Bernburg to Halle- another river ride: Our last day of cycle touring on this trip

August 6, 2014

Today is bittersweet for us as it is going to be our last day of fully loaded riding. We are looking forward to exploring yet another cycle route on a German river. The Saale River is an unknown area for us and we have been unable to buy any maps of the river and the route, so we will rely on our GPS to get us to Halle today.
Oddly, neither the Youth Hostel in Bernburg nor the shops had any maps - and we love maps but it is only about 60 km to Halle, so off we go.
We feel reflective today as we remember where we have travelled on this trip. So many rivers: the Main, Labe, Elbe, Havel, Saale....We love cycling along rivers. We have been able to explore new parts of Germany, Czech Republic and Poland. We are so lucky to have these opportunities.

The Youth Hostel in Bernburg - last year it was completely flooded by the Saale River and the main floor and grounds have been completely redone.

We met Karel from Belgium at the youth Hostel. He is on a 2 week tour to Berlin.

Karel was very proud of his hand built bike from Belgium.

Karel hangs this owl on his bike bag and the eyes light up. A funny misunderstanding arose when Karel explained that it helped to keep "ducks" away from his bike. We listened with interest to his explanation that he fears groups of ducks that can come at him when riding. Eventually we realized that he was actually saying "dogs"!

The route is very wet and muddy along the Saale River - even the sign is covered in mildew.

We have been encountering much water and mud along the trail. Nonetheless, we are enjoying the ride as it is very pretty with villages along the way.

We have decided to leave the trail as it is too muddy to ride. The GPS has given us a way to take a path to a village - sounds good until we discover that a fallen tree is blocking the path.

We have made it through to the village and it is finally dry, but the path has disappeared.

Mud everywhere - the fender is stuck to the tire.

To get through the village we opted to walk as the cobbles were up a hill and on an angle.

This cafe is the only possibility of food since leaving Bernburg, so we will stop here for lunch.

We couldn't find any shops and decided to have lunch at this cafe - the special looked good but we didn't read the sign carefully - it is pork liver with onions and mashed potatoes. Mary Ellen loves all food - except liver!! Barry had double servings of meat for lunch.

The ferry across the Saale at Wettin is the least expensive ferry we have taken. And the good news is that we will have 7 km of road riding which will help us to make up some time.

Another sign that the river is very high this year. We have come by areas where homes have sandbagged their driveways in anticipation of flooding.

We are enjoying riding on this road. We hope taht the muddy trail is behind us.

We took a welcome break by the river to have an ice cream break.

Iced chocolate for Mary Ellen and ice coffee for Barry - our first try at these iced drinks.

This dog liked the look of our ice cream.

These two men (friends from Israel and Germany) were heading in the other direction on the Saale River to Magdeberg.

Hot and tired - a quick nap after lunch.

Mary Ellen and this cat had the same idea.

The air is still and humid - no movement on these wind turbines today.

The ride on the way in to Saale was much improved from earlier in the day - dry, good surface and lined with corn.

The iconic Trabi car of East Germany from the GDR era.

Tor was running along the trail as we entered Halle. Tor is an Ironman and has competed in a triathalon in Penticton, British Columbia.

Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 2,259 km (1,403 miles)

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