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Another day of cycling along the Elbe and crossing back and forth by little river ferries from one bank to the other as either the route or the whim took me.  Tonight I’m in Reisa Elbland, some 40 miles or so north of Dresden, staying in a very nice Mercure Hotel.  I’m beginning to wonder if I’m gravitating towards a little more luxury on my travels, although I will be rudely brought back to earth tomorrow night when I stay in a T3 Budget Hotel in Zwickau !

My love affair with the Elbe will come to an end tomorrow because I will begin to head east.  As I’ve already explained, going on further for a day or so would bring me to where the Elbe heads in to the Czech Republic and I’m not supposed to go there as a Brit.  I’m pretty sure that I could sneak in, there is no border as I recall along the river path.  The trouble could be when I try to book in to a hotel in Prague.  So, I’ll give it a skip and head west and carry on with my Plan B which is to join the Main River and follow it to Frankfurt.  It will take me a couple of days to get from here to the Main, and then four or five days to follow the winding Main bicycle route to Frankfurt.  And then ?  TBD.

As I’ve got closer to Dresden, which seems to be the biggest place in this part of the world, the small towns and villages along the Elbe have become better kempt and more affluent looking.  I guess they are within commuting distance of Dresden along the autobahn and they are places where the middle classes of Dresden live in rural idyll.  Except for the flooding.  I’ve said that I’m largely following a route that is on top of or beside flood defences / dykes, and it is clear that there has been major investment in these defences in recent years.  At the little church where I stopped for my lunch after coming off one of my ferry crossings (see video), in addition to the bells ringing there was a post showing the varying levels of flooding over the last century.  2002 was by far the worst, and I reckon lots of these new defences were built following that.  Many are quite a way from the river, so that the river can flood in to extensive flood plains.  Anyhow, I guess if you live along a river like the Elbe every now and again you have to put up with flooding.  In the meantime, defences and dykes have provided a great cycling resource along the Elbe.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of cyclists out along my route.  Everybody from old couples on their electric e-bikes, to families with kids, to people like me, and then the lycra speed brigade.  Old people on e-bikes are a bit of a pest as they whizz by you with ringing their bell, usually followed by a litany of invective from me about ‘getting a xxxx bell’ !  My German extends to ‘dummkopf’ as well.  There are lots of earnest looking 60s couples out having meaningful time together cycling the route, as well as lots of singles like me all by themselves and quite happy to be so.  The only conversation happens when you are on a ferry across the Elbe, and you can compare notes on routing and bikes.  My set up gets quite a bit of comment.  Well, it should, because it is a very nice Mercury Thorn Rohloff with a set of Ortlieb banners,. If that kind of thing interests you !

You are never far from memories and reminders of WW 2 along the Elbe.  I passed through Torgau which is where US and Soviet troops met as they both advanced through Germany in spring 1945, and also lots of memorials in little villages to old and young who had perished defending the river in those last weeks and months of the war.  And then, of course, you can’t get away from the Dresden bombings and destruction of that city.  I guess the only saving grace after that was that the Soviets / East Germans didn’t have the time, money or inclination to do much to repair the damage, especially to the historic bits, unlike what happened in places like Coventry and West Berlin which got the 1960s concrete rebuild.  At least in Dresden the ruins were just left, so that after reunification, and when money was available, it was spent on restoring the Florence of the North to its historic beauty.  I note that Dresden lost its UNESCO World Heritage Site ranking some years ago after it built a new bridge in the Elbe Valley.  Liverpool is in good company.

I’ve been asked a few times why I don’t do bicycle touring in the UK.  Well, I have my reasons. Number one, the weather, which is notoriously unpredictable and changeable, even in summer.  If you luck out with good weather it can be fine, but a couple of days of good weather is invariably followed by iffy weather.  There is no fun cycling in the rain, wind and cold.  Here in continental Europe, the weather seems to be more predictable and settled.  You can be somewhat more certain and confident that at certain times of the year the weather will be a certain way.  Until Boris has an ‘oven ready’ plan to sort out the weather, I’m not sure the kind of cycling I like to do is going to be much fun in the UK.  Number two, infrastructure and culture.  Here in Germany I am guaranteed that there will be separate cycle lanes and paths, I would say 95 % of the time.  It is very rare to be on a road with cars.  It makes cycling safe and relaxing, and at my stage of life I like that.  Except for some Boris cycle lanes in London, and some canal tow paths in Birmingham, cycling infrastructure is abysmal in the UK.  Even Sustrans which sets out the National Cycle Network has had to stop designating some routes as safe cycle routes because of the lack of infrastructure and increasing traffic.  We have a very long way to go to catch up with countries like Germany and Holland.  Also, the culture is very different.  Germans of all ages cycle. They always have done since childhood, they still do so as oldies.  So, when a German is in a car driving, invariably the car driver understands and appreciates the cyclist, and is respectful and courteous.  If the cycle path comes to a crossing or roundabout, German drivers give way.  In the UK, most drivers see cyclists as an inconvenience and an impertinence being on the road at all.  They are careless, inconvenience and as being impertinent to be on the road at all,  and they refuse to give safe space.  You are always on edge as a cyclist in the UK and have to be very proactive in order to stay alive.  Here it is very different, and it is a joy to cycle.  And, while I’m on a roll, never when I’m somewhere like Germany and I arrive at a hotel  is there a problem about the bike.  If you ask if there is somewhere safe to put the bike the answer is invariably, ‘of course’, and they show you to a special secure room or car park.  In the UK you arrive by bike and they look at you as if you are from Mars and make a big issue about what do do about the bike.   Those are my reasons.  Three, actually !