Distance: 55.8 km
Ride time: 3:22:35
Average: 16.5 km/h
Max speed: 32.4 km/h
Total: 57569 km
After having slept next to the Weser river I was on the bike early, enjoying the morning atmosphere of the German country side.
Today’s plan was to cycle to Hannover and meet up with my friend Tom. Together we would drive to Hotel Hellers Krug, in radio circles better known as the DX Hotel run by Carsten DM9EE. Carsten had generously offered a bed, beer, and food – an offer I obviously couldn’t refuse!
After 50 kilometers of cycling I was picked up by Tom and his son Louis and we started the drive towards Holzminden. Soon enough we spotted the antennas at the DX Hotel and were met by Carsten and his family. For the last days I had been looking forward to the visit, and boy, what a welcome!
After 3 days of wild camping it felt absolutely fantastic to have my own room with a king size bed, flat screen TV, and a fancy bathroom. What was even better was the fantastic company – lots of good stories from cycling and radio adventures around the world were being exchanged.
When I mentioned that my rack had developed a problem over the last week Carsten responded in typical German manner – “I have a welding machine, lets fix it!”. A few minutes later the big boss was doing the dirty job himself. 5 stars for the quality work, Carsten – I would be able to cycle around the world another time with that welding! 🙂
Before dinner it was time to check out the radio room and say hello to friends from around the world – the radio room is also 5 stars at the DX Hotel!
And my oh my, the good things continued. The dinner at the old Inn from 1756 was absolutely first class as well – along with the excellent company of course. Carsten, thanks for the royal treatment. This was indeed an evening to remember in Cycling The Globe history!
If you are ever in the Hannover area of Germany, check out Hotel Hellers Krug at www.hotel-hellers-krug.de and for the radio guys www.dm9ee.com – this place is not to be missed!
Tomorrow its back to the bike and the tent again…
Bookmarked both! Amateur radio certainly is become quite appealing.