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From Lübeck to Chemnitz
624 kilometers | 3.5 days
Early morning on day 1
The city of Lübeck, our official starting point, is located in the very north of Germany. To get there, we had a couple of hours of train ride ahead of us and therefore needed to cover the first 10km to Heidelberg main station by bike. It was long before sunrise on a warm summer morning when we made our way from Plankstadt to Heidelberg, hoping that we wouldn’t miss the train.
We spent a couple hours high-speed traveling through all of Germany until we reached the northern coastline in Lübeck-Travemünde, at the Baltic Sea. It was windy, quite chilly, too, but the sun was out and we finally started our very first stage – heading south for 60 kilometers along the Elbe-Lübeck-Channel. Just like last year in New York States, our tour began with some easy gravel riding on calm, unpaved bike paths along a picturesque waterway that connects the Baltic Sea in the north with the Elbe River coming from the North Sea.
Since we spent half a day in the train, we only had the other half to cycle. Those sixty kilometers passed by quickly and both of us were excited about the adventure ahead of us. The first night we stayed at a local B&B in Mölln, enjoyed our first of many German dishes as well as a good night of sleep.
Day 2: Mechanicals and a weird hotel
Our first morning started with a full German breakfast, including scrambled eggs and my favorites, German rolls. While we were eating, the Inn’s owner seemed to be happy to have English-speaking guests over, and in his northern-German accent kept talking to us about his own cycling background and all the other international guests he’d been hosting in the past.
Just shortly after 9am we were on the road, ready to tackle the next sunny day of riding. We had about 40 kilometers of gravel path along the canal ahead of us, before our route would meet the Elbe River Cycle Path. Like yesterday, the path was not busy at all, and we had most of it to ourselves. After just over 2.5 hours of riding we had our first refueling break at one of the bakeries that you’d find all over Germany, in every little village.
We had a long day ahead of us with around 170km of planned distance. It came as an unpleasant surprise when Tara’s rear tyre suddenly went flat just after our lunch break; the puncture was too big for the sealant to do its job. I tried fixing it on the spot with some tubeless tyre plugs, but it would not work either. Luckily we were still within the city limits of the small town of Bleckede, and according to Google Maps there were a couple of bike shops around. Yet, it took at least 45 minutes of walking around until we finally found one that not only actually still was in business, but also was open. My plan was to switch from tubeless to tubes for Tara’s rear wheel, since the tyre didn’t have too much life in it anyway. In front of the bike shop I cleaned out all the sealant replaced the tyre with a new one that I just bought, and after a bit of a messy hour we were back on track. Now with both of our bikes running tubeless in the front, and tubes in the back.
It was early afternoon already, and we still had more than 100km to go. But we were making good progress. Calm roads and bike paths in a very flat terrain made cycling rather easy and enjoyable. Time and distance went by so quickly and soon enough we found a nice spot along the Elbe River to enjoy some dinner and have a longer break before getting back on the bikes for the last 30 kilometers.
It was dark already when we arrived in the village of Seehausen, today’s final destination after almost 180 kilometers in the saddle. I had booked a room in what was called “Radler Hotel” (“Cyclist’s Hotel”), but the instructions to get there were somewhat vague; a random neighbor was nice enough to let us follow her car to where the hotel was located. It turned out not so much being a hotel, but rather an old building, seemingly abundant, and we had to check-in ourselves getting the keys from a lockbox and. Everything was dark, we had no idea if there were other guests, the room was very basic with shared bathrooms, no WiFi, and all in all somewhat creepy. We were happy that we already had dinner and went to bed right away.
Detours and an evening surprise on day 3
Still following the Elbe River south, we joyfully experienced a remarkable tailwind today. Later during this trip we learned that we had made a good choice cycling the river in that direction, even though it is technically upstream; but the winds are more likely in your favor in this part of the country.
The kilometers passed by quickly, and we felt strong. When you don’t have to focus on pedaling too hard, it’s so much easier to actually take in the views around you: the typical Northern-German architecture with their thatched roofs, the flat grasslands along the river and its branches, plenty of sheep. When we arrived in the city of Tangermünde, a town founded more than 1000 years ago, it felt like going back in time.
The route that I had planned for the second part of today’s ride involved an Elbe crossing (over a bridge), followed by another crossing back via a small ferry back to the other side, into the town we booked tonight’s accommodation. I read that the ferry would only operate until 7:30pm and we were running a bit late – to catch the ferry, we would have to keep going at a very brisk pace. Instead of risking getting stuck on the wrong side of the river, I asked Google Maps to provide an alternative route; which happened to include a different ferry, which we missed by just two minutes.
It was already past 7:30 now, 160km down. The nearest bridge was 15 kilometers out of the way, but we didn’t have much of a choice – suddenly we had to ride 30 more kilometers on an already pretty long day. Thankfully, the roads were good, our lights charged, and our muscles still functioning.
We arrived in Aken long after sunset and were greeted by the most lovely AirBnB hosts ever – they not only offered us chocolate and cold beer, but also cooked a hot meal of spaghetti for us to refuel after a long day out. What a lovely and welcome surprise!
Arriving in Chemnitz!
The last day of our first stage across Germany took us away from the flat landscapes along Elbe River deep into the Ore Mountain area. The climbs got steeper, the views more exciting, the castle-density increased, and the local German dialect changed noticeably. Today’s mix of surfaces ranged from pristine asphalt on calm country roads, to cement paths across fields, to small offroad sections cutting through forests, and cobblestones whenever the route went through a town.
When we entered my home state of Saxony, the elevation gains added up more and more. The region does not really look all too hilly, but we were constantly going up and down, from one valley into the next, each separated from the other by some small hill. Plenty of climbs between 10 and 15% made this section quite spicy, but also enjoyable after two full days of riding along a river.
It was in the late afternoon when it not only started to rain, but also my rear tire lost its air pressure. None of it would really lower our good moods, and fixing it was pretty straight forward this time around – all I had to do was switching the tube (since I was only riding tubeless in the front). I am still not sure which setup is more practical for long-distance traveling – switching and fixing tubes more regularly, or having piece of mind most of the time, but then occasionally dealing with exploding sealant?
Only a few hours later we approached my hometown: Chemnitz! What a surreal feeling that was. I grew up in this area and spend many years exploring it by foot, and bicycle, and now I was back again. Not even four days ago we started all the way at the Baltic Sea and suddenly cycled through the streets that felt so familiar. Both of us felt excited and relieved at the same time; but before heading over to our accommodation for the next couple of days we just had to stop at the city’s most remarkable landmark – a large bronze statue of Karl Marx’ head (after whom the town was named during the cold war).
The first stage was done! Three and a half days, averaging 180km for each one. It was Thursday evening now, which gave us two full days to recover before our next challenge: Running 42.2 kilometers at the Chemnitz Marathon on Sunday morning!
01: Lübeck to Mölln
02: Mölln to Seehausen
03: Seehausen to Aken
04: Aken to Chemnitz