From Rostock to the German capital: Hypermiling by bicycle [Part 7]

Up to this point, I had been able to sleep in almost every day. After all the cycling the day before, that was certainly necessary too, but on this seventh day of the bike trip, I didn't have the privilege of sleeping until 9:00 or 10:00 a.m.

It's 3:10 a.m., and I wake up. My alarm had actually been set for 3:30 a.m., but because of the very loud snoring of a roommate in my room, as well as the tension about the upcoming route, I was awake before the alarm.

I quickly packed up the few things I had in the room and grabbed a cold coffee and some provisions from the kitchen. Then I took my already prepared bike out onto the street, threw the hostel key into the designated mailbox for checking out, and set up the navigation to Berlin.

251 kilometers, 12 hours, 57 minutes.

With this estimate from Google Maps, I started the cycling workout on my watch at 3:25 a.m. I was wearing my full cycling gear, but with an extra jacket on top — the nights were still cool. All device batteries were fully charged; I was most worried about my watch battery considering the upcoming tour — but I had power banks ready so I could charge it during short stops.

So off I went. From Rostock's industrial area, I rode through the deserted city, where I didn't see a single car or any other road user, and out into the countryside.

A wonderful night sky appeared as I rode the first kilometers toward Berlin along unlit sections of the route as far as Niendorf.

There I was forced to stop for the first time that day, because the bike path abruptly ended in a meadow for no apparent reason. So I pushed the bike over the small dirt mound that separated the meadow from the country road running alongside it. I followed that road for the next few kilometers via Benitz to Schwaan, and from there on to Güstrow.

In the Primerwald, shortly before passing under the A19, I was able to have a bit of breakfast. After that, though, I got right back on the bike so I could continue covering good distance in the early morning hours.

For the sake of clarity, all the pictures from the tour up to sunrise in one carousel:

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The first 50 km were very easy to ride, let's see how it goes from here 🙌 pic.twitter.com/omDZMKSGGgAugust 12, 2021

Shortly after I posted the tweet about how rideable the first 50 kilometers had been, what had to happen happened: I took a wrong turn in Langhagen.

As I later realized, Google Maps had sent me across part of the premises of the local Heidelberg Cements branch, where the path suddenly came to an end in front of a railway track. So I had to turn back, ride the last 1.5 kilometers again, and find an alternative route.

The route I chose around the industrial site on an official bike path, which was unfortunately in very poor condition, led through a wooded area where I had to ride through a path-wide puddle. But I completely underestimated its depth, so my panniers got a free underbody wash, my gears rubbed slightly and made noise for the rest of the tour (right after riding through the puddle I also couldn't shift properly anymore, but luckily that sorted itself out fairly quickly).

After that surprise, my route led me through many wooded areas, though always on good bike paths, farther and farther away from the sea that I had left behind in the darkness.

Around 10:00 a.m., I was happy to have reached the first major checkpoint of the tour: Waren, a top-class resort town, gave me the chance to catch my breath after 106 kilometers on the bike and enjoy the beautiful view before heading on once again:

After this important point on the route (also because I crossed the 100 km mark within Waren), I rode along a narrow footpath until I stopped at the "Kuhtränke" viewing platform to get a look out over Lake Feisneck. At the same time, a group of retirees had also stopped at the platform during their hike that day. I got talking with the group and told the interested older gentlemen about my bike trip and my plans to ride all the way to Berlin that day. They then even wanted to invite me to a meal, but I politely declined. Secretly, though, I was really delighted that these older folks were so friendly, interested, and respectful.

The next kilometers of the route were more uneventful again, but one small highlight for me was passing Müritz Airpark: every year (if COVID doesn't prevent it), a festival called "Fusion" takes place on these grounds, and it has been recommended to me again and again. Maybe it'll work out in 2022 and I'll get to have that experience too. At least now I know where I'd need to go. To see the site in full, I took another unpaved forest path, which thankfully merged back into a larger paved road. I even saved a bit of time with this route deviation.

Shortly after the airpark, my watch, which was tracking the route, showed the next success in terms of distance: I passed the 126 km mark, the (hoped-for) halfway point of my tour.

Software bugs, heat issues, and lunch

After visiting the Fusion grounds, I continued toward Mirow, where after 143.5 kilometers and 9 hours of riding, something very interesting happened: first, I ate a kebab at a Turkish snack bar, refilled my bottles, and cooled down, but above all, the workout app on my watch became unstable. When I first noticed this instability, I initially assumed the watch processor had throttled down and couldn't cope with the heat and the strain of continuously recording the route; but after Mirow I let the workout keep running for the time being, since distance and time were still counting normally. In hindsight, I found out that the GPS recording had temporarily ended at exactly kilometer 143.5.

At first, though, I continued on strengthened, if also somewhat worn out from all the cycling, especially from the weather and the sun, which on this Thursday seemed particularly determined to shine intensely.

I crossed the next milestone in Prebelow, a small scattered settlement on the large Lake Prebelow: the border between Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg.

When, 20 kilometers later in the small village of Schulzendorf, I couldn't get the watch — and with it the workout recording — to respond at all anymore, I restarted the workout. That meant the tour, and especially the distance, was recorded again. In the same village, I also bought a small sweet pastry and water at the bakery — unfortunately I couldn't refill my bottles there, so after asking kindly, a young family let me fill up with water.

The route to Oranienburg became torture for me, because the still enormous temperatures quickly depleted my water supply, and I grew more and more exhausted. Above all, near Lindow (Mark), Google Maps sent me off diagonally through the forest for more than five kilometers — 34 minutes of torture on sandy ground, through bushes and undergrowth, really wore away at my motivation. When I was finally able to ride properly again, there were still 70 kilometers to the finish, and now without the pedal hook on the right side — it had torn on the forest section. I still tried to replace it in Löwenberg, a smaller town in the Mark region, at a small bike shop (with the very warm-hearted owner Peter Block, who for a small donation at least gave me a rag for roughly cleaning the chain, which had suffered badly from the forest ride, and some chain oil). In Löwenberg I also stopped at a supermarket (Aldi Nord — for me, as someone from the South faction, always a real adjustment in terms of layout and product range) and bought drinks, especially isotonic ones.

The ride onward to Oranienburg went well, because I was now only following official signage and a proper bike path: the larger stretch had a positive effect on my motivation thanks to higher speeds and more fun riding.

Even so, in Oranienburg I briefly thought about taking the S-Bahn into Berlin after all, because by then I was very exhausted, and another 32 kilometers, mostly through the city, wasn't exactly something to look forward to. But no way! This tour was going to be completed now.

On the home stretch

At 7:30 p.m., I finally crossed the border into Berlin. After riding through the forest area of Frohnau, I was finally able to experience the Berlin I had longed for along the route: the German capital, covered in election posters for the federal election and broad streets, but also with surprisingly many bike lanes and park paths that were pleasant to ride, shone with all its contrast between modernity and the past, beauty and confusion, and yet familiarity.

With a short message, I let the friend I was going to have dinner with know that I would be there soon.

Along the Ringbahn, the final kilometers took me on busy streets around the center, where I was going to spend the night. In Friedrichshain, I then turned toward my accommodation for the night, happy to have completed the tour.

So at 9:00 p.m., after a total of 1.5 hours of riding in the Berlin urban area, I actually reached Stayery, my accommodation in Berlin.

My tour that day ended up being 264.55 kilometers in 15 hours, 11 minutes, and 52 seconds — an average speed of 17.63 km/h. In the process, I climbed 960 meters of elevation, burned a total of 6,969 kcal, and spent 17 hours and 25 minutes on the road.

After putting away my bike, I went out for Asian food and to toast the tour — afterward I enjoyed a well-earned shower and quickly fell asleep, knowing full well that the very next day it would all continue again, for one final stretch into Lusatia.