Day 13: The last big stage

The morning began for many with the loud barking of a small dachshund in the community hall. Around eight o’clock, he cheerfully strolled through the open door and woke those who had overslept.

Dachshund: “Good morning!!!!!!!!!!”

Originally, we had planned to set off at 9:30 a.m. to cover the 62 kilometers from St. Johannes Parish in Schwanewede to the Auferstehungsgemeinde in Bremervörde. Before that, however, we had to say goodbye to another participant: Theresa, who had only woken up twenty minutes before her mother was supposed to pick her up, had to leave. Kindly, she offered to take the tents—hopefully no longer needed—back to Rissen in her mother’s car.

Instead of departing at the planned 9:30 a.m., we didn’t start the penultimate stage until 10:15 a.m. Once again, two groups were formed:

• Group 1: Johanna, Trixie, Clemens, Liam, Jonas, Mats, Paul, Mr. Bock, Mrs. Angebrandt, and Tom Yo

• Group 2: Romina, Lisa, Jasper

  
  

The first fourteen kilometers went smoothly until Tom Yo got hungry: “Can we take a break?” After one more kilometer, Mr. Bock finally gave in—though only because a construction site blocked the path. After a few spicy cashew-peanut mix nuts for breakfast, Tom Yo’s hunger immediately disappeared.

The next challenge was the construction site. Luckily, Mrs. Angebrandt had scouted ahead and discovered that the bikes could simply be pushed past. The halfway break took place about ten kilometers later at the local Lidl in Hambergen, where Mr. Bock once again treated everyone to some chocolate. In front of the yogurt and pudding aisle, we had an amusing conversation with an elderly lady who was entertained by how absorbed Johanna and Trixie were in their selections.

Since Johanna’s birthday had been the day before, her mother treated everyone to ice cream (or something similar). Group 1 took the liberty of interpretation and decided on coffee instead. After a short detour in a roundabout, we reached another café—unfortunately, it was closed. So we continued to the next open bakery in Gnarrenburg, about four kilometers away. There, we decided who wanted cappuccino, cocoa, or a Chociato. Johanna enjoyed her coffee on her mother’s tab.

After around 40 kilometers, the coffee tasted especially good. But we wanted to reach Bremervörde quickly, so we continued our ride. We finally arrived at our destination at 3:45 p.m. and could relax a little. Unfortunately, Jonas had to cut his journey short because his cold had worsened, and his mother came to pick him up.

While some took care of pickups or quick washes, Romina, Lisa, and Jasper arrived. Since Jonas, Paul, Mats, Trixie, Johanna, and Tom Yo were in the middle of ordering sushi for the evening, the three were immediately invited to join.

After much deliberation, Tom Yo placed a large order for nine people, totaling nearly 200 euros. Since the sushi shop was in Stade, about half an hour away, the delivery took a while. The app indicated a delivery time of 6:02 p.m. At 5:58 p.m., Tom Yo was already impatiently waiting outside, while the others grew increasingly hungry and restless.

At 6:30 p.m., we called the shop. They said, “About ten minutes.” Ten minutes passed, then twenty, and our impatience grew. Time dragged, and we wondered if Jonas’ father would arrive before the food. Finally, after further calls and a revised estimate of six minutes, a car arrived. The delivery person brought three huge bags of sushi, finally satisfying the hunger of all the waiting travelers.