Day 59 Erkelenz (Germany) to Roermond (The Netherlands)

Day 59. Erkelenz (Germany) to Roermond (The Netherlands). 35.97 kms cycled. 2.22 hours cycling. 33.70 max speed. 15.16 km/h average speed. Weather – not a cloud in the sky and about 25 degrees … perfect.

Well here I am in country number five, The Netherlands. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but every time I have crossed from one country to another the scenery has changed so dramatically. As I have said previously about the other countries, everything here is so Dutch!!

  It is only my first day, but The Netherlands really does look like a beautiful country. Mind you it does help that it is a perfect weather day, but Roermond where I have camped for the night really is a beautiful city.

  There is the traditional old city plus a modern new city complete with a huge outlet shopping precinct and a large business district.

  After arriving about noon after only 36kms of cycling I set up camp and then set about exploring the town. I have just about got this down to a fine art, riding through the streets on the bike first to get my bearings, and then setting out on foot to explore the small laneways, churches and shops of interest.

  Like many German and French towns, Roermond was extensively bombed in the war, a fact graphically illustrated in a series of pictures on display in the foyer of the town’s cathedral, but you would not know today.

  One of the first things I noticed after crossing the border was the fantastic network of bicycle tracks. They go in every direction and there are cyclists everywhere making use of them.

  The only problem is that you have to watch out for speeding bike riders. On a couple of occasions I nearly got cleaned up by bikes flying through intersections or coming around a corner too fast. Wouldn’t that be ironic … survive France’s roads and crash on a Dutch cycleway!!.

  Anyway, as you can imagine there are bikes everywhere, a great sight indeed.

 I will study the map closely tonight and work out my route for the next few days then. At the moment the plan is to follow the River Maas, but the lady at the tourist office suggested another route that would take me through all the main towns on the way to Amsterdam.

  Whatever the decision, now that I have got plenty of time I can really kick back and enjoy the ride.

captions: Pic 1: Finally made it to The Netherlands Pic 2: The bikes come in all colours schemes. Pic 3,4,5 and 6: Roermond.