Liebenwalde to Wesenberg

What a day, character building would describe it I think…

The day started pleasantly with a cool overcast morning and a touch of mist. We overslept slightly and ended up departing at 8:15. I paid and discovered that there was WiFi so I uploaded yesterday’s ride. The route continued following the canals (I think they are artificial and not rivers) and it was dead flat with very few turns. We made good time to breakfast around 9 am.

This morning we had a true cycle touring breakfast from a Backeri and a market. I had a couple of fresh bread rolls with a slice of ham and then an entire punnet of raspberries. Delicious!

Then it was time to get back to it. The route eventually left the side of the canal and we went through some small forests and I preferred this section, it became more rolling and had more towns along the way.

We stopped in a small town where Tony had a look at an interesting church and I had a slice I bought earlier (it had marzipan in it). It was beginning to look a bit dubious so we set of after only 3 or 4 minutes and then after only another 4 or so Ks we stopped at a small coffee shop as Tony wanted a coffee. It was also just starting to spit.

Just after we got there a large school group walked in and all had ice creams. They seemed totally unprepared for the torrential rain that then began. They took out warm tops and covers for their day packs but none of them had any rain coats!

Once the rain had died down we put our jackets on and set off. We had ummed and ahhed about the jackets but it started to rain softly almost immediately. We made it another 5 or so Ks and came to another café and decided it was a good time for lunch. A lighter lunch for Tony than yesterday’s humungous schnitzel! I had a quiche and a hot choccy which was easily half a litre. Sehr Gut! We sat for a while but in the end had to continue on L

The town itself was quite large and I was sorely tempted, but we’d only done 48 Ks and even I thought we should go on. Hmmm, I guess that was the right idea. Tony joked (?) that it was only 30 Ks to Wesenberg. HO Ho ho…

Once we were out of town it started bucketing down L There was nothing for it but to slog on of course, no turning around. We saw lots of other bedraggled cyclists coming the other way as well. Fortunately the road got a bit lumpier now; while the hills were a bit of a slog (I was sure I had a puncture on one) the actual riding was getting more interesting. We rode through a number of winding pine forests and there were quite a few reasonable descents for a bit of a free wheel. Even better there were some gravel/dirt sections through a couple of forests. Actually pretty nice riding.

Eventually the rain died down and the final 10 Ks or so was mostly dry. That final bit was into Wesenberg, sigh. I actually thought that in the last hour I felt better than the previous hour, but of course by then I knew, KNEW, we were almost done.

Once in town I made a bee line for the Tourist Info. He was ‘oh dear’ we are very full L Initially he suggested a place 6 Ks away (albeit on the route, for €96) but then he rang another place which was only €40. WooHoo! And then he got up, gave me the pamphlet and said it’s the white house (next door). WooHoo WooHoo.

The nice lady showed us the room and then we got down to carting everything up to the top floor and showering. Once done we went downstairs for a tea and coffee and then walked into town. We made it about 200 m and then it started pouring! We went inside the pub we were standing in and Tony shouted me a large Coke and he had two small beers.

Eventually we decided we should try and see the town so we bought a small umbrella each and did a lap of the town centre. There were two other pubs and a kebab place. It started to really bucket down so in a slight pause we rushed back to the room. We’ve decided to go to the nearer pub, they seemed pleasant enough.

Back at the room I used a towel to dry (less wetten J) my pants and then we sat downstairs while I did this diary. Then around 6:45 off to the pub for dinner!

Quite a nice meal tonight. I had a mushroom soup which came with 4 pieces of baguette (I could probably have eaten half a baguette J) and then veal with vegetables and chips. The veal was smothered in a cheese sauce with chunks of pork. Nice, albeit a bit odd with the pork chunks and all…

Back at the room I finished reading what I could of my New Scientist and thumbed through most of the Tour guide and then chucked out everything except the teams and stages. Hopefully those bits can dry out well enough to be readable? Sleep at 10pm.