Germany: A bike tour to BaLi

During our bullet tour in the Harz Mountains, Cerina suddenly came up with the idea of ​​visiting her family in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern by bike. With the car, we were not allowed in, but we thought it would work with the bike. We are well aware that this is not the best idea in terms of infection protection, but we still wanted to do it and thanks to our equipment, we were quite self-sufficient. So, off we went: tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, cooker, etc. into the bike panniers, oiled the chain, checked the tire pressure and off we went!

On the first day, we cycled through Hamburg to Großensee. We don't enjoy cycling through big cities, it's just too stressful. In the evening, Cerina's best friend visited us on her motorbike and we enjoyed the evening together.

Our tour took us the next day through Trittau, Mölln, along the Schaalsee to Zarrentin, where we crossed the border to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. There we already had our first little breakdown: Marius' front gear cable broke. Luckily, it broke in such a way that we could reattach it. Fortunately, because the only bike shop in Zarrentin was closed. We cycled on gravel, cobblestones, and great bike paths all the way to Parum. That was 80 km and our knees and legs complained about the cold start with a lack of preparation. Cooking in a squatting position in front of the tent was done with cursing.

The next morning, it was already a bit better. You get fit for the tour while on the tour! By noon, we arrived in the village of 'Dümmer' in Schwerin and took a break in front of the palace before getting delicious pizza from the Italian restaurant.

Satisfied and somewhat sluggish, we cycled until just before Lübz, so that we had almost 83 km on the odometer. We wanted to stop earlier, but we couldn't find a place to sleep and we were surrounded by rapeseed fields. Between a farm and a sewage treatment plant was a beautiful meadow that belonged to no one, and that's exactly where we set up our tent.

We approached the Mecklenburg Lake District: at Lake Plau in the most beautiful sunshine, we took a long break. We washed clothes and ourselves (brrr, cold!!) and sunbathed by the shore. From there, it was only a short distance to Klink on the Müritz. We drank a Radler on the empty sandy beach and then found a place deep in the forest to set up our tent.

In Waren an der Müritz, we had a second breakfast and then cycled along the railway tracks to Kratzeburg, where we wanted to surprise the first part of the family with our arrival. But suddenly, Marius' bike became very wobbly, what was wrong? 1 km before entering the village, the rear tire was flat! Panniers off, bike upside down, remove the wheel, fix the tube, put everything back together, and then continue. Ringing our bells loudly, we cycled onto the property and interrupted Cerina's grandma's nap. The joy of reunion was huge on both sides. We camped in the garden and were well taken care of.

A few more kilometers and then we reached our final destination Dabelow, where Cerina's father lives. We were very proud of ourselves after covering 350 km, our legs and knees had adapted, our super sexy gel cycling shorts saved our butts, and surprisingly, very few things were broken, even though we sometimes encountered really bad roads. There are good bike paths that sometimes just end. You can then ride along the federal highway and share the lane with large, fast trucks, or take a detour. And the safer detour usually consists of cobblestones, gravel roads, sometimes sand...

With us, the ice saints also arrived, it got cold, it froze at night, but we spent a few days relaxing in the house. When it got warmer again outside, it was also time for us to leave. However, we didn't want to go home yet because we had a new destination: Bad Liebenwerda (short: BaLi ;)), where our niece and Cerina's sister live. According to the navigation system, it was another 270 km away, with some detours left and right. So, off we went again! On the second day, we reached Berlin, posed with our bikes in front of Charlottenburg Palace, and met up with Marius' brother and his girlfriend. We hadn't seen each other in a long time either. We had some Döner and then had to continue, wild camping is not so easy in Berlin. We found a wonderful place to camp between two lakes near Kleinbeuthen.

From there, we cycled through Luckenwalde, where we quenched our thirst for coffee at a café, to Juterbog, where we stuffed ourselves at the Greek restaurant, all the way to Jessen (Elster). You can eat incredibly much during a bike tour and you always feel hungry, it's truly remarkable. In the mornings, we always had homemade granola, fruit for lunch or whatever was available, and we cooked in the evenings. Those who know us probably know why we made the detour to Jessen. However, there isn't much there. A castle with a castle park, an empty marketplace that seems completely deserted on Saturday afternoons, and a winery whose owner reopened the shop just for us. We set up our camp for the night by the Schwarze Elster behind the dike.

In the last few days, we cycled through Brandenburg and now also a stretch through Saxony-Anhalt. You have probably heard that Brandenburg is empty, which is really true, but the stretch through Saxony-Anhalt was even emptier. Is that possible? Yes, we cycled about 10 km on a country road, and on this stretch, we maybe encountered 3 cars, otherwise, we had the road all to ourselves and slalomed around the lane markings.

After a break in Herzberg, we cycled along the Schwarze Elster all the way to Bad Liebenwerda. We spent a few days there and then took the train back to Hamburg.

At least that was our plan. The train had a different idea and kicked us out of the ICE in Berlin because we didn't have a bike reservation. We couldn't figure out how to make one at the ticket machine or in the app. So, we were stuck in Berlin because it was the last ICE to Hamburg that day. Luckily, we were able to change our ticket to an IC the next morning and only had to pay for the bike reservation. We went to Marius' brother, spent a night in his apartment, and then were able to go home the next morning.

In the end, we covered 630 km with our bikes. We are proud of this achievement, had a lot of fun, and found joy in bike traveling. Let's see what's next. For now, we're going to relax for a few days, look for an apartment, and think about what else we can do.