CLUNKERS RIDE BERLIN
Words by Jost Litzen

"Let's do a little campout for the Clunkers' ride. I know a nice spot at Spree river, just a few kilometers outside of Berlin". That's what Stefan asked me for this year's Clunkers' ride. And so we packed our rigs and headed out in the evening 1st of May. Berlin is historically quite crowded on the streets this night, despite the pandemic. But within a few kilometers through the outskirts, we made it to the woods. A few smooth doubletrack roads and a few grumpy singletrails later, we found ourselves at a large camping field for kayak travellers with a fire and dozens of people. Too much for our plans, but we knew by experience, that there is always a good spot behind the actual spot. So we ended up having our own little campfire in one of the many curves of Spree river. The night was cosy and only a cuckoo annoyed me a few times. 

We woke up to some gentle raindrops on our faces. We already knew that the rain would grow in the next few hours, so we did a fast #coffeeoutside and packed our sleeping bags. An hour later we stood on the porch of Holly's famous Kuchenparadies and asked for a coffee. Stefan even managed to have some cake for breakfast. Holly now also has a little shop with smoked cheese and with some extra weight we rolled back into the city. Rain became stronger and our bikes were pretty muddy, when we finally stood at City Center Hermannplatz. Fingers crossed not to catch any glass fragments from 1st may rallies, we separated. Clunkers' ride once again proved to be very chatty and relaxed, regardless what you wear or which bike you ride. In my eyes focus returns back to where you actually ride when individual ambitions and performance doesn't count."