Gutersloh - a place of friendly people - The Bartletts Bike the Baltics

May 2, 2019

Gutersloh - a place of friendly people

We discovered a new way to book inexpensive accommodation. As we usually book same day, we found on booking.com a flash sale called“Basic”. This means that they are trying to sell off unsold rooms from their partners at a sharply discounted rate. At €53 including breakfast, we thought we’d give it a try in Gutersloh.. We assumed we would get a budget room, but no. They treated us well and the buffet breakfast was excellent.

Seavo has had a restful and social time in the parking garage with 8 other touring bikes. Oh, the stories they could tell.

Well, as usual, we decided to lighten our load and send a parcel home. We are approaching some big hills and suddenly, some of our packed gear didn’t seem so essential any more.

Market day in Gutersloh. Spargel (white asparagus) is in season, strawberries and hard boiled eggs (you recognize they are boiled as they are painted bright colours).

This elderly gentleman was eager to visit and share his travel stories with Barry. Such a spry and interesting man. This was the first of our encounters with locals and it grew from there.

Another great bike shop Rottstock in Gutersloh. Steve enthusiastically shared with us that he is so lucky to be able to work his passion of bikes and cycling. We asked him about yesterday’s activities and he said in his straight forward Scottish way, that May 1st is the only day of the year that he doesn’t ride his bike. “Too many drunk people riding and too many inexperienced riders who may ride only one day a year.” We certainly could see that. In fact, he got his job at this shop 19 years ago to help out with the usual chaos of helping do maintenance on bikes that hadn’t been ridden for a year.

Tony (top R)) rode by when we were at the market and stopped to talk to us, then he rode with us to his favourite bike shop, which led to a long chat with Steve (top left) who works at the bike shop -an expat Scot who has lived in Germany for 30 years, which led to a long conversation with Udo, also a cycling fan who had lived in Halifax and has ridden across Canada.

All in all, we spent a long time in Gutersloh this morning. People were so friendly and wanted to speak to us. As we were trying to leave, another young man asked to take our photo for his YouTube site. This involved stopping another cyclist who spoke English to tell us what he wanted. A most extraordinary morning.

Riding in the forest along a small river -pretty countryside.

This sign shows the complete D routes in Germany. We are riding D3(Germany) otherwise known as the R1(European).

We will have a couple of hundred km of ups and down for the next few days.

We rode through a golf course. This surprised as we had been riding in dense forest on gravel trails and suddenly we were in a groomed, immaculate area. Part of the ride was a bit unsettling as our route took us directly down a fairway with the tee-off at one end on the right and the hole at the other end on our left. Glad we were wearing helmets.

Once again it was cold and damp with the threat of rain throughout the day. Thankfully it didn’t start to rain until we were near Augustdorf, our stopping point for the day.

It was a good day but one where it was hard to make time. Starting with a visit to the post office which always takes much time, then visiting with many of the residents of Gutersloh and finding detours on the trail which led us deeper on to the forest. It seems that the region is upgrading some of their paths with fresh gravel to be ready for the busy season.

Staying at a small hotel on the outskirts of the small town of Augustdorg. Very cosy and comfy with breakfast included.

Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 591 km (367 miles)

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Kathleen ClassenWe are really enjoying following along. We had a similar day today in terms of people. Just so many kind, interested and lovely people.
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