26 Sept 2013
Rostock and Around
36 miles

Pastries. Bratwurst. Beer. And people wonder why we love Germany so much.

We spent the day pedaling a loop around the Rostock area, after a night long downpour robbed us of our must-move-forward-mojo. It’s been a different kind of cycling trip for us so far, not feeling the motivation to get up and get moving as we’ve faced the daily challenges of route-finding and threatening rain. The season has undoubtedly shifted into Autumn; the temperatures colder, the skies cloudier, the air heavier, the bikes feeling like they belong more in the garage than out on the road. I suppose our experience of Denmark during this change in season brought on a sort of melancholy, like we had come late to the party and now everyone has gone home and we are left with the trampled streamers, the warm beer, and a host who really wishes we’d call it a night. I don’t know where everyone was in Denmark, but they certainly weren’t out on the road with us and as great as that might sound, it was more often than not a lonely experience, an isolating feeling, a sense that a door had closed and we had somehow been left out in the cold.

We have hope now in Germany, armed with our maps and past experiences, knowing we can point our wheels toward a distant church steeple and find our way into town to a backdrop of church bells ringing. Ok, so sometimes we still get off route and every now and then we get completely turned around and there are choice words said about the map or missing signs or who picked the route in the first place, but there’s something about having people around and outdoors and riding their bikes even if in their winter jackets and open bakeries on every other corner and beer gardens at the edge of the woods still serving pints and available guest houses with rooms that cost far less than $200 a night that makes Germany feel like that door is still cracked open. At least enough for a little light to shine through.