Day 11: Are we going to complete 100 km today?

On this morning, Jörg had to let off some steam at the check-out at the reception: He considered the prices to be outrageously high, and he let the hotel staff know. The hotel was only slightly above average in terms of quality (it did have air conditioning), so the price of 190 euros for a double room, for example, was not justified. We (Jörg) used this venting as a acceleration for the long journey to Hirschburg near Ribnitz-Damgarten. But before that, we took a look at a big tourist steamer in the harbor of Wismar, then we cycled along the Baltic Sea Cycle Route. After a short time, three horses suddenly appeared in a meadow by the roadside, and one immediately approached Janina. We stopped and distributed our self-picked pears and apples. We had exactly three pieces with us, which had not survived the worm alarmometer (Jörg) in the morning. However, it must be said that only the third horse actually fed from Janina's hand, the other two preferred their food from Jörg...

Although the cycle path was not far from the Baltic Sea, we still had to climb some uphill sections (after Kröpelin there was a 100m hill...). So we definitely deserved our first stop in the small but very nice café 'Kaffee un Kauken' in the town of Neubukow. It opened at 12 o'clock, and we arrived at 12 o'clock :-) For breakfast, we only had some cereal with fruit, so we devoured the ordered cake with great hunger. And: There was delicious hot chocolate! We continued our journey towards the Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm, passing by the posh hotel 'Grand Hotel'. Our navigation system was probably confused by the interferers left over from the G8 summit, so we got lost directly ;-) Around 3:30 p.m. we arrived at another Baltic Sea resort, in Nienhagen. We had already covered 60 km at this point. Now it was time to recharge our batteries: We decided on an Italian restaurant (Pizzeria Pirandello), which served solid pizza and pasta. Then we went to a small convenience store (which was also called Tante Emma) and was open until 6 p.m. on Sundays. We bought pasta and tomato sauce as well as apple spritzer and ginger ale. Having something other than water to drink, ideally chilled, was a real treat :-))

With our bellies full, we continued our ride along the steep coast through the coastal forest towards Warnemünde, enjoying some great views of the sea. It's a shame we didn't have more time, otherwise we would have liked to take a dip in the cool water! But we still had about 40 km ahead of us! So we cycled through Warnemünde quite swiftly, which gave us the impression that it would be suitable for a short vacation. At least the number of other tourists suggested that. When we arrived at the harbor, another ferry ride awaited us. This ride was slightly more expensive than crossing the Elbe, but it also took a bit longer. We were lucky - just like with the first ferry crossing: We practically didn't have to wait at all, we started right away! After that, we cycled the last 20 km through Hohe Düne, Markgrafenheide and the Rostock Heath Nature Reserve, the largest coastal forest in this country. The question arose there: 'Do we follow the forest and meadow paths that Naviki suggested to us all the way to Hirschburg, or do we take the 'Google way'?' When we rode the first short forest path (from Naviki) and high grass hit our legs, we switched to Google Navigation. We had already spent too long in the saddle that day for more adventurous paths. Because we had already ridden the most dangerous path on our tour that day: two concrete strips on a moderately sandy path, but the strips had long rectangular holes at regular intervals, which would have accommodated our bike tires... It was not only bumpy, but could also have ended in a crash. That's why we rode on the cycle path along the main road and, with the help of Janina's internet and GPS-enabled phone (Jörg's iPhone had failed in the wooded section), turned onto a well-built forest path that should practically lead us directly to our booked vacation apartment. This forest path was just under 8 km long and pleasant to ride. The sun was low and we had some beautiful panoramas in the forest.

At around 8 p.m. we arrived at the vacation apartment. Our bike computers showed a distance covered of 97 km. But it didn't reach triple digits. After a refreshing shower, we ate noodles with tomato sauce, did another load of laundry, chased mosquitoes, and then went to sleep. We had earned our sleep after such a long distance. It should also be mentioned that we had once again mostly fought against the Dutch mountain, i.e. headwind. Exhausting, but beautiful!

Data for the 10th stage (navigation with Naviki, mode: everyday)

Start: Wismar

Destination: Hirschburg (Ribnitz-Damgarten)

Distance: 97.0 km

Travel time: 6h 02min

Average speed: 16.0 km/h

Maximum speed: 40.3 km/h