Day 2: Tolkamer to Meerbusch

Todays question is this: do you trust a bureaucrat working for the tourism department or a software engineer and the mapping algorithm they’ve devised? The former wants you have a good experience, but is also trying to create business for their area and maybe isn’t a cartographer by nature. The latter wants to get you from point A to point B efficiently based on your mode of transport, but doesn’t know what you are actually wanting from your route. It’s a fools errand to try to marry the two or split the difference, so naturally that’s the approach I took.

The day started with me riding the edge of a rain storm. The inside edge. I had blue sky to my right, but was caught in the gray fuzziness for about an hour and a half and got totally soaked. The riding was lovely otherwise. It’s alway best in the morning. I don’t know why that is.

Sun came out completely by the time I made it to Rees Germany (crossed the border somewhere in there). Had some German pastries to celebrate. Then I proceeded to get very *lost* trying to stay on some (any) scenic and bike friendly route. I wasn’t truly lost, I just didn’t trust google to send me in a nice route and I found the regional bikeway signage very confusing. I was approached at two different crossroads by two different women offering me help. I must have looked the idiot tourist as I glanced from phone to sign to phone to sign. The second woman, also a cyclist, told me she hoped my trip would lodge Europe in my heart ❤️ and gave me some good if fruitless advice on using the map.

It was primarily nice riding anyway, even having to stop every 10 minutes to make sure I wasn’t going completely in the wrong direction. I got a little bit of everything. Industrial areas, farms, beautiful riverside riding, small villages and some castle ruins. Minus the castle ruins, it was not unlike the waterfront trail east of Toronto with better infrastructure.

Around 2 I got a flat. I got as far as having the wheel and tire off when a local came and just finished the job for me. He wasn’t exactly friendly about but I wasn’t exactly going to intervene or complain. I just listened to him speaking German and watched him go. He had clearly changed a few flats in his time.

Anyway, all said and done it took me a ridiculous 9 hours to move about 115km. Not exactly speedy. Good thing I don’t mind spending a lot of time on a bike.

I ended up at the campground I’d pinned from home as a possible place to stay on night 2. It’s not great but did serve me my first schnitzel which I enjoyed. And I spoke to a lovely Dutch couple touring on a tandem. I also just saw what appeared to be 2 families including about 6 kids bike touring together. That’s commitment!

As I write, I’m on the bank of the Rhine looking at some castle ruins across the water. And a really really long barge, less than half showing in the picture below.

Tomorrow google maps and Eurovelo appear more in sync so the route should be easier. Though it’s supposed to rain all day. You win some and you lose some.