08/05/2021

We didn’t drive to Potsdam as we had originally planned to get the alternative trailer, and we didn’t drive halfway between Potsdam and Dresden either, because we were told that the alternative trailer was not available. BAM. We were really starting to despair. The help from master carpenter Seidel, who had initially seemed so promising – he spent the whole day with us and tried everything in his power to build something to attach a bike – was unfortunately unsuccessful, so he eventually threw in the towel.

08/04/21; 3:09 a.m.: What a crazy day. We are lying in our one-man tents, somewhere in a field in the Czech Republic. After my eyes almost closed while driving, it was really advisable to stop, no matter where. We have experienced so many emotions, hope, disappointments and changes in plans today that we are now really exhausted.

The feeling of success of having found and successfully attached a bike stand for the tandem really stood out and I was happy like a little king. Especially since the dealer quickly drilled out the thread for us so that we could attach the screw to the frame from below, which was actually intended to be done from above.

Super sweet! Out of desperation, we even bought a bike rack for the car, hoping to be able to do something with it and convert it for the trailer with a little modification.

No luck! Of course. We even considered screwing the tool onto the lid of my piano. I didn’t care that I could imagine it myself, as I already had heartache at the first sight of the thick eyelets that were mounted on my piano for the seat. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a very good idea from a structural point of view and that was also a waste of time.

At 7 p.m. Anna and Julian arrived, also after a seven- and three-hour ride, and swapped the bent fork for one that was hopefully more stable and adjusted the brakes so that they do what they should, but we’ll probably have to do that again. At least the test drive, this time with a piano on it, felt much better and with a better feeling than ten hours earlier, we were able to load everything up again at 10 p.m. At around 12:30 a.m. we finally left Dresden on the way to our actual destination, the start of our high-spirited bike tour, carried by music.

Well, I really can’t go on. I’ll just say this: we’ve packed everything back into the car and are now on our way to the spring. There we want to fill a small bottle with the Elbe spring water. After that we’ll drive 120km back by car to make up for the time we’ve already lost. But don’t worry, there are still easily over 1000km to cycle. The only problem is that we now have to do everything on our own and our nice plan of inviting other travellers to cycle with us is no longer working because we can’t attach another bike.

So, the tents have been put up for the first time, the sleeping mats and sleeping bags have been rolled out, good night! We’ll see tomorrow. A new day and new luck. Your Julian

Next entry: Not as expected, but we were at the source today!

Back to TASTDEM-Tour overview