We left our kind hosts ADFC, the General German Cycle Club, with a festival feel as the streets of Hamburg were cleared for the public holiday, giving us a taste of what it could be like with few cars on the road and more space to cycle through cities at your leisure.

The ships had started to enter the harbor for the city of Hamburgs port birthday celebrations and accompanying us today were 4 members of the Norderstedt critical mass group, who joined us for the day. With 2 more cooperiders joining the ride at this point, we totaled 17. The car free moments kept coming as we took the Old Elbe Tunnel under the river, closed traffic for the holiday. A feat of engineering in its day.

A Beautiful 45 km through the countryside alongside the rivers Elbe and Immenau with a lunch break on the banks of the river Elbe. Idyllic scene after idyllic scene greeted us after every turn. Families, children and elderly were all out enjoying the sunny day. The cooperide spirit of supporting each other, cooperation and good humour was ever present on our third puncture of the day, which brought out creative human ingenuity. While some learnt to juggle, others used foam, two inner tubes and duct tape to get us on our way again.

We were warmly welcomed in Lüneburg by the members of a newly formed collective. Providing us with a bed for the night and an evening fresco dining experience in their farm, a beautiful, special place. We wish them well on their adventure setting up a home together.