Pack your bike and cycle away

the real story of a young person (currently 19) travelling on a bike through europe

[europe-by-bicycle]

Update from my actual timeline

I've cycled with a bulgarian cyclist for a few days, then we parted ways in Karasjok, for she went to Inari and Rovaniemi, while i opted to follow the finnish-swedish boarder.

On one night, there were increadible Northern Lights (i know the picture quality is bad and some are upside

Down, but that's how it is...)

Also, I crossed over to finnland, cycled there for one and a half day, before crossing over to sweden, because some cyclist told me about the increadible luxury of closed huts with fireplaces for wild camping.

What i heard about finnland is true so far (long straight roads with birches, birches and birches) but the birches are all in firey colours and it is beautiful.

(little note for the daniel (that's your name right?) in den nicht mal zwei tagen, die ich in finnland verbracht habe, haben mich zwei finninnen angesprochen)

[europe-by-bicycle]

Updates from my actual timeline

So, quick explanation: I will now every now and then post posts titled, well, " update from my actual timeline" where I will post short summaries of recent events, such as milestones i've reached or sth, since i'm very far behind with my actual blogging... Those will be tagged with 'ufat'

Now over to my first ufat:

I have reached Nordkapp (i told you, i am far behind on my blog!) and yesterday night, i saw an aurora borealis!

The temperature has been pretty low these past days, so getting up in the midfle of the night in the hopes of seeing the aurora was quite the experience and i felt lije an arctic adventurer with how much layers i was wearing, but it was worth it!

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day26 Itzehoe to Jevenstedt (DE)

Good thing I slept in the guest room, for when i awoke it was pouring. My hosts were certain it would stop soon and offered for e to stay until it was the case. It calmed down shortly after ten, an di left. Te weather was not too warm, just warm enough to be wearing a jacket while cycling, and it stayed dry. It was agreat dy with the exception of being passed by two cyclists I had crossed earlier and thereby realising that I had just completed a loop (luckily only a small one, not like the one in Belgium last year... ). I turned around, found the Ochsenweg again, and was back on my way, problem fixed. After debating with myself for a while I opted against going through Wacken, since that would have added at least 20km to today's journey, plus it would have augmented my chances of getting lost. Still, I felt super happy knowing that I was within cycling, if not even walking, distance of that village. Later on, i passed a campsite that wasn't indicated on my map and I got intrigued by it, especially once I noticed a few thing that made it look more like a festival campsite. A suspicion that got confirmed when i saw the huge "Medieval Festival Campsite" sign. MEDIEVAL FESTIVAL?! My heart leaped. I love them! I stopped for a while, watching shuttle busses full of people fully clad in medieval attire come and go. Then I cycled on. I passed a man in celtic clothes amd warpeint on a bike, walking his dog. Every now and then i'd see groups of dressed up people standing or walking around. And at one point, i saw someone dressed as the Witch King of Angmar (is that what he's called in english?) walking by. I argued with myself bout whether or not i should stop and pay a visit, but then i decided against it on the grounds that 1) I have already seen plenty of them, 2) it's a lot less fun on your own, and most importantly 3) i don't have medieval passing clothes with me (short of using my silk sleeping bag as a cape and wearing my kunfu trousers, and that would still leave me without a shirt...) and there is no way I'd go in there without pkaying along. I could sill hear the music for quite a while after I left. I struggled to keep my smile smaller, so as to avoid getting cramps in my cheeks and swallowing too many insects. At one point it became clear that i wouldn't reach the place i had sort of planned to get to today, even more so once i realised i was going in the wrong direction again. The Ochsenweg has a western and an eastern part, that meet at one point and become one and i, like an idiot, instead of continuing north, changed from the western to the eastern one and went back south. Fortunately, i notivmced pretty soon and turned around. Shortly after that, I asked at a farm house for a place to stay. The family told me they had an unfinished holiday cabin and that I could stay there for free. It had a shower and a kitchen with pans and real plates and glasses! I felt so civilised and grown up in my own little house!

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day25 Hamburg to Itzehoe (DE)

This place is infested with ladybug larvae! They are practically everywhere. My tent used to be gray and orange, now it’s balck and orange. An no matter how hard I try, I can’t keep them out of the tent. Folding the tent while trying to keep everything free of them is not an easy - if at all achievable - task.

As soon as I leave the urba area, I m thrown back in time to the Nordsee bicycle tour we did as a family several years ago: a deich, covered in green grass and sheep, at the bottom of which is a small tarmac path. Sheep crossing just before you pass or not getting out of the way. Or just looking at you while munching on grass with the mist bored expression. I met another cyclist and somehow, we ended up talking about the Wacken Open Air. He told me it wasn’t far from where we were and that he went to school (or was it uni?) with the guy responsible for it.

I got to Elmsheim, where I bought a cycling map of the area with campsites on it (although I had to look a the legend to realise this, for there are very few campsite in this area), then I continued.

Somewhere along the way I stopped to restock on food, since this weekend was going to be Pfingsten (can’t think of the english name right now) an dthe shops would be closed until tuesday.

I ended up not going to a campsite, but asking people for a place to stay. I found one with a lovely couple of horse vets, who let me stay in their garden and then later on changed their mind and invited me into their guest room. So I packed away my tent and we had supper -BBQ on their brand new grill - and I went to sleep.

I’m not really a fan of soft beds, but that night, that was exactly what i needed! I’d say it was like lying on a cloud, if I didn’t know better (you know, how clouds are made out of air and tiny water dropplets and all…).

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day 24 Rosengarten to Hamburg Elbe Camp (De)

I generally let my tent dry during breakfast. Not today though, since I'd have to pack up my stuff first and my hosts were leaving at 8. So,after breakfast, it took me a bit longer to get ready. I reached the outskirts of Hamburg, where a yoing woman (also on a bike) asked if I was lost. I wasn't yet (surprsingly!), but we talked and since she was headed in the same direction as me, she helped me navigate the city all the way to the center, through the st.Pauli tunnel. At the havenm I took a break for picnic, while trying to convince myself to go visit the city. But, and especially when cycling, i am not at all fond of big cities. There are to many people around, too much noise. Everything is so overwhelmingly buzy and fast and just too much. Plus, as I was reminded of very soon, I always ge lost. Even tough I had, after asking the tourist information and not getting a helpful answer, only to see the signs right in front of it on my way out (i don't know who this is more embarassing for, honestly...), managed to find the Nordseeküsten-Radweg, I lost it after a few 100m. I did sort of find my way again, with the help of a man, and after ending up on a pedestrian only, no cycling path for a few km where i didn't have much choice but to push my bike. Shortly after that, I found a very cosy looking campsite (Elbe Camp) and it seened to be the only one around, so I stopped early and put up my tent, then spent what felt like hours cooking. (a word of advise, if you're cycling on your own, don't buy broccoli, you might die of overeating. If you manage to fit it into your panier bag, that is...) (PS: update from actual time me: you ca also buy broccoly cut it into pieces and put part of it in ziplock bags for another day...)

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day23 Wilstedt to Rosengarten (DE)

Today was dry again, but like always, still windy. That's the disadvantage (or the advantage depending on which way you're going) of cycling near the northern sea. Nothing spectacular happened that day, neither good nor bad. I had a campsite in mind and was determined to reach it, so when i passed a campsited earlier on, i decided to keep cycling, despite being tired. The cycling path lead over a historical road (meaning it was paved like the old roman ways), wich is not the most comfortable to cycle on (my list went like this: asphalt over dirt, dirt over stoney dirt, stoney dirt over gravel and gravel over grass or paved roads. It soon got completed with grass and paved road over sand, for sand is truely horrible to cycle on.). So when I finally reached Hollstedt, exhausted, i checked the campsite'a exact location and realised I had mixed up the two names Hollstedt and Heidenau and that the campsite was actually the one I passed eatlier on. And there was no way i'd go back over that horrible road of pavement and sand! So I asked my parents to look for a campsite near where i was, but there were none really close by, so i decided to try and reach the one in Rosengarten, about 20km from where I was. The road lead through a slightly hilly countryside, that seemed far steeper in my tired state. I got to the campsite around eight, and one of the first thing i saw while looking for rmthe reception was a big sign stating: No tents allowed! So here i was, tired, hungry and cold, with no place to stay and my hope of a campsite crushed for the second time in a day. So naturally, my first reaction was to cry over all that disapointment. Then i went back to the last houses i had seen and rang at someone's door, explainig the situation and asking for a place nearby to put up a tent. As luck would have it, the terrain next to that house wasn't owned by anyone, so i could put my tent there. Later on, they came to my tent and invited me for some tea, gave me food and acess to shower and toilets. We talked until rather late into the night and before I went back to my tent, tgey invited ne for breakfast the next morning.

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day22 Gross Ringmar to Wilstedt (DE)

I didn't really want to get up and leave, so i used every excuse I had to delay the inevitable; charging my phone beibg one of them. I even looked up my route and the campsites along it, so I wouldn't depend on my parents' help as often. Unsurprisingly, when i got to Bremen, I got completely lost. That's how itt always is with cities and me. Then it started raining and i got drenched, but it stopped quickly and with the wind and the sun, i was dry again soon. When (after finally finding the Hamburg-Bremen radweg and leaving Bremen behind) I started feeling tired, i pulled out my list of campsite and found one not too far away. But then i realised that I had only the address, but no way of finding it without internet, so I had to once again ask my parents for help :( It would not have been necessarym since shortly after that, i found another campsite and since it was getting late and the sky looked more threatening by the second, I decided to stay here instead. A good decision, for i barely had tine to put up my tent before the rain started again.

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day21 Gross Ringmar (DE)

Today was my day off. The family I stayed with invited invited me to stay one more night. They are a very friendly bunch and reminded me a lot of my own family :)

I didn’t do much, mostly lazying around, reading, socializing, updating my blog and doing the laundry.

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day20 Barenau to Gross Ringmar (DE)

After a not so relaxing night, I managed to get up, fill my water bottle and be on my way. But my water shortage still renained a problem. Being tired as i was, I looked for a place to staym but found the nearest one was 10km back th3 way I came. So i asked some local people to fill up my water bottle and Sir Ortlieb, second of his name (that's my waterbagm and maybe one day you'll get the story vehind his name), as well as where the nearest campsite was. 45km away. Well, what choice do i have but to try?, I thought, and was on my way. Passing Ringmar, I saw a campsite sign on the road and thought to myselff that's probably the one that closed down, byt it's only 1km away, so let's give it a try. Sure enough, the campsite didn't look open at all, with signs like 'military property. Keep off!' Stillm i decided to try and knock at the door of a house that seemed to belog to the campsite, but before I could do that, i heard people having a very heated argument and i suddenly didn't feel like sleeping there anymore. A few meters later, i stopped at a crossing, trying to decide which way to go. A car stopped and tge people inside asked if i needed something. I explained everything to them and they invited me to stay in their house. (a very nice house full of very nice people, i might add)

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day19 Holdendrop to Barenau (DE)

I was so exhausted yesterday that it had consequences on today: i slept in lat and didn’t have much energy for cycling.

On the campsite, there was a farmer selling his fruits and vegetables, which is nice, so i bought some.

The people from the campsite helped me find my way to Hagen, where i bought some new Leukotape and further to Osnabrück, a beautiful city, from which the Brückenweg leads all the way to Bremen. Tired as I was, I took a break to eat, before cycling a few more kms and taking a second break to read. Then I pressed on for a bit, already looking for a campsite, despite the early hour. That’s when a farmer asked me where I was going and offered me his field as a camping place, next to a privat bus station with benches and a table inside of it. What a luxury for wild camping!

During the night, some drunk people passed shouting at each other and stopped not far from my tent.( I tend to ve very uncomfortable around noticeably drunk people and am slightly scared of them) The longer they stayed, abd they stayed for a while, the more terrified i became. I ended up cluching my swiss army knife while praying for them to leave, cuemrsing my decision to put up my tent in plain view from the street. They eventually left after what seemed like hours

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day 18 Senden to Holdendrop (DE)

Getting to Mümster was easy. I took the opportunity to restock on the food I had run out of yesterday. Getting out of Münster, now that was the tricky part: i had to find the new cyvling trail (Friedensroute) and once I found it and cycled about 5-10km on it, I realised ot was the wrong way around. Luckily, there was a map nearby that showed the way to rejoin the other route. But on my way thete, you'll never gues what happened: my fucking low riders broke AGAIN! I fell into that kind of anger that takes away sny motivation you have, and sat down next to my broken bike. Not even feeling like moving, I remained motionless until three elderly women passed by and asked if I was alright. I answered that I was, sort of. We got talking and they were full of amazement and fascination when they heard about my trip and they pooled together and gave me 30€ to replace my low riders. The admiration people show me when i explain what i'm doing gives me strenght, and in that specific case, enough form me to statrt repairing the damage. I used two tent pegs and some tape, then did the same to the other side as a prevention, but then I ran out of tape. I figured out how to put my fron bafs back on (the repairs were a bit in the way) and cycled on, rejoining the route i was looking for, only too lose it again soon after. I felt like this was really turning into one of those days were everythibg went wrong. My motivation to cycle was gone as well, I wasn't enjoying myself anymore. My frustration was so strong, I was on the verge of tears (granted, I cry easily), so I asked my mother were the next campsite was. Either 30km further or 10km back. I decided to go to the one 30km ahead. And got lost again. This time, with the cursing, came the tears. And I'll admit it, I kind of like crying, it is calming and oddly comforting. Finally, i found the way, along with two kind women who helped me find the campsite (on a hill, of course!) What I take out of this: when one's in need, there are always a lot of fruendly people ready to help. And that warms my heart :)

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day17 Dosrten to Senden (DE)

I cycled until Haltern-am-See (not without getting slightly lost...) and then wanted to follow the photo I had tajen from the maps, but the quality was too bad for them to be useful. So I left in the directin of Dülmen, but it was all along the big road, and it isn't my favourite thing, so when I found an information map of the local cycling paths, I decided to head towards Senden. I was rather tired by the time I reached the campsite there. The lady at the reception gave me a map of the local cycling roads and a free shower :) Since it was still to early to start cooking, I started knotting a bracelet instead.

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day16 Gellep Stratum to Dorsten (DE)

Despite having a lot of help from my hosts, I managed to get lost before I really was on my way. And from then on - even though I kept following the signs - I’m sure I got lost again (seceral times, likely). I cross every bridge there was and every time I felt like I had finally found the way, it ended up being closed for maintenance and the alternative route was barely, if at all, indicated. At least, I had help from friendly people :)

I did, however, make it to Wesel, where I bought some supplies, because thursday was going to be a national holiday, so the shops would be closed.

While packing the groceries (there is always that awkward moment where you stand beside your bike, looking at everything you’ve bought, wondering how on earth you’ll be able to fit all of that into you’re already full saddlebags), I met a kindly old woman, who really wanted to help me find a place to sleep, which was endearing at the beginning, but leaned ng towards uncomfortable if not annoying in the end (especially since I didn’t want to stop yet)

I left the Rheinradweg and followe the Römer-Lippe-Weg instead, looking for a campsite

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day15 Dormagen to Gellep Stratum (DE)

The other cyclist was already gone by the time I made it out of the tent. Today was one of those day where you can cycle all you want, you don't get far. I got to Düsseldorf, where I stopped to eat. Later that afternoon, strong wind arose, and - in accordance with murphy - of course had to come from the front. Since I love looking at and studying maps, I took it as an excuse to take a break when I found one. Another cyclist saw me and thought I was lost, therefore offered his help. We cycled together for a while and talked about this and that and he asked me where I was headed. I said I didn't know and explained that I usually improvised on the spot. He invited me and I happily accepted. I had a wonderful evening. They helped me find a nore practical and better indicated way to follow the pilgrim's route (eurovelo 3) by splitting it up into smaller german cycling pathes and even took me to a restaurant to eat aspargus decorated with a strawberry (very local food ;P ). Also, they told me about a couple that went cycling for 10 years, with her being from around here and him being swiss (from tge same city as me, as i later discovered! )

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day14 Mehlem to Dormagen (DE)

I started the day with grocery shopping, then rejoined the Rheinradweg (and at the same time the EuroVelo route 3, but it is barely indicated). Today, like the last part of yesterday, but in a more extreme way, the route went mostly through cities (Bonn, Köln), which was a bit less to my liking, but it was still a very nice day. Soon after three (or was it four?) i got very tired and was looking for a campsite, enroping my mother's help again. It took forever to reach it! At the campsite, I met a guy who did some touring in a fully encased trike or whatever you call those things (maybe if you look up pictures of mango trikes, you'll find it? ). He said it was great for bad weather (fully protected from the rain and the wind has less impact) but not so great for going uphill. He also payed the campsite for me. His reason was the following: He too had cycled to the north cap in the past and on one of the campsites he went to the owner let him stay for free, so he swore himself that he'd pass on that good deed to someone and since I was jeaded to the north cap too, that was the perfect opportunity.

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day13 St. Goar to Mehlem (DE)

I actually managed to get out of the tent before nine! And left the campsite no later than 10! On my way, I met a young woman and we cycled together for a bit. No health problem today, neither for me nor my bike. That, couple with the fact that I left early allowed me to get far (all the way to Mehlem!) The only problem I had today was that it was sunday and I had run out of food, so I ended up having to cook supper with nothing. I had seen nettles on my way to the campsite, still had some spaghetti, a few nuts, some cocos oil and some cheese (and spices, of course), so i made what I called nettle pesto with spaghetti. It tasted surprisingly good!

[europe-by-bicycle]

Day12 Mainz to St. Goar (DE)

The weather was better today.

Before I left Mainz, I noticed that my fron breaks were through and I needed to change them. So I headed back to the city center to find a bikeshop (again!). Since I have an old break system, it wasn’t easy to get the parts I needed, but in the end I did, and I bought two pairs, so I have one spare.

The landscape I went through today, Oberes Mittelrheintal, was breathtakingly beautiful, woth lots of old castles and hills (it had been a while since I had last seen anything but flat landscapes!).

I stayed at the campsite in St Goar (vis-à-vis from the Laurelay), where I met three cyclist from france. The offered me drinks, food and even electricity. One even the dishes for me!

They were really nice people:)