Rambling Cyclists: Venlo to Dusseldorf

8 June 2019 - Day 3

61.91km

Total distance on the trip 224.61

3:58:04 moving time

205m elevation

Total elevation 437

We started the day with hearty breakfast at the hotel with the now obligatory Sprinkles and Cheese loading.

It was a pretty chilly start to the day with the temperature starting at 13 degrees celsius, with a real feel of 10 degrees. We set off at about 8:42 with a light drizzle happening and ourselves and our packs covered in plastic. Of course 5kms into the ride we had to peel off as we got pretty hot despite the drizzle.

The first surprise of the day was riding through a beautiful forest to cross the border and coming across an old wartime airfield called Fliegerhorst Venlo which used by the Germans in WW2, and then the Americans after liberation. You can find out more at this link at Wikipedia. It was very interesting, however there was not much in English which was a shame as we missed seeing the remaining buildings further down the runway. We did go for a bit more of an explore through the forests around there. It was a very pretty ride.

The above photos show some of the beautiful landscapes we rode through, mainly on small tracks through paddocks and alongside canals. The German bike infrastructure is pretty good, especially in the rural parts of the country.

We rode through some small towns and had morning tea at Gerath at about 10:30 - we were so cold at that time as it had just started to rain again and we needed to warm our core body temperature. Because it was a Saturday morning, and before 11 am it was difficult to find anything open other than supermarkets. Thankfully there was one cafe tucked away that we found that had delicious pastries, but was also really really warm inside. Just what we needed.

We had a late lunch at Willich - again finding the only place open on a Saturday afternoon being 'Ali Kebab Haus'.

We proceeded down along the main road to Dusseldorf, and came across the mighty Rhine on our entry in Dusseldorf. Last time we visited this city was in 2014, again on our bikes on our way through to Cologne on a really wet and cold day. This current day had warmed up to a balmy 18 degrees celsius.

We managed to find our hotel - The Holiday Inn which was right alongside the north south main train line, and we had a prime view of the comings and goings of the trains - Wayne was in his element. We had a bit of a rest then met our daughter and her partner to for dinner.

We had a dinner at a German restaurant, which served traditional German fare and was suitably decorated in a german theme. It was called Dorfstube Düsseldorf The food was yummy, so tasty and we were all wowed by the German dessert "Kaiserschmarrn" or scrambled pancakes. Delicious.

We then walked back along the river toward the city, with plans to walk all the way home, but the rains came and we ended up having to call an Uber. We were however, rewarded with a full rainbow over the city of Dusseldorf and the amazing colouring from the lighting.