The first thing I do in the morning is jump into the lake. With the golden morning sun shining above it, I can’t resist. It’s cool, but very pleasant.
After just one day of rain and grey, I’m already enjoying the strong sun that dries my tent. Daniel is already awake and offers me coffee. I pick some fresh blueberries for my porridge and share some with Daniel.
Today I leave the European Divide Trail to make my way to Norway. I quickly question this decision when I get stuck between cars, lorries and the roadside on a federal road. I am grateful for my new hi-vis jacket, thanks to this over-fashionable accessory at least nobody can claim to have overlooked me.
Otherwise, I cycle through industrial areas, motorway service stations and past the same shops over and over again. Appropriately, I listen to the Kangaroo Chronicles, in which the communist kangaroo comments on, among other things, the same city centres all over the world. Despite my frustration, I use the Lidl for a big shop. The only way to tell that you are in Scandinavia: a whole shelf of liquorice sweets.
I also test my solar charger in the sun. I bought it in Gothenburg after my batteries kept running out, which was a real pain. In full sunlight it is actually very helpful, but time will tell whether it is worth the weight, volume and wobblyness.
Unfortunately, the worst fear of my brother has also come true thanks to the sun: my tan clearly betrays me as a cyclist, and has hard edges where my clothes end. The piece of tan where I sacrificed my glove fabric for my trousers is particularly nice. This hole has now been patched up with a piece of hi-vis jacket (a clear hierarchy of fabric sources), but the diamond-shaped tan will remain for the time being.
In the evening I find a wonderful shelter on a small hill. It is even quite mosquito-free! The alcohol-free beer and other goodies from my shopping find their way into my rumbling stomach. The road and the many cars plus the sun have exhausted me quite a bit.
Oh yes: I also saw a real zebra today! I had to look twice after the horses wrapped in zebra patterns…
