Bikepacking Summer 2024 Day 1:
From Hamburg to Grevesmühlen

Bicycle packed and ready at the Hamburg Mainstation

Bicycle packed and ready at the Hamburg Mainstation

Bicycle at a wall
Shelter from the rain at a bus stop

Shelter from the rain at a bus stop

Shopping cart with bananas, water and sweets

bananas, water, beer and sweets

Bicycle on in a German village
A beer and sweets on a bench.

Last break of the day with beer and sweets

Garmin shows distance for today: 101 km

Not bad for the first day

Cooking some pasta in the woods

Cooking some pasta

After little sleep on the night train to Hamburg and meaningless conversations with the local people at the main station, I finally set off. I had googled the traffic rules for bicycles in advance (no joke) - so I was able to concentrate fully on the imbalance in luggage distribution. One more bag than on the last test ride, and the bike behaved like a wild Mustang (see bag in orange on the triathlon handlebars).

However, with a tailwind and drizzle I made good progress and the sky cleared up towards the evening. During a break, the bike didn't want to keep leaning against the wall of a house and destroyed one of two bottles of Flensburger Pils. It was probably for the best. Sober, I found my camp for the night after about 100 kilometres in a wooded area near Grevesmühlen.