Author: Rob Ainsley

A short day on this autumnal equinox, with small achievement of both distance and itinerary: I changed barely more than one letter as I dawdled up the coast from Büsum to Husum. The brevity of the ride was partly determined by accommodation: Husum has a super little hostel, cosy and reasonably-priced, which I wanted to…

A few miles out from the campsite, I had to cross the Elbe today on the ferry across to Glückstadt. I could see it, right there, just the other side of the waterworks bridge that was clearly marked on my map. And the bridge was indeed there. It was just vertical instead of horizontal. Not…

Bread, cycle paths, kebabs, beer, campsites… and free ATMs: Germany provides well for cycle tourists. The toll-free cashpoints are welcome, because while you can make much of your way by card, cash is still very useful here. And indeed the only way you can pay in many places to eat and put your tent. Heading…

A short, drizzly day of flat lanes across farmland and alongside invisible rivers. I left my campsite somewhere around eight, reducing its active population from 1 to 0. Breakfast was at Verden Aller, in the six-euro shape of a pain au choc and coffee in a Bäckerei, provided by a friendly and impeccably-dressed middle-aged woman….

Miesbach, 1999*. Crask Inn, 2013**. Minden, 2025. Once every dozen years, it seems, I have a Lost Property Disaster while cycle touring. But disasters which all get miraculously resolved. The morning was all going so well. Nice self-made breakfast in my excellent Airbnb apartment. Early start from a waking Minden. Fast, wind-assisted progress along the…

Hamelin council’s record on pest control is notorious. In 1284, the story goes, they commissioned a flashily-dressed ratcatcher to remove the town’s plague of said vermin. He did so, with his charmed pipe, but there was a payment dispute. In revenge, the piper similarly bewitched all the town’s children and led them away, never to…

Cyclists talking about their breakfast is something of a trope. It’s a boring, predictable start to a travel piece, and typical in the work of inexperienced writers. It was a rainy morning and after a hearty breakfast we set off, that sort of thing. However, Germany is a land of breakfast. So I’m going to…

Somewhere today, around Hann. Munden, I passed the halfway point of my German End to End. I’m enjoying it so much I’ll come back to do a Side to Side, which will therefore intersect this route somewhere around Hann. Munden. By then I might have learned what the Hann. stands for. It was a bright…

I slept deeply. For about half an hour. And was then woken by the roar of the motorway right next to the campsite. Hmm. I hadn’t quite expected a canoe club to be so well-connected to the transport system. But I was warm, once my compact half-season sleeping bag was assisted by hat, T-shirt, fleece…

My tent may weigh less than a can of beer, but it coped very well with the overnight deluge. I was dry and snug when I woke at four, and somehow managed to pack up all my bags – apart from the tent itself – from within the tiny confines of my OEX Bobcat Ultralite….