July 1, 2023
Emden --> Walsrode
A true "head down chain right" day through moorland
I woke up around 7:00 on the Ferry from Kristiansand to Emden, Germany. The boat was rocking back and forth more strongly than it had been when I went to bed. When I opened my window, rain was pounding on the window, and white caps were blowing on the North Sea. We were approaching the coast of Germany, and would be moving into port soon.
I gathered my belongings, and headed out to the breakfast buffet. The buffet was full of fresh bread rolls, scrambled eggs, bacon, cold cuts, smoked salmon, fruit, and cereal. I piled a plate high, and ended up sighting and eating breakfast with the same British solo-traveller I had med the afternoon prior. We chatted about our travel plans and previous trips. After capitalizing on the all-you-can-eat food, I headed back to my room. I took a shower and finished packing my bags. Around 9:15 (an hour before our boat was due to come into port), a cleaning lady banged aggressively on my door, then opened it and yelled "Time to leave!". I grabbed my belongings and headed downstairs to the car level. Wondering if we were going to come to port early, I waited with a crowd of people. After 15 minutes, I realized this was not the case. I headed up to the sun deck to get some fresh air.
Here we had cell service. I planned my route for the day, and decided that I would ride a double metric century from Emden to Walsrode. My family was waiting for me there, and I was looking forward to some company on my trip. Despite the wind and rain, I decided that the wind was a tailwind, and would be in my favor. In addition, the path through the Northern German Moors was incredibly flat.
Once I had my Komoot route downloaded, I headed down to the auto deck. There the other two bike tourers were waiting there. We chatted a bit, took a selfie together, then parted ways once the gates opened and we rode off with the cars, we were all headed in different directions. I felt bad for Tom, he had a headwind ahead of him.
The route began with some fast kilometers through the German Moor land, on flat wasserschuts (levees), and farmland. The wind at my back. Some of the small towns I rode through easily could have been the town in Stardew Valley. It was nice to be in a German speaking country. I know exactly zero Norwegian, but enough German to get by. I stopped at a gas station on the outskirts of Oldenburg and got a pretzel.
The route then took me through two major-ish cities: Oldenburg and Bremen. Both of these were nice cities, but had a bit more edge to them than Norwegian cities. Good cycleways, but also some trash, graffiti, and some shady looking people. Bremen in particular had areas where piles of old furniture were stacked up on the sidewalks.
After blowing through Bremen, I took my second food break at a Tankstelle (gas station). "Können Sie das warm machen?" I asked the clerk as I was buying a croissant. "Nein", the clerk barked back as an oven was directly behind him. I ate my cold pastry outside in the drizzle.
From Bremen, the landscape changed from "bad videogame render flat" to "flat with some slight rolling hills". I rode along a levee way through corm and wheat fields on old cobblestone roads. From here it was pure country roads all the way to Walsrode.
About 20km from Walsrode, I stopped at a stop sign, and shifted weird as I was starting up again. I felt the dreaded crunch, and then the tension on my pedals went slack. Here I was in the middle of a corn field in the Northern German countryside, with a broken chain and a bent chainring. I took out my tools and did what I could. The chain was full of fine sand, and it had probably worn prematurley. I replaed it with my spare chain I had carried, and it seemed to work. I then took out my pliers and bent the chainring teeth straight the best I could. To the amazement, the bike shifted better than it had before the breakdown.
I continued down country roads to Walsrode. When I rolled into town, it was exactly as I remembered it 7 years ago. A small, quiet German town. I pulled up to my Family's house, my extended relatives and Parents were waiting for me out front. I hugged them and was thankful to have good company and an excellent home-cooked meal, as well as some homemade apricot schnapps. I passed out warm, dry, and a little bit buzzed.
Today's ride: 120 miles (193 km)
Total: 558 miles (898 km)
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