Tenth stage

...from Hitzacker to Geesthacht (72 km) on Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Today we were awakened by a delivery van and were shocked to find that it was already 7:45 am. We quickly got ready for breakfast and went to eat.

Since we are already pros at packing after nine stages, we were ready to depart at 9:15 am and started the 10th stage.

First, we took the ferry from Hitzacker to Bitter. From there, we drove calmly and swiftly towards Boizenburg.

The ride continued along the dike, and luckily, the wind had subsided. Since our plan for today was to only go until Lauenburg, we took frequent short breaks and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings.

In the background, we occasionally saw a few mountains, but we were sure that they were not on our side of the Elbe.

However, from Boizenburg onwards, we had to realize that there are quite some steep climbs in the north as well. In Boizenburg and also in Lauenburg, we had to push our bikes up the hills at times, and we were always happy when it finally went downhill again.

In Boizenburg, we wondered why the cyclists coming from the north looked so exhausted, but we didn't think much of it.

Since we arrived in Lauenburg at 1:30 pm, we decided to continue to Geesthacht after a short lunch break for ourselves and our batteries.

Unfortunately, the last 20 km were very challenging and exhausting. We were high above the Elbe, riding through the forest. It was constantly uphill and downhill, and sometimes we had to guess where to go.

But everything comes to an end, including these 20 km.

Finally, we were back on paved paths and quickly finished the last kilometers. At the tourist information, we found a nice accommodation and finally reached our destination at 4 pm after 72 km.