June 1st
The first full day in Germany. The start was fairly simple. I was well rested and fed by my good host Kasia. The route was Lingen - Freren - Hopsten - Recke - Mettingen - Westerkappeln - Osnabruck - Wissingen - Buer - Rodinghausen. Around Osnabruck tings got more complex. I was searching for directions to my city but found none. I was going roughly the right way, but not quite, since I managed to get lost and off the route several times. Also the first bit of German hills was on the last bit to Rodinghausen. It was a nice surprise since, of course, I was tired already. When I finally found the city it took me some time to find the Youth Hostel, and when I did there was no one there in charge. I called a number that had been left on a door there only to find out that the person on the other side knew zero English. She understood it was me who was calling, I said my name and that I had sent an e-mail two days ago. I managed to find a girl who gladly helped me to translate what the lady on the other end was saying. Long story short, I got my bed even though it was late, I managed to have a good night sleep and a good breakfast the next morning.
Distance: 100 km
Time: 9 h
2nd of June
The day started off well in the hills, so there was a lot of going up up up, then down, down, down. Needless to say, the down part was what I enjoyed the most. The route for the day was Rodinghausen - Hulhorst - Minden - Buckeburg - Obernkirchen - Bad Nenndorf - Ronnenberg - Hemmingern - Hanover.
I got very lost around Buckeburg. I somehow mislead myself on the highway, panicked and had to get off it, climbed the fence and went through bushes to get off of there. This was officially my first braking-point. I sat down on the side of the street and had my first doubts and first tears. In my head Shakira's song Waka Waka was playing: You're a good soldier choosing your battles, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and back in the saddle. You're on the front line, everyone's watching, you know it's serious, we're getting closer, this isn't over. The pressure is on, you feel it, but you've got it all, believe it... When you fall get up, and if you fall GET UP!!
So I wiped away the tears, fixed up my bike and off to Hanover I went. In a while I finally found route 65 that took me to the city. However I sadly spent about two hours looking for my hostel. It was just out of the city, but there were no directions as to how to get to that part of the city. It was a bit of a nightmare, but I eventually go there. Spent the night, and here I am, ready to go to my next stop - Wolfsburg where a host from Couch Surfing will be waiting for me. Wish me luck.
Distance: 95 km
Time: 11.5 h
I shall put again some more pictures in a day or two.
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