road trip

Day 2

by 2clouds

Off towards the Baltic Sea today. The weather was once again gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky and 26°C. It was pretty windy, though, which meant I was buffeted around quite a bit.

Riding today was much better than yesterday. Perhaps because I was unencumbered. For the most part, I was incredibly focussed on the road, but I could also simply enjoy the ride, especially when there was little to no traffic.

The landscape was beautiful, not just by the sea but anywhere I was.

I made regular stops at the coast, sticking my feet in the water, walking along some dunes, escaping when it got too crowded, jumping back on the bike and plotting the route to the next destination.

I briefly visited Fehmarn, which was lovely.

I really should be stopping more frequently to take some pictures. Isn’t the point of going on a road trip to stop whenever you want to and enjoy the moment? I did plenty of that today, but never on the side of the road to simply take in the landscape.

Of course, I can’t just stop anywhere as there is other traffic to consider.

I do have a few more days ahead of me, so I’ll see about stopping more by the wayside.

I love the ride, though. It’s not just about visiting places, which I’ve done plenty today. It’s simply about riding the bike.

There is so much freedom in that.

I don’t ride much during a regular week. In the city, I prefer to cycle. I need the exercise and Hamburg traffic just sucks. So, I need to get out to properly ride the bike and who has time for that?

Hence my little summer getaway. Today’s roundtrip will likely be the only one of its kind. Tomorrow I will go to Kiel, whether I might go elsewhere I don’t know yet. Depends on the amount of sightseeing I am going to do.

Anyhow, below is the route I’ve driven today. I made 189.5km in total. That’s pretty decent.

Summer Getaway – Day 1

by 2clouds

Last year I took a 5-day motorcycle trip to the river Rhine and back to Hamburg. I rode a little over 1,000km in total. I would have loved to go on a longer trip this year, but due to being on furlough for seven months, my income has taken somewhat of a hit, and I had little chance to put as much money aside as I would have needed to travel further than last year.

Since that part of the country is also suffering from deluge-like rainfall that has resulted in massive damage and many deaths, it would have been a bad time to travel that way anyway. Whilst I can’t do anything about the disaster currently happening there, I still feel oddly guilty that we have a beautiful summer here in the north of Germany.

It just doesn’t seem fair, but that’s global warming for you.

Be that as it may, I left Hamburg today, travelling north-east. I only drove about 90km, which is not a lot. But since it’s been a while, it was enough, and I must say my behind was getting rather uncomfortable by the time I arrived at my hotel. Of course, had I travelled further, I would have taken a break for at least an hour.

As it was, I am glad that I was able to enjoy the beautiful weather by the lake Dieksee, going on a walk, having some coffee with ice cream and whipped cream (we can be quite decadent with our desserts in Germany), and simply enjoying the peaceful lakeside atmosphere.

Riding the bike felt a little bit strange today as well. At times I felt as if I was zoning out a little, riding like an automaton. Then I focussed and concentrated once again on the ride, which was better, but I still didn’t quite feel it the way I usually do.

There was a point at which I enjoyed myself, but for the most part the trip was somewhat strenuous. Mind you, wearing a reasonably heavy backpack didn’t help. Ordinarily, I do have a bag I can fasten to my bike, but I still would have had to take a backpack as I had to take my laptop with me.

Instead, I opted for the backpack, which was okay for this relatively short trip. And I reasoned that I will be leaving it at the hotel for the next three days, so it shouldn’t be too bad.

There are saddle bags I want to get, which fit nicely with my bike. But I didn’t buy them yet because I felt the expense wasn’t warranted for the current trip. The backpack is uncomfortably heavy, but since I am not using it all the time, I can suffer it for the times that I do need to wear it.

Tomorrow, I plan to do a daytrip along the Baltic Sea coast. Though it doesn’t look as if there is really a coastal road in the direction I am first headed. I’ll plot a route in the morning and will post about the trip when I get back.

Today’s trip