Cycling along the Elbe again – Tuesday 11 June

Cycling along the Elbe again – Tuesday 11 June

Today was our longest distance on the trip so far, 106 km from Zerbst to Kehnert. At the end we still felt pretty good, though with sore knees! We started really early (just after 7 am), getting in a couple of hours before the heat of the day really helped. The route was also almost totally flat – the only inclines being getting up and over various bridges over the Elbe.

Our first two hours were through mostly wide open farmland interspersed with small villages – Niederlepte, Nutha, Walternienburg, until we reached Godnitz and the Elbe.

Navigating – left or right?
The Elbe – already quite large and fast flowing

We haven’t done this part of the Elbe cycle way before, as we joined further north on our 2017 cycle route. There seem to be multiple versions of the cycle route that can be taken on this part of the Elbe (and on either side of the river).

We hadn’t had breakfast at the pension, so we stopped for coffee and a cheese roll at a local bakery and store at Pretzien. Many local people were also dropping by to buy baked goods, some also on bicycles.
We passed through Grunewalde and Schönebeck, which looked like a nice place but we didn’t leave the path to explore. Soon after Schönebeck, we saw our first stork nest of the trip. We remember lots of stork nests alongside the Elbe from our 2017 tour.

The first storks we have seen on this tour
Pit stop along the Elbe

Riding past the city of Magdeburg was a highlight of the day – there are great views of the river and grand old buildings from the Elbe promenade, as well as a number of beautifully placed statues and fountains.

After Magdeburg we crossed and stayed on the Eastern side of the Elbe, until Hohenwarthe where we passed back over the impressive Magdeburg Water Bridge. This is the largest canal bridge in Europe and spans the Elbe, allowing large commercial ships to pass between Rhineland and Berlin.

We stopped at Wolmirstedt to buy some food for the evening meal, and also had a snack – as we still had a way to go and had to keep our energy up.

After this we moved away from the Elbe, as there were no roads beside the river, through Colbitz. And then along a relatively busy road (with cars) to Angern and finally Kehnert (back on the Elbe).

Our accommodation was in a small town (Kehnert), alongside a small 19th century (1804) castle. We were delighted with our beautifully decorated room. There was also a comfortable shared kitchen where we had our supper, and a fridge with cold beer you could buy (on an honesty box system). The people that run it are also keeping horses, giving riding lessons, and have a huge long term project on their hand renovating the castle and surrounding buildings.

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