Cornwall to Sweden - day 13

Hamburg, Germany to Kiel, Germany

What a wasted morning. Apart from Sydney at new years eve once, I've never had difficulty finding available hostels when travelling. But this morning it all went a bit wrong.

I've only got a few days of the ride left now, and with many different ways to get to Sweden via different bridges, ferries and Danish islands I had to make some firm plans for the final steps, and after an hour or so it was all decided in my mind.

Then the nightmare began. The first hostel was fully booked. I changed my route. The next nearest hostel was also busy. I rerouted continuously, phoning 9 or 10 hostels before I eventually I found one way off my route. All this took nearly 4 hours in front of the computer! Popular region & busy time of year I guess. 

Just a 57 mile ride in the end, but for the first time felt lethargic throughout. A day off, lack of sleep and no breakfast I guess. 

Made it to the small city of Kiel this evening which seems quite odd to be honest. Maybe it's the sun or just holiday time, but everyone young and old seemed to be walking the streets drunk with a beer in hand! It all felt a bit old. It's close to Denmark, and has the ferry port to Norway so I guess it's just a different bunch of folks here.

Denmark tomorrow! 

Route map

Hamburg

Hamburg, Germany

Hallo! I had planned for the cycle trip to be one constant trip, with maybe a rest day in the middle. However I've come to realise that once you're in certain places it makes sense to stop and take them in. So here I am in Hamburg, Germany. 

Good start to the day, where after a nice egg and bacon breakfast I just absent mindedly walked out without paying, only to realise ten minutes later and return red faced to cough up. She took it fine though! 

I've had a good wander round the city, cruised down the river and back (included in the day travel pass), seen the absolutely huge container port - one of the biggest in the world, but best of all, been on a decommissioned Russian U-Boat (submarine) moored up here! It was fascinating, just a cholstrophibic maze of small rooms, pipes and cables. Built in 1977 I think, its pretty old and dated now, with a nasty musty smell. 

Last full day in Germany tomorrow, and only 250 or so miles to go now!

Cornwall to Sweden - day 12

Bremen, Germany to Hamburg, Germany

Some days things just work out.

Shorter route yesterday, so I googled Bremen to see if there was anything worth seeing. Turns out Mercedes had one of their big car plants there, but there didn't appear to be any factory tours. Oh well. I set out on my day and thought I'd just ride past to see how big the place was. Came across the factory reception and thought no harm in asking, and it turned out there was a free two-hour tour 10 minutes later! 

Only trouble was it was all in German! I can't quite describe how big and impressive this plant was though. It had it's own road and bus network, a test track which every new car goes round, many huge assembly halls and more robots than you could ever count, picking up and welding parts. Photography was banned, but I couldn't help myself and assumed the role of corporate spy, using my little GoPro camera in the palm of my hand (and didn't get caught).

This however left me short on time for cycling, so had to bomb it to Hamburg to get to the hostel in time. Same scenery as the day before really, very pleasant and flat, ended up doing 81m. Also cycled past the Airbus plane factory, and the Becks brewery; the things that excite me eh!

Today's route

Cornwall to Sweden - day 11

Meppen, Germany to Bremen, Germany

'You wants to take ze photo os my dress?!' says the receptionist this morning, looking a bit embarrassed. 'No!' I said laughing, 'I want to take a photo of that address'. Hah! Another conversation lost in translation.

I've been cross country today, going through lots of small red brick villages, passing various crops, dairy/pig/chicken farms and windmills. All the farms look very modern and impressive, but most impressive are the solar panels, which are on pretty much every farm and industrial building you see (and therefore not wasting good farmland).

Sounds odd maybe, but to me Germany seems the most like England of the countries I've been through, both in terms of scenery and just generally how things look and work. Though they work better here of course.  

The German efficiency mindset must have really gotten into my brain today, and allowed me to service the bike, cycle 87 miles with no problems at all, eat a decent lunch and finish the day by 6pm. Amazing, considering I normally end up finishing between 8 and 9pm.

But bigger that that - today was a major milestone - I passed the 1,000 mile mark this afternoon! A great feeling, but some way to go yet.

Today's route

Cornwall to Sweden - day 10

Arnhem, Netherlands to Meppen, Germany

Another day, another country!

Good things never last too long do they? After the high of Friday followed yesterday; another long day of 109 miles riding, half of which was through a storm, complete with thunder & lightning and very heavy rain. One lightning bolt must have hit the electric pylon near me, because the thunder straight after left my ears ringing and almost shook me off the bike!

Going over the Dutch-German border, once again everything changed straight away. Signs, houses, cars, cycle paths, shops etc. Everything is a lot more functional rather than stylish in Germany compared to Holland, as you might expect. The people I've met here so far have all been very friendly and spoken perfect English. 

My phone has become my lifeline, both for both booking accommodation and sat nav as I ride (which I must add is way better than a map). But with my horrible sweat and the weather, it's been playing up this past couple of days and stopped completely yesterday afternoon. It really felt like I'd lost a limb. With a small back up map and signs I eventually got to the end... the long way. Seems to be working again, for now.

Route map and here (then phone died)

Cornwall to Sweden - day 9

Antwerp, Belgium to Arnham, The Netherlands

If I dreamed up what the perfect world would be like; it would be the The Netherlands. Seriously, it's like something out of a dream. Perfect roads, loads of greenery, nice towns, clean & tidy, beautiful friendly people, amazing cycle tracks - the place is something else. I mean where else could I cycle 128 miles in a day!

For a start, it's completely flat which means you just don't seem to get tired - I could have kept pedalling further had I not run out of daylight! But most of all is the fact that cyclists are treated like kings - they have priority over everyone; pedestrians included.Cycle lanes are perfectly tarmacked paths that are wide enough to fit two cars side by side, with their own detailed sets of signs and traffic lights. Houses are all unique and stylish, everyone cycles youg and old, gardens are perfectly manicured as if taken from a Hollywood movie. Even the dustbins are totally different. I love it. Best day of the trip so far.

Route map

Antwerp

I'd planned to have a rest day in a couple of days time, but Antwerp seemed quite happening so I decided to stay a day. The beauty of making it up as you go along eh!

Rather than rest as I should, I've managed instead to walk miles and miles following a tour route on a free map. It was well worth it, even if my legs are even more tired than before! Great city.

I also thought I'd give an insight into how I'm doing the cycle trip as it might not be very clear. I'm riding a lightweight road bike, with about 10kg of luggage in a pair of bags hung over the back wheel. Basically- one change of clothes, snacks, basic tools, toiletries and a few bits and pieces.

I'm staying in youth hostels to keep the cost down and meet people, and trying to ride about 80 miles a day, though this is often more, just because of the distance between hostels. They vary from modern quiet ones where I might have a dorm room to myself, to the current 16 bed bed-bug-ridden dive with no curtains, where midnight is an early night it seems. Takes what you finds.

I also need about an extra 2,000 calories a day from the riding apparently- so just have big meals and lots of carb based snacks. I try not to stop too often as it ruins the flow, but take pics and videos as I go.

Holland tomorrow!