August 18, 2015
Harpstedt: rain,rain,rain,rain
It was without a doubt the wettest day we have ever cycled in. The forecast was for moderate to heavy rain all day and that is what we got, there were no breaks between showers at all. Today we had decided to leave the Wesser Radweg and head towards the Netherlands. We had pretty good maps and of course the GPS. We had made a booking at Wilderhausen as we were aware that nearly all the places we were passing through were tiny hamlets and there were only a few places that were big enough to have guesthouses or hotels.
Progress was initially pretty good and we felt that we would make it with not to much trouble and Ken was congratulating himself on his map reading skills. We made it to Syke where we found a well hidden but enormous bakery/ cafe. It was obviously the place to be on a wet Tuesday in Syke, it was heaving with humanity and the food was delicious, Emerging from there the rain was continuing to pelt down and we both seem to have completely lost our sense of direction and we had only drunk coffee. Ken looked at the map and I tried to fire up the GPS we could recognise nothing and what is more I couldn't read the screen of the GPS as the raindrops were falling on it so fast. We set off in what appeared to be the correct direction but after ridding and ridding and ridding we came to a sign pointing in the same direction as us saying Syke 4km. We changed direction and rode and rode and rode then it happened again a sign Syke 4km in the direction we were going. We changed direction again and when it happened again we began to get rather paranoid. Was there some evil spirit that was changing all the signs so we would just ride around in circles for what remained of the rest of our lives. We were both completely soaked to the skin despite our rain coats, it was around 15 degrees and skinny Ken was beginning to shiver uncontrollably .I was OK, there are some advantages of an extra layer of fat, I don't do heat well but come into my own when cold.
Shortly afterwards one of those miracles occurred we saw a road (not cycle) sign saying Harpsted 12km so off we went. The road wasn't too busy so we felt safe and then we got here and fell on a cafe in a Netto - Ken was still freezing and there was 12km to Wilderhausen where we had a reservation, there was nothing to do but press on. Then as if it was a mirage a hotel appeared, was it real? Habben sei ein Zimmer frei? The lovely lady laughed at my bedraggled state and we have beautiful room with the best ever shower. The room in Wilderhausen is cancelled and we are once more in business
Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 685 km (425 miles)
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