We have found someone to fix our bike

May 13, 2019

...and will ride to a small distant village where Seavo will be repaired

We feel at loose ends as we are stuck here until we find a solution to the motor problem. There are a few bike shops in Wittenberg which sell e-bikes, so our first plan of attack is to visit them early and see if they can help. Well, we tried and we struck out. We could see that they were intimidated by our big rig and the Bafang motor.

Meanwhile, Ulrich at Akkurad in Koln is busy trying to find a shop in Germany that has ordered Bafang motors from them in the past. We are hoping that this will lead to a shop or mechanic who has retrofitted Bafang motors which would lead to the type of problem solving mechanic that we need.

By noon, Ulrich had found the perfect solution. Sausetritt bike shop in Oenha specializes in recumbents and does ebike conversions with Bafang motors. Yeah..plus it is only 45 km away and in the right direction. Ulrich is shipping a new Controller by express courier to Rolf at this shop and tomorrow, if all goes well, we will have a functioning motor again.

Full of confidence, we headed down the main drag of Wittenberg to visit the Tourist Office to get a map and we heard a horrible sound from the back of our bike followed by a metallic screech. We were chagrined to see that one of the quick release wheels on the trailer had not been secured properly, and you guessed it, the trailer was being dragged behind us on one wheel and the other wheel was rolling down the road in the opposite direction. This is one of those times when we wish that we were not so conspicuous on our bike. It has been a morning....

We always like to share our positive impressions of places where we stay and visit, if warranted. However, we do want to mention that we were not happy with the Acron Hotel in Wittenberg. We chose this hotel as we had such a good experience at the Acron in Quelingburg. The hotel in Wittenberg is an older building which doesn’t seem to be as well maintained, but that is not the problem. It all comes down to the management. Some of the staff were lovely and in spite of the manager, did their best. We don’t want to get into the details, but we can not recommend this location.

The Rathaus in Market Square, Lutherstadt Wittenberg.

Not sure why this is here but we liked the reflection of the historic Rathaus in this modern globe.

We are heading to the small village of Oenha, also luckily there is also a Pension, so we have booked for 2 nights to give Rolf enough time to install the new controller and deal with any other problems that may be discovered.

All we have to do now is ride to Oenha on our own steam. The fates are having the last laugh as there is a wind and of course it is a headwind. It’s character building right?

This country church caught our eye. Solar panels on a church. Impressive! We are enjoying our ride, now that we are adjusting to pulling our own weight, without a motor in other words.

We are following a new cycle route to Oenha. Unfortunately, we have to take to the road at times as the cycle path sometimes deteriorates to a narrow path in the fields. That’s ok though, as the roads are quiet and have a good surface.

By the time we got close to Oenha, the sun was setting.

I know this seems peculiar, but it seemed dark a moment ago with the heavy clouds and now the sun has come through the clouds. We have made it to Oenha.

Riding out of Wittenberg, we were surprised at how hard it was. The bike and trailer felt like a lead weight which was not helped by the surprising presence of small hills, the not so surprising presence of cobbles and our faithful companion of late, a headwind. Nonetheless we persevered and had a great ride.

A positive side to this frustrating experience and necessary detour, is that it took us to a region of Germany that was not in our plans. Once we got into the Flaming region, we were taken by its nature, forests and beauty. One can see in all directions due to the flat terrain and there are many off road options for cycling.

We are in the village yet in the countryside -just the way we like it.

Pension Kleebett offers us a spacious room with a couch, eating area and frig with breakfast included at the nearby Gastatte. We are ready for a hot shower and an early night.

Today's ride: 45 km (28 miles)
Total: 1,094 km (679 miles)

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