One week before I move out and two to three weeks before the scheduled start of my trip, I did my first test ride with about half my luggage (some normal clothes in my bikepacking bag and my handle bar for wallet, camera, phone,…).
It was one day after a intense storm and it was still soooooooooooooo windy….probably the windiest conditions I ever cycled in….and cold (around -1°C) but the sun was out and the sky was so blue, I had to get out and decided to visit my friend Sven in Kluetz which is approximately 40 k from Luebeck. There is also a train and bus service but I set my goal to arrive there by my own efforts and so it happened.
The first part from Luebeck to Dassow went pretty well and I was astonished that I wasn’t feeling tired although the only trips I did on bike during the last months were only short, like into town. There also wasn’t much to take my mind of: I know the route pretty well and it’s mainly leading through industrial areas and alongside roads. Boooooring 😉
The interesting part begins right after the border to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: less people, less traffic, more wildlife, like deer feeding close by in bright daylight. On a sunny day, this is just so beautiful 🙂
But then, just before reaching Dassow, the winds picked up and suddenly it became way harder to cycle. Sometimes, I had to pedal downhill and still wasn’t moving a lot, the trip changed from a physical challenge to a mental one.
From Dassow on, I didn’t know the route and probably made some bad decisions: right out of Dassow I could decide between two route options and took the shorter one via Wilmstorf, not knowing that this would be a gravel road between large fields where the wind could attack from all sides. The wind blew me to the left side of the road and I almost fell of my bike when a car overtook on my right taking me totally by surprise.
Afterwards I was stuck in a construction site and had to detour resulting in another dirt road which was in worse shape than the one before. I fought myself to the next bigger road but a few minutes later, I walked for a few hundred meters because it just didn’t make a difference in terms of speed (wind coming from the front) and the bike was easier to handle on foot.
On the next sign I found out that I had cycled and walked a overwhelming distance of 2 k in what felt like half an hour, not funny!
I took a break in Tankenhagen, seriously contemplating to take the bus. But this would have meant to leave my bike somewhere in the middle of nowhere (the small buses don’t carry bikes) and I also was still determined to do the whole trip on bike. When I took off again, the wind was coming from the back and it felt almost like flying – for about 200m 😀
Afterwards the road turned and the wind was blowing from the right again…. I battled on to Klein Voigtshagen and Rankendorf.
After passing Rankendorf, the distance to Kluetz was only about 6 k through nice forest roads – you wish…
One trail was worse than the last one, frozen mud and deep tractor tracks included, until the whole road was flooded and I didn’t even have a clue if I was on the right track (it certainly didn’t feel like an official road) and how the conditions would be further on.
So I decided to turn around and take the route along the road via Kalkhorst. At least there I could be sure that the route was in good condition.
But before I got to the safe road, I heard a loud bang and thought what kind of idiot would go around shooting in the middle of a sunny Sunday noon.
But then I saw for the first time in my life trees falling. First one and then others following like dominos….it was scary. They were not huge and old but I still wasn’t too keen on having one of them fall on me – but I had to cycle exactly in the direction the fallen trees….yippieh…
As you are already guessing, I came out alive and unhurt but it was still really creepy to know that only minutes before I could have been buried under a few hundred kilos of wood.
To challenge my willpower some more, when I reached the road in Kalkhorst and found the next distance sign, the sign said that there were 9 k to cycle to Kluetz.
My whole trip through the wind and forest had just been for nothing.
Only some months ago, I would have been totally frustrated, probably would have cursed like a trooper and eventually cried out of frustration.
But now, I just accepted the new challenge, knowing that I can ALWAYS cycle 10 k.
However, this conviction was put to the acid test: back on the road, also the wind was back.
Sometimes I was down to 4-5 km/h, a slow walking pace, and I was also growing tired physically. Of course at this point I was far being giving up, no matter how long it’s going to take.
But after more than five hours in the wind and the cold I made it!!!
I’m sure I would have taken a picture of the city limit sign if it wouldn’t have been so cold and if would have been in a better state.
All in all, I’m still really happy to have made it and it also felt OK.
Of course, I felt tired and beat but considering the weather conditions and my training status, this was the perfect trip to explore where I’m currently standing.
Schreibe einen Kommentar