27th of August
After postponing our departure for 1 day since the previous day heavy thunderstorms and rain had been announced, we drive for +/- 8 hours towards Dresden. Even today during the trip in the car, heavy rain showers are dashing down on us. We arrive in Heidenau, suburban of Dresden, in a simple Hotel”Ausspann”.
Picnic, buying supplies for the other day and preparing for the long loop.
During the night, we can hear the rain splashing down on the roofs. Although it is not freezing cold, we dislike the prospects of a nasty rainy day. But first breakfast, pack up and then the rain stops. It is still damp when we leave Heidenau but no rain showers. We enjoy a part of the “Elbe-Radweg” and admire the beautiful houses there: big villas, with ornate wood carved balconies, pretty gables, little onion-shaped towers and panelled bay windows, almost small castles or mansions. The Elbe carries a lot of water, rain must have been coming down in buckets. We cross a big bridge and leave the Elbe, get to the hills. In a big forest we get lost, there were just about too many different tracks. On top of that Gaston is having trouble with his new program “Locus”….. we cycle all day to cover 85 km and finish in Bautzen (Pension Völkner), a nice little Saxon town with castle, towers, many museums and a lovely old town.
29th of August
At breakfast, we enjoy a chat with the friendly landlord. We leave Bautzen zigzagging to avoid main roads and traffic. It takes us a while to get out. We reserve a room in Görlitz for the night. The cycling is nice and eventually at bit strenuous, hilly and windy. We cycle on a kind of high plateau (many huge windmills around us), have nice views with astonishingly green fields and trees. This part of Germany looks less dried out than other parts. All along, the streets and fields there are apple trees and pear trees, too. I have never seen such an abundance, the branches are so heavy with their fruity load, they nearly touch the ground.
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In Löbau we have a little stop to picnic and a look at the
Nicolai church, very nice building. After 70 km we get into Görlitz,
Hotel Meridian.
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The friendly
manager gives us a city map, indicates places to see and we hurry off to start
our visit of Görlitz. Beautiful buildings, well restored, towers, churches with
red bricks or renaissance style with heavy ornate gables. We cross the river
“Neiße” to get quickly into Pologna, just for the fun of it.
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| GÖRLITZ |
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30th
of August
We plan a smaller trip for today, we can take it easy then: long and hearty breakfast and leaving with no haste. The sun is out so we take some more pictures of the buildings in a nice light. The track starts right at the river “Neiße”, at the bridge that leads into Pologna. The goal is “Bad Muskau”, +/- 70 km. Cycling along the river is nice and easy, very pleasant. A lot of canoeing on the river. We cycle all day long, don’t meet a living soul or cross a village, all lonely and silent. Some woods are almost spooky, not a sound or a sign of life! In the end we get to Bad Muskau, get some goodies in a bakery and cross over to Pologna,
We plan a smaller trip for today, we can take it easy then: long and hearty breakfast and leaving with no haste. The sun is out so we take some more pictures of the buildings in a nice light. The track starts right at the river “Neiße”, at the bridge that leads into Pologna. The goal is “Bad Muskau”, +/- 70 km. Cycling along the river is nice and easy, very pleasant. A lot of canoeing on the river. We cycle all day long, don’t meet a living soul or cross a village, all lonely and silent. Some woods are almost spooky, not a sound or a sign of life! In the end we get to Bad Muskau, get some goodies in a bakery and cross over to Pologna,
We leave Leknica(PL) very early, longer trip for today. We are still a bit tired from last night’s events, a faulty fire alarm kept the hotel busy and us awake for a longer while. As a comfort, breakfast is really generous!!
Get out of
Pologna, back to Bad Muskau, get a quick glimpse of a beautiful castle there
and back to river Neiße.
After 30 km the path leads up on the dam, which is winding all through the plains, parallel to the river: these lowlands are still green and moisty, with healthy trees. Big contrast to the day before when we only saw fields of tired and strengthless sunflowers, corn dried up and bristle; fields that have been harvested, leaving only brown and bare soil and stubbles. This ride along the river is a much nicer and fresher sight. As the cherry on the pie we get a perfectly smooth tarmac.
After 30 km the path leads up on the dam, which is winding all through the plains, parallel to the river: these lowlands are still green and moisty, with healthy trees. Big contrast to the day before when we only saw fields of tired and strengthless sunflowers, corn dried up and bristle; fields that have been harvested, leaving only brown and bare soil and stubbles. This ride along the river is a much nicer and fresher sight. As the cherry on the pie we get a perfectly smooth tarmac.
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| GUBEN |
We
cycle on , past greenery, ponds, countless ducks, until “Guben”, get a
quick look of the Polnish side of town and go on towards Eisenhüttenstadt,
Berlin Hotel (former LATHotel), 96 km. Thai dinner, nice!
1st
of September
Another longer day trip planned, so we’re early bees again…. It is really chilly but wearing our windstoppers makes us comfortable enough. Funnily we meet the other cycling couple again
Another longer day trip planned, so we’re early bees again…. It is really chilly but wearing our windstoppers makes us comfortable enough. Funnily we meet the other cycling couple again
: they stayed already in the same hotel in Pologna and now
in Hotel Berlin as well. We speed up a bit, never knowing what the day will
bring and how many kms are going to be on the “day’s menu”. After +/- 30 km we
enter Frankfurt an der Oder. We decide to have a quick look; we have never been
to Frankfurt a. o.
The town is a bit modest, lovely red-brick building, the Postal
Office, but for the rest rather disappointing. Get out again and continue
mainly on the damm. The landscape is green and quite lush, all along the river
Oder, huge green plains with cows and sheep grazing.
In the end
we finish in Kienitz, small town, 91 km, “Gasthof zum Hafen”.
The little pension, right at the river shore, is very much old Eastern Germany
(DDR) style, the girl in charge quite energetical! We’re lucky and get some
food there right before the kitchen closes. Two more bikers arrive after us,
too late for food. We have a walk through that village, time seems to have
stopped here a long time ago.
2nd
of September
Get
breakfast in a kind of festivity hall, a huge room with a stage. Funny just
being 4 persons (the other 2 bikers join us). We chat a bit and share cycling
experiences…. It is 10/11 degrees but the sky is blue. We get on the bike,
heading towards the West, to Berlin.
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| BUCKOW |
For +/- 35
km it is countryside: farms and fields but a good tarmac. It changes when we
enter “die Märkische Schweiz”, a much hillier area. A lot of cobblestone, but a
little tiled side path for bikers, very convenient! It is hard to estimate
distances, so we reserved a room in a place we think 80/90 km away. The “Swiss”
cycling is a bit more tiring but still pleasant. We pass many lakes, ponds and
pools. In a village, we have a coffee and a snack. The track is well signed out
and we discover, we have less distance to cover than calculated, so we have
plenty of time and take it easy.
Grüneheide 78 km “Schildkrötenpenison”. We get settled and take a long walk around the lake to get to a nice Italian restaurant.
Grüneheide 78 km “Schildkrötenpenison”. We get settled and take a long walk around the lake to get to a nice Italian restaurant.
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| GRÜNHEIDE |
3rd of September
Chilly
temperatures, we’re off to Berlin now. We cycle on the R1, see many lakes again
and take a ferry across the river Spree. On all the lakes many boats or water
sports. There are very large parks with Saturday activities going on: family
picnics, concerts being prepared, playgrounds busy with children…. We follow
the signs “Berlin Mitte” and get after a long ride to “Alexanderplatz”: this is
a very popular place, crowded with tourists, street singers, performers…. a
very nice percussion company (all young adolescents with classical drums)
catches our attention and we watch them for a while. We cycle on, “unter den Linden”, Reichstag,
Humboldt University, Theatres etc……. At the “Brandenburger Tor” we ride through the historical Gate all the
way down to the “Siegessäule”.
From here
we follow the signs “Potsdam/Charlottenburg”. We pass several lakes again, the
famous “Wannsee” as well, the most popular lake for outdoor activities in
Berlin. Direction “Postdam” leads us, after a few wrong turns, to our hotel “Ibis
3 Linden” 72 km! We enjoyed our sight seeing day…
4th
of September
8.15, we leave, all set, today’s day trip will be over 100 km and we don’t know yet how hilly it is going to be…… we cycle to “Potsdam”and half way through it. Nothing exceptional but the houses look big and posh: renaissance- style with typical heavy décor. We cycle past river, lakes, forest and parks. The last 2-3 days we have suffered quite a bit: the tarmac bursts open at many places, tree roots push up and create nasty bumps. My wrists are hurting. I hold on to the handle bar in a cramped, desperate way, hoping my luggage doesn’t jump off the rack! Luckily in between we have good tracks as well, that gives us a break. In “Bad Belzig” coffee and cake. The cycling goes on, this time for many kms on gravel, oh my poor wrists! Arriving in “Wittenberg” Centre, “Hotel zum schwarzen Bären”covering 106 km. We hurry up to get out and visit the place: This is M. Luther’s town. In the Augustine – Abbey he lived as a monk and later taught at Wittenberg’s theological Academy. The whole town is very nice and stylish, priority on culture and education! Dinner at the Indian restaurant.
8.15, we leave, all set, today’s day trip will be over 100 km and we don’t know yet how hilly it is going to be…… we cycle to “Potsdam”and half way through it. Nothing exceptional but the houses look big and posh: renaissance- style with typical heavy décor. We cycle past river, lakes, forest and parks. The last 2-3 days we have suffered quite a bit: the tarmac bursts open at many places, tree roots push up and create nasty bumps. My wrists are hurting. I hold on to the handle bar in a cramped, desperate way, hoping my luggage doesn’t jump off the rack! Luckily in between we have good tracks as well, that gives us a break. In “Bad Belzig” coffee and cake. The cycling goes on, this time for many kms on gravel, oh my poor wrists! Arriving in “Wittenberg” Centre, “Hotel zum schwarzen Bären”covering 106 km. We hurry up to get out and visit the place: This is M. Luther’s town. In the Augustine – Abbey he lived as a monk and later taught at Wittenberg’s theological Academy. The whole town is very nice and stylish, priority on culture and education! Dinner at the Indian restaurant.
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| WITTENBERG |
5th
of September
7.15, breakfast and hurry to get out, another long day trip planned. Get to the”Elberadweg” and start cycling. Bad luck: East wind, very hard! Blessed e-bikes! The wind is really blowing our heads off, after +/- 30 km we take a ferry to the right hand shore of the river.
7.15, breakfast and hurry to get out, another long day trip planned. Get to the”Elberadweg” and start cycling. Bad luck: East wind, very hard! Blessed e-bikes! The wind is really blowing our heads off, after +/- 30 km we take a ferry to the right hand shore of the river.
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| TORGAU |
In Torgau we do some
sightseeing, the castle, pedestrian zone, enjoy the little break. Cycle on to
Belgeren, get a drink and snack and continue towards Mühlberg. This is
“Brandenburg”, a lonely area in Germany. We are glad to have a room at the
“Herberge Alte Meisterei”, a very nice accommodation in a perfectly restored
farmhouse surrounded by a lovely garden. 106 km. At the riverside we
find the only place for food there is, simple but tasty.
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| MÜHLBERG |
6th
of September
7.30 on the road, we plan to get some sightseeing of Dresden town. The sky is covered, but no rain yet. It is less cold than the previous days. We follow the “Elberadweg” (right shore) for a long time. Sometimes the track is pretty rough: as if cobblestones were not enough they have a variation called “Wildpflaster” (wild cobblestone): roughly hewn stones in a very irregular pattern, very hard to ride. In plus gravel, sandy tracks, tree roots… is this a mountain bike trail? On our way we see on the left side of the Elbe the beautiful "Albrechtsburg Meissen".
7.30 on the road, we plan to get some sightseeing of Dresden town. The sky is covered, but no rain yet. It is less cold than the previous days. We follow the “Elberadweg” (right shore) for a long time. Sometimes the track is pretty rough: as if cobblestones were not enough they have a variation called “Wildpflaster” (wild cobblestone): roughly hewn stones in a very irregular pattern, very hard to ride. In plus gravel, sandy tracks, tree roots… is this a mountain bike trail? On our way we see on the left side of the Elbe the beautiful "Albrechtsburg Meissen".
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| MEISSEN |
We finally get into Dresden, glad we can walk for a while, pushing the bikes while sightseeing. Old, majestic buildings. Pictures of “bombed out” Dresden show what the place looked like after WWII. A disaster! Now the place is restored, the “Frauenkirche” (war memorial) the “Semper Oper” (a jewel!), the palace, the cathedral. The town is very nice and with a good atmosphere. Although the actual restored Centre is not too big, it is worth the while.
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| DRESDEN |
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| Georgentor |
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| LEMPER OPER |
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| Kathedrale Sanctissimae Trinitatis |
And then we
see how dark the sky is, really threatening. We speed up to get to our
destination but too late. We get caught in a nasty thunderstorm with cloudburst
and rain pelting down on us, mercilessly! Immediately we are soaked and on top of
that get lost: the phone is declining with the rain, many wrong turns. In the
end Heidenau, Hotel “Ausspann” where our car has been left. 92km.
We get a very hot shower and dinner at the hotel.
We get a very hot shower and dinner at the hotel.
7th oft September
The weather forecast is a disaster. We decide to postpone our Prag excursion to next year. No motivation whatsoever to cycle in heavy rain.
We go indoor climbing instead, at “Yoyo” hall, our climbing gear was in the car. After climbing we get into the car and start our long drive home.
After a short while, the sky turns black and rain is coming down in buckets! Hail and grail as big as M+M’s chocolates. How good to be in the car and not on the road, helplessly exposed to these cruel weather conditions!
Home +/- 23.00. Rest! Trip +/- 950 km.