Last night I stayed in a guesthouse on the outskirts of Aachen in Germany.
Today’s ride home was 67 km, a much more direct route than yesterday’s extremely hilly challenge.
Departure was just before 0700 and the Dutch border is only 5 km away at Gracht where the excellent cycling infrastructure replaced the somewhat inadequate facilities often found in rural Germany.
The first substantial Dutch town I came to was Heerlen.
Here the centrepiece of one roundabout is a large ‘Globe Recycle’ made from 350 bicycle wheels which is very impressive.
The remainder of my ride home was on country roads and cross country cycle routes until I rejoined my outbound route at Maaseik.
I made such good time heading north that I decided to stop for coffee and blueberry pie at a rather nice terrace in Stramproy.
This two day, 170 km cycle ride is by far the most ambitious route I’ve ridden to date and at times I felt right at my limit if not a little overdrawn.
It was, however, great experience for me and preparation for some longer tours I have planned for the future.
