Why actually "Going Home" when we start at home in Hamburg?

Quite simply, like so many people in the world, we have drastically reduced our social contacts over the last 1.5 years. Video calls with friends became the new normal. But face-to-face contact with our families suffered the most as a result. After all, they weren't skilled at using technology and all the modern communication options.

But since our families live 100-300km away from us, and neither of us drives cars, there was only the possibility to go to them by train. But as long as our families and we were not fully vaccinated, we did not want to take any risk and possibly introduce the virus to them.

Over time, Björn also developed a particular fear of becoming infected himself. This fear wasn't easy to deal with. During this time, however, one thing has repeatedly helped us clear our heads and enjoy some normality: getting out into nature by bike.

When we were finally all vaccinated, it was pretty clear right away that we wanted to visit our families by bicycle. We have family members living spread out over distances that are a good day's ride between them. So this was going to be our first bikepacking trip. A trip on which we would also rediscover places of our respective past together.

The fact that the decelerated journey by bike was at the same time to become a kind of slow return among people was something we hadn't quite realized beforehand. Still, it became apparent with the relaxation that spread among us after the first few kilometers. The stress of everyday life had disappeared from our minds; we were not thinking about the pandemic. We were just looking forward to the adventure together.

// DAY 1

HAMBURG - BREMEN

It is day 1 of our GOING HOME adventure. We have planned to ride 140 km from Hamburg to Bremen, where my father lives.

When the alarm clock rang at 4 a.m., Björn had already been awake for an hour. He had not slept very well, as he had been suffering from back pain for two days. Also, our cat seemed to suspect that we were leaving because she kept coming to bed with us and demanding some attention. So we gave her a few more strokes before we had to go.

The night before, we had already packed the bikes, and after a delicious breakfast, we faced the first challenge of the day: How do we get the fully loaded bikes down from the 4th floor? Or do we take the bags off again and put them back on at the bottom? Nah, we left them on and hauled the bikes down that way. Not ideal, but it worked.

F no, a flat tire! Fortunately, not. However, it felt that way when we got on our packed bikes and started riding. After a few meters, though, we quickly got used to it. I hardly felt the weight on the road compared to the less packed bike, but even more when I took off the bags later.

At 5:55 am, we took the first ferry of the day to Finkenwerder and crossed the Elbe. While waiting for the ferry, we once again admired the beauty of the port at night. The interplay of lights of the cranes is simply breathtaking. Oh, Hamburg, we will never get tired of this.

When we left the ferry, the actual ride finally began, and full of excitement, we pedaled off. It wasn't long before we were soaking wet, not from rain or sweat; no, the humidity was a whopping 95 %. Björn felt transported back to the rainforest of Costa Rica.

Although the air was very humid, it was still enjoyable. We left everyday life (and our worries) behind us already on the first few kilometers.

Unfortunately Jana's brake started to squeak....

After a few kilometers, we found ourselves in the middle of a meadow. No path to be seen. Oh, Komoot, are you drunk again? Regardless, we were rolling roughly in the right direction, orienting ourselves by the wind turbines, at least what we could see of them. It was pretty foggy out there.

Due to last night's storm, the paths were partially flooded or covered with sand. But at least the thunderstorms had passed. We hoped that it would stay that way...

And fortunately, it was that way. The fog and humidity accompanied us for quite a while, but the temperatures rose, and the sun slowly appeared.

Back to Jana's brake.

It kept on squeaking. It wasn't because it was wet all over from the rain, because fortunately, it wasn't raining at all.

Nah, the problem was homemade. It wasn't such a brilliant idea on Jana's part to change the brake pads before a 3-day tour AND not test ride and possibly readjust them. Unfortunately, bad weather and a sinus infection just before our trip threw the plans for this overboard.

Removing the wheel and checking what the problem could be? That would have been possible, but in the middle of nowhere, we wanted to avoid that. So we just persevered and kept going.

Along the beautiful roads through fields and meadows, our path was very often framed by cornfields. Cornfields on the left, cornfields on the right.

The corn season is in full swing, and so the cornfields will accompany us not only on the first 140 km but for quite a while.

"Where is all this blood coming from? And more importantly, why am I pedaling so strangely?"

Björn had chafed both thighs on his top tube bag. But it looked worse than it was.

And that damn brake was still squealing. And as if that wasn't annoying enough, it was getting louder and louder. Luckily, though, it still braked.

While we're on the subject of nerves, we had to take a 2km detour for a 100m construction site, as German traffic planners have little regard for cyclists.

But unfortunately, we had no choice to avoid this detour.

We met a donkey and realized that donkeys are simply better horses.

A little further on, we took a break, and I tried a new bar called Spinach Pirate and spit it right back out. Yuck! To calm down, I then had another delicious chocolate protein bar.

Not far from our destination for the day, we were approached by a friendly road cyclist who curiously asked us what we were up to, so we asked him for a bike store in Bremen that could help us with the squeaky brake. Unfortunately, he confirmed our concerns: on a Saturday afternoon, all the small stores in the area were closed.

When we arrived at my father's house, we were greeted with a refreshing shower, followed by a non-alcoholic beer and a large baguette.

We were broken, tired, but very happy and glad to have survived the first day so well. But we still had this problem with the brake.

We removed the front wheel, put it back in, put the brake pads in, and took them out again. After an hour of back and forth, loosening the caliper and screwing it back on finally helped. The noise was gone. Fortunately, because otherwise, we wouldn't have made the next 130 km the next day.

At one point, Björn saw the continuation of the trip in jeopardy because, occasionally, the front wheel did not move at all. Fortunately, this problem was solved after a long 11 hours on the bike.

Exhausted, we fell into bed, but not before planning a French fries break for the next day...

Our lesson from this day: schedule a break to eat something "real". Dry pretzel sticks and bars alone are okay, but nothing that really comes close to healthy food (not that fries are considered good food), but at least they kept us motivated.

So we planned a french fries stop for the next day. Since our route took us past Lake Dümmer, it just made sense to take this lake as an occasion for a break. Mainly because we planned to be there around noon, about halfway along our route.

Finally, we charged all the essential devices and closed our eyes to charge our batteries for the next day.

// DAY 2

BREMEN - OSNABRÜCK

Plan for today: 136km from Bremen to Osnabrück. Half of our route and the home of Jana's twin sister.

Day 2 of our Going Home Tour was long. Longer than the first day and had a few more meters of altitude. These were waiting just before our destination for the day and unnecessarily delayed our time in the saddle. But let's start at the beginning.

It's Groundhog Day. This, in our case, means: Alarm clock ringing at 4:43 am. Since we didn't want to wake anyone up and quietly sneak off in the dark, we started without a coffee. And without breakfast.

Björn just had a round of yoga to prepare his back for the day on the bike.

Thanks to my dad, we had vegan spreads and cheese with us. I had vegan chili mayonnaise in my bag already on the first day (you never know). Now we were only missing the rolls for breakfast.

Our plan was to leave in the dark and stop at the first bakery to have breakfast. Since it was Sunday when we left at 6:20, we still had a little way to go before breakfast was within reach.... (Why do bakeries in small villages open soooo late)?

We left Bremen in the dark, through foggy forests and fields, it was colder than the day before, but we made good progress.

Thirty kilometers later, the time had come. The long-awaited breakfast was served in a small town called Bassum at the first local bakery we could find. A small "Reisepark" just outside Bassum provided a bench, and we took the opportunity. And again, a lesson learned: take a multi-purpose knife with us on our next tour. But this time, it worked without. Strengthened by breakfast, we could tackle the next 100 km.

To find a rhythm for our breaks, we decided that a more extended stop every 30 km would be excellent, so Björn set his Wahoo for laps of 30 km to have a reminder (brilliant of him!).

Slowly it got warmer and warmer. We fought against a strong headwind but were glad about the warmth of the sun. We could take off arm warmers and leg warmers.

After about 90 km, we were able to take the long-awaited fries stop at Lake Dümmer. The snack bar welcomed "bikers" (with and without an engine).

A portion of french fries and a cold sugary drink were just what we needed now. To strengthen and motivate us.

We rode a short distance along the lake, which was a bit overwhelming after 1.5 days with almost no people. On a sunny Sunday at lunchtime, many people were spending time at the lake. A few too many for us.

Slowly we realized that our butts were sore and sitting in the saddle was becoming very uncomfortable.

On we went with strong headwinds. One of the most annoying things about this day. There were a lot of headwinds, and for those who don't know: Headwind is Jana's ultimate nemesis. Headwinds cost a lot of energy.

Nevertheless, we were in a good mood, even if we slowly noticed how our butts were hurting more and more and our muscles (and unfortunately Björn's knees) were demanding a more extended break.

Our butts were hurting. So we now regularly sought out "quiet" spots along the way, not only to pee but also to apply new Chamois cream. After all, we still had at least 1.5 days in the saddle ahead of us.

At some point, Björn began to sing. He thought of a suitable song for each keyword. Unfortunately, it wasn't very nice. But at least it kept our spirits up. The glorious late summer weather helped, too.

That there were only a few more kilometers left until we would reach Osnabrück was a deceptive thought. After all, the last 30 km on our route seemed infinitely long, and the landscape in front of us became increasingly hilly. Björn was cursing the hilly terrain, but that (surprisingly) didn't change anything.

Progress was slower and slower. The hills and inclines just before our destination took their toll and sapped the last of our strength.

With the finish line in sight, we pushed our bikes up the last hill, not ready to take on this final challenge after all those hours in the saddle.

In front of Jana's sister's front door, we roughly cleaned the dirt off our bikes so they could spend the night in our apartment, hauled the bikes upstairs, and were treated to a woodruff spritzer.

We showered, ordered pizza, and Björn put ice on his knee. He thought about how the aching knee should survive the third day. After all, we still had a 120 km long day ahead of us.

Meanwhile, I cut my sister's hair until fatigue caught up with us.

Off to the sofa bed.

Whether we would manage our planned kilometers on the third day was still unclear.

// DAY 3

OSNABRÜCK - WERNE

The last 120km of our journey was ahead of us, on to Björn's mother.

"Beep, beep, beep." 4:43 a.m. and the alarm clock rang. Hello, day three.

Today we had fresh coffee from the French Press, my sister had gotten up with us, so we had breakfast together and all sat at the table with a cup of coffee. We now had to make a decision.

Would Björn's knee make the planned 120 kilometers? What alternatives did we have? We wanted to do a bit of cycling around Werne over the next few days, which of course, isn't possible if the knee is entirely shot. So what was our best option?

After a round of yoga and some decision-making, we carried our bikes down the stairs fully loaded. Outside it was already bright since we had taken more time. And it was colder than the last days.

We took a train to Münster so that we could shortcut about 80 km and ride the remaining kilometers to Werne by bike. We hoped that Björn's knee would be less stressed this way, and we still wouldn't have to give up cycling altogether.

Of course, we could not adequately secure our bikes on the train, so I had to get up at every stop and hold my bike. How happy we were when we arrived in Münster and could get back on our bikes.

A few kilometers later, our stomachs demanded food. We were hungry. Luckily we had some pizza leftover from the day before and served it to ourselves on a bench next to, well, cornfields, what else?
Our path, passing dozens of cornfields, led us to the garden of a moated castle. This was Westerwinkel Castle, which we planned to visit a few days later. It was a pleasant surprise because we had not noticed it on the map when we changed the route this morning. We enjoyed the sight, took a few photos, and set off for the last few kilometers.

When we finally arrived in Werne, we made our way to the city center. First, we got a few things at a pharmacy, then we went to Björn's favorite fruit and vegetable stand. We bought bananas and plums from the region.

"You didn't come all the way from Hamburg by bike, did you?" an old friend of Björn's working at the organic fruit and vegetable stand. Staring at us in disbelief, he started shaking his head. He gave us carrots for the longest bike ride of the day.

When we arrived at Björn's mother's house, we were greeted effusively by her dog. We didn't expect anything else, but for me, it's always a bit too much. I like our quiet cat better, after all.

In the afternoon it was time for shopping in the city center. We had thought about doing something good for our bodies during the trip and decided to visit the local natural brine bath. However, we didn't have any bathing clothes, so we had to get them spontaneously.

After three days on the bike and a total of 320 kilometers, our bodies were a little sore, but we were thrilled to have completed this adventure almost as planned.

We were so happy and excited that we were already making plans in our heads for the next major bikepacking trip.

We will definitely take away as a lesson to consider shorter stages, maybe around 80 kilometers, to have more time to enjoy different places and not just sit in the saddle all day. Combined with photography, this is already very time-consuming.

But the most crucial question is: When will we go on the next bikepacking adventure?