Encore Day 042 somewhere on the Baltic Sea - Leipzig

Now my trip is really really really over. Early in the morning our ferry arrived in Rostock. I had to say goodbye to Alex, who had been a wonderful cycling companion. It was her first cycling trip and though she did complain every now and then she always kept going :o). Let's see, it is very well possible that some part of the world will see us cycling again.
I went home by train. First thing at home after unpacking my bike: finally a shave. Now I have only one day left until I am back to normal life - on Monday at 8:30 I will start working again :-O
But it is good that way - I had a extremely, exceptionally, extraordinarily great time, but after more than a year it is good to be back home. Here I can see my family and friends, here I can make music and here I will actually have time to think about all the wonderful experiences of the last year.

Encore Day 010 Lübbenau - Czarnowice

Now that the real tour is done and I am only doing the encore, laziness takes over. I had some great party days in Western Germany, went back to Leipzig by train to sign my work contract and had planned to start cycling eastwards yesterday. But I was to lazy. I had to get a new back light for my bike and I had to buy a bicycle helmet and than it was way after lunchtime and I didn't feel like doing much anyway, so I just stayed at home one more day. This morning I cheated by taking a train to Lübbenau and started cycling from there. The first quarter or so went through the wonderful Spreewald, but also the rest of the trip was very beautiful. In the evening I finally entered a new country again: Poland! I found a small holiday fishing ground where they would let me put up my tent and give me a shower for a few Zloty. And the owner tought me my first Polish word (but as I have no idea how to write it, I cannot put it here).

Encore Day 005 Diemeltalsperre - Hattingen

New record. This was my longest cycling day ever. 162km on the GPS plus another maybe 10km that weren't recorded due to technical problems. But I arrived at my favourite singing devices new home. That evening I was just interested in showering, drinking, eating and going to sleep on the balcony under the stars. The next two days I will spent relaxing and partying, yeah :)

Encore Day 004 Göttingen - Diemeltalsperre

I managed to start pretty early after having breakfast with my wonderful couchsurfing hosts. I had not really planned the trip any further than Goettingen. I knew the general direction and I knew that I had enough time, so I just navigated by sun - which was pretty easy as I have to go straight west. A couple of times this made me push the bicycle across some stubble fields and meadows, but that was totally worth it. During the ride I pondered about what my life will be like once I am really back in Leipzig, especially how I could possibly find a girl bold enough to stay with me. I don't exactly consider myself the king of seduction, so it was very much to my surprise when during my trip I found myself in a very short love affair. Even though it was over very quickly and never really had a promising future it somehow kept my mind occupied for quite some time. But It seems like this being-an-adventurer-thing makes it kind of easy to find a girl that is looking for a quick adventure, but it doesn't really help in finding someone who wants to spend more than a night or two with you.
In the evening the thought of a refreshing shower made me go to an official camp ground. But the weather was great so I did not bother building up my tent and went to sleep under the starlit sky. That night I saw the largest and brightest shooting star of my life - and that can only be a good sign.

Encore Day 003 Nordhausen - Göttingen

Couchsurfing in the morning. Couchsurfing in the evening. Beautiful cycling inbetween. And a lot of sun. Got seriously burned. Shortly after crossing the former inner-German border I got lost in the woods. It was wonderful. In the evening I couchsurfed with Henning who is doing his Ph.D. in Göttingen. We had a long walk through the very pretty town and had some very interesting talks.

Encore Day 002 Süßer See - Nordhausen

Beautiful day. I even got a bit sunburned again. Just the right amount of hills. Not too exhausting, but still enough hills to provide for a nice landscape. Great views on Kyffhäuser on my left. In the evening I couchsurfed with Philipp - student and relatively newly converted Koran-only Muslim. We went to a lakeside birthday barbecue, where I met among other people another long distance cyclist who will also start riding towards the Baltics within the next days - maybe we will meet somewhere on the road. We went to sleep under the starry sky on Philipps huge balcony.

Encore Day 001 Leipzig - Süßer See

Hu!? Another blog entry?! Marek is cycling again? What is going on here?

It is a bit more than one month since I returned to Leipzig. A busy month. I managed to move into my dream flat, found my dream job and gloriously failed in getting my dream girl.
My new job is starting in September. Everything else is more or less settled in Leipzig, thus the only way to prevent acute boredom in the next month is to do a little encore to my cycling trip. First I will go westwards for a week to join my favourite singing devices housewarming party. Then I will take the train back to Leipzig and go north-east towards Helsinki to say hello to baby Luna. :o)
The first day of cycling again was wonderful. I started pretty late, made a stop to deliver a small gift to an important person, made another stop to do some technical work for another important person and finally left Leipzig around half past one. The last days of my return to Leipzig we had been cycling down river Elster right from its source, so to make things complete I followed Elster again to the point where it flows into river Saale in Halle. From there I took some small roads which led me to Seeburg on Süßer See (sweet lake - named so because there is also a salty one nearby) where I found a small camp ground. It is a very nice area here - small hills, the lake, a castle on the shore. It felt great to be on the bike again and it is great to go to sleep in my tent again.

Day 351 - 352 Bad Köstritz - Leipzig

A cycling crowd of 15 friends joining me on the last leg of my journey. Wonderful day, wonderful ride. Once I arrive in Leipzig more dear people are waiting for me. We proceed to a barbecue in the park. We talk and play and sing. I am back home :o).

Big thanks to all the people who supported me from home and on the road, who gave me company, shelter, motivation, food, a smile or a hug.

Now I have a packed schedule: job interviews, checking out flats, requicken social relationships and things like filling out tax computation forms, örks.

I am done with travelling.
For now!

Day 350 Jocketa - Bad Köstritz

More hills. In the beginning. Some of them pretty steep. I am impressed how well my untrained cycling companions handle it. On the highest hill we stopped at a wonderful inn for lunch. After that things got much easier, we had some beautiful ways along the river and through the forest. Some parts of the signposted bike path 'Elsterradweg' were best cycled on on a mountain bike. Mud, pretty slippery stones and stuff. But we made it. And then while cycling through Gera on a very nice, very wide bike path, no obstacles and no traffic,...: I slip from my right pedal, the foot touches the ground and before I know what happens I jump over my handlebar - this must have been the most spectacular tumble of the whole journey - just one day before the end, tststs. I am ok, just have a few very small bruises on my right knee and hand - but my only more or less wearable pair of trousers has a big hole - now my wardrobe-options are hole-on-the-knee or hole-on-the-bum. But it is ok, a real adventurer has to look a bit battered when arriving at home.
Tomorrow will be the last day of my journey and many more companions will join me: right now we are 4, by midnight we should be 6 and tomorrow we will ride to Leipzig in a much bigger triumphal procession, yeah!