Today we were more wary about the bicycle paths marked on the App, so we picked a route mainly along small country roads. The traffic was mostly very light and there were few hills, making the ride pleasant. We did around 72 km from Meyenburg to Raben Steinfeld.

It was still relatively cool when we set off and the first 30 km to Parchim was easy. We hardly had to stop to navigate, as the roads seemed to take us directly through each little town on our list every few kilometres – we passed through Krempendorf, Stepenitz, Jamersdorf, Redlin, Gross Pankow, Siggelkow and Neuburg.

Parchim was the biggest town on our route and we stopped here to buy and fit a new odometer (after finding a bicycle shop fairly easily). It is quite a bit more expensive than the Decathlon odometer, coming from a specialist bike store. And it is not any better quality – in fact it was harder to install and has fewer features.

From Parchim we headed to Damm, and from there got onto our first real (dedicated) bike path of the day – this being along a canal (the Muritz-Elbe Wasserstrasse). We also rode past a few locks and a holiday boat complete with sunbathing woman on deck.

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The bike path headed away from the canal again at Garwitz, to Klinken and Tramm. It was a pretty good tarred path, separate and alongside the road. We were back on the road with cars after Tramm, to Gohren.

We had plenty of time, as the ride was going so smoothly, so we stopped for coffee and rhubarb cake at a restaurant in Plate. We picked up a small bike path directly outside the restaurant, for the final ten kilometres or so to Raben Steinfeld. This was obviously a fairly well used route and in good condition, even though it is a dirt road and narrow in places. It wends its way through forests alongside another canal (Stor-Wasserstrasse) all the way to the lake (the Schweriner See). We had a quick look at the lake edge before turning back to find our hotel.

After checking in to our overpriced hotel we decided it was a self catering day. We rode around the lake edge a bit and on to the next town (Schwerin). We found a supermarket and cooled down wonderfully while shopping (supermarket air conditioning is a treat in these conditions). We also found a restaurant to sit quietly and enjoy a cold beer before returning to our hotel laden with delicious treats for our supper. (salads, meatballs, cheese, fresh bread, chocolate, beer to chill in the mini bar fridge)