Well, this was another great tour, and different again from my previous continental experiences. What with the endless miles of great scenery, off road routes, easy camping, friendly people and excellent beer, on balance I would say that I hit it just about right on this trip. Add in the incredible reliability of the Shift, which was a pleasure to ride, and no real problems with any of my other kit (or indeed my body, which I suppose counts in the reckoning there) and I'd happily set off and do the whole damn thing all over again.

The lack of one overwhelming element - even the hilliness came and went, and the stretch through Silesia was almost completely flat - kept things interesting and meant that every day had really quite a distinct character of its own. It did mean challenges though - particularly with the rain and generally changeable weather, which though fine to ride through did mean drying stuff out became troublesome at times.

I successfully kept my distances down to sensible amounts, and avoided the sorts of exhaustion that plagued the ends of my last two trips. Looking back, it's hard to remember that the shorter days were generally an active choice, rather than bailing on continuing through more hills. Knowing when to stop when (i) the rain is pouring down or (ii) it's extremely hot and all the shops are shut is just sensible. Every year I try for 100km days, and it finally seems to have sunk in - at least, that's what I'm going to insist, rather than I've become older and lazier. I also got in a bit more sightseeing and non-cycling activities - inspired by my early trip through Belgium, where I seemed to spend most of the time drinking beer, this is definitely a good thing.

I seem to have hit a sweet spot with the planning as well, and this includes making peace with the GPS. While some may say that my determination to get to Kassel in time for my train was sheer stubbornness alone, I like the idea of having a final destination to shoot for - and gave the more general looseness of the rest of the tour some structure. And I was much more flexible on this trip: I gave both Poznán and Wrocław a miss because I couldn't be bothered to go into the towns, avoided the Czech panhandle near Cheb to minimise hills. and pretty much made up the route through Germany as I went along. Other than the hotel on the first night in Frankfurt O., none of the accommodation was booked, and I was very glad of the decision to stop at the first nice looking campsite for my rest day rather than continuing all the way to Plzen.

On the other hand, a little research in advance certainly payed off. If I hadn't looked up the Adřspach rocks, it's unlikely I would have crossed the mountains at that point; and if I hadn't researched the quiet (off-road!) pass over the border, it's likely I would have ended up crossing on some much less characterful highway and never got near them. I was somehow taken by surprise by the hilliness of the countryside (and particularly crossing Thuringia, where for some reason I'd assumed I was "home and dry").

And ending up in the valley without a road exit was certainly unexpected. It's good to leave these kind of things uncontrolled, and I got to a good place with the GPS where I wasn't following it blindly, but using it as another tool when going the wrong way really wouldn't lead to a fun experience. I somehow managed to keep the exploratory spirit alive, while eliminating the major blunders of last year (like not being able to find the Rhine) which were just frustrating.

The Poles, Czechs and Germans were pretty universally friendly, despite my incredible absence of language skills. Rocking up at random rural campsites, I often got the impression they were quite glad to see me, which as a cheapskate-on-a-bike is definitely not a constant throughout all of Europe. I definitely felt very at home (neigh, positively a lightweight) at the frankly prodigious beer consumption in the Czech Rep. Seeing the statistics doesn't quite prepare you for the universal enjoyment by men, women and children at seemingly all hours of the day. Having said that, I don't think I saw a single person actively drunk, and there was generally always good vibes.

The transport worked without too much trouble, but to describe it as stress-free would be pushing it. I've got to mull some plans for next year's tour, and - though it pains me to say it - it might be time to put the Shift on a plane. We'll see.