Day 62 Afferden to Nijmegen

Day 62. Afferden to Nijmegen. 51.2 kms cycled. 37.2 km/h max speed. 15.5 km/h average speed. Weather – sunny and warm – perfect for cycling.

Believe it or not I am back on the Rhine River at Nijmegen, only in The Netherlands it is known as the Waal.
And I have been assured that the condition of the cycle track from here to Rotterdam is leap years ahead of the condition of the track in the German section of the River.
So that is the plan for the next few days … cycle to Rotterdam before making my way via the coast up to my final destination in Amsterdam.
As has been the case since I got to The Netherlands, the weather was perfect today for cycle touring and sightseeing in general.
After setting up camp about 10kms from the centre of the city, I rode into town and had a good look around.
Nijmegen is another beautiful Dutch city that successfully combines its Roman history with a modern 21st century city.
The city is a university town, so there are students everywhere – and they all ride bikes.
I have never seen so many bikes on the road at the same time. It is great to see and it is also great to see how the Dutch plan their road system around bicycle usage. It really is a great system and it works perfectly.
And the Dutch have definitely taken bike usage to heart. I have seen bikes with 2, 3, 4 and even 5 people on them. Bikes with a bassinet at the front and with another child at the back and surprisingly most people don’t lock their bikes up when they leave them and absolutely no-one wears a helmet – amazing.
The bike with 5 on it was a specially adapted mountain bike that had a baby seat on the front, mum riding and another 3 young kids at the back. How she kept control I have absolutely no idea, but she seemed to be quite comfortable riding along. I tried to get my camera out to get a shot, but she went past too quickly.
Cycle touring is also incredibly easy (when you buy a map) in The Netherlands. All cycle tracks are marked with numbers, so it is just a case of follow the numbers and you get to where you are going. I just wish I had known that on the first day when I got so horribly lost with no map!!

captions: Pic 1: My set up the previous night thanks to my camp site neighbours. Pic 2: Windmill number 2 Pic 3: The Nijmegen Symphony orchestra was giving an outdoor concert. Pic 4: The Nijmegen old town Pic 5: The Australian ice cream shop in town. Did the copyright the name??????????