Evils and Angels

Photo: The start and finish of the adventure.

“There are no evils on this course”

Uwe Krohne, Weserbergland Brevet 1000 organiser

He meant there were no evil climbs on the course. How many times have audaxers been promised that? There was only one way to find out.

The Weserbergland Brevet 1000, 4th – 7th July was to be my PBP 2027 Pre-Qualifier. I had originally planned on Hamburg-Berlin-Köln-Hamburg again as four years ago I had my only DNF so far. Unfortunately it was cancelled, so this was my chance to fulfill my unfinished business pledge by completing an audax in Germany. With only 5,805 m of climbing, most of it on the last day then the first two days should have been straightforward enough.

Except I had a problem even before we started. You know that feeling when you think you’ve left something behind? I had it driving away from Calais. I made a mental check but thought I had everything. As I prepared my bike the day before the ride I discovered what it was. My Wahoo computer was still in the UK. I’d have to use the Strava App on my phone to navigate and record. I knew this would chew the battery so I borrowed another battery pack from Uwe, the angel.

We started on Saturday morning as a team of four.

Day 1 Großenweiden – Busdorf (382 km)

Evils or angels? Days before the event I’d messaged Thomas to say I doubt I could keep up with the Henning and Torsten express. The pair of them are relentless. I tried making a contribution by hitting the front but after a few kilometres Henning overtook me, bored with the slow old git’s pace. They were evil in that they were too fast for us but angels in that they got us through Lower Saxony to Blumenthal (142 km) in just 6 hours, including a coffe stop and a ferry crossing.

Once over the Wesser river we agreed to part company with our guardian angels. Vielen Dank.

The ride to Bremerhaven (191 km) was angelic. A little slower so we could chat along the cycle path following the Weser. The previous times I was in Bremerhaven was 1972 and 1974 competing for Southampton Amateur Gymnastics Club against OSC Bremerhaven. As we arrived at a petrol station for lunch (audaxing is so glamorous) we even caught up with the Henning/Torsten express as it pulled out of the station.

Evils. Whilst enjoying a gourmet three course meal in the petrol station (that last sentence was the devil in me) it started to rain. Two hours into the driving rain against the wind. Not torrential, not hurricane force, but enough to be a debit entry in the evil column.

Then the angels smiled on us. The rain stopped and the long grass stopped pointing towards us and started pointing away from us. A tailwind. We felt we deserved it.

The evils returned at the Cuxhaven control (237 km). Audax Randonneurs Allemagne have a nifty e-Brevet. There’s no App but you must be able to contact the server. I loaded my control photo as the geo location found me inside the designated area.

Despite standing next to eachother the server reported that Thomas was 400m away from the designated area. He set off searching for somewhere to load his photo. I assumed he would cycle around the area, then return to the water tower so I stayed put. Thomas decided to continue riding along the route until he could load his photo. I messaged him. “I’m still at the water tower, where are you?”. The reply I got was, “Why?”. So German. I felt castigated for my lack of efficiency!

More evils in the form of sheep shit and water from the wake of two tankers making their way down the Elbe.

A ferry across the Elbe dropped us off in Glückstadt (288 km) as the light was fading. Glückstadt means Happy Town. Not for us. We ended up in an evil hotel booking spiral. We’d found a suitable hotel up the road but reception wouldn’t accept the booking, we had to book online. Thomas tried booking online. No confirmation. I called the telephone booking line. They couldn’t do it, we were told to call the hotel. After half an hour we’d achieved nothing. We resolved to ride and just find somewhere to sleep at the side of the road.

“Surely that’s not the route?” I shouted. Thomas was adamant we were following the course. I couldn’t argue as I was using the navigation sparingly to save my phone’s battery. What evil was this?…

A down escalator to a tunnel to get us under the Kiel Canal at Rendsburg (354 km).

Yes, there was a lift. No, we didn’t spot it until we got to the bottom.

It had rained on and off all evening but now it started to pour. We took shelter under the cover of a gym entrance and tried to sleep. We were woken by an angel. The cycling gods had sent us a Ukrainian women refugee. She had been working as a cleaner in the gym and her female Ukrainian boss was still inside. Even I could tell her German was basic but she and Thomas chatted as best they could. When she found out I was British she shook my hand and said “Thank you”. Having explained our predicament she spoke to her boss and said we could sleep at their place. A dilemma. Do we accept the angelic offer and go off with two Ukranian women we’d never met? There was another factor. After finishing her shift she’d started drinking and was still working on a can of beer as we spoke. Do we go with two women, one of whom was clearly a bit drunk? We decided discretion was the better option and thanked them for their kind offer and rode into the night in the rain. We felt guilty but believed we made the right decision. Дуже дякую.

We found a bus shelter nearby to catch some sleep until the rain stopped. There was a 24 hour truck stop 21 km away in Busdorf (382 km) so we headed off in search of food and some sleep accompanied by a full moon.

The 24 hour truck stop turned out to be open for 24 hours to park trucks. The restaurant wasn’t 24 hours. We resolved to eat in yet another petrol station and try and sleep for an hour or two at the two seater table under the bright lights.

Unbelievably another angel appeared. This time a man stopped in his car and asked what we were doing? Thomas explained. He said he had a small business nearby with a chalet that had two sun beds we could use. It was now stupid o’clock in the morning, we needed sleep so accepted his offer.

We hung our PBP jackets on the wall of the chalet whilst Christian disappeared.

He returned not just with two cups of coffee but with his PBP gilet! He hadn’t said a word but he was a fellow audaxer. An angel audaxer. We were so grateful for his wonderful hospitality. The two sun beds were luxury for us.

Christian is a master cabinet maker. His workshop was fantastic. If you are ever in the market for bespoke furniture in Northern Germany then Christian is your man.

We’re in touch via WhatsApp and plan to meet up with him at PBP next year. Vielen Dank, Christian.

Day 2 Busdorf (382 km) km – Hanover (746 km)

Thanks to Christian we were ready for the 364 km to Hanover. No worries about a hotel as we were going to stay the night in Thomas and Lena’s house.

We had a couple of evils to deal with. A puncture in Keil and my phone battery was draining like crazy. It turned out that Strava was trying to upload the Day 1 ride despite me being in Airplane Mode. Thomas’s hot spot came to the rescue. Battery consumption returned to normal.

A little devilishness took over Thomas at the Travemünde control and ferry (511 km). I’d got off my bike to buy the tickets. With them in hand Thomas took off for the ferry. By the time I’d got back on and to the ferry it was too late. He was on the ferry, I wasn’t. Luckily it was a very short ferry ride and the next one was just a few minutes away. Then two angels appeared. A local couple with bikes saw what happened and told me to join them at the front as they were never challenged for their tickets. A few minutes later Thomas and I were re-united and having a laugh. In his defence he said he heard a cyclist behind him and assumed it was me. It wasn’t.

Thomas took this photo whilst on the other shore. How did he manage that?!

“What was that doing there?” I must have been so tired I thought I saw a PBP logo on a sign. Thomas captured the moment in the Garlstorfer Woods (637 km). If you look closely at the photo you’ll see the logo on the sign does indeed match the PBP logo on my gilet. Why was there a PBP car park in the middle of the woods? Fatigue plays with the mind.

I didn’t even notice the table a few metres away manned by two more angels. Patrick and Birte, fellow audaxers, had manned a table of food and drink since 11:00. It was now 21:00. It wasn’t a secret control, just two kind angels looking after us all.

The impact of their act of kindness was immediate. I felt so much better after some fun chat, food and drink. I felt strong for the remaining 100 km or so. The thought of a shower and a bed at Thomas’s was a powerful incentive.

After the sun set the darkest moment of the whole ride.

During the night a tall fence appeared on my right. Then two fences. Both with razor wire on top. Was this a military base, or an airport? I had no idea. It went on and on. Then I saw a sign. I felt a shudder down my spine and my chest tightened.

“Belsen”

This was the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. I’d studied 20th century history at college and university. I was familiar with the pure evil that took place beyond the fences I was now riding past. More than an estimated 50,000 people died there. Jews, Soviet soldiers, Christians, Roma, Sinti, gay people, resistance fighters and more. All defenceless. I wept for them. Those poor souls. I’ve been to Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdam. This is where she and her sister died in 1945.

I thought about my wife who has Jewish heritage. I thought about a man called Danny. Jan’s grandfather. His parents had fled Russia in the early 20th century during the pogroms and ended up in Liverpool. He enlisted in the army during the second world war and served as a desert rat in the 8th Army in North Africa. Blinded in action he ended up in hospital in Valletta. Some years ago we restored all the letters he’d written to his wife, Jan’s beloved grandmother, dictated to a nurse as he could no longer see. He never made it back to Liverpool. His Red Cross ship taking him home was torpedoed by a U Boat off the coast of Malta.

Such evil in the world. Some of us humans are still capable of such hatred and evil.

I hope one day we will stop. Be kind.

The last two hours towards Hanover were a challenge for Thomas. Sleep deprived he was struggling to keep awake. He was erratic. Cycling fast then slowing down. I emplored him to stop and sleep but the pull of home was too strong. He kept going. I asked him questions like “What’s the population of Hanover” to see if he was thinking straight. I don’t know why I asked that as I didn’t know the answer anyway. (I looked it up later, he was right, about 500,000). Somehow we made it to his house. Showers and beds. Bliss.

Day 3 Hanover (746 km) – Großenweiden (1,023 km)

The last day was much more angelic than evil. Overcast, warm and the only rain was the first hour or so. Uwe’s promise of “No evils” was right … (ish). There were no long grinding climbs but there were some short, very steep ramps to contend with. Little devils punctured the day.

The ride to and from Hann. Münden, the confluence of the rivers Werra and Fulda was stunning.

A cross-head wind to Mann. Münden (891 km) then a cross-tail wind gently pushing us all the way to the finish at Großenweiden (1,023 km).

Two weary riders emerged from the darkness at 00:49 on Tuesday 7th July with 8 hours 11 minutes to spare. Our PBP 2027 Pre-qualifiers were done. We can now register for PBP in the frst wave in January 2027.

The angels had defeated the evils.

Only one thing left to do before bed.

Thank you

To all the angels we met along the way. Henning, Torsten, the Ukranian woman, Christian, Patrick and Birte. Danke schön.

To Thomas for guiding me along the route, educating me about the areas we visited and for the shower, bed and breakfast in his and Lena’s home. Danke schön.

To Uwe and his mother Traude for their wonderful hospitality over three nights. A room with a stunning view, excellent food and beer. Danke schön.

The day before the ride Uwe showed me around Hameln, home of the Pied Piper. Not only that but whilst I slept in the afternoon he fitted a new chain ring. All that whilst organising the audax.