Who Opened the Elbe Floodgates ?

One criticism that can never be levelled against a Ghostrider Overseas Adventure is that they are "too boring". To the absolute contrary, our Epic Elbe Ride looks like being the most eventful yet. Every day so far, we have had some unique challenge or other. The last twenty-four hours have been the most exciting so far.

We had already been warned that our arrival into Dresden would be impacted by the running of a huge international Biathlon Event. Actually it would be more accurate to say the "skating" of a huge Biathlon, since the participants do not run at all, they ski along on roller blades and stop every so often to shoot at targets.

We knew how to accommodate the likely disruption of the Biathlon. All we had to do was leave Riesa early and arrive in Dresden by around noon. That part was simple. What was not so simple was the growing challenge posed by the threat of widespread flooding all over central Europe.

The past two days had been filled with news about the devastating flooding caused by torrential rain over the Czech Republic, Austria and Romania. When we went to bed on Saturday night, the Elbe looked pretty benign, however we were surprised and alarmed to see that it had risen dramatically during the night.

The normally well behaved river had probably doubled in flow and was now lapping right at the edge of the bike path. We had no idea how much of the route would be impacted by this development. At least the wind was still blowing at our backs, so the 56 km ride would not be much of a physical challenge. The floods however could be an entirely different matter.

As soon as we left Riesa we were riding with the Elbe close on our left hand side. At times the bike path was almost under water, and then we turned a corner and saw our way apparently blocked by a large mass of water. We stopped at the edge and considered our options. We could turn back and possibly find another way through, or we could risk our bikes and our lives by going ahead.

"What do you think ?" I asked Ken for his advice. He replied that it "did not look too deep" and that we could ride through it. He was wrong on the first point, but right on the second. It actually was quite deep, probably up to our axles. Certainly, enough to saturate our shoes. In such situations, you cannot stop or hesitate, you just have to keep riding. And that is what we did. After a few minutes the entire peloton emerged relatively unscathed on the other side. Well, that was another challenge faced and overcome. I just hoped that our ebikes would not suffer mortal damage as a result.

As if the Biathlon and the floods were not enough newsworthy events, we had also just heard word that one of the major bridges in Dresden had collapsed during the night, I am not joking. The entire bridge had fallen down at 3 am in the morning. Wherever we go the Ghostriders seem to be right in the middle of the action.

We also encountered another serious flood over the bike path a little further on, and this time common sense prevailed and we took a detour along the road. The rest of the morning was spent with brisk riding and meant that we arrived in Dresden before the predicted rain.

The second half of the ride was also notable for the change in the terrain along the way. Gone are the huge flat flood plains, and we now started to see the first towering cliffs that will become a feature of the next part of the ride.
 
When we rode into Dresden, the entire town was obviously out in force to watch the Biathlon, but we were more interested in checking into our luxurious Maritim Hotel and staying dry. This hotel was easily the fanciest place we have stayed in so far and will probably set the high mark for the entire trip. I had stayed here previously back in 2012, so I did have an idea what to expect.

About 6 pm I was sitting in my room, struggling to keep my eyes open, when my attention was grabbed by a loud warning that was piped into every room through the PA system. Since it was all in German, I had no idea whether I should be panicking or not. Fortunately it was followed up by an English translation, instructing everyone to remove their vehicles immediately from the garage. Apparently they were about to activate the emergency flood barriers to stop the Elbe flooding the garage. This gets more and more exciting with every minute.

What followed was a massive exodus of people from every room. The lifts were jammed, The staff at the desk were overwhelmed by a line of people asking questions. I wondered if ebikes would float or sink if the garage filled with water.

Eventually we were assured that our bikes will be safe. It turned our to be a miracle of planning that we now have two rest days here. Hopefully that might give some time for the flood waters to recede a little before we resume riding on Wednesday.Read more