Ostsee Fahrradtour: Sunday the 8th of April 2012

From my trip journal:

(Writing at the end of the day). My total for today seems to have been about 86 kilometers assuming my bike computer is correct. It was a wonderful day, with lots of green fields and the Baltic see almost always visible to one side of me.

Lots of fields in the morning, on the edge of the sea.

An informational poster about the area.

Lots of beach turnoffs on the trail.

A short stroll down a beach.

Lots of this flint-type of rock, with a white patina on the older surfaces.

This particular beach was covered in large smooth stones.

After leaving the dirt path, a rather hilly paved path along the coast.

Interesting red seaweed.

Little bluffs, but I couldn't help taking a picture.

After a while it became very hilly, with some small bluffs. The bicycle path hugs the coast. I stopped for breakfast at a nice overlook. Later, I stopped for coffee at a nice little town called Boltenhagen (had hoped to make coffee earlier, but camp stove turned out to be broken, a nice testament to testing one's gear before leaving).

Stopping for breakfast: muesli, powdered milk, and water.

A typical tour sign, I have gone a little over 22 km so far.

Some nice bluffs by Boltenhagen, I believe.

My loaded bike by an eroding bluff.

It is a great day so far. Here is an example of beach protection, called a "groyne" I believe.

More bluffs in the distance.

Stopped in a touristy beach area for a self portrait, more coffee.

I got a little lost later in Wismar. I was repeatedly passed by a German touring couple as I checked my map. We chatted a bit, and I followed their suggested directions, which ended up completely bypassing the city center. I completely overlook one page of my map book with the more detailed directions, oh well.

New hay field, thatch barn, Baltic in the background.

A windmill by a town called Stove.

I skipped the Insel Poel, as I was tiring out and looking for a closer camp site.  I decided to camp at the beach by a town called Pepelow. On the way up, I was hoping to find a small place for lunch, but did not fully realize that everywhere would be closed on Easter Sunday. After a couple more hours I had some trail mix and the rest of my coffee. I continued to Pepelow to the camping area. It had a lot of RV's, but was overall pretty nice. It had a pleasant beach which I walked on for a while. Looking forward to using the shower facilities!

The beach at the Pepelow campground.

Looking away from the beach, wind turbines in background.

Lots of smoked fish for dinner, cheap and tasty!

The campground had a nice cheap Imbiss, which provided me with various smoked fish.

It was Easter Sunday, of course, and everyone wanted to have an Easter fire on the beach. There were a few signs against it, but people did it anyway. I enjoyed the sunset more than the fires.

Sunset on Easter Sunday from the Pepelow campground.

My intention for tomorrow is to bike to Warnemunde, take the ferry, the camp in Graal Muritz for a total of 57 km. After that, I could tentatively spend a couple days in Zingst (53 km) to keep my Friday goal. Then a couple short days, and return on the train from Stralsund. We'll see.

Total distance: 76.6 km (add some more for side trips maybe?)


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Ostsee Fahrradtour: Saturday, the 7th of April 2012

note: I will be posting my trip diary one day per post, along with explanations of random pictures I took.

Saturday, the 7th of April 2012 

I departed Berlin by train toward Lübeck shortly after 8 am, after not enough sleep. Played a game called "Traveller" with a few friends that went way too late last night. I believe I'm in for a pretty wet trip, and suspect that I  may have brought too much stuff (as is usual for these sorts of things). After loading up the bike, I had to unload everything again. Apparently on the ICE train you hang your bike up vertically. My biking goal for today is just about 20km before setting up camp.

Upon leaving the train, I wander around outside the station until a pleasant man with a large beard (and smelling like he lives in a wood-burning residence) points me in the right direction. He recommends I take a detour from the printed route to avoid having to take another bus through a busy tunnel.

Apparently in Lübeck you watch for otter crossings.

A Lutheran church in Bad Schwartau, which I photographed out of principle.

A small market in Bad Schwartau.

My detour was successful, and I met up with the bike route again on the other side of the tunnel. I then proceeded through a very nice forest, which had large patches of coniferous which were very dark, and large patches of deciduous, much lighter.

The deciduous forest was covered in moss and these flowers.

Self portrait in the woods, mildly snotty.

Thatch roof in Poppendorf. I think this was an ordinary house, but generally thatch indicated a Ferienhaus, for guests.

I believe this little church was in Travemunde.

On the road to Travemunde, it started hailing (rather bothersome while biking). This changed quickly to a short but intense snowstorm, which continued as I got on the ferry to Priwall.

On the ferry, with a sudden snow storm.

Looking back at the ferry, still snowing.

I decided to camp at Priwall. It was still a bit gray out, and I was rather tired, so I took a couple hour nap. When I woke up the sun was shining.

My campsite at "Strandcamping Priwall."

I walked on the beach for a while, and saw in incredible amount of mussel shells, as well as flocks of seagulls eating fresh mussels. It appears they actually bulldoze the mussel shells on the beach into piles, possible for aesthetic purposes (I really have no idea).

A nice beach picture, small functional lighthouse in the distance.

Big piles of mussel shells.

It turned into rather a nice day.

A few ducks enjoying the quiet water behind the little mussel berm.

A close up of a naturally shelly area, probably picked over by seagulls.

There was a large sailing vessel at the docks, called Passat (last of the Windjammers). It had a commemorative statue in the water next to it. You can find more about it here (Wikipedia).

Passat and statue in the sun.

Apparently a cargo vessel, approaching Travemunde.

A closeup of Passat's statue.

The cargo vessel (Nicole thinks it's a passenger ship, I'm not sure).

Dinner is fresh Herring from the Baltic sea (€9.90) at Restaurant Seglermesse, with a 0,5 l Pilsner (€3.70). I enjoyed it greatly.

Herrings, salad, potatoes, and beer.

I took a lot of boat photos.

Passat with the sunset.

Tomorrow my goal is about 70km. I might camp at Pepelow, which would make it about 80km.

The days distance: 22.7 km

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