Itzehoe – Lübeck (tree bike to Wahlstedt – 55 km)

At eight o’clock Richard was already at a garage with the bus to have the tire repaired that had an iron wire in it. It wasn’t too bad. Actually, there was nothing wrong. Fortunately. The house is already cleaned up and all the stuff is back in both cars. Because there are three of us today, Richard and Daan bring the trailer and the camper halfway, near Bad Bramstedt. Finally, just before noon Daan and I cycle from Itzehoe eastward to Wahlstedt, 55 km away. In two stages, that is. Richard follows us with the car and batteries which are changed every 15 kilometers or so. What is striking along the way is how quiet it is. There are few people on the streets. Here and there people are working in the fields and gardens. A serene calm hangs over the burgeoning landscape that has already become much greener in the last two weeks. There isn’t much traffic on the roads either. Good for us because then we can ride the tree bike nicely on the road where only the occasional car passes. A cheerful horn, a raised hand and always a smile. That’s how it goes. Today we hand out the occasional birthday tree. Everyone responds enthusiastically to our story and appears to be planting many trees themselves. Great. And that is also good to see along the way, we encounter more and more trees and also more and more forests. Today for the first time I had the feeling: “There is a tree cycling through the forest”! The landscape is pleasantly small-scale and varied. The route is beautiful and becomes even more enjoyable as the sun breaks through at the end of the afternoon. Around six o’clock we arrive in Wahlstedt. We find out on the way that we will spend the night in Lübeck, another 40 km away. We park the Boomfiets safely at a family’s yard on the outskirts of the town we don’t really visit otherwise and ride to Lübeck. Meanwhile, Sanne has also arrived in Lübeck by train from Amsterdam, a long ride of more than seven hours. Richard picks her up from the station and we install ourselves in our new accommodation. We cook, eat well and catch up. All in all quite a quiet day, i.e. lots of logistics but little “Coincidence Harvested” today. New opportunities tomorrow. Sanne receives tips from young people who tell her that we are not very visible and that we should do more about it. This is true and we should, but we are still working with the ‘handbrake on’. We would like to hire a PR agency to push this, but unfortunately the financial room is not there yet. As soon as we can, we will put the brakes on this. These first weeks we are mainly exploring how to do it all. Practicing how to cycle across Europe with a tree. That is no excuse and all tips are more than welcome and of course we take them very seriously. And the tips that we can already use tomorrow we will certainly activate.