Cycling on the flat: an ode to Schleswig-Holstein

There is one thing that I like about Schleswig-Holstein: In the main, it is as flat as a pancake. At home, I live over 100m above sea level. Not much over 100m, but still 100m. In S-H i live less than 10 meters below sea level.
Having been given quite a few cycling/walking guides when I left the school last time, I decided that I may as well use them, so after paying Royal Mail an extortionate fee to have them sent here, it was time to "get on my bike" as the saying goes, and use them.
The first trip I did, now a good few weeks ago, was to reach the Ferry at Fischerhütte. Why here? Well, living virtually next to one of the many ferries across the NOK (a.k.a. the Kiel Canal) it seemed sensible to try and reach a ferry: there on one side, back on the other. 30 kilometres direct, but why take the direct route? Going the long way around would be so much more exciting. Which is exactly what I then did. I still haven't quite worked it out yet, but I reckon that my bike and I managed 80-90km in the one day. O.K, hardly Tour de France distances (nearer 200), but in dear old hilly Kent that would be totally impossible. For me, anyway.

Then, as if that wasn't enough (coupled with cycling to and from school, the supermarket, the station, in fact, just about anywhere) I decided a few weeks later to go the other way, towards Landwehr. Only 20km this time, and significantly more direct. This was, strangely enough, harder. Yes, I know the area I was cycling through was called the Huttener Berge (i.e. hills), and compared to Kent they were hardly mountains, but a strong crosswind that spent the entire day following me around made a much harder job. That coupled with the fact that there are more villages than I thought without bakeries, so it was 15:30 before I managed lunch, and even then it was from one of Germany's finest Bio-bakeries, so not a "belegte brötchen" (bread roll with filling) in site. Oh well, Germanic it is then - bread rolls plain, followed by cake, and a bottle of water which despite saying it was still on the label, was very definately fizzy when I opened it.

The winter is setting in, and as I now won't (can't?) be doing any more cycling along the NOK without the help of a train, I think we will be leaving the furthest distances until the spring or summer... perhaps.