I had 10 days of annual leave to use up, so booked a ferry to Rotterdam with a vague plan of visiting friends in Frankfurt. I ended up riding to Frankfurt via Belgium/Luxembourg/the Ardennes – found it to be so bloody cold I cut straight up to Bremen (hoping the lower altitude would be warmer), made it half way and the icy head wind was so bad I took a train rest of the way. Bremen was also really windy and cold so took a train back to Aachen/the Belgian border (Ardennes were cold but notably prettier and the forests made the wind less of an issue i think) , rode to Lille then train to Normandy spending the remaining days in pleasant warm sunshine surrounded by spring in full bloom.
Rode my Condor Tempo, fitted with the Sturmey Archer 2 speed hub with coaster brake on 30mm Michelin Adventure tyres. Longest I've been out on the 2speed, and the hub handled many long climbs superbly. The coaster brake was great too – as I could slow down or stop when my fingers were too cold to operate the levers , share friction heat with the rims on longer descents, and operate the bike no handed for long periods (giving more positions for my spine and shoulders on long days).
Would definitely do on the 2 speed again! But not Germany or Netherlands so early in the year…. Was so much colder than expecting.
by Master_Confusion4661