Day 44: Bremen to Hamburg

I woke up this morning feeling much better than I did the day before. My shell was once again replete with Suz. I was ready for a sub-par hostel breakfast and to hit the road to Hamburg.

My back tire has been feeling a little low since I had the tire changed a few days ago. I tried to find a place to use a pump with pressure gauge today, but as it is Sunday, nothing was open. Literally nothing in Germany is open on Sundays. Super convenient.

I rode on hoping that nothing would cause a flat, clenching my nether regions when I went over big bumps or spotted broken glass glistening in the sun.

Happy to report I made it the long distance from Bremen to Hamburg, totalling 113 km! Long, yes, but very enjoyable for the most part (save for the clenching). The sun was out and there was a wonderful breeze.

Mostly, I was riding through small German towns and next to farm land. As usual, I saw many a cow and horse.

Things got a bit hairy approaching Hamburg. I followed my directions bringing me to a body of water, the Elbe river, where I thought I would be taking a bridge. There was quite a crowd around the area and I couldn’t really figure out where to go.

I rode up to the edge of the water, sort of on a high seawall, where people were gathered. As far as I could see in either direction, no bridge.

I consulted the map and realized it was actually a tunnel I had to take. So, I back tracked a little way looking for the entry ramp into the tunnel. I figured this was the logical thing to do.

Again, I couldn’t find a ramp. But there was a building with what appeared to be boarded up entry ways to what could be the tunnel? There was also quite a bit of construction paraphernalia around, so it wasn’t looking promising.

I went around the corner to try to check things out, and when I came back I noticed a load of people cycling and walking out of the area that I thought was boarded up.

Turns out this is the, quite famous, Elbe Tunnel that has a large elevator system taking pedestrians down 24 m below the surface. It was opened in 1911, is 426 m long, and has been preserved to maintain it’s original condition.

I was excited and relieved that I could make use of this historical feat of engineering, while also getting to the correct side of the river.

Since it is Sunday, and everything is closed, and also because I am pretty wiped after 113 km, my sightseeing of Hamburg was rather minimal. I took the U-bahn two stops and walked out of the tube to a grand and imposing view of the Rathaus.

I took a little walk through the centre and then sat in a park for a while reading. Next, I found some dinner and then I walked home. Wild, I know!

Tomorrow will be a shorter ride to Lübeck, northern Germany. I need to get to Copenhagen by the 16th for an Iron Man*.

*Iron Man is hosting a multi-sport event and one of the options is a 4-18-4. This is a 400 m swim, 18 km cycle, and 4 km run. Similar to the triathlon I did in Belgium, but a bit shorter (yay!).

DOTD