Thoughts of those waking up along the dirty water of the Charles in danger.
Biking along the Elbe in Dresden…
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Monthly Archives: April 2013
Nerd Heaven
I got lucky and the Mathematisch-Physikalische Salon at the Zwinger just reopened yesterday after a year+ of renovations. To celebrate they had evening hours and free admission!
Nothing like looking at old watches, telescopes and astrolobes to rest the legs. The number of devices required merely to measure distances in the 1770s makes the two GPS-enabled devices I’m carrying (Garmin + mobile phone) seem like an absurd extravagance.
And, yes, that is a watch inside a silver skull. The old philosophers were badass.
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- This is the most fascinating clock I have ever seen–a mechanical machine which can track the positions of all the planets including Saturn’s ~30 year orbit!
Day 2: Luckenwalde, Germany to Elsterwerda, Germany
Start: Luckenwalde, Germany
End: Elsterwerda, Germany
Distance: 87.5km
Elevation Gain: 1033ft
Elevation Loss: 903ft
Time: 6h51m
Reading Material: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz
Audio Material: WTF Podcast w/ Marc Maron (eps 377); Game Theory Podcast (eps 16: Sex & Violence)
Description
A good long day. While I haven’t been specifically choosing bike-friendly routes, I enjoyed a nice 10km stretch on a wide, recently paved bike path next to the B101. The last 10km into Elsterwerda, however, was both uphill and on a busy 2-lane road. Jim Fingal’s unintentional entendres from the Video Game podcast (“headshots”, “pulling the joystick”) helped ease the pain of the last few kms.
Day’s highlight was most certainly lunch at the Boxenstoppe (literally a box restaurant on the side of the road) in Schönewalde. First, the Hamburger Schnitzel (3EUR) hit the spot. Then, the friendly patrons. During the meal, a bearded man on a moped pulled up. Turns out he’s a Dane who has been traveling via moped from Greece to Berlin before beginning University next year. We had a good time comparing routes and motives. I was a bit jealous of his moped which gets 30km/hr to my (generous) 15km/hr. Also, he’s got way more range.
Evening was at a family-run hotel in Elsterwerda with a cozy cave-themed basement restaurant. I was so tired I fell asleep by 830pm.
Dresden or Barcelona…
Day 1: Berlin to Luckenwalde, Germany
Start: Berlin, Germany
End: Luckenwalde, Germany
Distance: 63.1km
Elevation Gain: 1164ft
Elevation Loss: 773ft
Time: 5h45m
Reading Material: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz
Audio Material: Diane Rehm’s Friday News Roundup (Domestic & International)
Description
A beautiful day to begin. Our discontented winter is over and hopefully spring brings something better. With a latte (on the house) and a Chemex (for the road) from my new friends at Bonanza Coffee Heroes, we’re off.
The first 15km was spent mainly getting out of Berlin. The fully-loaded bike actually handles quite well, but you still have to move slow and deliberate in city traffic–much different than weaving lanes on a fixie in Cambridge. I won’t lie: spirits were low as I battled the last of Berlin traffic. My right knee had begun to act up, and I wasn’t able to enjoy the ride with so many potential dangers to track. A quick rest on a small patch of green in front of a Lidle and then, finally, the open road.
My mood immediately improved with empty blacktop (and 400mg of Ibuprofen coursing through the system). The remainder of the leg alternated on low-traffic two lane road and a nice, meandering paved bike path which tracked the B101 highway. Relying on Google Map directions, I did need to portage some railroad tracks, but otherwise the route was excellent. My favorite was when the road entered small towns (e.g Trebbin) and I got a few spins on some cobblestone.
My knee improved, as well. Keeping the right foot uncleated and spinning in a low gear at a constant speed helped. The last 30km was blissful with the dulcet sounds of Diane Rehm (say what you will about her voice, but she’s really the most balanced host NPR features) in my ear, I was finally able to settle into the ride. I think the knee should be fine and current plan is to try and lower the saddle a smidge and see if I can cleat without issue.
Decided to get my road legs under me early in the trip and opted for a hotel in Luckenwalde for the night instead of a field. Dinner was Italian at an Indian/Italian (also gyros!) restaurant. The town is old, beautiful and deserted. I leave you with the following descriptive prose from Luckenwalde’s wikipedia page:
In 1923, architect Erich Mendelsohn erected the Herrmann hat factory, a milestone of Expressionist architecture. During WW2, there was a Stalag for prisoners of war (Stalag IIIa). There was also a work camp for civilians. Nazis forced people to work for their war effort, else the families of people who worked there would perish. Lack of food and hard work killed thousands of them. Among them were Poles, Italians, French and many more. There were several places in town and around it where they worked. After the Russians showed up to liberate the camp, American POW’s ventured into town to to find Russians raping and killing, hanging women and children out of windows. German girls went to the Gi’s for protection and the Russians did not bother the girls when they were with them. But after feeling threatened by the Russians who had the guns they left town and headed back to camp. When they got there the fences were back up and they were now prisoners of the Russians. The Russians asked for name rank and serial number but the Gi’s refused telling the Russians they were comrades and should not be treated as prisoners. [AR15.com]
