TdE - Day 4 Sippenaeken - Bütgenbach

Route: Sippenaeken - Raeren - Vennbahnweg - Bütgenbach 
Distance: 74 km
Elevation: 739 m
Duration: 4:15
Weather: grey and chilly, but crucially no rain, 13C

Today was planned and executed to perfection. 

When I planned today’s ride I saw that a huge rain front was coming this way, promising persistent rain from about 15:00 onwards for the rest of the day. And we’ll, let’s be honest cycling in the rain isn’t as nice as cycling when it is dry. 

But still I wanted to cycle and also cover a certain distance. So I got up early (breakfast before 8:00) and started riding before 9:00 in a dry but gray day. The first 20 km I had planned myself (thanks to Komoot) as I didn’t want to ride into Aachen to find the beginning of the Vennbahnweg. It had a bit of up and down but nothing too bad. Riding through rather grayish villages, including Kelmis, once the “capital” of Neutral Moresnet. One has to admit that it didn’t look any special. But that was probably to be expected. 

In Raeren just before finally getting on the Vennbahnweg, I had my first stop of the day in a German bakery and my tartlet of the day.

While at breakfast the language was still French (although in the evening before at the same hotel it has been Dutch), today’s ride was entirely in German, although I only ventured about 50 m into Germany proper. Because on one hand side I was riding trough the German speaking part of Belgium, and really it seemed that everything defaulted to German. On the other hand side even when I was (nearly) in Germany on the Vennbahnweg, I actually wasn’t, because the small territory of the cycle way, which once upon a time was a railway line, is in Belgium. So often it just cuts through the center of a village, but the 5 m of the cycle path are in Belgium. As one can clearly see from the different road signs. Belgian cycle way on the left, German on the right:

The Vennbahnweg is definitely a great cycling way. With very easy gradients, that one hardly ever feels, wizzing through a remote landscape of the Eifel. Making the same trip without the rail line, would have been much more draining because of the rolling terrain. 

For some brief moments the sun came out, so I changed from my ROS Castelli jacket to a cycling t-shirt, but literally the moment I had changed the sun had gone not to be seen again. 

At about 37 km in, at Lammersdorf, I consulted Google maps for upcoming restaurants, but I shouldn’t have bothered. A few hundred meters later there was a sign saying “Mittagstisch in der Kantine” (a very traditional way to announce lunch in the canteen). And it was open for passerby’s as well. 

It was the canteen of Otto Juncker a steel manufacturer, and today Tuesday was Lasagne day. Huge portions for steel workers, too large for cyclists:

Warmed up and well fed I continued and from there it would only go flat or slightly downhill. The uphill had been mastered and it felt easy thanks to the rail line. 

In some parts one can also rent small “cycle trains” and make a trip on a stretch of remaining tracks:

Definitely a great way to see this remote area.

As said in the introduction, I managed to time the ride to perfection. It started raining, initially only a few droplets, in the moment I had completed checkin. Tonight I am staying in a huge holiday complex on a lake (which I haven’t gone yet to see) with camping, bungalows and rooms. I took a room and Roubaix must share with others but is also in the dry and even got his shower before mine:

TdE Day 3 Diepenbeek - Sippenaeken

Route: Diepenbeek - Tongeren - Visé - Sippenaeken 

Distance: 73 km
Elevation: 676 m
Duration: 4:39 h 
Average speed: 15.7 km/h

Weather: grey and quite cold and some rain, specially at the end, 19C

Today was the first rainy day. While I initially welcomed the cooler temperatures, the rain at about 19C wasn’t so welcome. But you don’t get to choose. 

Just before Tongeren by the museum, today closed, about the Roman history of the region, I had my second breakfast. An excellent plum cake: 

Then I cycled into the city with an old cathedral and even older (Roman?) city walls to which these slightly newer buildings are attached.

Shortly after the city I entered the Limburg Fietsparadijs! Which would have been more paradisiac without the rain. Which admittedly for the most part waited out in a bus stop with two Dutch men who were hiking around Limburg. 

Anyway the rain didn’t last that long. After 33 km I had to climb the first serious (but short) climb of this tour. With a small pause in the middle I managed. 

However on the top I urgently needed a “tree”, which wasn’t a problem except that unwillingly I also some bowel movement, but no toilet paper. Well recently rained on potato leaves make for a reasonable replacement. 

I thought of having lunch at Haccourt, but shortly before I run across a public BBQ place with a public toilet. So I had one of my breads there. But it was a bit too cold to linger long time, so I bode farewell to two Belgian cyclist riding to the Netherlands and planning on camping. Thinking back now, I am really convinced that camping must be a torture or BDSM practice. In the cold rain today it must be simply miserable. 

As I only had eaten one bread and not stopped for any other sustenance at about 53 km I was quite hungry and decided that a stop to eat an other bread was needed. At that moment I saw a information board a bit further in the road and thought that maybe there might be a bench. There wasn’t, but the board said that there would be a proper information about the Ardenne bleu at 500 m, so I continued in the hope that there might be a bench. And I was rewarded. Not only by a bench but by a Cistercian abbey.

No longer in use as an abbey, but still important use ongoing (also don’t forget the cheese).

I took a break and a croque monsieur which gave me back some energy. BTW, the church itself was quite new and lacked any interest (for me), but there was a nice garden behind:

5 km later at Aubel I hit an old train line now transformed in cycle way. It was surprisingly easy to uphill and the downhill. Would it not have been for the rain that set in for good at about 10 km to go from my accommodation tonight it would have been a very nice ride.

Anyway, at my hotel that overlooks a golf course (where people were continuing with their play in the rain), I had a looooong and very hoooot shower, a hot tea and now for dinner a hot onion soup. Now I feel throughly warmed. Inside out. Ready for more tomorrow, after a long night rest. Now it’s “only” 22:00, but I totally feel ready for bed!

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:

 

TdE Day 1 Leiden - Hilvarenbeek

Route: Leiden - Gouda - Nieuwpoort - Gorinchem - Tilburg 

Distance: 123 km

Elevation: 149 m

Duration: 6:58

Average speed: 17.7 km/h

Weather: sunny, 25 C

Yesterday was my last working day, and already today my six week Tour d’Europe (TdE) started. Although in the morning I needed to try to send some parcels with all my office equipment back to my company, which DHL had not picked up yesterday. So the tour started with some delay, and the parcels are still at home because the DHL point at Hema could not take these parcels in. 

I had posted the ride on the Den Haag Meetup page, just in case someone wanted to tag along. And yes, an outdoor guide (Trekking and rafting in the Himalaya!) , Mukesh, wanted to come along. So we met up with a bit of delay at Leiden station and started the ride which should bring me about 2600 km through Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Luxemburg, if all goes per plan. Today it started with the first 120 km. 

From Leiden to Boskop, a route that I cycle frequently, but this time through some Boskop gardens. Then on into Gouda and after that we had our first stop at a bakery in Haastrecht. After that continued along a nice, winding small river, through a part of south Holland which is relatively remote, because it is not well served by trains. 

 After crossing the Lek by Schoonhoven, we had lunch in the small, old and very relaxing village of Nieuwpoort. 

We continued to Gorinchem and it became little by little hotter and hotter and my water supplies were running short so we needed to make a small (5km?) detour into Gorinchem where there is a public water fountain, before continuing through the landscape and for the first time in this trip leaving known roads! 

Still quite hot I wanted a break and a cool drink and we found a brewery in Almkerk. I got a big apple juice and Mukesh a locally brewed beer. Sitting in a nice garden in the shades of some trees was very relaxing and when we restarted also the actual temperature had come down sufficiently to be comfortable again. 

Continuing on we came to an other ferry, this time crossing the Bergsche Maas. Luckily it was open. I hadn’t realized in the planning stage that there was a ferry. 

We slowed down. Not sure if Mukesh was tired or if he thought I was tired. Anyway we cruised through the landscape and hit finally the Wilhelminakanal shortly before Tilburg. I knew that part from a previous ride I had done from Leiden to Tilburg (back then passing through Dordrecht) but what was really nice was the Kanal after Tilburg. 

A few km before our hotel we had to turn inland and around 20:30 we arrived. Didn’t have time for a shower before dinner but that allowed us to have a nice dinner in a surprisingly nice village. 

TdE - Rough Plan

This summer between jobs I have nearly 7 weeks off and decided to use them for a cycling trip through Europe. As I am not heat resistant, Northern Europe is the chosen destination. 

My initial plan was to go with my parents (by car) to Austria first, spend some time in the village where my father grew up and then ride slowly back from there to the Netherlands. However as my father has a form of dementia and after a recent experience with him going on vacation to another place (Bayreuth) where he had spent many years in the past, my mother decided that it wasn't such a good idea to go on vacation. It seems to be much easier for him to be able to sleep at home where he knows everything. So with the starting point in Austria gone, I can now just start at my door steps. I haven't modified the overall plan too much... only that I added a lot more cycling kilometers to the plan. We'll see how it goes. Plans are there to be changed. 

Overall the tour will be very roughly speaking 2700 km. Assuming a week at my parents place, that would mean about 66 km every day. That is definitely doable... at least here in the flats of the Netherlands. But every day??? We will see. Worst case in all countries I pass it is somehow possible to put the bicycle on a train. Not everywhere super easy, but possible in general terms. No stress! 

Tour d'Europe - Part 1 Leiden to Colmar

Tour d'Europe - Part 2 Colmar back to Leiden

In Google maps this is just a VERY rough tour. I actually use Komoot to plan my rides. Although Komoot doesn't really know about already pre-existing cycling routes. For these I have recently found a very good web page:  https://www.biroto.eu/de/ where it is possible to download (and then upload to komoot) GPX files of a lot of official cycling routes. 

Roughly the idea is to head South towards Belgium pretty straight on, and then get on the Amsterdam - Venice cycling route, which follows the Vennbahnweg, later on the Mosel and the Rhine. Then a few days stop at my parents place before continuing to head South towards the Danube where I'll catch the Danube cycling way heading up to the spring of the river. Then over the black forest to Freiburg and Colmar and then up North again following Eurovelo 5 which kind of runs parallel to the Rhine up towards Luxemburg, Belgium and into Brussels. The last kilometers from Brussels back to Leiden are not yet planned at all... but at that stage I should be pretty comfortable with the day to day planning and also know much better how much time is left. If I am pressed for time, Brussels - Leiden are about 200 km, so easily doable in 2 days. If I am not, I can explore further Belgium. Maybe take in some famous cobbled climbs (likely pushing up the bike though)... or maybe ride a bit to the South to famous Roubaix and let my Spezialized Roubaix sense the air of proper Roubaix? 

TdE - Packing List

Based on the experience touring through Japan a few years ago, my new bike packing list is even shorter than back then. With less normal clothes, and more cycling specific clothes and also a much smaller bag. 

While the bag I rode with in Japan did weigh about 10 kg, this one only weighs 4.1 kg! But it should be sufficient... Plus there will be a small triangular bag in the frame for food and powerbank.

So here the content of the main bag:

• Cycling clothes
• Castelli ROS jacket
• Long sleeved cycling undershirt
• Short sleeved cycling undershirt
• Bib shorts
• Cycling T-shirt
• Cycling tank top
• Cycling cap
• Leg warmers
• Off cycling clothes
• Skirt
• T-shirt
• Socks
• Stockings
• 2 pants
• Bra
• very light weight sandals
• Daunenjacke 
• Schuhe 
• Bicycle maintenance
• Inner tube
• Allen key
• Chain lube cum-cleaner
• Toiletry
• Sun cream
• Tooth brush & paste & floss
• Hair brush & hair tie
• Raisor
• Plaster
• Nail file
• Cloth pins
• Reusable ear swab
• Aspirin
• Powder
• Chamois creme
• Swiss knife
• Small, light weight towel
• Root brush --> To clean my hands, if needed
• Electrical "appliances"
• USB plug
• iPhone cable
• cable for Garmin and all other things
• Other things
• Sun glasses
• Handkerchief
• Small handbag
• Plastic bag

And  wrapped around the bag, a cheap bicycle lock. 

While on the bike there will be:

• On the rider
• Cycling wear 
• Sandals
• Cycling gloves
• Helmet
• In the pockets of the shirt
• Rain jacket
• Helmet rain cover
• Dried apricots
• Neck scarf
• iPhone
• On the bike
• 2 water bottles
• Garmin
• Front light
• Rear light
• Triangular frame bag containing:
• Labello
• External battery with cable
• Snacks / food
• Emergency foil

Tour d’Europe (TdE) Test rides (D-12)

Route: around Leiden

Distance: 40 km + 39 km + 45 km

Elevation: 71 m + 95 m + 43 m

Duration: 1:58 + 1:49 + 2:19

Average speed: 20.6 km/h + 21.5 km/h + 19.7 km/h 

Weather: dry, cloudy, around 19C

Before departing next weekend for a maybe six weeks tour through Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands, I had some test rides close to home already with the fully loaded bicycle.

I am saying fully loaded, but actually there’s not that many stuff that I will bring around. Only one bag behind the seat post of 17 L. Plus a small triangular bag (not shown in this picture) for food.

I just recently went to Tubeless wheels, so I wanted to try out how it rides, and how it rides with the fully loaded bag already strapped to the bike.

And I rides to reasonably well. 

Going South - Day 2

Route: Veghel - Eindhoven 

Distance: 89 km

Elevation: 84m

Duration: 4:37

Average speed: 19.3 km/h

Weather: 18 C, cloudy but dry, sun only getting out when already in train

As my original plan to sleep in Eindhoven and then ride South from there into Belgium and Ride through the trees didn’t succeed yesterday, I was free for new plans today. And plans I made! 4 different options. Option 1 & 2 involved riding to Maastricht (or stopping a bit earlier in Roermond). Options 3 & 4 I came up this morning and were more centered in nice (or at least potentially nice) landscape and less in distance and getting as much to the South possible. This landscape decision was definitely a good one. Very varied landscape. Some riding along canals, some through agriculture landscape, a lot through nature reserve with either forests or heathlands. 

And not a single polder!!!  It wasn’t all landscape either. There was a nice, small (and private) castle as well.

 

It wasn’t a fast ride as there was quite some gravel involved but a very scenic ride. And definitely something I am going to repeat with people from the meetup group. At the right moment in time a small Biergarten appeared in the middle of a forest:

And , hey, I went as much to the South (and actually a few meters more) as current Corona restrictions allow:

Going South - Day 1

Route: Leiden - Veghel

Distance: 131 km

Elevation: 152 m

Duration: 5:52h

Average speed: 22.4 km/h

Weather: 17C, cloudy but dry, nice tailwind 

During the week the weather was finally fit for summer. Now on the weekend it got grey again, but at least no rain and reasonable temperature for cycling. So nothing to complain. 

After trying out my Apidura cycling bag over Pentecost for the first time, I gave it a new go this weekend. Originally I aimed to do my first century ride (I.e., 100 miles = 160 km)… but I started quite late (around 10:00) and although I had mostly tailwind, the last stretch I had planned from Den Bosch to Eindhoven would have had sidewind and in Den Bosch I was only at about 105 km. So riding an other 55 winding through the landscape didn’t sound attractive. Luckily I hadn’t booked any accommodation for the night yet (I had checked yesterday and it seemed that there was more than enough available in Eindhoven, so no hurry). So I repainted my ride and headed to Veghel instead. A surprisingly ugly, mid sized town, with a lot of industry. 

But open restaurants! 

I think today was the first day that restaurants in The Netherlands were again allowed to open indoors. 

On my way here I did however come through three nice small villages/cities. 

Schoonhoven

… Nieuwpoort…

.. and Woudrichem.