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This post is about a 27km walk from Bursfelde to Würgassen. I reach the 18000km point on The Longest Way, and I dance in the snow.

There was a monastery in Bursfelde, but it had no place for me to sleep. It was late when I arrived, and the night was dark and cold. Luckily I found a hotel.

When I got up in the morning, I noticed that they had one of my favorite books on display in the corridor: “Mein Leben” by Marcel Reich-Ranicki.

The only celebrity I had ever written a letter to.

the snow and the ice

When I stepped out onto the road I noticed two things: 1) there was a bit of ice in some places, and 2) I had reached the river Weser. This was the last river I was going to walk along on The Longest Way. The last one. I felt a bit… nostalgic.

At first I walked on the road for a while because there was less snow and ice on it, and because there was almost no traffic. Then the bike lane and the road got separated, and I chose the bike lane. It led along the river, and it reminded me of the different sections of the EuroVelo I had been on for such a long time.

the downhill

There was a steep downhill after this. It was so steep in fact that there was a sign before it ordering cyclists to dismount. There was ice and snow on it. The Caboose didn’t have any brakes. I went down step by step, slamming the rods under the handlebars into the road surface whenever we started to slip. It took us a while to get down.

the dance

And then, at about four in the afternoon, I stopped walking. I set the Caboose down and unfolded my camping chair. We were in the snow between the river and the road, but luckily there was a guardrail protecting us from traffic.

I set up the camera to film myself dancing. I had never anticipated that there would be 18 dances on The Longest Way (20 if you’re pedantic). And especially when I was doing the 17000km dance as the unicorn, I was sure it was going to be my last.

And yet here we were.

I screamed some words into the camera while the cars and the trucks were thundering by. Then I cut the rug.

pictures

the walk from Bursfelde to Würgassen:

one of my favorite authors on display in the hotel

snow and ice on the road along the river Weser

the river Weser

lots of these everywhere

Weser ferry

Puss in Boots

Weser crossing at Gieselwerder

the way to walk from Bursfelde to Würgassen

a bend in the Weser

CYCLISTS DISMOUNT

took a while to get down from there

the bike lane

18000km on The Longest Way happened here

Bad Karlshafen

train station at night