nbjtours

Gluckstadt,Germany

Day Eighteen 120 miles 2470ft

There are some days that are meant to be long and others that just become that way. Today was the latter. Getting up early and starting to ride at 7am I did not finish riding until 8pm this evening.  

In theory,with 1892 miles covered, I have surpassed halfway today and may even break the 2000 barrier tomorrow.   

  
We got up at 6 and Peter and I were on our bikes in cool early morning sun at 7 for our short 3.5 mile ride to the ferry, our shadows spilling across the fields. 

Denmark did not disappoint and gave us a flat straight road to finish

 
We were booked for an 8.15 ferry but  managed to get one half an hour earlier with me hiding in the camper  to avoid paying extra. A great breakfast on board followed during the very swift 40 minute crossing. 

Rejoining our bikes just outside the harbour we were now on the German island of Fehmarn, which was much like Denmark being flat although the roads had more bends. 

 
Another good bridge took us onto the mainland and the bizarrely named Swiss Holstein. There are a couple of big lakes, but the North Downs are higher.  I suppose these small hills seem like mountains in comparison to the flat lands around. 

 Peter was able to cycle with me until a belated lunch stop, as he needed to get to Hamburg for a flight home. It was really good to share some of the trip with my bro. 

The reason we now seemed much slower, was not because of cycling more slowly, but more towns slowing things down, cycle paths requiring the switching of roadsides  and checking the map etc. I have a feeling this will be a issue most of this week. 
With Peter being whisked to the airport, I now needed to get to our destination. Initially thinking it was about 40 miles a start at 4.30 should not have been an issue, but with delays through towns and the actual distance 55 miles it was going to be touch and go to get there before dark. 

Putting on all my bikes lights and keeping to cycle paths where I could, I wanted to get to the camper before sundown dead on 8 pm. It’s not that I cannot cycle in the dark but prefer not to so took this up as a challenge. 

  
Saw a great deal of farming activity including harvesting and plenty of ploughing, the pleasant wet earth smell lingering in the air. 

Having made some minor wrong turns,  I was pleased therefore to see the first sign for Gluckstadt with only 13km to go at 7.35. 8.5 miles in 25 mins on the flat, can be done but the sun was getting lower. 

Coming into the outskirts of Gluckstadt things were looking good. I was not sure of the campers location  but remember it was on the west riverside part of town. 

First problem was a closed road, but there was a cycle path through the adjacent park, so I took that, then coming out of there, the level crossing gates were down. Another anxious 3 minutes lost waiting for the train to come past. 

Sadly the main road then did not come out by the river, so I had to thread my way through several housing estates to find a road which linked down to the cycle path that runs behind the river levy and to the little harbour where the camping cars are allowed to overnight. 

Only 2 minutes left – was my hunch right about the campers location- yes it was, I could see it and got to the door bang on 8.00 in true contrived Top Gear style. 

Tomorrow sees another two river Ferry crossings of the Elbe and the Weser. Monica is also hoping to see her German aunt for the first time in over 30 years as we pass close to Bremen where she lives. 

Apologies for so few photos today but German upload speeds are not good.