My 45 km ride today was fairly evenly split between South Limburg in the Netherlands and Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany.
I’ve often said I prefer cold sun to warm rain, so the bright sunshine and clear blue skies first thing this morning were enough to get me out on the bike again.
This was despite the barometer reading only 3c degrees.
The country lanes today were particularly hilly so it didn’t take me so long to warm up.
By the time I stopped for a break near the Dutch village of Mechelen the sun had also warmed considerably.
My biggest challenge today was the ascent from Lemiers (NL) up to Orsbach(D).
Over the 1.7km distance the elevation gain was 72 metres and in places the gradient almost 16%, enough to force me into pushing the bike for the last 200 metres or so.
I have no doubt I will pass this way again so it will now be an objective to ride all the way up to Orsbach next time.
