Well Hidden!

Saturday July 14
Emlichheim, Germany
Rain...rain...rain...not raining now

I've noticed in Holland more people outdoors than I saw in the UK. And the rain doesn't slow them down a bit! Hiking and biking...all ages! It's fabulous!! And I'm not the only one cycling with an umbrella:)



This is a pic of the signposts I'm following.

This morning's ride was the kind that just fills my heart with joy. The kind that is why I love bike touring. Grey, misty morning, high 50's, tranquil farm land, smooth path, no cars...what's not to love? Only got lost in the one town I had to go through today...because the path ran into a dirt pile and construction site. But after doing all my chores and great conversation with a couple from Colorado (Jim and Janet) and their friend from Germany (memory lapse here, sorry), I cycled out in a deluge. But while stopping to ponder which way to go, read maps, read road signs, all under my umbrella, a gentleman signaled for me to come under the overhang where he was waiting out the rain. So I did. Interesting, good-looking man...a therapist I think...and he invited me to stay at his place. It was hard to turn him down, but I have a tight schedule and have kms to bike before I sleep. He agreed with Janet (above) that I am crazy for liking to sleep in a tent...certifiable! But then I knew that.

Tonight I am HIDDEN! No one is going to find a wake me! ANd I can see that there is a delightful evening out there and a gorgeous sunset and I'm tucked away deep in some woods fearing that someone will happen by. But I'm sure they won't...Pretty rough woods. Hard to get Blaze in here. TAKING NO CHANCES! I want a good and long night's sleep.

I mentioned a schedule. Yup, I have one. This is just the way I DON'T like to bike. But I want to go all the way to Hamburg so I have to set myself with km limits for each day...actually, I pick a town that I have to get near. My map app will route and calculate km...of course it's not the route I'll bike, it's the route one would drive and sometimes it goes way out of it's way to get to a highway. But I've managed to try and use it to estimate distances from here to Bremen and then to Hamburg. Then take the distance remaining every night and divide by the number of days to bike and voila! I also estimate if I should take a day or two off what would I have to do. Yesterday I went 80 kms according to my bike but only 50 by the map app...that's how much riding around because I was lost and backtracking I do, not to mention that the cycle path route twists and turns through the most delightful areas. Today was 47 kms according to map app and I don't know what the bike computer says...and I'm not getting up to go read it. Once I'm settled in for the evening, my legs freeze up and are hard to move...just like hiking. (Oh, the sun is managing to break through the trees and light up my tent...ahhhh! This is so nice. Would be a good evening to be biking:))

So I have about 175 km to Bremen where I want to be by Wed afternoon, and then leave Thursday morning to go the 140 to Hamburg. And I'm going to be back to using my map app to find the route I'm afraid. Unless now that I'm in Germany, I can find information about cycle paths. I can only hope. As frustrating as they've been to follow, they have been a delight to ride:)

Ok...beddy bye time...the bewitching hour for rousting wild campers has arrived and I'm still doing well...Yippee!!!!

BagLady



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