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Greetings from Hamburg!!!

 

New country and a new keyboard. Damned Germans have moved the keys around

again.

 

Man Gothberg seems like years ago but alas it isn't.

 

Well my day in Goteberg was brilliant. Luckily my alcohol tolerance has

dropped to zero. I say luckily because at 5 pound a beer you don't to be

spending too long in the pub. I met a cool Swedish cyclist and we sat and

compared notes for a while and judged the Miss Sweden on a Bike contest that

was obviously going on while we were in town. You can see why so many

people cycle because it really is the best way to watch all the beautiful

women on bikes. I treated myself to a Chinese afterwards which after a week

of canned food and bananas was heaven.

 

On the way out of Goteberg two lovely swedish women in a car asked me if I

needed a lift. maybe they were joking or maybe they just wanted to use me

as their sex toy all the way down to Malmo but being the dutiful round the

world cyclist I am, I declined their admittedly tempting offer.

 

After Goteberg I arrived at Varberg were the ferry leaves for Denmark.

Originally I'd intended to cycle down to Malmo and then go across to

Copenhagen but when I arrived in Varberg the ferry was leaving in 15 min and

it seemed like a sign. On hindsight it was probably just a ferry but off I

went to Denmark anyway.

 

I originally intended to then cycle round to Copenhagen to meet up with

Jorgi but it turned out she couldn't get there till the 13th which would

have meant about 3 or 4 days hanging around an incredibly expensive city

which I just couldn't afford so I scrapped those plans and headed for

Germany.

 

I enjoyed Scandinavia a lot. Their approach to life is incredibly relaxed.

For starters their day seems to start so much later than our own. Even in

Goteberg on a Friday morning at 9am the place was still quiet. Only at

about 11 did life start picking up.

 

On the cycling front it's one of the best places I've ever cycled. Their

approach to traffic is entirely logical in that the most vulnerable tend to

have the right of way so the pedestrians are more important the cyclists but

the cyclists are more important than the cars. It isn't a half-arsed

approach like we have in the UK where someone paints a few lines on the side

of the road at inappropriate places and then the cars just park in the cycle

lane anyway. It's all carefully thought out and hangs together perfectly.

The effect this has on the community as a whole is obvious as people are

always out and about on their bikes or walking. The stop and talk, they

cycle as families, they spend time together. I think in the UK by becoming

a car culture we've surrendered our communities and now people are scared of

the world outside their houses and their cars.

 

Entering Germany has been a new a different challenge for me. For one the

sheer number of people mean many more towns and towns are an obstacle for a

cyclist. Each town entered has to be exited and you'd be amazed how

difficult it is to leave a town by bicycle. Most towns are designed for

cars and so numerous exits aren't an option for me which has meant a lot of

lost time just navigating my way around. The other difficulty is that they

seem to operate a very similar system of land ownership to the UK so most

land is fenced off or farmed. This combined with the number of towns

obviously reduces my options for wild camping. Last night I found a good

spot after about 50 miles but I wanted to press on past 70 miles for the day

so carried on only to struggle for a spot. Then it started raining. I

found a spot in the end but I'd lost the light so it was just a case of

crawling under my tarpaulin, try and stay dry and get what kip I could.

It's another lesson really that I should try and do more of my cycling in

the early part of the day so I don't feel the need to press on so late.

 

It's all lessons learn't. On hindsight I think I bivvy bag would have been

a much better idea than a tent. Most nights I don't bother with the tent as

it's too visible and just takes up too much space on the ground. The idea

initially was that I'd be spending so much time in a tent that I'd be

thankful for the additional space but in practice it hasn't turned out like

that. I just stop cycling, get to sleep and then start cycling again. I

bivvy would have been more suited I feel. At some point I may send the tent

back to the UK and buy a bivvy bag. We'll see.

 

As for the future, Germany is a big country and I don't think I'll be able

to blast through it like I have the other countries. In a way that's a

shame as I find cycling over a border to be great motivation. I expect

Germany to take me around two weeks to cover as I'm covering it from North

to South which is going to around 1000 miles in total. Then I'll head to

Austria and then Italy. Just take it as it comes.

 

Entering the euozone has also meant a serious reduction in prices. I found

it impossible to keep to my tenner a day target in Scandinavia but in

Germany 6 pound a day has proven to be the norm. This also means I may be

able to up the number of days I use campsites which is useful for keeping

both myself and my equipment in good condition. More importantly I can now

afford the odd beer.

 

Tomorrow is my intended rest day so I'll head south from Hamburg today and

then find a camp site tomorrow and spend a day resting and do some equipment

maintenance.

 

Catch you all later,

 

Love Craig.

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