THE INVITATION
A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
In 2015, Hermann and his wife, Lini, are celebrating their joint 65th and 60th birthdays with a big party and I’m invited!
Since I wouldn’t be going just for a weekend, I look at the map and notice where they live is at the headwaters of the Elbe River. Makes sense for the beginning of a bike ride.
I find an inexpensive folding bike, pack my gear and stuff a backpack with tropical fruits from my farm. I arrive in the small town of Otterndorf, north of Hamburg where Hermann & Lini have a pottery business.
The party is an entire weekend of celebration with family and friends from all over.
OFF TO EXPLORE
After a fun filled weekend with music, dancing and delicious food, I’m off. Not before, a friend of Herman and Lini’s, Gudrun, gifts me with a book of the official route. Good thing as it shows where I need to cross the river and where to take a ferry and places to stay and more. No need to wing it now! I also load up on provisions in my front bike basket consisting of a dozen hard boiled eggs, sliced cheese, and the great hearty German bread and apples.
THE INN IS FULL!
Even though I get a late start, my plan is to get to Gluckstadt about 45 kilometers away and stay at the hostel. The ride starts out along a canal with those cute thatch roof homes sprinkled along the way. Before I get to Altendorf where I’m going to take the ferry, I get a huge headache. My bike feels really heavy and I go ever so slow. By the time I get to the car ferry, it’s dusk and starts to rain. I make myself a cheese sandwich and suddenly feel better.
When the ferry lands at Gluckstadt, it is now dark and my regulation light keeps shutting off. Good thing I’m bicycling through a town that is well lit. I can’t wait for a bed in the hostel. Well, when I get there, the hostel is full! It’s not even high season. Apparently, a school class has taken over. I find out it’s 5 kilometers to a camping place. I find the path along the Elbe and unbelievably: I feel great! It has stopped raining, the air is warm and my headache is gone!
FINDING MY WAY IN THE DARK
I hear a clunk and later realize my regulation light that doesn’t work is gone. It’s OK, the bike path generates its own light. It just gets tricky when it comes to seeing the sheep gates. Coming down a hill, I suddenly get an uneasy feeling, put on my brakes… and just miss a full on crash into a metal sheep gate!
After what I figure is about 5 km powered by sheep gate adrenaline, I stop at a house and ask directions for the campground and get water. They tell me the campground is another 5 km and not well lit. They were right and I finally find it… after some tiring back and forth.
It’s now 10pm and I don’t want to set up my tent on the wet ground in the dark! I notice a children’s play area that has a small open platform with a roof over it. Perfect! I am toasty warm in my sleeping bag. Even though rains during the night and I’m perfectly dry.
After a good nights sleep, I am ready for anything!