10km shy of Riesa (Elbeweg)

The reason I had decided to travel a little west before heading east was to experience more of the "Elbeweg". This is a famous bicycle-friendly route that diagonally cuts Germany in two and extends into the Czech Republic.

Cycling into a headwind with minimal protection from trees and other features, proves tiresome, more in the annoying than the exhaustive sense of the word. On this stretch of the Elbeweg I encounter few cyclists, but it is pretty well signposted, which makes navigation easy. That, and the fact that you just stay as close to the river as possible. 

Late in the evening, having found no host for the night, I pitch my tent in a forest near by the river. I expect a nice late evening swim would be refreshing, but the mosquitos guard their territory fiercely and I decide to not try their patience. 

From an open-covered tent, the otherwise starry sky is all but obliterated by the overbearing moonlight. As I sleep fitfully this night, I get to track the moon arch across the sky from my meshed dome. A dog barks aways off and all is silent once again.