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I left Andreas apartment in the part of Berlin called
Kreutzberg at 6:10 and biked to Alexanderplatz, from
where I took the S-bahn out to the end station Erkner.
There I sold back the two tickets (one for me and one
for the bike) since I had forgotten to validate them.
I will now follow the Spree Radweg all the way to its
spring in Neugersdorf close to the Czech border. There
were plenty of signs showing the way, which I also follow
in the Spree Radweg booklet, that I ordered from Bikeline
on the Internet long ago.
But despite the sympathetic idea of following a river
to its spring, I decided quite early to diverge from
the route. After all, I want to feel that I make some
distance here, which I don't if I follow every singel
turn of the Spree. So I head south for Alt Shadow, but
when I came there, the bridge I had planned to use over
the river was closed! That forced me to make a detour
to the next bridge – which also was closed!
As I desperately searched for a third bridge, the rain
came. And as so often on this tour, it virtually poured
down. It was eleven o'clock and would continue to pour
down for the rest of the day. Suddenly everything seemed
so hopeless. It was as if I suddenly woke up in the
middle of the East German countryside and realized:
What am I doing here? Why am I biking through a rainy
Europe on my own for two months? I have no idea.
The fact that I only slept five hours tonight adds of
course to the bad experience. But also: There are no
other bike tourers in this part of Germany. I thought
it would be much the opposite. Anyway, I'm halfway through
the tour, geographically speaking, so I comfort myself
with the idea that it can only become better now.
Since the rain didn't stop, I decided to stay in Lübben
tonight. I really didn't feel like camping, so now I'm
renting a little room with toilet, shower and tv with
50 channels for 15 euros. I have got warm, eaten my
mackerel and planned tomorrows stage. I really only
wanna fall asleep in the double bed, but it's only 16:30.
It's funny how I so totally lack energy. Neither Tour
de France on Eurosport nor Kafka is tempting me, but
at least the first doesn't call for much of an engagement.
***
Some food and some pages of Kafka later and everything
feels better. You shouldn't underestimate the power
of food when you're pressing your body so much every
day! It's a humid evening. I'm sticky and my clothes
haven't dried a bit.
I just watched the weather forecast. It's gonna be 17-19
degrees centigrade (63-66 F) tonight with heavy showers
and thunderstorms. Tomorrow morning will also bring
lots of rain, but it will clear up in the afternoon.
Once again, I guess I just have to bike on...
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