On the final stretch from Harlesiel to Schillighörn, Mum and I race ahead, waiting for the others to join us. We stop at an old farm house and wait and wait and wait. We take photos of me on the bike (see below) and a passing farm truck that was ploughing the fields. Finally we decide to cycle back to check why the others don't join.
Oma Elke's eBike has broken down! The chain is still in place, but the front cogs don't propel the chain, so that she cannot pedal any more. 8 km from our destination, the grown-ups swap bikes: Opa Siegfried takes Mum's manual bike, Oma Elke gets Opa's eBike, and Mum takes the broken down one. For a kilometre, Mum tries to scooter forward. Then, Heinz offers a tow: He uses the additional strength from his eBike to pedal in a very straight line, at very constant speed, while Mum hangs onto his saddle bag. They are both concentrating on straight lines, and avoiding to run into each other. Mum says this is "emergency" operation, therefore, no more nice photos today!
As soon as we reach our Youth Hostel in Schillighörn, our engineer Heinz kicks Oma's broken down bike, saying that such a new bike should not cause trouble. Instantly, the pedals grip the chain again, and the bike is fixed! Three kicks have fixed and issue that has caused us so much trouble for 8 km!
Mental note: It is very important to always take an engineer on a trip, as they know how to fix things! :-)
The Hostel in Schillighörn is again full of school kids on school excursion. They play Viking Chess with us, where we throw sticks at a "king" and at "pawns" to topple them over. The kids also tell us that in Germany, it is illegal to take time out from school for a holiday.
Today we cycled 45 km.
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| The first day of a serious addiction: From little things big things grow. This is still the testing kite, before the real thing starts. |
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| Mum and me waiting for the others. |
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| Traffic on the cycle track. |
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