1st day - July 9th - Arrival at the border

1st day - July 9th, 2022

Yesterday, on Saturday, July 9th, it finally started. In the morning, there was still a children's event in Osterwohle and a wedding on Friday. I was busy with the elaborate preparations in the days prior. All the equipment, such as tent, cooker, clothes, etc., had to be put together and packed for a trial run. Also, all the technology with laptop, cellphone, and appropriate software, so that I can write this travel blog online on the go. I've never done anything like this before. Also, the elaborate online research, where are the Protestant congregations in the countries, how do I find contacts. That was very time-consuming, but not really rewarding.

At 1:30 p.m., I cycled from Osterwohle to Salzwedel. I said goodbye to my wife, my son Fabian, and the church elder Mr. Wrobel from Osterwohle. It was the first time I experienced the bike with about 25 kg of luggage and equipment. Now it wasn't as fast as on the test days, but a good tailwind made it quite easy to get to the train station. The train journey went smoothly until Leipzig. On the platform in Leipzig, it said for the train to Dresden, "Bicycles probably cannot be taken along." Great, I thought. So I stood in line with the other passengers 20 minutes before departure and then used a small gap to get my heavily loaded bike into the compartment, which fortunately worked. Not even 5 minutes later, the train was packed. Almost everyone was traveling with the 9 Euro ticket. Then I rode to Stadt Wehlen in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains - about 20 km before the Czech border - and set up my tent in the evening sun. And the first day ended with a small catastrophe. One tent pole broke. It's starting well, I thought, and looked for a solution to the problem. Then I remembered that I could brace the pole with tent pegs and duct tape. That worked quite well, even though the tent now had a bend. After a simple dinner on the banks of the Elbe, I fell asleep tired and exhausted in my sleeping bag and set my phone alarm for 6:30 a.m., because I wanted to make it to the 10 a.m. church service in Decin.