Day 9: We go over to the East!

Today we should leave Lower Saxony behind us and enter/travel through Mecklenburg-Vorpommern! After leaving the city of Lüneburg, we headed towards the Elbe river. At first, we cycled along a side canal of the Elbe and could observe some ships there. The landscape was beautiful, the weather naturally too :-)) We continued through fields, forests, and meadows to Bleckede; there, the first signs already indicated a ferry crossing. We hadn't expected that at all! Our originally planned route led further north over a bridge (Lauenburg). Since we had slightly adjusted the route, there was actually no bridge over the Elbe at this point, but a ferry. When we arrived at the crossing, there were already several cars and cyclists waiting for the rather small ferry, which had space for about 8 cars. We arrived just in time for the next crossing. Janina briefly tested the modern swivel chairs (wheee!), and then we had to push the bikes onto the ferry. The fun on the ferry cost a small fee: 1 euro per person and 50 cents per bike. The small ferry was even decorated with balcony boxes and flowers, we felt a bit like in our living room :-) After a few minutes, we were on the other side of the Elbe: We have arrived in East Germany, woohoo! We were greeted by an information sign about the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and a former watchtower. In addition, a small café tempted us to take a break, but we stayed strong and saddled up our bikes to continue cycling towards the east. There were still about 40 kilometers to cover!

After a few kilometers, we took a break on a field path, which was located next to railway tracks and abandoned buildings. From a distance, we heard a truck being loaded with sand. We still had a vegan kebab from the previous evening, which we now enjoyed. However, this was only a snack, as we had planned another break for later. Fortunately, we had fortified ourselves, because after the lunch break, the paths became more suitable for hiking but unfortunately unsuitable for cycling. The field path near the abandoned buildings already showed us what to expect: tall dry grass and sand! Both had a special charm for 30 kg heavy bicycles. Especially the sandy paths gave us some trouble; they demanded a large portion of attention from us. When a path branched off from a country road into a new 'bike path', we switched our navigation system from 'leisure' mode to 'everyday' mode. This should also make the paths suitable for people who commute to work by bike - without much effort. We hoped that by changing the setting, the probability of 'real' (preferably paved) bike paths would increase, as was the case in NRW and Lower Saxony. It should be noted at this point that the road conditions did improve somewhat, even though there were occasionally sandy sections. The planned stop at a café ('Alte Molkerei') unfortunately had to be skipped, as it didn't open until later, so we only had a few chilled drinks from the nearby supermarket to refresh ourselves.

We arrived in the small sleepy town of Hagenow around 6:30 pm, it is the third largest city (in terms of population) in the second largest district (in terms of area). Many small houses made of red brick shaped the village scenery (for our standards, it was more like a village). The market/square in front of the town hall was small but nice. Behind the Fiek'n fountain, we saw the sign 'Ratskeller': the name of our accommodation, a family-run guesthouse in the heart of Hagenow. A great accommodation with very attentive staff. After a well-deserved shower, we set out to find dinner. We first took a look at an Indian-Italian restaurant, but we didn't like it so much because we couldn't sit outside. Therefore, we went to the 'Perle am Mühlenteich' and asked cautiously if there was still something to eat for both of us; it was already after 8 p.m. and the Perle was supposed to close at 9 p.m. The chef confirmed our question and so we made ourselves comfortable on the terrace. A group of five women also arrived at the same time, who were also hungry and thirsty. We quickly decided on a chanterelle soup as a starter and a delicious sweet potato bowl as the main course. A tasty Radler (also called Alster here) was a must-have too :-)) When we finished the soup, we already felt the first raindrops... Since arriving at the Ratskeller, the cloud cover had increased significantly. We checked the rain radar on the internet and it seemed that showers were forming locally. 'Maybe we'll get lucky', we thought to ourselves. When we finished the bowl, a large amount of raindrops poured onto our large umbrella on the terrace. It kept us somewhat dry. But when the strong wind started, like the other terrace guests before us, we sought shelter inside the restaurant. Afterward, we ordered something to drink and enjoyed the delightful cooling off after more than a week of 'pure sun'. On the way to the hotel shortly before 10 p.m., the sky had practically cleared up again :-)) The next beautiful cycling holiday day could begin after a restful night!

Data for Stage 8 (Navigation with Naviki, mode: leisure/everyday)

Start: Lüneburg

Destination: Hagenow

Distance: 73.4 km

Travel time: 4 hours 54 minutes

Average speed: 15.0 km/h

Maximum speed: 39.6 km/h