Memories of my last bike tour

Last year I did a bike tour in Germany, I posted updates over at https://social.coop/@nicksellen but are hard to find again, so I thought I’d include them all in one post here.

July 24, 2020, 12:17 PM

I started my bike trip! First lunch stop. Pasta by the river.

July 25, 2020, 10:12 AM

I woke up this morning in a lovely forest, made coffee, and had tasty wild raspberry and saved nectarine breakfast 😀🌲🔥🍇🍊🏕️ here’s the evidence:

Jul 25, 2020, 14:59

Aha! A successful haul of food that would have gone to waste. And a nice lake to wash it all in.

Jul 26, 2020, 07:41

The rain came so I did a tarp setup to give me some usable covered living space outside the tent.

Jul 27, 2020, 08:23

I slept last night without the tent as it was forecast to be dry. Found a lovely spot under an oak tree.

I’ve been staying at a friend’s house for the last two nights and he’s been growing some veg with as minimal effort/resources as possible, esp as with coronalife it’s been hard to get materials, and in this video he talks me through some of it.

Also I’m actually in the video this time so you can see me gesticulating wildly as I talk

Jul 30, 2020, 15:21

I like to be able to type when I’m travelling on a decent sized keyboard without getting my laptop out, here I’m using a Bluetooth keyboard with my android phone to write up notes and thoughts from my highlights on my ebook reader. With some solar to power it and shade my phone screen.

Jul 31, 2020, 10:07

I saved more fruit that I know I will get round to eating, especially cycling in the heat where it’ll get bashed about and horrible, so I stewed it up so I can eat it more flexibly. Toast, muesli topping, as a snack, a desert, … And stores neatly in a bottle.

It’s also one of the advantages of cooking with wood, there is a plentiful supply of it. Would have never done this when I used gas to cook on.

Aug 03, 2020, 11:11

I’ve been visiting my friend in Siegen for a few nights, and he gave me a nice tour of 3 community gardens he’s involved in, and the various successes and challenges of actually doing community organising.

All of them are associated with the initiative here Siegen isst bunt (Siegen eats/is colourful) https://wechange.de/group/siegen-isst-bunt/

1/3

Aug 03, 2020, 11:12

The community garden that was the gateway to the rest of them here, just starting with some raised beds on a rocky ground on some underutilized public land is enough! A whole world of people and projects can soon open up…

2/3

Aug 03, 2020, 11:15

And the final garden we visited, as part of a place that supports people into housing that would find it difficult otherwise, takes quite some time to build up trust for someone to come and make a nice hippy garden of edible plants

I think this is a great example of both the complexity and usefulness of doing community gardens.

3/3

Aug 05, 2020, 11:51

I took some “artistic” type photos of the community gardens I visited in Siegen, here’s some of the photos….

Aug 08, 2020, 14:26

My touring bike. A Thorn Nomad Mk2 with lots of stuff attached

Aug 10, 2020, 11:11

I saved this haul of food a day or two ago, I’ve been eating a lot of cheese since…

Despite the very hot weather I’ve not had any/much food go bad, despite the fact that the supermarket already considered it way too old it can actually keep just about alright in 30+ degree weather for several days.

The weirdest is the salami, it’s literally designed to last for ages, but still has a short expiry slapped on it and to the bin! I bet it’ll keep for weeks/months still.

Aug 10, 2020, 20:43

I just finished my 3 week #biketour, time for a beer on the front porch. Bike is still laden, and sweat still dripping. Feeling good. I guess life goes back to a tangled confusion soon, I’ll enjoy the joy while it lasts!

Aug 11, 2020, 11:51

A slightly rambling me from yesterday enjoying my last rest stop on the #biketour at a very nice peaceful bench with the setting sun