Month: June 2017

Our last day of the tour! This was our planned route, except we would be starting 8km east of Rheine so the total distance would be 152km. The forecast for today was a bit cloudy but otherwise dry. We truly have been incredibly lucky with the weather on this tour! As you can see from… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 15: Rheine to Kempen

Today was our penultimate day of the tour and the first where the weather forecast suggested some rain might appear. In fact we had rain for one minute over the whole day so our luck held! After a good breakfast we were ready to leave at 08:30, heading out of Steinhude and towards Wunstorf. Here… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 14: Steinhude to Rheine

Today was a tough one, in fact the only really tough day of the Tour so far. It was not the longest day, we ended up with 133km (the longest day was 156km) It did not have the most climbing, we ended up with 305 metres (the most climbing was 598) It was not on… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 13: Grafhorst to Steinhude

As suspected, the noise of cars on cobbles outside our room last night was a bit loud so we closed the window and then it was OK. Our experience of Brandenburg is that it is a lovely town but really spoiled by all the cars. And cobbles may slow cars down but they are very… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 12: Brandenburg an der Havel to Grafhorst

We were super-early out of the door this morning, checking out at 7am. This was to give us time to cycle to Alt-Moabit for breakfast. We had to pay 8€ per night for our Velomobile parking in the Tiefgarage. To leave the garage we had to pull on a rope thingy but it was a… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 11: Berlin-Spandau to Brandenburg an der Havel

Today is a special day – 200 years since the invention of the bicycle (and in Mannheim where Klaus was born). And to celebrate… we didn’t cycle at all!! Despite being on our rest day we still woke up at 06:30, having settled very much into the routine of cycle touring. Breakfast in our hotel… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 10: Rest day in Berlin

Another good night’s sleep and then we went down to breakfast, where there was once again a great choice. The croissants were particularly tasty.  After breakfast we paid the bill and then fetched the Velomobiles from the garage. Whilst we were installing our luggage a lady with child came to speak to us. Her accent… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 9: Waldsee to Berlin-Spandau

It rained a lot last night but once again by the morning it was dry and we had another good forecast for the day.  Our Tour has made the news section of ligfiets.net, http://www.ligfiets.net/news/5538/vrijdagbericht-281.html We went for breakfast and it was once again very tasty with lots of choice. We had a good chat with… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 8: Usedom to Waldsee

Today was our rest day on Usedom.   This meant the luxury of a leisurely breakfast with no mad packing of bags afterwards. Instead we chilled out, sitting outside in the garden and enjoying the view.  However, by 10:30 it was time to get moving – I wanted to visit Poland which was just 4km… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 7: rest day in Ahlbeck

After a good night’s sleep went down to check on the bikes. All was well and the weather had improved a great deal. We now had blue sky and sunshine. The hotel owner had said breakfast was from eight, but there were several tables of people eating when I was there at 7:30 so we… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 6: Ribnitz-Damgarten to Usedom

Today was to be a new cycling experience for both of us. On Klaus’s last tour he had been to Lübeck and seen the Baltic Sea at Timmendorfer Strand but had not cycled further east. I have cycled to the UK from Berlin but had not cycled on the Baltic coast at all. This was… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 5: Grevesmühlen to Ribnitz-Damgarten

Day four of the tour already!! We both slept really well and went out to check the velomobiles first thing – they were fine.  Breakfast was a fine spread and we set ourselves up for the day with cereal, rolls, egg, cold cuts, yoghurt and fruit.  Friend Jochen had written a report about his 600km… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 4: Glückstadt to Grevesmühlen

After a good night’s sleep it was time for a hearty breakfast.  We were ready to set off by 08:30 having refilled our water bottles and extracted the Velomobiles from the bin store.  Today’s ride was to Glückstadt and involved two ferry crossings, the Weser and the Elbe.  We set off with good weather and… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 3: Oldenburg to Glückstadt

We slept well in the very quiet Ferienwohnung and I was woken by birdsong. Unfortunately when looking at the news we learned about the attack in London, another sobering event. It had rained very heavily overnight but the bikes were well protected under a roof overhang beneath our Ferienwohnung (the first floor of a private… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 2: Bad Bentheim to Oldenburg

The first day of the tour! This is the planned route: Before setting off we had breakfast and then packed everything into the bikes. Klaus had much more room than last time we rode to Bad Bentheim (9 days ago) as he had the tent then, as well as an Isomatte and sleeping bag. I… Continue reading Kempen-Usedom-Berlin-Kempen Day 1: Kempen to Bad Bentheim