Battle fatigue? (Bad Zwischenahn)

Peter on his Liegerad that he has now sold as he plans to move on to a campervan-normal bike combination.

Getting ready to leave Hamburg yesterday took a long time, and in the end it was noon before I got into the saddle. This slowness to get going was partly due to having danced until 00.30 at La Yumba. Once again, my night had imroved towards the end, as they were playing more powerful music and I got to dance with Dimitri, a Greek who had recently moved to town from Frankfurt. It was quite heart-warming realising we had at least one tango friend from Romanfabrik in common!

Another reasom was that I had come to like the hostel (with a slightly funny name 'Instant Sleep') and the people working there a lot. In particular, this was because of Peter, the housemaster, who as an experienced bike-tourer himself had been looking after me so well. Peter has been touring the world for the past 5 years, using the low, almost lying-down position bike,and had a lot of stories to tell. (To read about his adventures, see his homepage: http://www.liegeradler.com/.)

Having started to 'grow roots' in Hamburg, I had to half-force myself back on the road. Fortunately, the minute I freewheeled down to the shores of the river Elbe, all my reluctance evaporated. It was a lovely day, I was headed towards new places and new milongas! I felt so fortunate to be able to do this,to follow my whims and to travel with (and for) tango.

Trying out Peter`s bike in the hostel :-)

Due to the late start and a slighty longer route than last year,it took me the whole day to reach Bremen where I knew there would be a milonga in the evening. Funnily, just like on this same stretch last year, I had one new hardship: I was getting very painful cramps in my feet, this time in the toes whereas last year it had been the soles of my feet. The pain was quite intense,as if the toes were about to fall off,and the only thing that seemed to help was standing or walking, preferably without shoes on. What it is about leaving Hamburg that makes my feet protest so much, I don't know. However, the pain did get so bad at times that I was cursing out aloud.

Just like last year, I reached the Bremen city campsite well after the reception had closed. This time, though, I managed to solve the problem of getting into the keycard-requiring shower&citchen block by doing something I have never dared to do before: there were some French campers near-by, and I got to loan their keycard. That in itself wouldn't have been exceptional, but the fact that we took care of everything (including some small talk about tango) IN FRENCH was certainly a first for me! Must say that I now feel a lot more confident about surviving France than before this!

In Wedel, I had time to go to the beach as I was waiting for the ferry to cross the Elbe.

The inside of the `milonga ship`.

Having taken a shower and gulped down a hasty meal (this is where those ready-made meals from Lidl come in handy) I got back on my bike and went in search for the milomga. It turned out to be mighty long ride,as the campsite is over 5 km from the city and the place was even further. For a while there, having cycled close to 90km and already quite tired, I did ask myself if this was getting out of hand. However, I am glad I did go, as the venue turned out to be the most symphatic place for a milonga I have seen: and old ship whose 'downstairs' had been converted into a dance floor surrounded by chairs and candle-lit tables. The atmosphere was quite unique,and one could easily imagine the place filled to the brim with tango maniacs, dancing until sunrise. Unfortunately, however, there were only a handful of people around, and most of them were only dancing with their regular partners. I did get to dance a bit, though, and despite my exhausted state, sore feet and the in places uneven floor enjoyed the evening. I even did not mind the long ride back or the fact that I got to bed at 01.30.

The follwing day, I cycled to the ship where the milonga had been held.

This morning, however, was not easy. I was exhausted, my legs were heavy, and I could not bring myself to concentrate on anything. Despite taking it really easy and only riding about 60km today I did not manage to shake off the feeling of deep fatigue. Perhaps the knowledge that there would be no tango tonight left me without a purpose, or perhaps I am not as fit as I like to thinh. All I know is that I don't want to cycle this tired again.