Day 2: Cycling from Berlin to Athens

Day 2

Brück > Bad Belzig > Wittenberg > Elster

71.9km

4 hours 12 mins

264m  elevation gain

Once we got going, today got off to a smooth start and the whole day was pretty smooth sailing in terms of navigation. We were able to follow the R1 cycling route signs easily which brought us along beautiful cycle paths and not along the roads. We went through many pine forests which were a welcome shade from the heat of the day.

Lovely cycle paths

The GoPro

We are having difficulty mounting the GoPro onto the handlebars of either of our bikes even though we bought the official handlebar adaptor. All of the different widths of the mount are not quite the right fit so we have had to be creative and I tried tightening the mount using 6 cable ties to secure it on to the handlebars. It works to a point. The whole thing doesn’t fall off but occasionally the GoPro falls forward and Shanky has to pull it back up. Let’s see how the footage turns out. 

Sights of note

• Fields of sunflowers and corn-on-the-cob
• Small wooden shelters for cyclists to picnic in the shade
• The River Elbe which we will now follow for a few days

Sunflowers!

Dinner in Wittenberg

We were planning to stay in Wittenberg but the guesthouse we chose was already booked and it seemed very busy. We had a lovely Italian meal in the centre of town and we saw the famous church as this was the town where Luther founded the Protestant religion. Then we decided to cycle up the Elbe River where our route takes us next. It’s a lovely route with a great cycling path all along and plenty of cyclists to say “Halloooo” to. We follow the Elbe Radweg signs now which have a little blue wave. 

We were pleased about dinner

Update on The Bites

No bites today but all of the bites from yesterday are still there. I bought insect repellent and showed the pharmacist my huge swollen bite, now bigger than the circle my hands make with two thumbs and two forefingers, and she gave me hydrocortisone. Fingers crossed this will go down as it’s very close to my cycling shorts which are already tight around my thighs!

Gasthaus Zum Anker - where we are staying on the Elbe River