Days distance 111.71
Total distance 423.3
111 kms 60 of these in the drizzling, cold, unpleasant rain. Not many photos due the awful weather.
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| Our route and we did stray off the Rhine route |
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| Setting out for the day |
We set off from Orsoy with Cologne as a possible destination, but it was about 80kms, so it may not be reached depending on a number of factors... the main one being the rain.
After sufficient cheese loading we headed off, following the Route 15 Rhine sign posts, a slight deviation from our trusted D8 route. The 15 took us over the Rhine on a ferry into the outskirts of Duisburg.
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| We rode ride past this power station |
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| The ferry that took us across the Rhine |
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| Barges coming our way while on the ferry |
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After the ferry we skirted around the massive power plant and under the 300m chimney.
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And headed into the industrial part of town ... Not very pretty!!
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| A factory chimney spewing something out ... |
That plume of toxic something was released just before we got near there .... Then we rode past and whatever it was rained down on us ... Smelled like sulphur, it was disgusting, but must have given me superpowers for the day as I felt very strong on the bike.... Or a strong desire to leave this area as far as possible.
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| Industry at its German best |
Yes, the Germans are so proud of this area, it has it's own tourist route ....
After riding through such not nice scenery we came to this ... which made us forget about the yukky stuff
And then we got more industrial park
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| One of the many bridges we passed on our ride heading into Duisburg. |
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| And under ... |
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Sheep doing their community service on the banks of the river.
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| Continuing along the Rhine's course, going over a small inlet at Duisberg. |
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Some ships ...
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A container port in Duisberg
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Still pretty, but this where I made a navigational error & we started following the WRONG river.... I had my suspicions as it was a lot smaller... Took us about 20kms off course ... Lesson learned - follow the signs when they are given to you on a post....
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| A sculpture in a town we were not supposed to be in....but we didn't know that yet - even though the river was a lot smaller.... (we were at Mulheim) |
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A
really really long bridge (Ruhrtalbrücke) we shouldn't have seen along with old houses
& churches that were on the wrong route...
( the track was gravel
& very bumpy as well)
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| A classic German village scene in a village (Hosel) we should not have known exists .... |
We then discovered we were in the wrong place via Google maps & had to head South West to get back to the Rhine ... It then started raining, alot .... And there were some big hills to get over into the next valley, that almost did me in...
A quick lunch in Lintorf at a kebab place, purchase of plastic bags to cover our gear & selves & were were off again....
An apple stop outside of Dusseldof, which I didn't get any photos of due the rain, we did stop in Dusseldorf and refuel with hot chocolate & apple cake. It was pouring. Very unpleasant, but no better way to spend it than travelling ... Maybe not on a bike.
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These bags cost up 10cents each, and we got our money's worth out of them. Sorry environmentalists...
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| Those make do shoe / vegetable bags kept our feet snugly dry for the entire 60kms in the drizzling awful conditions. |
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| Stylish .. |
Hoorah Cologne!! We still had about 5kms to go & accommodation yet to find. I was wet through as my jacket did not do a good job of keeping the water out and the temp was about 15degrees. Cold cold cold!!
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| Cologne - so close yet so far |
Finally at our resting place - and looking at the stuff we picked up along the way, no wonder the end was getting harder ... Our bikes were so much heavier. We were tired, exhausted, I was very cold & just wanting a hot shower.... A 9.5 hour day .... Not including lunch time. We go slow as we need to stop often to check routes etc. we sit on about 19-20kms an hour when we get a good run. The villages slow us down with traffic lights and photographing.
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| Filthy bike |
Looking forward to a warm bed, 2 nights on one place, no bike time & checking out Cologne.
I was so tired I wasn't even very hungry!!
Personal best distance EVER!! Worst off course route EVER!
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