As many of you will have noticed, I like cycling in Germany. This is mainly because of the refuelling options with cake. I also love Berlin and spent two weeks recumberating around there last September, during which was hatched a plan to cycle home to Colchester from Berlin in May.
This plan has rather evolved now as I decided to do it for charity (Help for Heroes, who have opened a new rehabilitation centre in Colchester this week) and, as Berlin to Great Bromley doesn't sound very exciting, I decided to do Berlin to London instead.
I am leaving two weeks today (27 April) and expect to get back mid-May.
What I would absolutely love is if anyone is free on my last day (estimated to be around 12-15 May) if they would like to cycle from Colchester to London with me. I am likely to be calling in at the Colchester Personnel Recovery Centre on my way past for some photographs (the MoD say they will allow me access for this) and then will follow the Speedy fnrttc Harwich route back to London, heading to Trafalgar Square at the end.
So, if anyone would like to ride with me on this as-yet-unspecified date, I hope you can make it!
Likewise if anyone would like to escort me to Harwich on 27 April (that's two Friday's time) in the evening, I shall be leaving the general Manningtree area at 8pm. It's a nice 15 mile ride along the coast of the Stour river.
I will be writing regular blog posts about my progress which can be found on
auntiehelen.wordpress.comI'm fundraising for H4H, of course, and several YACFers have already kindly donated (this has been on my Facebook Page for a couple of months). I'm almost halfway to my target of £2,000 so am very pleased with progress.
Anyway, here's the main blurb about my trip:
In April/May 2012 I will be cycling from Berlin to London alone and unsupported on my recumbent trike to raise money for Help For Heroes.
The Route
You can zoom in more closely here:
http://www.gpsies.com/mapOnly.do?fileId=fqfleaplfknsgivlThe German portion is part of the European Cycle Route R1 which stretches from St Petersburg in Russia to Calais in France. The Dutch portion is mostly R1 (although it is renamed LF4 with a short piece of LF40 as well). The English portion is an optimised route from Harwich to London which is a bit more scenic than the most direct route.
For the German section I have the excellent Esterbauer-Verlag Bikeline book (Europa Radweg R1) which gives route information as well as hotels and B&Bs. The Holland section is, at the moment, a bit of a mystery to me – but I shall do my best to research some B&Bs before I set off.
This may be one long cycle route but it wends its way through lots of interesting towns and villages, most of which I have not previously visited.
Leaving the Brandenburger Tor in the centre of Berlin (right next to the Reichstag, the German parliament building) I will head southwest towards Potsdam. From there I pass through Lutherstadt Wittenberg and Dessau, continuing along past smaller towns and skirting north of the Harz mountains, passing north of Paderborn and then going around Gütersloh heading towards Münster. From Münster I will head west towards the border with Holland just south of Entschede, then cycle through Arnhem, turning a little more northwards to Utrecht, from where I head due west to Den Haag (the Hague) and the North Sea! I follow the North Sea cycle path southwest to the Hoek van Holland (Hook of Holland) where I will catch a ferry across to Harwich.
From Harwich I will be cycling southwest towards London via Colchester (where I live), Tiptree, Maldon, Brentwood, Romford, Ilford and finally arriving in central London at Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square.
I plan to cycle about 100km (60 miles) per day as I trundle my way across Germany and Holland. I expect to take two weeks or a little more to cover the 1,239 kilometres (770 miles). This will be 511 miles in Germany, 177 miles in Holland and 82 miles in Great Britain.
I will be providing a track of my journey as I cycle with regular updates as to where I am (details nearer the time).
The journey to Berlin:
I will be leaving home on Friday 27 April to cycle to Harwich and then take the ferry to Holland, travelling by train through Holland to the border with Germany (Venlo). From Venlo I will cycle to Düsseldorf (about 40 miles) and stay there overnight. The next day I will take the train from Düsseldorf to Berlin, stay overnight in Berlin and then start my return journey by pedal power.
Fundraising support
I am doing this ride to support Help For Heroes, a UK Charity which raises money to support members of the Armed Forces who have been wounded in the service of their country.
As I live near the Garrison town of Colchester I am raising money specifically for a new facility which is due to open in Colchester this Spring. The Colchester Personnel Recovery Centre is a new build centre within the garrison at Colchester, built by Help for Heroes (H4H) for the MoD. The Centre includes new accommodation facilities, a social area, family rooms and a fitness centre. It will provide residential accommodation for 29 soldiers and 31 day attendees. The operating costs of the centre will be funded by H4H with support from The Royal British Legion.
I’m hoping to perhaps collect a few donations in a collecting tin as I make my way through Germany and Holland and the UK but the best and most tax-efficient way to support my ride and this Personnel Recovery Centre is through a donation through my H4H online fundraising page at
http://www.bmycharity.com/BerlinToLondonThanks so much for supporting me!
The recumbent tricycleI will be using my ICE Sprint recumbent tricycle with an Alfine 11 hub gear and a triple derailleur at the front. This trike, known as Alfie, was bought in July 2011 and has already visited Berlin once for a ten day cycling holiday.
For more information on ICE trikes visit their website at
www.icetrikes.coThanks to:Olaf Storbeck and Katharina Slodczyk for help with the German translation of my flyer I shall hand out whilst I am underway
Marianne West, Help For Heroes Essex Co-ordinator, for talking to me about other ways to raise funds
And the flyer I have had printed that I will give out whilst I am underway:
