Day 6 Inner German Border Tour

As the hotel where we were staying couldn’t do a breakfast we had to go to the Baker’s Cafe just over the road. We then returned to finish packing. Afterwards our BBF went to get the bike from out of the lockup.

Sod’s Law kicked in as he found some clever Town Hall servant had packed the service car too close to the lockup to get the bike out! Until someone came who worked in the Town Hall came he was helpless. A helpful man did then come by and using his phone was able to get one of the Town Hall secretaries to come and assess the situation. She eventually found the car key, but thought she had the wrong one as she couldn’t open the door with that key. She went and got another car key which didn’t work either! The man now tried suing the first car key and found that if you turned it the other way the door opened!!

The day now started well as not only was rain not in the offing, but occasionally the current bun came out. The going was good too as it was mainly flat with a slight downwards incline which made cycling without motor easy. Our BBF cruised like this for approximately the first 10 kms. Thereafter he rationed his use of the motor and did his best never to go above Tour if he could help it. 

It wasn’t always possible as we did have to go up often enough as you can just make out here. When we our BBF was almost at the end of his huffing and puffing uphill peddling we all had the thrill of downhill rushes.

 

Generally we followed re-entrants and valley floors which pleased you know who. Only the wind caused us problems as once again it was strong and always from ahead.

We passed through Flinsberg which says it is the Geographical Middle point of Germany. We think this is disputed as the town of Niederdorla also calls itself the geographic centre of Germany.

It was a climb to get out, but the views made up for the struggle.

The windsock proves how strong the wind was and that it blowed from ahead.

We had a rest at the top of the next hell and our BBF ate a muesli bar to gain some strength.

The views compensated for the struggle to get there as always.



There was also this sad sight to see. The poor girl died before her 17th birthday, probably in a traffic  accident at this spot.

We paused again at the next border crossing.

From here it was only a couple of kilometres into Duderstadt. Our BBF checked the accommodation availability in the middle of town and close to the Lion Hotel, but their prices where out of our budget at €129 for a room! He found a DUD Hotel with a room price of €53 much more reasonable.

We had some trouble finding it as the directions were odd and confusing. In the end we found it more by accident than by design. It looks more like a Motel.  It had no reception which confused us !

But the sign explained it all, we had only to do as it said and wait till 1500hrs as we were a little earlier.

A smaller bed than last night let’s hope our BBF doesn’t fall out of bed in the night.

So far Alan has locked the bike up outside the door, but he will bring it into the room for the night.

We are now by point 32 on the map having cycled 50 kms today.

 

Day 5 Inner German Border Tour

Before we Bears tell you about our travels we thought we should make an observation about our BBF! Sometimes we think he is stark raving bonkers! Or else why are we “am Arsch der Welt” puffing and blowing to get up hill against the wind in the pouring rain! But what you do not know about him is that he once did a Junior Officer’s Combat Survival Course with 22 SAS. Here he learned not just how to survive on the battle field, but how to survive with next to nothing!

He also learned how to make a radio receiver from just two razor blades and a bit of wire, so how is that he now can’t survive without his six smart gizmos? iWatch, iPhone, iPod, iPad and smart hearing aids! Mind you we have to admit we couldn’t write our blog on two razor blades!!

After a hearty breakfast we set off for Check Point Alfa. A point were Americans stood in their tower watching NVA East Germans looking at them in their tower across the border.

The sign says house on the border, which is strictly speaking not true as the house has been built over the Convoy road or Kolonnweg!  You can see by the kit our BBF is wearing that the weather was poor again. 

                                                                                   The Kolonnen Weg

Some East German statements about the Border.

The American tower is in the trees on the left and the NVA one is clearly visible on the right.

At some places along the border the NVA had War dogs which ran along chains between the border fence and the mine field.

The American Tower or Check Point Alfa.

It was a puffing billy climb to get here and now we had the adrenaline rush on the journey back down the hill. We set off using the COBI Bike App as Navi and Alan had told it to find the shortest route. This led to some really adventurous routes through woods. Generally it was all uphill again and hard work in the rain. Even when we had a downhill section the 30 km/h wind against us  meant we had to peddle with motor or we would have come to a stop. Very annoying it was. 

In the woods we saw how when constructing Wind Generators they clear much of the forest  around the site. A good reason why conservationists are against building them. The Navi now had clear ideas about where we should go, but our BBF refused some of the paths as they looked right dodgy. By lunchtime the App was telling us we did not have enough power to arrive at our destination so once we came off the hill we started to look for another German Pub we could get a recharge and some lunch.

As you can see the only two pubs in the two villages were closed! Our BBF now thought that the local Fire Brigade might come to our recuse and started  to look for the next local one.

We didn’t need them in the end as we came across a Gaststätte that helped us. An Isotonic drink, this time in the shape of a Shandy, helped us pass the time.

The smaller version looked really small, but was a 0.3ltr one. After two hours we set off again. The charge now said we had a range of 75kms but as we rode on it increased this to over 90. 

We crossed the border a number of times, but it was hard going again. Only the rain had let up which was the only bonus of the afternoon.

Our BBF was really concerned about our ability to get to where we had booked accommodation. The Navi now took us up and over steep hills. Because of his concern about the range we were committed and soon found ourselves on a dodgy path downhill.

Here we had another tumble! Thereafter we walked the bike down the hill.



This view is looking back up the hill to where we fell. When we eventually came  out of the woods we had a fair bit of downhill and flat parts where our BBF  was able to turn off the motor and save power. The range under motor, though was dropping rapidly especially when we used high power. 

We were all relived when we finally arrived at our Hotel.

The bike is stored in a box behind the town hall!

Our bike is in the box second from the left.

We have a large room, more like a suit really.





But would you believe there is no breakfast! After showering Alan went below for an isotonic drink and now the staff gave him the beer for free, in lieu of breakfast!

Today was our longest day in the saddle yet some five hours. We have traveled 74.7 kms and are now by number 27 on the Map.

 

Day 4 Inner German Border Tour

Today has been another hard day due to the weather and the hills to be climbed. It rained from the moment we set off. We Bears do not like getting wet and so our BBF put us in a waterproof bag inside the basket. Now we have to rely on our BBF telling us what he sees and where we are going. He doesn’t like getting wet either, but it’s his adventure and goes with the territory. Just remember if it ain’t raining it ain’t training! 

From our overnight accommodation in Heufurt it was an uphill climb for 10 kms. The rain and the strong wind against us didn’t help either. The visor on the helmet get’s steamed up and makes visibility very poor. We can vouch for the fact that it’s an uphill climb even if we can’t see by the puffing of our BBF. Within five minutes he is breathing hard and uses all the gears and speed on the motor, although he does try and safe power when he can. 

In Frankenheim Rhön he found a loading bay with a bit of a roof to rest and plan the next stage. When we started we had a range of 100kms on Ecomodus, arriving  here we now only had 25 kms left!! Our BBF was perplexed and at first undecided what to do.



The route on began with another hill climb. The motor on Tour, Speed and Turbo modus showed a range of between 14 and 12 kms and mentioned that we did not have enough range! Alan turned round and sought out a German Pub called, would you believe it Die Hard fans, Schweinebacke! They kindly agreed to charge up his bike battery.

So he sat in the warm, but left us outside on the bike in the rain!! It took about two hours to charge the battery again. In the mean time he had coffee and something to eat.

All rested we set off again. Initially the COBI Bike App said we had 50kms range on Eco modus, which was enough we thought to get us to where we wanted to go, but seemed very strange as usually it would show a range of 120 kms fully charged.  The struggle uphill in the rain continued.

We criss crossed the old Border again, but didn’t stop longer than it took to take a photo.

Joy of joys shortly after this photo it was downhill for some 10 kms at speeds of up to 54 km/h! Oddly now the COBI Bike App told us we had 124 kms range and this after another 10 kms uphill! We were all confused, but pressed on. There were in fact two of these adrenaline rush downhill rides and then a nice flat stage on proper cycle paths which, despite the rain our BBF said he enjoyed!

In Tann we came across a bit of history concerning Martin Luther, apparently Eberhard von der Tann a nobleman was one of Luther’s friends and sponsors.

We road on through the countryside on fairly flat paths until we came to Geisa when in order to get to our room for the night we had to go uphill again.

We are in the Schloss Geisa and they let Alan put his bike in the Airlock entrance for the night!

We have a comfortable warm room. Alan showered and washed his clothes and then planned where we might end up tomorrow.

We are now by point 21 on the map and have gone 47.5 kms today.