Day 14: Storks and Showers

I had already raved about the 'Goldenen Stern' in Jüterbog in yesterday's blog. The breakfast room confirmed the impression - a gem. I quickly bought tea and sunscreen, then continued. There is not much exciting to report. The cycle path is still well signposted, mostly runs on asphalt and is quite flat. Sometimes the edge of the forest is on the left and the fields on the right, sometimes it's the other way around, sometimes I'm completely in the forest. In total, exactly 7 cyclists pass me. It was mostly cloudy, but the sun kept breaking through. The temperature was just right for cycling.

Remarkable was the warning of the long downhill, you should brake. I wondered where the downhill was... Probably as a 'mountain cyclist' I have a different idea of downhill.

The highlight of the day are the young storks. At first, I only saw the column covered in vines and wondered what it was for. Then I looked up where 3 young storks were sitting. During the tour, I saw storks in the meadows again and again, but I had never been so close to them.

Then I got caught in the first real shower. I managed to find a relatively dry place to put on my raincoat. I had already put on the luggage cover because it was drizzling. The shower was relatively short, but there were more to come. I waited out one under a tree, I stood in the underpass and in the bus shelter. I'm not sure if my smartphone is waterproof. That's why I play it safe and take it off the mount when water comes from above. But where to put it - I rely on the route guidance because I have to leave the cycle path at some point to get to Merlitzstraße. I entered that as the destination because the two hotels that an Alliance member has to choose from are not far away.

After over 80 km including detours and wrong turns, it's time to say: destination reached. Then the shock: the GPS says to the booked hotel: 8.6 km, half an hour drive. I must have confused something there...

But I have reached Berlin after 868 km, that counts!

If you're interested: I calculate from accommodation to accommodation, recorded by my Suunto Ambit2 watch on my wrist, the gpx data is transferred to komoot and evaluated there.