Andy in Sig said:
So Helen, now that you are back, what kit did you take that you wouldn't bother with again, what worries proved unfounded and what did you wish you had thought of?
Good questions!
I didn't need my German dictionary.
I also didn't need almost all the tools but one has to take them - it made me realise that if I'd been with another person or two we would probably have made do with the same number of tools but spread them around the bikes so that would have been easier.
I could have had a lesser lock than the one I took (see below).
I probably didn't need the Bett & Bike book that I had bought earlier as it's pretty difficult to find a bad hotel/Gasthof in Germany and there was enough information in the back of the bikeline books to make my choice from anyway.
I should probably have bought a newspaper now and again so I knew what was going on and had something to read. Talking books on my mobile phone are OK but they're not something you can listen to on the train, etc. Having the two phones was really useful in keeping the texting costs down too - I texted my Dad's German mobile from my German mobile and he replied to my English mobile from his English mobile, thus only in-country costs each time. I texted him several times a day so he knew where I was, for safety etc.
Unfounded worries - I suppose that I might get stuff nicked or have some weird bloke latch on to me. The more time I spent there, the more relaxed I was about my bike's security (although I did always lock it - after all, I had bought the 2kg Abus lock with me!) I also didn't attract anyone particularly for conversation, dodgy bloke or not - I think I was unrealistic in my expectations of having people joining me along the way. I was faster than most other people and so few overtook me and those I overtook were just trundling along.
Interestingly, my Mum said today on the phone that she was worried about me the whole time I was out there, mainly because they didn't know where I was (although they knew where I had been). Weirdly I felt safer cycling in Germany (where there are always loads of other cyclists if you have a problem) than in the UK where if I had a bike disaster I might be a mile's walk from civilisation round here.
What do I wish I had thought of? I wish that I'd joined the two German cycling forums sooner. Several people have posted on them that they would have like to ride with me but didn't have enough notice. The husband and wife I met on their recumbents post on one of the forums (and have contacted me through it) so I might have met up with them and ridden a little way with them. Perhaps then I might have kept going a bit longer, feeling not so isolated.
I think the hassles with the train on the outward leg were newbie problems which were much less significant on the way home now I'm more experienced with my trike on foreign trains. If I were to do the trip again tomorrow I'd be far less worried about that side of it. In fact, I'd love to do another trip already (with someone else or a group) and I'm already investigating possibilities.
Oh, and I wish I'd been able to find the non-quick-release bolts for my front wheels. The QRs add almost a centimetre breadth to the trike each side and once or twice 1.5cm was the difference between getting through a gap and having to faff. I seem to have lost the bolts though
.
