Berlin

September 5, 2017

Today was our last day! Berlin is within striking distance. And it was a nice morning, although about as cool as yesterday, maybe a tad warmer, so I went with my long-sleeved jersey and jacket, skipping the second jersey. And the leg warmers. I was getting my money's worth after purchasing them in Munich!

Today's ride to Berlin.

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Jerry had a bit of a head start on Happy and me, but we all hoped to meet at the Brandenburg Gate by early afternoon. Today's ride was not as short as originally anticipated, as our hotel fell short of yesterday's end point. But it was all pretty flat, and because of the route I had followed to the hotel, I knew how to recover the course without riding on cobblestones! Oh, how I disdain riding on cobblestones. Almost as much as I disdain headwinds!

So we added 1-1/2 miles right at the start. Then we added a few more when we made our way from the Brandenburg Gate to our hotels. And for me, that included a diversion to several bike shops as I started my hunt for a bike box!

But first, the ride into Berlin. Which was very nice. The first several miles after leaving Groß Köris were mostly through wooded farm trees, similar to what we had ridden through yesterday. Very pleasant and very quiet; a great way to start the day.

That led to mostly agricultural land uses, even this close to Berlin, although there were still small villages that we passed through, which meant riding on local roads with little traffic. And sometimes it meant bike trails, which often connect small villages in Germany. We had not seen many of these in the former East Germany, but as we got closer to Berlin, they seemed more prevalent.

A nice bicycle facility next to cobblestones. The pavers were a welcome relief.

Shortly after that pleasant part of the ride, we turned onto this even more pleasant trail. Unfortunately, though, it was short.

Eventually we passed over the Berliner Ring, Berlin's outer beltway, a major highway very similar to our (U.S.) interstate highways. Once across, we were within 20 miles or so of the city core, and we immediately started seeing more (and better) bicycle facilities.

At about MP 13, we crossed the Berliner Ring, part of the major highway system around Berlin. Fortunately, they kept some of the local roads, like this one, that make cycling into busy urban centers easy and fun.

After that it was pretty easygoing. There was a forested natural surface path we followed for a bit that there was some grumbling about, but nothing we hadn't tackled before, and it was in better condition than most.

Into the woods on our way into Berlin. While initially it was hard to follow, it shortly turned into a well-defined and very pleasant trail.

So all in all, the ride into Berlin was much better than the one into Prague! There were two construction zones that we had to pass through where we waited for Jerry, as he had gotten a little behind Happy and me. We actually saw him once in the distance. But for some reason he chose to follow the designated car detour (wrong!), whereas we just followed the sidewalks through the construction zone. And while we waited for him, he actually got ahead of us as we stopped between the two zones, and apparently the detour bypassed both! But we quickly caught up!

So on into Berlin. We were entering from the southeast and so would be coming in through the former East Berlin (after having biked through the former East Germany since leaving the Czech Republic). Having not been to Berlin before, it was hard to make a distinction between the West, yet to be seen, and the East, which we were riding through. But after nearly 20-some years, it seems to have caught up with the West. My favorite part was the elevated rail trail, which is part of Treptower Park.

At first, I wasn't sure if bikes were allowed, plus it required a substantial climb up some stairs. But I had practice at that, in both directions. So up I went with Happy following. Although we lingered long enough to catch Jerry (who had gotten behind us again), he deferred and chose to take the local adjacent roads to the city core rather than climb the stairs. His loss, I think!

After the (stair) climb, on the Treptower Park trail, a delightful way to enter Berlin.

The park was a pleasant ride, and we saw plenty of bicycles. It took us to Museum Island, allowing for our first crossing of the Spree River. Welcome to Berlin!

Crossing the Landwehr Canal, which feeds into the Spree, Berlin's main waterway.

And here we are, a little beyond Görlitzer Park, in a broader (wider) area with structures that may have been part of the former Spreepark . . . or maybe not.

By about MP 33 (a little shy, actually), I had lost Happy (and Jerry was somewhere on local but "parallel" roads), so I diverted to a bridge (which always gets my attention) and looked downstream on the Spree to behold what I later learned was the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral Church).

Somehow I reconnected with Happy, and together we headed west down Unter den Linden, Under the Linden (Trees), finally arriving at the Brandenburg Gate, where Jerry joined us shortly after. Our tour was done!

And one with the crew: myself, Jerry, and Happy.

Well, I am never done touring. I have many miles left to pedal! And I have promised to take my French nephews, Antoine and Marius, on bike rides some day, so I better stay in shape! They are so young, after all, one about three and the other younger!!! But in Europe, they start them young. So let's go riding!

In the meanwhile, however, we took lots of pictures and celebrated our arrival in Berlin. But we were also hungry! Time for a hearty meal, so off on the hunt, and we were successful!

Afterward, I hit a couple of bike shops, looking for a box in which to ship my bike home. Success there as well (with little effort, to be honest). There were plenty of bike shops around, and I scored on the third (or was it the second?) hit. No matter, I had a box and could now enjoy the city. My flight home is still several days away.

A very large bike box, which is a bit unusual, that I ended up cutting down to size. More on that later!

Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 1,820 miles (2,929 km)

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