Best way to spend the holidays…

…on a bike, blue skys, barely any wind and almost empty roads, finished with dinner at sunset on the beach in Büsum.

The day started with a rather boring 2 hour trip by train from Lübeck to Wedel. I already rode from Lübeck to Hamburg last year, so I decided to skip that part and also get as far out of Hamburg as possible and start at the Elbe cycle way directly.

15min after the start…the first trouble with the bike. The front brake started rubbing and the tools I hade with me could not reach the bolt, so I had to search for the next bike shop. All in all almost an hour later and I was finally back on the Elbe cycle way to Glückstadt.

After that the cycle way was no longer behind the damm so I could see the river all along to Brunsbüttel, where I crossed the NOK. Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, the manmade connection between the north and baltic see. Fun fact since the channel was doug on command of Kaiser Wilhelm, he also gave every citizen the right to cross the channel free of charge. This right still exists today in form of the “Kreuzungsrecht” and all 14 ferrys over the NOK are in addition to all the bridges free of charge to use.

From Ostermoor the last 30km went through the meadows of Ditmarsch and behind the coastal damm to Büsum, where I saw the open see for the first time today. Finishing with a beautiful sunset and dinner at the lighthouse.

115km 4:16h 130m uphill 27km/h