I only left in the afternoon and did not cycle along the fastest route next to the Albert Canal, but inland until the Nete valley and then via the Kleine Nete all the way meandering to Grobbendonk. From there through the nature reserve behind the military camp to my Welcome To My Garden host Jorge in Herentals. Who has an operational home brewery Leysen Brewery. I tried one of his beers, and it did deliver a surprise (see earlier post).
Jorge & family
For nearly 50 km along the Bocholt-Herentals Canal. Thoughtless cycling, too bad about the strong headwind. At Neerpelt was finally allowed to turn left, got the wind from the right and rode through forests, so much lighter pedalling. That was not too bad for the last 20 km, as fatigue was already starting to weigh on me. My legs clearly weren't used to it anymore.
Points of interest: the Achelse Kluis/St.-Benedictus Abbey in Achel, where I took a break in monastic silence, and the Leenders forest in the Netherlands.
Camping I did in Camping "De Kluis“, where I also stayed in 2013 and 2018 with Els van Vlimmeren and our dog Biko. Heeze is close to the magnificent Stabrecht Heath, with its 1850 hectares the largest contiguous heathland area in North Brabant.
The day after, it was raining and I took a walk to the village and the castle. From a side porch, I could peek into the gloomy interior of the rather large St Martin's church, but you cannot enter the church.
During an evening stroll, I saw huge huge, illuminated tents in the distance. That appeared to be where preparations were taking place for Heeze's annual grand theatre parade. More than worth writing a separate article about.
Wednesday I made a diversion to first cycle 14 km on a gravel path through the beautiful Stabrecht heathland. Some heather bushes were already starting to bloom. Next month it will turn a beautiful purple here.
Then continued until Maasbree along quiet rural roads and on separate cycle paths next to provincial roads. Lovely cycling weather, courtesy of the westerly wind.
Overnight in Nature camping in t 'Niet an oasis of calm (€15 for cycle campers).
Tomorrow another 10 km to Venlo, where I stop by Bever Sport to see if they have an Exped inflation bag for my air mattress and also browse around. I like doing that in camping shops. Right after that I'm in Deutschland!
Achelse Kluis, St Benedict's abbey
The ride from Maasbree to Venlo was quickly peaked, just 10 km. At Venlo is not much to see. The 16th-century Town Hall on Market Square and here and there another historic building. The old centre with its many shops is mainly focused on consumerist border tourism from Germany.
After Venlo I crossed the border and I followed a provincial job. In Straelen, the first village across the border, I did some shopping. Back at my bike, a woman approached me. She was at the Warm Showers cycling platform and asked if I needed shelter. How kind! Too bad, I would have loved to stay with her, but I had to move on to get to Münster in time. There, on Sunday, I was invited to a Tibetan party to celebrate the Dalai Lama's birthday.
The last 10 kilometres presented me with my first medium-difficult climb. That takes getting used to again.
NL-DE border crossing
Nice stretch in the morning: first the Boxeler radweg over a former railway line through the woods, then past Xanten crossing the Rhine by ferry and continuing along a quiet Rhine cycle path with sweeping vistas.
From Wesel again a ravel railway line through forests to the hem of Naturpark Hohe Mark. At the village Krudenburg I found a magnificent lunch spot next to a refreshing fountain - which I took eager advantage of in this hot weather. The water splashing did cause some 'urge to pee', and when I looked for a suitable 'bosque' looking up, I saw a public toilet 50 metres away. Everything top-notch organised for women in Germany.
Now through a natural park! I was expecting a fresh forest ride, but it turned out somewhat differently: mostly I cycled alongside hot-hot large jobs, except for 20 cooling forest kilometres. There, near a fens, I saw a stork's nest with already large young.
And it's starting to slope nicely here too, but the legs are getting stronger every day, I feel especially on the slopes. It is not true that from a certain age you can no longer gain muscle.
Weasel
Ten kilometres on a gravel road through forests, then non-stop along the main track to Münster. A 'blaker ride‘ with little shade.
The last section next to the Aasee more to the inner city was the most beautiful. Seeing all those people beside the water in tree-shaded spots, I couldn't resist flattening myself down too and 'grounding' under a tree for 10 minutes or so. Nothing is more soothing than the exchange between differently charged body and earth ions.
On my way to the city campsite, I crossed the city centre. It looks a cosy city, with little traffic.
Tomorrow morning I will go to the LWL art museum, the Cathedral and St Lambert's Church. At 3pm, it's party time with Tibetans at the 'Giant billiard balls', a work by Swedish-American artist Claes Oldenburg at the Aasee esplanade, which I cycled past this afternoon.
Peace and quiet in park beside Aasee lake
Tonight and tomorrow I am sleeping in the holiday home of my cousin Wolf and his partner Nomi and little daughter Mona. Two nights in a comfortable bed, I'm looking forward to it !
From Münster to Halle I rode along beautiful, quiet country roads or exclusive cycle paths through fresh forests or along vast fields. A relief after the busy provincial road up to Munster last Saturday. And the temperature and wind were also with us today.
From the town of Halle, I still had 10 km to go. It got very hilly, with some steep calf bites during which I sometimes had to stop to de-acidify my legs before I could continue climbing. And as a result, I still arrived at Nomi and Wolf's place pretty sweaty.
Today it was again 'knots' alongside busy roads, on usually bumpy cycle paths. And then it was up and down briskly. Fortunately, the wind was usually with us, from rear-left to side-left.
From Exter I could finally cycle some kilometres via a shortcut that was much more pleasant. Just outside Exter was a jumping for junior girls busy. I lingered for a moment, thinking back to the time when I did the same. Half a century ago by now, hoho!
The last 6 km after Vlotho I rode along the Weser cycle path, but unfortunately again next to a busy lane. In terms of cycling routes, Germany disappoints me a bit. I had expected more roads through quiet nature in such a vast country.
Jumping just outside Exter
The wind was good (SW) and the route through the Weser Valley was only slightly undulating. The first 5km on a gravel road were sometimes tricky as they contained many skid marks. Otherwise, it was mostly on quiet local roads.
After 20 km, I had to cross the Weser with a ferry. The ferry was on the other side. I waited for a while but there was no sign of movement. When I checked the timetable, it turned out it was not running today. So I continued on the left bank of the Weser to Hameln, the town of the famous Pied Piper.
About five kilometres before Hameln, heavy fatigue suddenly overtook me in the legs. I couldn't get it out with a rest. Normally I had 16 km to go until Coppenbrügge, with a tough climb the last 7 km. But in Hameln is a city campsite right next to the Weser River. I passed it and decided to turn in. Enough for today, listen to the body.
By five o'clock, my tent was up, I had showered and rested for a while. Time to take a walk to the old town.
When I got to the Nicolaikerk at Marktplatze arrived, a organ concert begin. Just what I needed now that the legs felt so heavy. Sitting for 35 minutes, eyes closed and enjoying the music of Edwin Lemare (1865-1934), Bach (1685-1750), Jehan Alain (1911-1940) and Jonathan Scott (1978). Then a little stroll through the old town and back to the campsite to crawl into my sleeping bag early.
Hameln city campsite with rat catcher
At Hameln I was stranded earlier than planned due to a sudden onset of severe fatigue in my legs. I crawled into the sleeping bag early, but overnight it began to incessantly rain. Not a nice prospect for the next cycling day. And indeed, still rain in the early morning, which meant I had to pack everything in the tent and put it in the front porch. Then unhitched and folded the mostly still dry inner tent, and had breakfast in the much roomier outer tent with occasional drops of condensation on the neck.
Leaving in a light drizzle, I was not too bad, but after an hour it started pouring again. A porch with a wooden bench of a closed tavern offered shelter until the worst was over. Then the drizzle continued again.
While the past few days I cycled mostly along major lanes and asphalt roads, this morning it was a coincidence that there were mostly wet gravel with many steep calf-biting climbs were on the menu. Nowhere were bus shelters or opportunity to take shelter and eat anything. When I arrived in Coppenbrügge arrived, I therefore eagerly ducked into a hunting pub to dry off, rest and eat something in the meantime. The legs still felt heavy. Thank God it had stopped raining by now.
To avoid any further muddy gravel, I switched from Komoot navigator to Apple's 'maps'. That navigator guided me along comfortable routes as far as Hildesheim. Only the last kilometre was less comfortable. The youth hostel-where I had booked a bed yesterday rain-provided -is on a hill overlooking the city. I had already seen it on the route profile: another calf climb over 800 metres which I did not run out of without stopovers and some bike pushing. But with the finish line in sight, I always manage that little bit better.
Still, I arrived back much more tired than usual. I even looked forward to making my bed, actually a chore of nothing compared to setting up an entire encampment. And for dinner I only had to sit down to dinner, pure luxury.
Instead of writing in the evening and planning the rest of my trip on the laptop, I fell into a comatose sleep on the made-up bed at 19:15 for an hour or two. After that, I was able to spend another hour or so doing things.
No photos from this wet and grey day.
A salubrious night in a nice bed does wonders. And a clement cycling route and climate help. After a 'nose dive' to the inner city of Hildesheim and a visit to the Mariendom, it went smoothly along a gently undulating cycle path next to a provincial road until Brunswick.
No landscape photos from along the way. I have now grown bored of vast fields of patties, cereals and maize and now have to look for imagery from sights along the way: the Cathedral in Hildesheim. Where the last bishop apparently also indulged in severe sexual abuse....
Mariendom Hildesheim
No fatigue at all when I arrived at campingplatze Kemmelbad - indeed with a swimming pond - where, moreover, the friendly volunteer manager gave me a place under a large party tent to stay dry during the predicted evening rain, which is now in full swing.
And my lesson of the past three days: don't stay on steep calf bites for too long going above my leg strength. That going deep into the red causes fatigue, and recovery at my age is too slow. Wisdom comes with age, though sometimes it takes a while.
Tomorrow Sunday I have appointment in Daghpo Karma Dechen Ling, a Tibetan centre in Braunschweig, and Monday I take advantage of it to visit the city.
Forty kilometres on a clear cycle path next to a provincial road, through always the same agricultural landscape. Nothing noteworthy seen, except halfway through a large Bäckerei/Conditorei with a tempting large terrace and delicious Zahnetorte. Occasional sins on my low-sugar diet are allowed. I'll cycle it back off.
Seven kilometres from Helmstedt is the infamous former GDR border crossing near Mariënborn. I thought that one was worth a diversion.
Former GDR border crossing near Marienborn
On the way, I had seen a flyer somewhere of a museum of contemporary art in Wolfsburg. That appealed to me enormously, especially after the rather oppressive visit to Mariënborn. Wolfsburg is 30 kilometres from Helmstadt in a direction I didn't need to go at all. I decided to go there by bus, and it was definitely worth it
It rained all night, so I packed the tent again, unpacked the inner tent and put it away separately and had breakfast under the outer tent, without making coffee because I don't like using my gas stove in the tent. I would drink that coffee on the way.
By the time I left, it was dry. The route was nicer and quieter than the past section. I now found myself in former East Germany, maybe that has something to do with it. As for the coffee, I could tap my chin until Magdeburg, +50 km away. To compensate for the coffee deprivation endured, I then also treated myself to an ice cream.
To still take something of Magdeburg with me besides that ice cream parlour, I already took a stroll through the city centre. Pretty nice, including a building designed by the famous Austrian architect Hundertwasser, the Domplatz and some beautiful churches.
Hundertwasser House Magdeburg
Again, a pleasant route. In the small town Möckern I passed a kebab joint where I could also get a veggie salad with pasta. After Mockern, some difficult passages followed along a dirt road.
I wanted to spend the night at a 'ferienpark' but when I arrived there, fairly tired because of the heat, it turned out to be closed that Saturday night because of no staff present. I was referred to the Hirschentränke gasthof in Verlorenwasser, 3 kilometres away. There I was fortunately able to visit Bernd and Eva.
Bernd and Eva
After 61 km of leisurely cycling, I arrived at the last campsite before Potsdam, about five kilometres from the Old Town and its pompous Prussian palaces. Naturally, I took a day off from cycling to visit Potsdam.
Potsdam
Stadtschloss Berlin
And this, then, was the short queen ride of my first draft section, arriving in Berlin. Here I stayed for three days and visited about half of what I would have liked to have seen. The museums are just too big to take a quick stroll through. Reason enough to come back again!
16 September: Opening the door at Diamondway Buddhist Centre in Tallinn The centre's meditation sessions are open
