mechanic who explained that he had fixed the gear, but that there were internal damage inside the gear-shift.

He could fix the problem by inserting an entirely new back-wheel for € 130. As the bike was functional with the temporary repairs already made, we decided to ride on without further repairs and delays.

After the usual out-of-town climb (most towns in this part of Germany are located in the valleys) we rode some 10 km and the started decending into the Saale river valley into Jena the home of Carl Zeiss and the best optics in the world. We had some very light late lunch by the river in the city and the continued down the Saale-river bicycle route towards the city of Rudolstadt.
The afternoon was very pleasant as following the river meant a steady but mild incline. This was in stark contrast to the grinding down and uphill carrousel that we had been on the last two preceding days as we had cut our way south crossing valley after valley. As the clock passed 8 in the evening we reached Rudolstadt, and decided to stay there for a couple of days. We found a nice pension on top af a small mountain with great view on the Saale valley and the Rudolstadt-Saalfeld area.
A couple of days later we packed our bicycles on a train at 9 in the morning and after some transfers we were in back in Odense at half past ten in the late evening.


As we went from Hamburg towards the danish border we crossed the Kieler-channel (or the Nord-ostsee-kanal) at Rendsburg. 
I had passed the canal numerous times before, but this time I got my camera out and recorded a bit as the train circled the city to gain elevation enough to pass the canal. 

Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 5-7)

Day 5

Artern - Apolda

Data

Distance: 60 km
Average: 13,7 km/h
Maximum: 50,5 km/h
Time on bike (effective): 4 hours 25 min.

As we woke up on the fifth day of our journey the weather was pretty dull, and an old German guy was fishing besides us. We started packing our stuff and made a cup of coffee to get started. I offered a cup of black power to the fisher but he declined and instead offered me a piece of advice on rain moving in during the day.
There were some clouds in the sky, but also patches of blue sorrow less summer sky, so we concluded that the prospect of rain probably was not imminent. The first objective of that quiet morning was to find some breakfast and 5 km downstream (following the river Unstrut) we found something slightly resembling a store, although lights were of and the interior bore heavy indications of the shop being set up right after the reunification and not changing a bit in the following 18 years or so.
We left the hamlet of Schönewerda, and continued down stream following the marked Unstrut route.

As we were following a marked route we only had to go a couple of kilometers before finding a spot where there were benches and tables we could use. Breakfast went down pretty fast and as we did not have to sit on a pavement or grass while eating spirits were high.

We followed the river for some kilometers more and the turn southwards towards Wiehe. The five kilometer stretch from Rossleben to Wiehe (pop. 2000) proved more irritating than we had expected as the road was made up of noumerous materials including asphalt, gravel, bricks, stones sometimes one at a time and some times mixed together into some kind of pavement.


From Wiehe it was uphill in zig-zag turns as we left the painless security of the Unstrut valley and embarked on the conquest of new hills and mountains.
The sky was stille looming with dark clouds as we went southwards constantly going up or downhill.
We were aiming for Apolda as our next target and got there about four o clock in the afternoon. In Apolda we refueled on water (clean water not the appleinfested variant that was the only option we had earlier that day), food, and energy.

As we were going up one more hill and leaving Apolda behind us it started raining. Initially we found shelter under some trees, lit a cigarette and thought it would pass. However this turned out not to be the case, and instead the rain intensified, and the trees offered no real shelter.
In frantic flight we rode down into the forest in search of more reliable shelter as the rain hammered down with increasing intensity. We got to the bottom of the valley and found the small creek there overflooding a good part of the road. At this point we were soaking wet and any shelter could do, so we dragged ourselves under some infosigns where we could just fit.

Standing there we were laughing because of the whole situation, and because we could only see to clearly how idiotic we would look to anybody passing by, as we clung to the sign with one hand and to our bikes with the other.

After half an hour under the sign we decided to go back to Apolda (pop. 24.500) to find shelter for the night and get dry. As we went back into the rain i could see that my gears had malfunctioned and that my bike was stuck in the lowest gear. However that was not the primary concern at the time, because getting out of the rain was. A kilometer down the road we found a garage where we could sit an hour or so until the rain passed and we could limp (in first gear) back to Apolda where we found much needed shelter for the night in the Schlachthof Pension.

Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 2)

Day 2: Bispingen- Calberiah (Gifhorn)

Data:

Distance: 117 km
Average 17,8 km/h
Max speed: 39,6 km/h
Time on bike: 6 hours 25 min.

On the second day we set out from Bispingen with a good breakfast and well rested legs. As we traveled southwards to Munster the weather was pretty good with sunshine and some non-threatening white clouds.

Morning and noon

When we came to Munster an hour before noon we tried to find a shop or grocer to get some supplies for the rest of the day. However it being Sunday the only thing open was a gas station, and again our primary source of energy was Red Bull.

While in the vicinity of Munster we noticed several military facilities, military museums, and bars inviting soldiers inside on their door signs.
As we moved southwards out of the city we rode for approx 30 km with military fences decorated with barb wire on one, and some times both sides of the road.

On this stretch we also went though a patch of heath, as we went through the Naturpark Südheide.
But all in all the first half of our second day on the bikes was mostly shaped by the fact that we were driving through some of the biggest military traning grounds in Germany.


Afternoon

After passing the small city of Unterluss (pop. 4000) in the early afternoon we turned more eastwards and quickly felt the whole benifit of the western winds blowing. The next 25 km were taken in a faster pace (round 25 km/h on average) and without stops.

As the afternoon progressed we drove out of the dense forests and drove southwards towards the city of Gifhorn with big wheat and maize fields dominating the flat landscape interrupted by smaller patches of forest, and small villages.


We were following marked bicycle paths which meant that we were avoiding traffic. The lack of noise and the freedom from having to have constant attention on the road made the experience more harmonic and on several occasions I lost myself in the scenary and the grinding rhythm of the bike as we glided through this peaceful agrarian landscape with a few clouds in the sky and a manageable wind crossing in from the side.


When we reached the outskirts of Gifhorn (pop. 42.000) we finally found a place where we could get a döner, which was needed as we were running a bit low on energy. Afterwards we drove into the inner city and took a walk though the pedestrian area before heading further south and finding a nice place to sleep a little south of the sleepy town of Calberlah (pop. 5000).
We made camp at the spot where the Mittelland canal meets the Elbe-seiten canal.

Evening

Ending the day with a cup of coffee and a beautiful sunset everything seemed to be at peace.
I found myself quietly embracing the beauty of the landscape in front of us.

It was not because there was anything "special" about the scene in the sense that I could have easily seen the same landscape and sunset at home.

The beauty of the scene came form the con flux of the feeling of being on the road, and the immediate joy of just being at that spot at that time, with all the daily thoughts having been left somewhere along the road.


That evening was exactly what i had hoped the bicycle trip would be all about, the joy of being exactly where we were, and the feeling of being strong in the sense that you can look at a map at some place that is, at that point still nothing more than an abstraction on a map, and then just move your legs, and get where you want to go by the power of ones will alone [helped along with some Red Bull of course ;-)].
Added up over a whole day this had become 117 km. The 117 km were of course in it self an abstraction, but thinking about the places we had seen along the day
Mathias and I agreed that it was amazing just how many of the views and experiences we had during a day on the road that stayed clear in the mind.

As the evening turned into night I looked up at the stars and airplanes, thoughts passing though my mind without any of them getting a hold of my conscience mind for more than a split of a second.
My mind and body were at peace, and everything seemed to be in its right place.
As I closed my eyes, it was therefore with the joy of being in the "traveling mind set".

See the route for the second day on bikemap.net

Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 1)

Day 1: Hamburg - Bispingen

Distance : 72 km
Average : 16,2 km/h
Time on bike : 3 hours 56 min
Max speed : 53,6 km/h

For a week in July one of my friends (Mathias Kvolsgaard) and I took a week on the German roads. We took a couple of trains from Odense to Hamburg and than set out from the southern part of the harbor and crossed the Südelbe and left the Jutland Peninsula.
On the Southern shore of the Südelbe we rode through the city (or Hamburg's suburb) of Harburg where we found some fuel for our legs in the form of grilled chicken and a can of Red Bull. Fresh on the red power we drove up hill to Seevetal and southwards towards the outskirts of the Lüneburg Heath.

On the way there was a heavy rain shower, but we were lucky enough to find quick shelter at a bus stop and could sit and enjoy the rain knowing that we had just had the good luck of finding instant shelter.
As the day progressed the weather improved and the sun came out, however the temperature was on the cold side round 15-20 degrees.

We had started around 14:00 from Hamburg, and we arrived in the hamlet of Bispingen (90 meters above sea level) around 20:15 with a healthy appetite and tired legs. Before we looked for a place to sleep we got ourselves a good solid meal, and left the restaurant with slight nausea from overeating.

Finding a place to sleep in the little town proved to be no problem as we were in the middel of the Lüneburg Heath. Conveniently enough there where numerous hotels, pensions and even a hostel. We settled in a private pension and got a room for € 20 per person including a good breakfast with an old couple who had made parts of their house into a pension.


See the route on bikenet.