I decided on Monday that come Wednesday I’d start biking to Copenhagen. You see, Monday was my last day of work and my Master’s degree didn’t start for a month so I had some time to kill. I had heard about a nice bike path between Berlin and Copenhagen and decided I’d give it a try. On Tuesday I went shopping for a saddle bag and some other last minute essentials and on Wednesday I hopped on the bike and started pedaling.
I rode around and through a handful of Berlin’s sights on my way to the start of the route at a leisurely pace. When I saw the first sign marking the official route the adrenaline kicked in and I upped the pace. At least until the first rain drops started to fall. It wasn’t long before I was soaked to the bone and couldn’t feel my feet or my fingers. Despite the cold my spirits were still high. I smiled from ear to ear as I zoomed past other bike trekkers who’s bikes were weighed down with heavy panniers.
As I approached Oranienburg, about 57 kilometers from home, the sun poked out from among the clouds and my stomach started to rumble so I stopped for a quick döner lunch. While I waited for my food I mapped the rest of my ride. And that’s when I realized my mistake. I had relied on someone else’s Komoot route for my trip. My issue was that their route was broken into 8 sections and I never bothered to add up the number of kilometers I'd be riding each day.
It was sitting there, soaking wet from the morning’s rain, that I realized the day’s ride would end up being more than 135 kilometers. A far cry from my previous furthest distance of 100 kilometers. But there was nothing to be done about it. I had no choice but to ring out my wet socks, tighten my shoes around my numb toes, and pedal on. As I neared the hostel I was screaming to the silent trees around me as I crested each hill, hoping it would be the day’s last.
After checking into my room, a hot shower and a couple of cold beers changed my spirits. I draped my wet gear all around the radiators in the room and dozed off with a (pained) smile. The next morning I decided to abandon the official bike route—135 kilometers, again—for a more direct route that meandered a measly 80 kilometers through Brandenburg’s lake country and ended the day with pizza and ice cream overlooking Petersdorfer See.
That night I realized that the ferry schedule I’d seen earlier was wrong and that the ferry the next day would only come every 2 hours, and the bus after that only came every hour. So if I didn’t time it just right I’d be waiting for hours for the ferry and then the bus and get into Copenhagen very late. So the next morning I waited impatiently for the hostel’s reception to open at 8:30 and then jumped on my bike and rode for 4 hours straight. I rumbled along on paved bike paths, tiny cobbled lanes, and rocky forest roads for 100 kilometers, stopping only once to water the plants. I arrived at the ferry with 30 minutes to spare and celebrated with fish nuggets and a beer before biking on to the huge ferry with all of the other bike packers.
After disembarking I hopped on a bus and two trains before pedaling my way through Copenhagen to my friend’s apartment where I was greeted by a hot meal and a soft bed. After a full night’s sleep I took advantage of my one day in Copenhagen by walking from sunrise to sunset on my tired legs. I hit all of the sights and ate all of the bites in 24 hours before hopping on the train for my journey back to Berlin.
My route home included an hour of biking, a bus, three trains, and a ferry for a total of 12 hours of travel but I didn’t mind. So long as I didn’t have to bike all-out for four hours to make the ferry crossing or ride 135 kilometers in the pouring rain I was happy.
