TdE - Day 21 Streudorf - Wellheim

Route: Streudorf - Altmühl - Dollnstein - Wellheim 
Distance: 78 km
Elevation: 275 m
Duration: 3:48 h
Weather: Sunny, not a single cloud, hot, 22 - 30 C

Today’s plan was to ride to the Donau, and well, in a certain way I arrived to the Donau valley, only that the Donau is no longer here, since the Pleistocene… Wellheim where I am sitting now in my accommodation for the night is in a valley that the Donau carved millions of years ago, but the geology had other plans for the Alps and the Donau needed to change its path. But the valley stayed, however now without any river…

… and instead a lot of rocks:

But the day started about 70 km away in a very different part of the Altmühl valley, with the lake:

And still some morning dew in the grass and on the spiderwebs:

Initially the valley was quite wide and to my surprise it seemed an important train route, including for ICEs, but probably not surprising, seeing on the map that it is between Augsburg and Nürnberg. I just very clearly don’t know anything about this region. 

I thought that I had a good plan against the heat today. Start early (well, I really only started at 9:10), cycle until about 14:00, and then take a long and shady rest somewhere cool and restart around 17:00 for the last 40 km or so. But really it got too hot much earlier than I thought and the rock formation seemed to make the valley even hotter.

So I took about an 1 hour break in a bakery in Dollnstein, had a salad and some cold drinks and booked my accommodation for tonight just a few kilometers down the road. I was able to cool down and then restart again after 15:00 for the final 10 km of the day. 

After arriving here I took a bit more of a break and then walked up to the castle ruins that dominate the village…

And from where one has a nice view of the surroundings:

For tomorrow I will try aging the plan to start early and stop for a long afternoon break before continuing later in the afternoon. Maybe break from 13:00 - 15:30. 

TdE Day 2 Fietsen door bomen & water (Hilvarenbeek - Diepenbeek)

Route: Hilvarenbeek - Postel - Fietsen door bomen - door water - Diepenbeek 
Distance: 104 km

Elevation: 154 m
Duration: 5:13
Average speed: 18.8 km/h
Weather: sunny and quite hot, 26C

Today in the morning I woke up to my cycling shirt drying gently in the air.

Mukesh might be able to trek for days on end through the Himalaya, but cycling 120 km in the flat of the Netherlands didn’t do any good to his knee. Admittedly it was his first 120 km. So he decided to do the responsible thing and to stay close to train lines where he could return when needed. So he headed back to Tilburg and then on to Den Bosch and finally to Utrecht. In the end he pretty much did the same km as I did, but less than what he would have needed if he had had to go to Maastricht. 

I in turn did continue South. Overall the day saw a lot of forests. And this was a blessing as again it was quite hot, so the shade was very welcome. Already a few km after the start I turned into the forest of Landgoed de Utrecht. 

And a bit later I was cycling on this beech avenue. 

After 20 km I crossed my first international border into Belgium.

In Belgium pretty soon I got onto this Kanal which was nicely in the shades of big trees. Unfortunately after several kilometers the way was blocked and a detour was indicated.

The detour nearly, nearly brought me back to the Netherlands, but I managed to stay on the right side of the road.

Checking the detour I recognize that I didn’t need to follow the entire detour, but could shorten the ride a little bit. This also brought me too the small village of Postel, which seems to be a huge tourist magnet. I don’t really know why there were so many people, but definitely there were a lot of Harley Davidson and other motorcycle riders. There were also several restaurants and stalls with french fries (well I guess they are called BELGIAN fries here!). But I took something sweet at what seemed to be a very famous bakery. Even had a small queue building up outsid of people who came to buy bread.

This was a welcome break. 

From Postel I continues on a normal road which had something like a cycle path attached to it, but at least from my spoiled Dutch background, not a very good one. Kind of cycling in the ditch parallel to the road and with car drivers thinking that as the cyclist is beyond a white line , that line would be sufficient to protect the cyclist from any harm of passing cars. Anyway, it wasn’t soooo bad and luckily quite soon I rejoined my originally planned route, which followed some very quiet canals in the forests.

When my water supplies started to run low, which really means for me that bottle number 1 is getting nearly empty (because I am a real water addict and mightily fear running out) I turned into a very small village along the way and found a nice lady who refilled my bottle. Alternatively there were however some “Biergarten” along the way as well.

My next break I want to take at around 50 km and just before the “Fietsen door bomen” I found a steakhouse. Although steakhouse isn’t really a good description for this magically very peaceful and quiet garden restaurant. I didn’t want to have a steak for lunch with the heat and the other 40 to 50 km to cycle. But a carpaccio and a small salad were ideal.

Well rested and a bit cooled down I came to my first official highlight of the day (although one has to admit that riding along the canals was already great. They seem to be less used, less well maintained than in The Netherlands which makes that they have lusher vegetation around or so it seemed.) Anyway, the first official highlight of the day what is this bridge construction in the middle of a forest that allows cyclists or pedestrians to get to the top of the canopy and then rush down again. “Fietsen door de bomen”: 

 

The first time I did it slowly, stopping for pictures. The second time in one go to enjoy breezing through the trees up and down. Very gentle slope indeed. 

In Wijchmaal I hit a cycling road through the more forest and followed it for 20 km. The cycling road actually is even longer, maybe 40 km. 

Along the way and right about the 75 km marker there was an other very relaxing cafe in the forest on the way, where I stopped for a homemade lemonade and a rhubarb cake. 

At the place where we finally left that cycle way, there was even some blooming heath: 

Admittedly I didn’t manage to capture it nicely. Essentially because it was a bit off limits for cyclists. 

Not too much later, and only 10 km from my accommodation for tonight, I reached the second official highlight of the day: “Fietsen door het water”

I had been here before (I think in 2019) with Matteo and a friend, but - crucially- without a bicycle.  On foot! Which actually was okay as well. 

From there it wasn’t too far to my B&B of the night in the nondescript village of Diepenbeek. One thing I noticed yesterday in Belgium is the lack of welcoming front gardens. Many people have big gardens in front of the house, but either just fill them up with pebble stones, or an often well manicured lawn, however without any flowers, trees or other vegetation. 

Compare that to houses in The Netherlands which often have very lush gardens, like this excellent specimen from Bilderdam:

 

Hilly NL - Day 6 - A lot of castles round around the hotel

Bicycle: 32 km

Riding time: 2:08 h

Total ascent:  147 m
Avg speed: 15.1 km/h
Route: Around the hotel in North of Maastricht

Weather: Sun and clouds, no rain, but strong wind,  17 C

Finally it seems that the bike has been repaired successfully. At least I could ride 33 km without any incident. Okay, 33 km aren't that much, but then I was back before lunch, and then too lazy to get out of the hotel room again. It didn't help that each time I looked on buienradar, it seemed that in the next hour it would go to rain. And actually the only time it did NOT forecast rain, it was actually raining outside. Anyway, I at least did some riding today. 

I took it slowly, stopping at each castle along the way and taking a picture.

Well, okay, the first picture wasn't a castle strictly speaking, but it looked great with the gray sky behind it. 

The first castle... 

... inaccessible like all the following ones, but still in use. 

Castle number 2 (Hartelstein) looked more like a defensive manor, and seems to house a housing project as well as a second hand shop. 

Before coming to castle #3, I passed through the Maas landscape, which at least in this region here claims to be a nearly natural river... not like in the rest of the Netherlands, where most rivers are highly regulated. The horses (and also some angus cattle) are officially "employed" in this landscape to keep the vegetation low and avoid the growth of a small forest along the river. 

Castle #3 was inaccessible at the moment and also unoccupied, but clearly there were some reconstruction works ongoing in order to reopen it to the public. Not sure what are the precise plans for the castle though. Looks big compared to poor, young brompton. 

In front of that castle was also this not-at-all-explained "sculpture". One would think that the explanatory sign above it gave some hints why a toilet bowl would be standing around in the middle of a village... but no. It was tempting to use it... but I figured that this wasn't the scope either. 

Continuing, I came to castle number 4, which I had seen already yesterday, but for good measure I took a new picture.

Shortly after followed by castle number 5 ...

Today I managed to progress beyond this castle and back to my hotel without incidents, but not without passing an other 2 castles. Castle #6, which is a few hundred meter away from our hotel ...

... and apparently used by a long list of companies for their offices, and a bit further down the road castle number 7 which is currently being restructured, but already quite close to finalization. Probably for something like a company or meeting rooms. 

And then finally back to the hotel, castle number 8 of the day:

Hilly NL - Day 3, 4 & 5 Rides to bicycle repair

Bicycle: 33 km

Car: 34 km 

Taxi: 5 km

Walking: 5 km

Riding time: 2:02 h

Walking time: 1:08 h
Total ascent:  165 m
Avg speed: 17.1 km/h; 14.5 km/h; 15.1 km/h
Route: Mainly to and from bicycle repair shop

Weather: Generally sunny, in the later days quite windy but less hot, 19 - 28 C 

These last 3 days, instead of riding, I have mainly been going to the bicycle repair shop. It started alright on Thursday (Day 3) morning, when I got up really early (6:00 am) to have a ride in the morning before breakfast as weather forecast for the day was hot. Too hot for me to comfortably cycle. 

I decided for a route of about 40 km around the hotel so that I would be back by around 9:15 in time for a shower before breakfast. As typical for this region, I came by some castles... 

... and then mainly cycled in between the Maas river and a parallel (but higher) running canal. At some point my planned route had me cross the canal, where there wasn't any bridge at all, but luckily going straight on the side of the canal where I was, was an option, so I continued on. 

The landscape overall was flat (although one could see some hills farther away) and not specially thrilling but okay for an early morning ride. 

Shortly after crossing the canal and starting my way back to the hotel, the bicycle became hard to steer... so I checked... and the front wheel was going flat. I tried pumping it up, but as soon as I removed the pump it went flat again within less than a minute. So nothing to be done. At this moment it was 8:30, so safe enough to call my husband to come and pick me up. (Alternatively I could have caught a bus and then a second bus... but well, husband wasn't too far away and it was time to get up anyway).

While waiting for him, I checked out brompton sellers at Maastricht and found two shops, one of them right in front of the train station. So it seemed that the solution to the problem was relatively easy. Boy was I wrong!

After breakfast we went by car to Maastricht, I handed over the poor (young) brompton to the bicycle repair man and we went off to some sightseeing and shopping in Maastricht. (While on this trip my bicycle broke, it was also the trip where on the first hike the hiking shoes of my husband broke... so definitely a trip with a lot of broken essentials). Anyway, we did our day in Maastricht and as the bike shop hadn't called (as promised) we went back again to the hotel and lounged in the large, park like garden all afternoon in the shadow of a huge oak. 

On Friday (Day 4) morning, we had decided to do a day without hiking and cycling, visiting a castle, having ice cream in yet another castle and then driving back to Maastricht to pick up the bicycle which by now should have been repaired... although the bike shop never called. And there it was, with a new, fully inflated tire waiting for me. So all seemed good and the poor brompton went into the trunk and we back to the hotel. 

As it was still early and I hadn't moved a lot during the day, I decided for a round of about 30 km around the hotel... but only after a km or so I noticed that steering was still very hard, and I made an enormous effort to even cycle. I found a quiet spot on a road and examined what was wrong with the bike. It definitely wasn't a flat. It was the breaks on the front wheel which now touched the wheel continuously... and obviously made cycling hard work. 

So back it was to the bicycle repair shop. I still had hopes that this would be an easy fix, and luckily this bicycle repair shop only closes at 19:00 so I had enough time to fight my way back into the city against the wind and with the breaks half on. 

Unfortunately it was not a quick fix, and I needed to leave the poor brompton in the shop again. For yet another night. And had to call again my husband to come and pick me up. I think he is simply relieved to hear when I call that it is the bicycle that has a problem and not me. 

As they promised that the bicycle would be repaired first thing today (Day 5) in the morning, we went right after breakfast to pick it up again, and yes, there it was, with a front wheel full of air and rolling. I even did a test ride of about 1.5 km through the center of Maastricht to try it out, and all seemed well. So husband set off by car for his hike to the highest point in the Netherlands, and I started the ride that I wanted to do yesterday. 

I had the entire day ahead of me, so decided to take it slow, do the same round I had planned yesterday afternoon and stop at each castle on the way and take a picture. I managed two...

... before the flat stroke again. Not even 8 km had it lasted (while the previous front tyre lasted for over 6,000 km!)

Luckily I was very close to a bus stop, the bus was there waiting and going straight to Maastricht station. So there I went again, to my not-preferred bicycle repair shop in Limburg. They took in the bicycle again to repair it once more. While I took a taxi back to the hotel, where I rejoined my husband who gave up on his hiking plans when hearing about my bromptons disadventure. 

At this point, I was very much tempted to take a train back to Leiden and get my Specialized Roubaix... but it would have meant an entire day in the train, the hassle of reserving a spot for the bike on the train (due to Corona) and the hassle again on Tuesday to either try to fit the bike in the car, or to ride back alone by train again. Luckily my husband convinced me to do an alternative plan. Hiking!!! An activity I quite dislike, mainly because I find it strenuous and boring. But I got to select the hiking route and choose a short one, about 5 km, with fields and forest, no hills and a restaurant at the end. Which was actually quite nice. 

En route we came by a castle with hotel and restaurant...

... later on through meadows with horses that choose to stay right in front of the exit gate (but didn't actually try to escape, just stood there, annoying the hikers) ...

... and finally along a small stream back to the restaurant where we had parked and then had a late lunch.

Before the hike the bicycle repair shop actually called that the bike was fixed again (they changed again the inner tube and this time even fitted it with a normal brompton valve on not a Dutch valve, which they previously claimed was completely unavailable in the Netherlands). I now really wonder what kind of inner tube they had used in the first repair attempt. Probably not a brompton inner tube but something else, which actually did not fit. 

For today I was fed up with cycling... tomorrow more... hopefully. And hopefully to new destinations! 

Hilly NLs - Day 2 - Wahlwiller to Weert

Bicycle: 36 km

Car: 32 km

Riding time: 2:09 h
Total ascent: 239 m
Avg speed: 16.9 km/h
Route: Wahlwiller - Weert
Weather: Sunny and warm, but not so hot as feared, 23 C

Today weather forecast was saying that it would get quite hot from lunch time onwards, so we decided yesterday to get up early, have breakfast before 8:00 and get going on our hiking (husband) and cycling (me) adventure of the day before it would get too hot, at least for me, to move. Actually now sitting in the large park of the hotel (admittedly in the shade of some big oaks), it isn't actually that hot. Nice and summerly, but not scorching.

In order not to do just a round ride from the hotel, I went with my husband by car in his starting point for the hike, Wahlwiller and then cycled back from there. 

I had found yesterday on Route.nl a round ride of about 50 km from there... which I shortened into about 36 km... as I obviously wanted to come back to the hotel. 

It started with a small castle a few kilometers after the start. 

Apparently Limburg is very well known for its abundance of castles. And it is known for its beer. I first came through the factory of Brand ...

... and shortly after through Gulpen. Definitely want to go back to Gulpen to try their Urhop that I normally buy directly from the producer. But today that place was way too early on my route... not yet for a stop. I rode on, with a bit of up and down through the undulating landscape. 

One steep hill was too steep for me and my brompton at about 10%... but luckily it was also very short so I pushed my bike up and then had a view over the hills and valleys around. 

I know, in any other country, these views wouldn't be breathtaking, and I have definitely already climbed higher hills. But well, still amazed at these non-flat landscapes in the Netherlands.

A little bit further along on the wayside I spotted a supermarket, did some small shopping and then had a brussel waffle with raspberries in the shadow of a very nice tree, before heading back to the hotel.