Day 18 on the Elbe Cycle Route

Stade to Somewhere Cozy (in Freiburg), 28 miles

Day 18 was short and sweet! We lingered in the morning and enjoyed exploring the charming town of Stade before getting back on the bikes.

Kudos to Bob for sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night to grab this shot from our hotel window. Worth it!

Feeling very hobbit-like, we treated ourselves to “second breakfast” while waiting for one of Stade’s historic churches to open.

The church, St. Cosmae et Damiani, dates back to the 14th century. After a devastating town fire, it was rebuilt in the 1600s.

As a former organ player (yes, it’s true!), Bob was especially impressed with the enormous pipe organ.

One unusual feature—this church actually has a scale model of the interior tower structure on display. A rare glimpse at the hidden architecture!

Back on the trail, the landscape turned flat and pastoral. Livestock grazed in open fields, and we even spotted a hardworking sheepdog. He barked once to establish authority, then graciously posed for a photo.

Livestock gates make our ride a little more interesting.

Later, we paused at a little harbor to admire the Elbe in the distance. Hard to believe it all begins as a trickle of water nearly 1,200 km upstream in the Czech mountains.

We rolled into our stop for the night by 2 p.m., but with check-in not until 3, we wandered into a bookstore with an attached beer garden. Best surprise of the day? Meeting Helena, a sweet Greater Swiss Mountain Dog who seemed to sense how much we miss our girls back home.

Tonight’s lodging is a rustic gem—converted red-brick thatched barns clustered around a beer garden and restaurant.

The rooms are simple but comfortable—ticking all the right boxes for weary cyclists.

After a shower, we settled into the garden for some quiet relaxation.

At the end of each ride, my bike computer delivers a little “assessment” of the effort. Normally, it’s something satisfyingly intense like extreme or very demanding. Today, however, I expect it to say something along the lines of: “Nice work, but maybe just order a salad tonight.”  I opted for the goulash instead.

As of today, we’ve pedaled 700 miles! Tomorrow we’ll reach the end of the Elbe Cycle Route—about 30 more miles—just beyond Cuxhaven, where the Elbe empties into the North Sea.