:: (cycle eu two) nijmegen to krefeld & düsseldorf
The cycling odyssey plan has changed. I still want to reach Scotland, but I don't fancy simply grabbing the ferry at Rotterdam. Instead, I'll go a long way round via Germany, Luxembourg and France, to get to the UK via Calais-Dover. No strict plan to adhere to though, I'll just see how far I get.
Though I really wanted to reach Cologne today, I'm not miserable about making it only as far as Krefeld. I left home by bicycle bloody early, and the best thing about going East from Nijmegen is that getting a holiday feeling almost immediately. Germany is so close by, and despite that, it feels entirely different. I cycled through rather a hilly landscape through to Xanten and wasn't used to a fully packed bike, but though it was tiring going over inclines, it was smooth otherwise. With Xanten behind me, the ride turned into a a bit of a search. Nijmegen and Cologne are both on the river Rhein, so just following it upstream should do. Except you can't simply follow the river banks. From Xanten onwards more and more small but steep climbs appeared, the river went out of sight and I got to the dreadful town of Moers. There, suddenly, all 'cyclable' paths ended and I needed to get onto the hard shoulder of a motorway. I took the risk, lucky to find another cycling path after a few kilometres. Just a bit further down the route I got to the neat town centre of Krefeld and thought that I would need to cross the Rhein to get to Düsseldorf. When I did though, I found myself in the direction of Essen. To non-Germans that won’t mean much, probably, but when you're there it sucks. I turned back from where I came, which frustrated me enough to grab a train from that point onwards, to get to Düsseldorf anyway. When I got to the youth hostel, I was afraid my poor German skills would mean trouble at check-in. More unfortunate still, a nice French girl handled the reception duties, and she didn't speak a word in German, Dutch or even English. So I noticed once more my French is shite. Oh well, I clocked up 140 kilometres on my first day, not bad at all. I slept like a log.
Though I really wanted to reach Cologne today, I'm not miserable about making it only as far as Krefeld. I left home by bicycle bloody early, and the best thing about going East from Nijmegen is that getting a holiday feeling almost immediately. Germany is so close by, and despite that, it feels entirely different. I cycled through rather a hilly landscape through to Xanten and wasn't used to a fully packed bike, but though it was tiring going over inclines, it was smooth otherwise. With Xanten behind me, the ride turned into a a bit of a search. Nijmegen and Cologne are both on the river Rhein, so just following it upstream should do. Except you can't simply follow the river banks. From Xanten onwards more and more small but steep climbs appeared, the river went out of sight and I got to the dreadful town of Moers. There, suddenly, all 'cyclable' paths ended and I needed to get onto the hard shoulder of a motorway. I took the risk, lucky to find another cycling path after a few kilometres. Just a bit further down the route I got to the neat town centre of Krefeld and thought that I would need to cross the Rhein to get to Düsseldorf. When I did though, I found myself in the direction of Essen. To non-Germans that won’t mean much, probably, but when you're there it sucks. I turned back from where I came, which frustrated me enough to grab a train from that point onwards, to get to Düsseldorf anyway. When I got to the youth hostel, I was afraid my poor German skills would mean trouble at check-in. More unfortunate still, a nice French girl handled the reception duties, and she didn't speak a word in German, Dutch or even English. So I noticed once more my French is shite. Oh well, I clocked up 140 kilometres on my first day, not bad at all. I slept like a log.
Labels: travel