Калининград, a nice quiet rest day

Amsterdam to Vladivostok Posted on by

Nice quiet rest day in Kaliningrad. Walked through some of the city in the morning and took a restful afternoon to read and relax before another short walk. It had snowed overnight and was a cold but otherwise nice day. It was quiet in the city as most of the shops were closed. Still found a nice bakery that was open and saw some people out with shopping bags.

Kaliningrad had a few of the original Prussian sights around including an old church from 1233 that was still being restored. Church at the right was a newer orthodox church with glistening domes and many people quickly coming to pay their respects.

However, as a whole, feels more like a Russian city than a German one. Several prominent statues such as bottom left to (re)-founding of the city in 1946. Much of the city had been destroyed during the way and several spots with large concrete buildings to replace them. Also lots of shops.

Overall, nice to have a quiet relaxing day as I looked over maps, caught up on reading and otherwise took a break from the daily bicycle ride to the next place.

0km today. 1370km across Europe. 3008km total.

Калининград, into a little corner of Russia

Amsterdam to Vladivostok Posted on by

Made it to a little corner of Russia today, Kaliningrad. My plan A worked! Breakfast at the hotel was a little later. From there some smooth cycling for 10km to Braniewo and then north to Gronowo and the border. Just before the border were two establishments like the one on the left for exchanging money. I decided to exchange all my Polish Zloty and hope it worked out – if not I would go back the ATM and get more Polish money. From there at 17.5km was the border.

There were a few cars waiting so I took my turn in line. Waited for a little but then a customs official waved me to come up. They asked if I had a visa for Russia, “yes”, and then asked for the passport. Two different people looked at the passport and handed it over and told me all was ok. I looked back at my passport for any stamps – they noticed took it back and stamped the passport. I was then waved through and allowed to proceed. Hey, that wasn’t too difficult I thought before remembering actually all I had done was exit Poland, entry to Russia still remained.

I cycled forward to where a set of gates were down and the Russian guard told me to wait. I was asked purpose of my visit to Russia, “to bicycle across Russia to Vladivostok”. He then went back and to the telephone. After a little wait he came back and said, “you can’t cross the border on a bicycle”. Ok, so my question: “why?”. He let me know again that I couldn’t ride a bicycle across the border. I was just as insistent to ask why again and so he said, “wait and the officer will come”.

A short bit later, the officer came up in a car. He also asked my purpose in entering Russia. He carefully explained to me that you weren’t allowed to cross this border on a bicycle. Only automobiles, buses or their passengers could cross. He asked if I understood. Yes, I did but now I was really perplexed. If I couldn’t cycle across – then how to cross the border? The officer explained that I would need to get someone to take me across in a car. Ok, but where would I find such a car?

Somewhere in this exchange the situation changed from a “make sure the tourist understands the rules” to a problem solving exercise. Not quite sure how it happened, but once they knew that I understood the rules and wasn’t challenging them….the situation changed to one where they started helping to solve things. Fairly soon, the officer asked a minibus passing through if they might take me. It wasn’t exactly what the minibus driver wanted to do, but as he learned I was cycling all the way across Russia and even planned to go through Novosibirsk – his home city, he also became more enthusiastic.

We loaded my bike and all gear in the van. They passed me a migration card to complete. We drove onto the real passport control. We all got out of the van. After looking through passports, visas and everything, all was ok and we were allowed to pass! Hooray! A kilometer or two further was a gasoline station. The van driver parked. He joked that he could take me to Kaliningrad but wasn’t going to drive all the way to Vladivostok. Oh, no this was all fine and I would cycle from here. He wouldn’t accept money for the favor. He shook my hand and wished me well. I was pleased to now be in Russia!

The sign said Kaliningrad 49km, and Saint Petersburg 1001km. Initially this road was very smooth and not much traffic at all. There wasn’t many crops in the field or cars on the road. The road came through several small villages and progressively became busier towards Kaliningrad.

I noticed several large monuments to “1945” and when this area was taken from the Germans. This area as a whole had been the Germany area of East Prussia and fierce fighting had occurred in this area. After the war, the Germans had been expelled and Koningsberg renamed Kaliningrad. The Cyrillic text was an obvious quick change as were new colors for road signs.

At 61km, I came to outskirts of Kaliningrad. I cycled for about 4 km further and then shifted to walking for a bit. I had made a hotel reservation via the internet. I didn’t see the obvious street. My “Lonely Planet Russia” also didn’t have several of the main streets that the hotel confirmation had included in their directions. Hmm, well decided to walk into center of town first and perhaps see if I could find a map along the way.

I walked to the center and the large (and expensive) Kaliningrad hotel. Ok, now time to start walking outbound. I decided to walk to less expensive hotel indicated in Lonely Planet. Along the way, found a vendor who had a city map. Great, looked things up and adjusted some to make my way to the hotel where I had reservations.

This is a large city of 400,000 people or so. Despite the outskirts being quiet, it becomes busy and chaotic in the downtown streets. I perhaps walked more than necessary but wanted to avoid crunching into a nasty pothole. I’ve decided to take tomorrow (Easter Sunday) as a rest day and explore a bit of the city. Internet at the hotel charges by the megabyte, so I haven’t put big photos in yet or updated geographic coordinates.

Despite the Cyrillic script, it is nice to be in a country where I know a little more of the language than I did in Poland. After 3000km of cycling, it is also nice to have my BikeRussia trip actually get into one little corner of Russia itself.

Now that I’ve cycled through let me also add a few observations on my quick cycling in Poland: (1) people are friendly and helpful, I could typically smile and have them explain a word or transaction (2) for parts I cycled through, German is much more prevalent than English (3) Polish roads are known for being among the least safe (as far as fatalities per mile) – I can see perhaps why. There is a lot of traffic and tries hard to pass into oncoming lanes. Roads with shoulders seem best but also useful to be alert as sometimes looked like a 3d Frogger game. At the same time, the small yellow roads can be beautiful, peaceful and quiet. Their quality varies widely but if I wanted to spend more time really seeing Poland, the yellow roads would probably be a better choice.

70km today. 1370km across Europe. 3008km total.

Frombork, little seaside town

Amsterdam to Vladivostok Posted on by

Small things. This morning I pumped up the back tire. Well, that sure made a difference. I was riding a bit faster through the day. Perhaps when things felt squishy yesterday, they were in fact squishy. Today was some nice fast flat highway riding and also small roads with hills.

I had a nice breakfast in the hotel. The proprieter was a bit amazed to have someone cycling from Amsterdam to Vladivostok, and shook my hand on the way out. The first 12km were challenging to say the least. Back to busy roads and then onto an expressway going through town. I mostly stayed on the main “7” through town, though in a few spots I tried side paths. There were several no bicycles signs, but I didn’t know other better routes and even saw another bicycle on one of them. I was slightly alarmed though in passing through one of these no bicycles to see several police coming with sirens blaring, but they passed and went somewhere else (and by then I had also quickly gotten onto walking along the sidewalk).

By 12km, reached the other edge of Gdansk and now onto the busy highway with shoulders. Some tailwinds helped me along for a fast ride. I stopped briefly for gas station snack at 26km. Photo at left is crossing the Wisla (Vistula) River at 32km. Even there the road stayed passable. There was some construction at Nowy Dwor Gdanski but nothing too bad. By 61km, I was at the turnoff for Elblag.
I walked and rode through town. Some broad boulevards, a nice flea market area and as I was heading past centrum, decided for some lunch. Saw the food place at right where the “Polecamy” sign seems to suggest hamburger. On ordering they quickly passed me to someone younger and bolder and I was able to ask “what do you have to eat”. She showed some soup packages, looked good and I had a good meal there.

Not long thereafter, was on the small road heading up and out of town. The key word being “up” as it climbed gentle grades over the next bit. I shifted more to a crosswind, so also slower going.

This next road was variable. A few spots nice and smooth, but also among the roughest roads I had ridden so far. The cars seemed to be locals who knew where they were going and were driving fast. So, it was tough to pick the smooth parts of the road. It was slower riding with hills, but a little more scenic than the highway.

By about 92km, I saw the Baltic Sea off to the left. In a few kilometers I came to small seaside town of Frombork. It was still on the early side but the hotel at right was just too inviting to pass up. I almost did pass it up, but then also saw a “hill” sign heading out of town and that sealed the deal. Turned back dropped into the hotel.

Had some time to wander through town. The shops still open on Good Friday. I do notice that they still have better toilet paper here than the Russian type from later.

Tomorrow comes a decision point between a “Plan A” and a “Plan B”. My preferred plan is plan A to cross the border to Kaliningrad tomorrow and take Easter Sunday off as a rest day to see the city. The potential issue with this plan is that I noticed too late that Kaliningrad is one of those special cities with restrictions, so don’t know if my business visa will get me through the border.

If I am not allowed to cross the border, then plan B will be to cycle east for next few days to cross into Lithuania. Weather seems to suggest some tailwinds but also some rain on Sunday to Tuesday. Most shops will also be closed on Sunday and Monday. So will just see what choices pop out.

95 km today. 1300km across Europe. 2938 km total.

Gdansk, little towns to busy cities

Amsterdam to Vladivostok Posted on by

Small things. I had been missing my wool hat, and last night I found it amongst my clothing pannier. Good thing, since today I could use it well. We started the day with another continental breakfast. The person brought me the menu and I couldn’t make out much. After having a puzzled look on my face, he suggested choice #2, and it was a good choice. Eggs and also bread with toppings.

The weather was looking ugly, slight drizzle, cold and overcast. The saving grace was a strong tailwind. I had that tailwind for most of the day, though I’ve found I don’t go much fast, just get less tired during the day. Initially the route took me along the same highway and at 3km, started crossing Slupsk. This town wasn’t too hard to cross and soon I was back in the countryside. Before I knew it I was at a gasoline station at 25km. Here I decided to take the smaller “yellow” road rather than continue the expressway. While I liked my smooth road and shoulders, this route would hopefully get me better situated to pass Gdansk.

The quality of this small road varied widely. Some pretty smooth and some you really wondered what were the patches and what was the original road. Fortunately, the traffic was very light so I could usually pick the smoothest surface. It was nice to go through these little towns again. This area had a few more hills so occasional climbing and descents. My tires feel a bit squishy when I’m this loaded so I kept the speeds quite slow. By late morning I was through Czarna Dabrowka at 46km.

The next 23km to Sierakowice were nice cycling. Quiet roads and hills and farms to pass. I still had my wool hat and still had the nice tailwind. Sierakowice had more fruit sellers than other places, and a nice downtown. It was still early to come through at 70km. After this point, the road started getting a lot busier. Typically enough room to pass but traffic was occasionally bunching up. I climbed a large hill and then at 90km, came through Kartuzy. This would have been a fine stopping point, though didn’t see any hotels nearby. So, continued on through town and into Zulowo at 104km.

In Zulowo were two large rotaries as the major road 20 coming to Gdynia met up and this was also the start of road number 7 into Gdansk. Route 20 was entirely blocked up – with traffic at almost standstill. I never quite figured out why.

Road 7 was an adventure. No shoulders and a lot of traffic. Also in severl spots, the very right of the road had poor surfaces. So, I mostly cycled along and let traffic back up behind me. Most was pretty well behaved. After crossing the main E75 highway shown in photo, traffic was entirely blocked the other way. So, I cycled in my lane and let traffic go slow behind me. The car right behind was fine, though several back was a bus and the driver knew how to use his horn. There wasn’t much other choice, and I did pull over once or twice. I was happy though to see the “Green Hotel” up on the right. Nice contrast in different riding today.

It is nice to see that according to the Great Circle distance calculator, that I am now just as far from Amsterdam as from Saint Petersburg. Will see how the actual distances work out.

118 km today. 1205km across Europe. 2843 km total.

Reblinko (7km west of Slupsk), cycling along the highway

Amsterdam to Vladivostok Posted on by

A cold start to a beautiful and sunny day. For the entire day, I followed the same highway eastbound and for the most part, it had shoulders like those left. Exceptions were crossing the town of Koszalin and several kilometers of road construction near 80km today. In hindsight, I really lucked out with the hotel in Ryman, I didn’t see much equivalent for a while. Had a nice breakfast and then packed everything up for the day.

As I came close to Karlino at 25km, I decided to take the road through town. Like most of the towns, the church is in the center and photo at right was the Karlino church. I’ve done several of my stops at the gasoline station and at 30km stopped at the one on other side of Karlino. They seem to have good international pictures of services. This area had very slight grades but otherwise mostly flat and along the highway. It became rural quickly as I headed towards Koszalin.

Reached Koszalin at 50km. These larger places continue to be awkward to cross. I first took roads to the center and then a mixture of bike paths, walking and the main road. Each had their drawbacks. The main road is frequently narrow with lots of traffic. The bike paths weren’t consistent, sometimes fine but often very bumpy. Walking was a nice break but took a bit longer. What I did find interesting was the large number of concrete apartment buildings in town. Looks like a level of construction similar to Soviet Union. Often painted in shades of pastels. Fortunately, by 56km, I was mostly through the town. A bit of a climb from here and then back down to Sianow.

I’m learning little bits of Polish from signs along the way. For example, sign at the left shows some similarities with Russian (Monday – “Poniedzialek”, Saturday – “Sobota”) and was also useful to see stores might be closed both Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. The sign at right shows a more simple translation between Polish and German and English. There isn’t a lot, but definitely more non-Polish on signs here than non-German in Germany. A lot of it you can figure out from context.

After Sianow, the question was to continue to Slawno (96km) or Slupsk (121km). I decided to stop if I found a good hotel but otherwise continue. The land had flattened out some and I actually had a tailwind! Great, it was nice to glide along on open country a little easier. This bike (or more likely bike rider) is slower than it has been on previous trips, so nice to be riding a little easier. Some fields with potatoes and some empty along the way.

At Sycewioe (109km) was a tempting looking guest house but decided I might be able to do better and in deed, found an interesting motel just a few kilometers further. Nice ride overall, and a bit easier. It is still a little amazing to me to be at a small little roadside motel in Poland with a wireless internet connection outbound. Shows the world has been getting smaller.

114 km today. 1087km across Europe. 2725 km total.

Ryman, where did the cold north wind come from?

Amsterdam to Vladivostok Posted on by

Today a shorter day and welcome break at end of the day at nice hotel. I left my truck stop hotel a little early and headed back to Stargard Szczecin. Without too much difficulty, found the small road 106 heading north to Nowogard. My Polish map showed the major highway along the north (E28 / 6) mostly had shoulders whereas the road to Walcz (10), did not. It would be a bit of a gamble since I’d already seen that the shoulders get used to give oncoming traffic passing space, but decided I’d prefer that to cycling several hundred kilometers with traffic and no shoulders. I’m sure I’ll get enough of that in Russia later.

A brief climb out of the city and then it was countryside again. Lots of potatoes and also some fields still to be planted. It was a little colder today and I actually switched from normal cycling gloves to mittens. There was also a slight wind from the north. Otherwise good cycling with stop in Maszewo at 21km. From there north to the town of Nowogard. They have the Aldi supermarket chain here as well as Germany, so this was my late morning snack. From there walked a little through the town before finding the major road heading eastbound.

The next 30km of this road would not have shoulders. There was a fair amount of traffic, so some careful riding. Trucks generally gave me room and oncoming traffic seemed to check before passing. I only got one truck horn. I also noticed that some locals also cycled along this busy highway so I wasn’t the only one. In a few spots, the road wasn’t even so created rather strange bobbles along the right side. This was awkward to cycle. There was also a more consistent north wind, mostly a cross wind. This and very light drizzle. There were slight hills but tough to tell how steep they were vs. how much I was feeling wind.

At 75km, I came to view at right, shoulders! Hooray, this was accompanied with slightly more drizzle but was nice to have a better place to ride. I had thought about riding roughly to Karlino (113km) but with the wind and not knowing Polish hotels as easy to find, also decided I would stop at a reasonable place. Just as I was thinking that, I came up slight hill to Ryman, saw a nice hotel on the right. Great place for an early stop for the day.

My Polish still isn’t very good. I’ve figured out “yes” and “no”. Many of my greetings and thank yous I say in German and they seem to figure that out.

86 km today. 973km across Europe. 2611 km total.

Stargard Szczecin, cycling into Poland

Amsterdam to Vladivostok Posted on by

Made it to Poland! First day cycling through Poland was an interesting contrast with Germany. I hadn’t prepared much for Poland nor thought much about the country other than as a large unknown space separating Germany and Russia/Belarus – guide books would be a bit heavy to carry.

Had a nice breakfast at hotel in Angermunde before setting off. Both sides of the Oder River had some hills so there was some climbing and descent today. Fairly busy on the road but otherwise good travels as I went through last few Germany villages before reaching Schwedt at 24km. I half walked and cycled through town and then found road heading east to the Polish border. The river area itself was several kilometers wide with a shipping channel and some broad river areas. As I came close, looked like this would be a real passport control rather than just a sign as I had seen at the Dutch/German border. They stamped my passport twice, once to leave Germany and once to arrive in Poland.

Krajnik Doiny was the town just at the border. Apparently cigarettes and gasoline were cheaper in Poland as there were prominent signs advertising both. Also a lot of open markets with fruit and such. I got my bearings and headed north on the small road along the river. A few climbs and descents. A little rougher road but hard to tell. After 11km, came to a larger road heading north to Gryfino. The road signs were now green after yellow (Germany) and blue (Netherlands). The roads had a few more rough spots than Germany but otherwise good.

After 40km, I came to gas station at upper right. Stopped in to get something to drink and some chocolate. The attendant told me the amount in Polish. I went to pay with a five euro bill. The attendant looked at me funny. So I asked to see the register of how much…6.80. Wow, seemed a bit expensive so I got out a 10 euro bill. He then explained they didn’t take euros only the Polish currency, zloty. Now I felt foolish. I knew Poland was part of the EU, and thought I had heard something about them joining the euro, but that must be in the future and I hadn’t learned enough about the country to even know their currency. I really had treated this like a blank space (though in my defense, I had been confused when gasoline stations at the border advertised prices in euros…but that was just to convince the Germany tourists what a good deal it all was).

Photo at left was the big church in Gryfino which I reached after 58km. Lots of people out on the streets. I stopped at an ATM to get some Polish currency and then headed east on smaller roads. A little climb out of the river valley and then some gentle hills to climb. This road was nice traveling. One of the small towns had the church shown at right. Look carefully, instead of a steeple, there are two storks building a nest.

Went through small towns and bought some in a shop, eventually coming to a major road at 80km. This one even had shoulders, though I noticed the traffic was using them to get out of the way of passing traffic. Followed this for 4km before eight more kilometers of small road.

The last 10km or so were into the town of Stargard Szczecin, a mid sized Polish town. These towns really aren’t made for bicycles. The sidewalks become narrow and bumpy and prohibit bicycles, the roads are quite busy. I walked some through town and sometimes was on the road. As I came into the center I looked for a hotel. This was tougher than I thought. I got mixed reactions asking people. One or two helpful suggestions. One or two complete cold shoulders as they realized I couldn’t speak Polish. In the end, I didn’t quite find a hotel and was suddenly heading outbound past city limits. Oh well, as necessary I could try me tent I had been carrying along. However, just past 2km from town I saw a small bed symbol at the gas station. A small hotel! It was tough to translate the language – but we figured it out. The hotel itself had seen much better days but was also about a quarter of the price of night before. I was just happy to have a place. I walked back to town for dinner and then turned in after an eventful day cycling in Poland. I also picked up a Polish auto map that seems to give some hints about sizes of shoulders, so may backtrack just a bit to take another road tomorrow.

108 km today. 887km across Europe. 2525 km total.

Angermunde, Sunday ride through the countryside

Amsterdam to Vladivostok Posted on by

Mostly quiet roads on a Sunday cycle through the German countryside. So far I don’t see much difference between eastern and western parts of Germany. There are fewer bike paths here, but then also fewer towns to go through. I see several other cyclists out on the roads, particularly today. Left the hotel in the quiet morning and half biked and half walked to outskirts of Neuruppin. There do seem to be more cobblestones here.

The weather forecast had said winds from east, but overall I was pleasantly surprised. Winds were lighter and I also crossed several forests. Neuruppin and Alt Ruppin were towns to go through but then it was back to country roads. Not much traffic on a Sunday morning. I had adopted a habit of stopping fairly often, so wasn’t making fast time but was enjoying the ride. Welkow seemed to have a big prison. From here mostly forested for a while with train tracks right alongside. Below left shows one of those big wind turbines they were assembling. Fortunately the windmills weren’t turning as quickly today as yesterday.

Lowenberg was a nice little town and first longer stop at 28km. I had a more complete stop at Liebenwalde at 46 km. This town had a historic old church under restoration. At each of these points, roads went due south to Berlin. Only 40km or so to the outskirts. There were a lot of motorcycles out today, and as motorcyclists do – they would occasionally pass at quick rates of speed.

From Liebenwalde, another 20km to pass over the Stettin/Berlin autobahn. In contrast to these autobahn crossings further west, no businesses right next to the junction. After this came more populated areas of Finowfurt and then a long drawn out town of Eberswalde. What I saw of Eberswalde was a little disappointing. Lots of nice old buildings painted in pastel, but a drawn out city where I didn’t cross a nice old core. I stopped briefly for a late lunch and then headed northbound on highway #2.

At 80km, a bike path joined again and the next 20km of forest was a tourist zone. Several small lakes and then a large old monastery at Chorin. Signs explained this area were edges of the terminal moraines from the glaciers (I think signs were in German). There were several small hills to climb over but didn’t take much effort. Also several small lakes on either side and looked like some camping and some vacation houses. I kept going to Angermunde. I haven’t yet visited but the town has a historic center dating to 1233. Definitely several old and historic towns around here.

101 km today. 779km across Europe. 2417 km total.

Neuruppin, against the wind

Amsterdam to Vladivostok Posted on by

I decided to relax some today, since in my enthusiasm to get underway I found myself too concerned about things I couldn’t change. Instead, just take it a little slower and stop occasionally to check the map or just because. However, still turned out to be a tough day because of some consistent headwinds most of the afternoon.

The day began like many others with continental breakfast. A surprisingly filling amount of bread, yogurt, egg, tea and everything else. The evening before I had negotiated the time. The exchange went similar to several others. I’ll ideally want to get on the road earlier because of less wind. So in half-German I’ll suggest a time. This goes back and forth with the innskeeper suggesting a bit later and a good amount of facial expressions. Today we had settled on 8am.

Nice and cool starting out without too much wind. I decided to try one of the small yellow roads marked on the map as I went to Karstadt. Excellent choice as the road was very smooth and had a slight ride coming from the Elbe basin. At 11km, a brief stop in a village of Mellen until reaching the main road at 20km. This main road like those I mostly followed today didn’t have a bike lane, so on the shoulder and without too much traffic. Every 5-10km or so one would come across a village. I decided those plants I am seeing everywhere are potatoes. Relatively flat areas, though also somewhat open so good chance to give the large windmills some wind. I slowly followed this main road inbound to Perleberg where once again I followed small streets into town.

On far side of town, I stopped at local supermarket. I’ve found these to be good snack/lunch spots and went in for mixture of fruit juice, yogurt, pastry and other things for the hungry cyclist. Interestingly, I noticed that the product code for golden delicious apples is the same in US as Germany (4021). There weren’t many bananas but those they had came from Ecuador. At 36km, it was already 11:30, my slowest day so far. From here the next 40km would be along the main highway to Kyritz. The wind had started to pick up, so it was a slow ride into the wind past the open fields and occasional small town. Fortunately, once I reached Kyritz they had another supermarket. I stocked up on a few extra things since stores will be closed tomorrow.

Kyritz was one of those nice small towns with a cobblestone street. That is even bumpier on a bike than the tiles or bricks. Fortunately, the bike paths were frequently brick. I took a nice relaxing break before finding my way out of Kyritz. The signs were starting to say Berlin and less than 100km now on this road. However, after another 10km, I turned northeast again into a stronger wind and last little bits.

It was another 18km, against the silly wind until I reached the main Hamburg/Berlin autobahn. In several of the small towns I took a bit of a break by walking the bike for a bit to get a break from the wind between towns. As I crossed the autobahn, I saw the car on pedestal at left. The storks sure found an nice place for a nest. The last few km went into town. I found the town center ok, but it took a question or two before I found a local hotel. A very nice little place on the water and cost was even reasonable. What had started as a bit of a relaxing day turned out to be a tough ride this afternoon.

By the way, I added some geographic coordinates to these last few posts so if you click on “Map” above you can see a rough progression across Germany.

111 km today. 678 km across Europe. 2316 km total.

Lenzen, across the Elbe

Amsterdam to Vladivostok Posted on by

Today a little tougher than yesterday. A few more hills as I made it across the Elbe River and into the area that used to be East Germany. Last night I was one of few guests at the hotel as they had a party with 130 guests. Overnight it rained lightly and there was very light drizzle as I got up. That stopped and rest of the day was clear. I got back onto the bike path at Escede. The path was smooth but there were occasional ups and downs as I crossed some slight hills. Enough to try some different gears. There was a lot of forest here with occasional signs for forest paths. This part of Germany seems to have some forest bike paths, though the distances to towns always seem larger than the more direct routes.

At 20km, the road joined with a larger road and time for a quick break at the gasoline station. I followed this road until it got close to Uelzen, and once again was directed onto smaller paths through town. This town had better signs and wasn’t too difficult to find my way through. Before I knew it, at 38km I was already on other side of town. From here the bike path discontinued at Stocken (45km) and onto the main road. Seemed like there was a bit of a headwind again. More significantly, were some gentle hills. I shifted into lower gears and slowly lumbered over these hills. Could definitely tell the extra weight of everything. Several small towns, one even with a cafe. Enough open spaces to catch some wind, and see some of the windmills such as those above right. There are multiple country signs for potatoes, honey and even some apples for sale.

Once I got to Ziernen, it looked like the largest of the hills were behind me. I was even surprised at a fair descent of several kilometers. Guess I must have climbed some and not just been slow. A few kilometers further, around km 65 or so, the bike path started again and came into Dannenberg at kilometer 77. A nice small city, where the main road went just past city center. More importantly it was flat here. I stopped for a late lunch before continuing on towards the Elbe River.

At kilometer 89, I came upon the bridge crossing the Elbe. This point had formerly been a border between East and West Germany. I stopped to take a photo and then cycled the long approach to the bridge itself. Just as I got onto bridge itself, pow! My bike was instantly stopped. As I crossed the bump onto start of the bridge, my right rear pannier had fallen into the spokes. This pushed the fender forward and stopped the wheel. Wow! I took luggage off and assessed the situation. My big worry was the rear wheel and particularly the rim. Best I could tell, the fender had stopped the wheel quickly and spokes looked ok. This type of thing always makes me queasy until I have another 100km behind me…so hopefully all will be ok. I bent the fender back, got things back to looking ok and decided to walk across the rest of the bridge.

From here, I turned east (into the wind) and slowly cycled into Domitz. A very quaint old town with several hotels and lots of old looking buildings. I wanted to get a few more kilometers on the wheel so continued out of town. Here I took the back road via Polz since it was 3 km shorter than the main road. That old road did have some very bumpy sections though so I took it slow. I was ready for a stop as I came into Lenzen. Looks like the wheel is doing ok so far. Weather turned out nicer than expected, so perhaps this was all of the quick system that was coming through.

109 km today. 567 km across Europe. 2205 km total.