Yesterday must have been about as good as a cycle touring day gets. We had sunshine, but most of the route was shaded by trees so we were not baked. Route finding was pretty easy, as we were on a path along the B75 (B for Bundesstraße – a federal main road) for a lot of the way. Even finding our way out of Bremen turned out to be easy, with a well marked and thoughtfully laid out cycle route straight out of the city. The countryside was still flat, although a little less so than in the Netherlands, but a total of 591 feet of ascent was not exactly taxing and added a bit of variety. Navigating the suburb of Harburg to find our hotel involved a rollercoaster-style descent and ascent to round off the day.

Other things added to the joy. I didn’t add any further insect bites to my existing tally and my back held out just fine. We had two stops for coffee (at Rotenburg) and lunch (at Tostedt), and happened upon really excellent cafes both times. The wind was light, and mostly from the side or at our back. We played a bit of back and forth with the river Wümme, which we crossed at least four times, and saw field after field of maize and wheat, plus a lot of places growing soft fruit and flowers. I think I saw a white ostrich in a field outside Rotenburg. This is not impossible, as apparently ostrich farming is becoming popular in Germany – but I may simply have been hallucinating.

All in all, a grand day of pedalling. It was so much fun that I completely forgot to take photos. Finished the day seriously tired, but happy.

 

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