One hamburger, please

On tuesday I had the plan to reach Hamburg in the next three days (tuesday included). That meant I had about 400km to go, but in my head it were only around 300km. So I didn’t mind staying in Groningen that night, even though I „only“ have gotten 80km far. The situation was just too inviting: After a short nap in the park of Groningen, a guy on a bike started talking to me at the traffic lights. He wondered how far my trip would go. So we had drink together and a very friendly chat. The beverage then turned into an invitation to have dinner with him, David, and his girlfriend Olivia, who was just as friendly and charming as David himself. It only made sense to stay the night :)

The next morning I had a stroll through town, and surprisingly there was a Pindakaas Winkel - the same shop I wanted to visit in Amsterdam but it was closed then. I sensed the chance to get my hands on some premium peanutbutter, only to find out that the shop was also closed until Friday :(

Anyways, there was a lot of riding to do, so I couldn’t worry for that long. Until short behind the German border it was easy going, nice weather and beautiful villages. But then, in the first bigger town in Germany I somehow got a little furious. The cars drove a lot closer next to me, the pedestrians blocked the bicycle lane and nobody was smiling or returned my greetings. It was a sudden change that had me surprised, what an impact these conditions had on my mood. I went a lot faster, to get out of there as quickly as possibl, and combined that speed with repeating a mantra in my thoughts, to change my focus and thus ease my mind. The rest of Wednesday was business as usual. Since I was on the saddle so much, I forgot to take any pictures.

Thursday was the day I should arrive in Hamburg, but still had 180km to go (what I didn’t know back then). The first 100km were surprisingly fast and smooth and soon there was the first sign indicating the remaining distance. Coming through Bremen I was stunned by the beauty of the Weser and by the force of the wind that blew directly into my face. Leaving the city I met two cyclists who go on tours since twelve years together. Both of them are from and started in Frankfurt, and they went along the „fairytale route“.

Later that day, a couple km to Hamburg, I met another couple on their way up north. From the south of France they cycled for two months already, having their two pet dogs with them. It was such a nice encounter, we switched between English and French a lot, had a lot of fun and laughed, even though we didn’t speak the opposites language perfectly. Such friendly people, I was a bit sad to decline their offer to have a couple of beers together, but I wanted to reach Hamburg.

Entering the city I went beneath the Elbe through the old tunnel and made my way into the city, being indecisive if I‘m hungry or rather exhausted. Matthis, my sister‘s boyfriend, greeted me and offered to get some pizza, there I knew I was ravenous and could wait a little longer to get some rest. But that’s it, that was the journey through the Netherlands and to Hamburg. The past few days in Hamburg were pretty chilled and I used the time to get a lot of rest, but also did some running and stand up paddling to not get bored too much :)