Day 23: Allmannsweier to Durmersheim, Germany
(64.8 miles, 203 ft of gain, Strava map)
While the backyard at our Warmshowers house was unbelievably cozy in the garden, there was a streetlamp that illuminated our tent all night long. We got creative at finding makeshift ways to cover our faces/eyes to try and get sleep (a jacket, a sleeping bag cover). Generally speaking, the three of us could use a lot more sleep than we are currently getting. With the sun setting around 10:00 PM, we don’t sometimes fall asleep till 11 or close to midnight (though Claire is a little better at it than Uri and I). One of these days, we need to just sleep in for as long as possible, fingers crossed that it comes soon.
The trials of the morning were as follows:
Ants attacked my food bag. My jam fermented in the heat since I didn’t eat it fast enough. And, my flip-flop lost its sole mate somewhere along the bumpy gravel road. Regardless of these trivial things, our lovely hosts brought out coffee on a cute little tray with milk for us as we packed up.
Joachim and Simone were incredibly sweet. We were their first guests from Warmshowers, and they were so pleased to be having us. He even called his sister to see if she could host us the following day. Being treated with such kindness really encourages us to give back, and we hope to offer strangers the same hospitality when we resume hosting cyclists back home.
The five of us (Claire, Uri, me, Joachim, and Simone) took some pictures together before we were back on the road. In an awkward moment after waving goodbye, we stopped just out of sight to continue loading our maps for the day, backtracking and passing their house again once we figured out the correct direction to bike.
Biking in this area is great for farm scene appreciation. Even though it is becoming more industrial, the couple of small towns we passed through had traditional houses (the style called Middle German House): white homes with stained or brown painted wooden crisscrosses, green shutters, and brown roofs. Sometimes these are most of the houses and sometimes it’s just a few. I wish I had taken a picture, but I took for granted seeing them so regularly. Suddenly, there weren’t any anymore.
Our favorite grocery stores (Migros and COOP) are now behind us, replaced by unfamiliar German stores (except ALDIs which we have in the US!) Now that we are in Germany, the cost of grocery stores is immensely cheaper compared to Switzerland. Nearly half the price! This made us feel justified as we stuffed our panniers and bags full of snacks and treats. I’ve been buying fresh loaves of bread in the morning with hummus, Nutella, and peanut butter. Uri has been gravitating toward couscous, ramen, and tuna. Claire has been eating lots of hummus!
Today, the route was very heavy gravel. We were definitely exerting a lot more effort than usual, almost like jogging through sand, and it was tiring even though the terrain was painfully, boring-ly flat. All of the jostling over the rocks had my back rack bolt jiggling out and becoming lost somewhere along the Rhine. This then lopsided my rack requiring some handy dandy zip ties (always carry these on tour!). Because of the loose gravel, all of our bikes were also covered in a fine coat of dust.
When lunchtime rolled around, we looked for shade and were provided with a small amphitheater on the side of the road next to a casino and a closed restaurant. Here, we snacked super hard and took a much-needed Power Nap. After making a bare minimum of conversational French with an older man on an e-bike, we continued on our way.
To our west was Strasbourg, but it was on the other side of the Rhine so we didn’t get to stop in. I know that we pass a lot of points of interest, especially from a historical point of view, and I wish we could know more about these areas. My plan is to research these places as I write this blog to have a better understanding of the area we are traveling through, though it’s not quite the same as being immersed. Overall, it has been hard to find the time to explore and understand all of these places in depth when we have certain mileage goals to meet every day. The gut response is to just say "Well, then bike less miles!" But, it's not easy to balance site seeing with having a cycling goal. After all, all the big towns we pass could easily be 3 days of exploration, and that just isn't feasible.
The campground we ended at was very small and had a lawn/sand space large enough for four tents to fit comfortably on it. The rest of the campground was full of camper vans and RVs, as usual. We arrived super exhausted and were delighted to indulge in a beer for 3e while we ate our dinners (ramen with boxed coconut milk has been deliciously salty!) To our surprise, what we received was a Mega Brew, at least half a liter. Needless to say, we couldn’t finish them, but darn they were refreshing.
More than any other day, we all just needed to go to bed early. I could barely keep my eyes open during dinner. There was even a swimming pool and water slides here, but we were so tired to use them! So, we cocooned in our tents, and Uri and I watched some YouTube videos about the Tour Divide bicycle race that was happening. Inspiration for the road, ya know.
Yesterday and today, I’ve had a really hard time eating. Bicycle gut isn’t new to me, but it is certainly not good when you are doing endurance sports. Calories are so important, and I really haven’t had much of an appetite for the food I had been buying. So, I felt very tired and slow for a large portion of the day. When it’s hot out and you’re pushing to do a lot of miles on the bike, the stomach can get really funky with what it wants and what it doesn’t want. I’m hoping to regain some of my appetite back otherwise I might bonk.
Day 24: Durmersheim to Frankenthal, Germany
(60.6 miles, 325 ft of gain, Strava map)
Getting ready in the morning is increasingly easier now that we have a system that is improving for each of us. So, by 8 AM, we were back on our bikes and leaving the campground, hoping to beat some of the heat.
Compared to yesterday’s gravel, this day was a pavement luxury, which we all really appreciated, especially my bicycle.
Shortly into the ride, I got stung by an insect. Over the past two days, I’ve been the only one getting recurring stings from flying ants or, today, a bee. This would make the fourth sting in two days. I have a sneaky suspicion that it’s because I’m wearing a striped shirt which might be more attractive and yummy looking, but, since I’m not a flower, it sucks.
After a coffee shop mishap where the café we were aiming for wasn’t there (not great for hangry cyclists), we routed to a Lidl (pronounced Leedle, I think) to get our morning caffeine and sugar fix. We have now made this our go-to German grocery store.
The rest of the day was fairly monotonous, as I expect a lot of the days along the Rhine in western Germany to be. The theme of this day is also yellow. Yellow grass, yellow wheat fields, pastel yellow houses. Thriving yellow, dead yellow. When it wasn't yellow it was metallic gray. Factories, smoke, gray water, gray sky.
Compared to Switzerland, there are a few differences compared with where we are in Germany. We’re starting to see more litter on the sidewalks where this was very rare in Switzerland. Particularly, there are also a lot more cigarette butts on the ground. In general, there just seem to be a lot more smokers. The bike lanes are also a little crappier with more cracks, potholes, and raised lumps in the cement/asphalt.
One thing that we enjoy doing is looking for spa chairs. Along the river, there are these benches that are extra wide and extra lounge-y, fit for three people and perfect for relaxing. The first time we all sat in one, we played ethereal spa music, and so now we call these spa chairs. It’s been fun hunting them down and taking rest breaks in them.
Getting to our Warmshowers house for the evening was challenging due to city madness and insufficient bike infrastructure. Granted, we took a shortcut with Komoot through town, off the Eurovelo route, but this saved us an extra 10 miles of biking.
We arrived at a series of apartment complexes, and I buzzed both into the building and into the flat using a fancy app that our hosts gave us the link for. The flat was stunning! It had modern tiling with cool lighting and chic furniture. There was so much art on the walls in every room with paintings and mixed media on canvas, and there was a balcony with outdoor seating that overlooked the rural farmlands. Importantly, there were cats! Two adorable, massively fluffy puff balls that required petting.
Christian and Julia were about our age, maybe a little older in their mid to late 30s. They had just returned from a 6-month bike touring trip in South America, zigzagging south to and from Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina. They were so soft-spoken, gentle in demeanor, and cheerful, yet to do a trip like that requires a lot of badass grit. Not to mention, Christian had spent 3 months in Tajikistan right before that which is super hardcore. Needless to say, they knew exactly what we required as bike tourers (showers, laundry, beds, food) and were so generous with allowing us into their flat without them even being home that evening.
Day 25: Frankenthal to Flomersheim, Germany
(61.08 miles, 535 ft of gain, Strava map)
In the early hours of the night, Claire woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep because of the heat, so she joined us in the room with the AC (she had originally wanted the office space for privacy). Unfortunately, in the morning, the water outflow from the AC unit spilled all over the dresser and the floor, but thankfully nothing had been destroyed.
While Christian and Julia were still sleeping, Claire did her yoga routine and journaled. Meanwhile, Uri and I ate yogurt (rare dairy consumption on this trip) and sought coffee from Edeka, the other German grocery store nearby. The three of us reviewed our route and looked for sleeping arrangements until Christian woke up and helped us figure out the best route out of the city.
With our expert local advice, we popped out of the city easily and were back on the bicycle route. The day was very industrial all morning, and when it wasn’t industrial, it was (surprise surprise) agricultural. The color of the day was… yellow! In the early afternoon, there was a minor suggestion of sprinkling rain, but that passed quickly.
Before the trip began, we saw, to our childish delight, that we would be passing through/near a town called Worms. This magnificent day had finally arrived. So, we gleefully took a few pictures next to the town sign for our daily entertainment. Resume the factories and the yellow.
Our next big town to tackle was Mainz. We skirted the periphery by the river for much of it and started leapfrogging a couple that was biking from the south of Spain to Holland. We saw them earlier in the day, and we began passing each other at red lights and during breaks. Leapfrogging people is exciting because you get a fun boost of energy as you wave to a familiar face and then continue on your way, and vice versa.
We cut away from the Rhine to get to our Warmshowers for the night, and the ride there was simple yet beautiful. We moseyed past vineyards until our little destination town where the house would be. The home was in a row with other pastel-colored houses on the same street, and from the outside, it was a simple, three-story, red house. When you walked through the side gate, it opened up into a hidden, surprisingly large, cobblestone courtyard that had grape vines hanging across the entranceway ceiling. Unripe grapes hung in bunches. Built in 1595, this house used to be an old wine cellar, so everywhere you looked was another nook and storage room. Next to the main house was an adjacent building with its own living room space, bathroom, and an upstairs with five mattresses. In between this building and the main house was an outdoor gym for all things gymnastic. Even more, there was a massive backyard circled by an old stone wall. The yard was split into two sides: one side was a fertile garden growing almost a dozen fruits, vegetables, and flowers, and the other side was a space for a small swimming pool, trampoline, and outdoor dining.
When we arrived, we were welcomed by three of the four daughters, all of whom were incredibly shy and quiet. The youngest warmed up to Claire quickly after Claire taught her some fabric aerial moves, but the others kept to themselves, as preteens do.
We met our two hosts when they came home from work. The wife was a small, dark-haired woman with a quick smile and laugh, and her husband was larger, taller, and quite bearded. The two of them provided excellent conversation, both immensely intelligent and invested in human affairs. For instance, she has a Ph.D. in Philosophy and works with immigrants while he works with the railroad company. Their work-life balance mindset is inspiring; he took a pay cut and job change to be happier.
The three of us were delightfully put to work to help prepare dinner. I volunteered immediately to pick the raspberries while Claire and Uri chopped carrots and potatoes that were to be roasted. With my big bowl and flowy dress (the only nice, clean thing that I can wear), I walked through the quiet garden with little pollinators buzzing about the long rows of raspberry leaves. It was later in the evening, so the sun was heading towards the golden hour. I had a moment of awe as I picked the juicy purple berries off the vine (sampling a few for quality assurance) and listened to muffled chatter from the outdoor kitchen. It was so therapeutic and warm to be in a marvelous garden in a small town in Germany eating fresh raspberries as we prepared a group dinner. This is what traveling is supposed to be like. Not just driving from site to site to take pictures. It’s about eating raspberries.
Dinner was served around a long rectangular table with the four daughters, two hosts, and us, the three cyclists from across the ocean. We had pleasant conversations, mouth-watering food with vegetables (!), and a bottle of white wine from a vineyard less than 500 m from where we were staying. It was marvelous.
Day 26: Flomersheim to Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany
(71.7 miles, 627 ft of gain, Strava map)
Most mornings, we eat bread with a variety of spreads, but today the spreads were homemade jams from the berries from the garden. On the counter were at least eight new jars of jam that were just made, and we helped them scrape through the last few flavors they had remaining. After breakfast and before we departed, we were gifted a bottle of wine from the previous night (which we expressed our immense love for) and a zucchini. It was random, but it was perfect. We just had to get creative with how to store these in our panniers.
As we rode out of town and got back on the cycling route, we were met with many headwinds. Besides being difficult to bike into, it actually made the day kinda cold. But, we were excited about this day for one reason: we were promised castles!
We biked on a route next to the river, but today, we traveled through a V. Hills slopes up on either side of us, and periodically, a castle would be positioned at the top of a hill or on the side of the slope face. In addition to the castles were fortresses, sometimes hard to distinguish from the castles due to their old age. Covering the hillsides were more vineyards. The scenery was truly idyllic.
As we rode through this area, Claire ran into another Backroads group that was actively on a tour. As she is part of this company, it is exciting for her to meet her colleagues in other countries. They didn't stop cycling for long, but we bumped into them again later and Claire was able to chat with them briefly. Perks of being a cycling tour guide!
A list of our aches: today, my upper back and neck were hurting from being in a forward seated position, and the pinching was horribly uncomfortable. Every now and then my big toe would also get numb, but I just ignore that. Claire was having some knee irritation from the last few big days of riding in a harder gear/ slower cadence. Uri was also experiencing some finger numbness, something that I had to deal with on my last big tour. But, we are all finding ways to manage, adjust, and provide relief.
Sometimes when you bike, you meet a stranger and they stick with you for a little bit. This happened with tall, skinny, German dude Daniel. We had a brief exchange with him at a red light, and then we unexpectedly went different ways before saying goodbye. We don’t quite know when he saw him again, but suddenly he was riding alongside us. When we stopped, he stopped, and it was clear that we both liked each other's company. So, we adopted him for the next 200 km or so.
The four of us rode together through the countryside and through more small towns. We passed more vineyards and eventually made it to another campground. Daniel typically sleeps under a tarp under bridges and bikes from 5 AM to 8 PM, eating cold food even though he is a chef (he has cooked at a 1-star Michelin restaurant before). So, he's pretty hardcore. Regardless, he didn’t mind getting a little bougie at a paid campground to continue biking with us.
Our sleeping space was on a big open lawn with many tents and ample space. From our tents, we could see the fast-flowing river and hear music from a local fair happening just next door. Also from our vantage point was The Spa. As we camped on the grass, the spa balcony hung above us with large, partially tinted windows and….. naked people. They were just there out on the balcony hanging out. The asses of 60-70 year old men were looming above my tent. Some people had the decency of allowing a towel to lightly hang down their front, but others didn’t care. Must be nice to get old and not give a shit.
We went to the campground restaurant for fries and a half-liter-sized non-alcoholic beer with Daniel. We weren’t seated for too long when the table next to us perked up when they heard us speaking English. A 70-year-old woman with a small dog and a floor-length floral dress pulled up a chair and suddenly joined us, intrigued about where we came from and, presumably, to work on her English.
The conversation started OK, though she was a little kooky and whimsical. She fixated on my research (greenhouse gas modeling) and pummeled me with questions because she didn’t understand what any of it was. While I don’t mind explaining my work, I didn’t want to do it here, and she was a little tipsy, so it made it all the more annoying. She started to become quite rude as she said that we weren’t respecting her by speaking German. She castigated us for not learning more of the language, even though our tour crosses 8 countries and we can’t possibly learn all the languages. She challenged us with how to say “Hello”, and I responded “Hallo”. It wasn’t good enough though because I didn’t say it correctly with a German accent. She also claimed we weren't respecting her because we "were expecting that she should know English", which was absurd. I wanted to say “Lady, this is our table that you joined without asking, now go away!” Her British husband at least provided some comic relief as I became increasingly irritated.
We hurried and paid the bill when she started to backpedal, trying to hold my hand multiple times in apology as I uncomfortably pulled away, and we retreated to our tents. The music beats from the fair subsided well into the evening, eventually allowing us to finally get some sleep.
Day 27: Ingelheim am Rhein to Bad Hönnigen, Germany
(60.4 miles, 610 ft of gain, Strava map)
A light drizzle on the tent woke me before my morning alarm, which was soothing and relaxing. A much better alternative to a jarring phone alarm. Without coffee or significant breakfast, Uri and I packed up quickly, joined by Daniel. Claire, still doing her morning yoga, agreed to meet us at Rewe, the nearby grocery store. Pronounced “Revv-ay”, we like to call it Ree-Wee, a name that has been adopted by a few of our hosts now.
Navigating through new groceries always takes a little extra time, but thankfully this one had an attached bakery and café. I ordered this delicious Danish-looking pastry topped with pudding and strawberries and sat on the curb outside eating it.
“Is this what you usually do?” Daniel asked, preferring to spend time in cafés to take his coffee.
Me, surrounded by cigarette butts on the pavement outside the grocery store, gave a non-committal answer about circumstances, but truthfully we did do this a lot.
Claire had a hard time getting around the morning construction to meet us. This frustration, paired with tiredness, her achy knee, and starting to not feel well (maybe getting sick?), had her opting to just take a train to Cologne and meet us there. She had a much easier time getting onto this one compared to the Switzerland train, and it gave her some time to rest and feel better.
Daniel, Uri, and I were energized by rain, the first significant rain that I’ve had to bike in on the trip. It felt like we were flying through towns, moving in harmony with the cars and the people. Since we don't speak German, we don't understand the landmark signs, but, with Daniel's translation, we learned that we passed some important bridges in WWII; in particular, the Germans tried to destroy this bridge before the Americans could infiltrate but were unsuccessful (picture below). This was more towards the end of the war.
We coasted along the river, the kilometers marked on the walls in big white letters for the passing ships along the Rhine to see. 663…664…665…666! Of course, we had to take a picture next to this one. Daniel scoffed at us in good humor, “Ah, Americans”.
Entering Cologne was easy. We followed a wonderful pedestrian/cycling route that took us into the heart of the city. It was incredibly packed this Saturday, even in the rain. We met Claire at the Cologne Cathedral which we started to see from miles away, its towering twin steeples cutting through the foggy rainy sky. At 515 ft, this cathedral is the tallest in the world and the third-tallest overall church. It was built in the 1200-1500s and has impressive Gothic and medieval architecture that loomed over us. I expected more of a stained glass exterior like Notre Dame, but it was shaggy, jagged, and black. A religious force.
Before going inside the cathedral, we took shelter at one of the many restaurants in this densely trafficked area. In particular, we dined at a sandwich shop that had a roof and seating but no front walls, so you could walk under the ceiling a grab a seat at one of the few tables there. With a hot cup of coffee and a baguette, mozzarella, and tomato sandwich, I was able to get both full and dry.
The cathedral was powerful to look at from the outside. While Daniel watched our bikes (and we assumed he wasn’t going to steal them at this point), we popped inside, grateful that there wasn’t an entrance fee. The towering, arched ceilings were incredible! You can also pay a fee to walk up the towers, but we didn't do this.
We didn’t spend much time in the city as it was rainy and crowded with people, making it hard to move around. Claire continued on the train to our Warmshowers for that evening while Daniel, Uri, and I pushed the last 15 miles or so to town. Along the way, we avoided crowds of people coming or going from a reggae festival. Everyone was in such a fun mood that it lightened our spirits. A group of teens held a branch across the bikeway, creating a makeshift barrier but lifting it as we passed. Another cyclist had baton-passed Uri a beer.
The three of us made a pit stop at the nearby ALDIs and Lidl to buy pasta and mozzarella for dinner, and then Julia welcomed us into her enormous home!She is a (presumably) late 40s to early 50s widow with three teenage boys, and she is a dentist. She joined Warmshowers because she and her late husband had been planning tours together before he got sick. While she hasn’t been able to do any bike adventures, she wants to still host and help others. It broke my heart to hear about her husband’s passing, and it’s a good reminder that loved ones can leave you unexpectedly at any moment.
Her house was massive and modern with rooms and nooks everywhere. We stayed in her basement which was not intuitive to navigate since it was so windy, and we stayed in a room that was once the old swimming pool room with green tiled walls and carpeted floors. There wasn't much furniture there, but it was shelter from the rainy evening, so it was perfect.
We all contributed to dinner to some extent; chopping vegetables, making the pasta and sauce, and arranging the Caprese salad. Daniel was able to flex his chef skills. Interestingly, the radio played American pop songs from decades ago like Barbie Girl and Pony. After cooking and showering, we all sat around her large table for a group dinner. There were 8 of us including her two sons and a girlfriend. A proper big dinner gathering and an opportunity to learn about each other.
We had a good conversation about German and American school similarities and differences. We were asked if school in America is really like how it is in the movies with all the cliques and clubs. For them, sports aren’t associated with school, and so everyone is only there to learn. School also ended after noon, so they didn't even have a lunch period. According to them, apparently, there also isn’t any bullying since cliques don't have the opportunity to form.
Warmshowers is wonderful because you get free housing and often a meal during your cycling travels. But, it comes with a social tax. Sometimes, you are tired and want to finish the day with your cold ramen and go into your sleeping bag, and socializing can take up to three hours at night. There also may be more work, like cooking and cleaning up after dinner. However, I find that this social element is actually rejuvenating for morale. You have people that care about you, and you are shown kindness. You learn about other people’s cultures and life stories, and it’s a unique experience that you wouldn't get by booking hotels and traveling by car. Of course, we are all bonded by a bicycle.
Day 28: Bad Hönnigen to Dormagen, Germany
(66.7 miles, 404 ft of gain, Strava map)
Our group is good at having challenging conversations. As we packed our bags in the pool room that morning, we worked through the difficulties of not maintaining a routine well, a hard thing to do when you sleep in a different place every day. We discussed how to get adequate sleep and periods of downtime, particularly when we arrive in the evening and use Warmshowers, requiring us to socialize. Our game plan is to try starting at 9 AM in the morning instead of 8 to give us a slower start to the day and soften the go-go-go mentality of touring.
Julia disappeared in the morning to pick up fresh buns from the nearby bakery, and we joined her for these as well as cheeses, fruits, jams, and coffee. All the hosts we stay with have such an impressive breakfast spread, putting ours to shame. I definitely need to step up and stock more cheeses and jams (and ice creams) at home, ya know, in case somebody ever comes over. It's important to be prepared.
The cycleway was different today. A wide, red brick path extended for many miles toward Düsseldorf. It was used by countless people of all ages recreating, even though it was slightly drizzly and gray outside. The strong westerly crosswinds made for a frequent fight to not fall over off the bike, but at least it wasn’t a headwind!
We didn’t go deep into Düsseldorf. From the cycleway, we passed sheep farms with the cityscape in the background, a strong contrast between city and rural life that I rarely see. There was a Ferris wheel and a tower that looked much like the space needle in Seattle. And then Düsseldorf was behind us.
Today was also one of the only days that I saw blatant antisemitism in Germany. A pole in a park was covered in stickers and graffiti with the Star of David crossed out, a heart with “HTLR” written inside, swastikas, and “Nazi Zone” written in permanent marker. We tried to move through there pretty quickly.
One of the fun parts of today was stopping at an ice cream truck on the side of the bike path. When we speak English, sometimes people do a double take to look at us. This one older man, named Donato, beelined at us once he heard. In a heavy, loud, emphatic, and dramatic Italian voice, he said “Ehhh you speak English! Me, Italian!” Maybe he was bonding over the fact that everyone else spoke German and we were not. Still, we couldn’t understand each other, but it was fun to try. I told him my family was from Abruzzo in Italy. “Ahh Abruzzo!” He exclaimed and pointed to himself “Napoli!” He then took a picture of us with our bikes next to the ice cream truck. The truck read Donato’s Ice Cream…. Now it made a little more sense.
Campground Number 2 with Daniel felt similar to the last one with an attached mini amusement park and restaurant. Claire set up camp early to catch up on much-needed rest and introverting time while Daniel, Uri, and I went to the restaurant for some more mega-sized nonalcoholic beers and German food. Since we are leaving the country tomorrow, we had to at least try some typical foods: schnitzel, bratwurst, and fries. They were OK. We got that need out of our system.
Daniel said goodbye to us so that he could make it to the Netherlands border this evening and then route to his home, 40 km away. Maybe we will see him again since he’s expressed interest in maybe joining Uri and Claire for a part of the Norway section. Who knows! Regardless, it was a lot of fun to have him in our group for two days, telling us about the history of the place we were passing by and kindly answering all of our Germany questions.
Before wrapping up the day, Uri and I paid 7e to ride bumper cars at the mini amusement park. Such random fun!
Day 29: Wesel to Ingen, Germany
(65 miles, 636 ft of gain, Strava map)
The campground was still sleepy and quiet when we packed up our bikes. Fortunately, there was a market inside the campground so we didn’t have to seek out a place for breakfast in the morning. Uri and I bought more pastries and had a coffee, and Claire met with us for a prompt start at 9 AM.
Today was our first day with ferry crossings. While there are a lot of bridges, ferries are sometimes the easiest/fastest way to get across the river. We arrived at the first one just after 30 mins of biking, but we saw that it didn’t run until 10 AM. When no one else arrived and a ferry didn’t come, we then discovered that this particular ferry didn’t run on Mondays! This was concerning because there were many ferry crossings in our future, so we needed to be more diligent about the schedules. On the spot, we recreated a new route to avoid all the other ferries in case we ran into the same issue. It meant a few more miles of cycling, but at least these miles were reliable.
Overall, it was a simple day today. We had a pleasant ride in the rain but only briefly. The chillier temperatures were also nice for cycling, and it meant that we weren’t running out of water so regularly.
A field of red turned my eyes into hearts. Poppies have been my excitement boosters this whole trip. I adore how their papery petals will bounce and dance in the wind, and their colors are so vibrant and showy among the mono-crop agricultural fields. It’s like they’re saying, “Hello! We can make this place beautiful too!” We paused our ride so that I could take some photos of this stunning field. Wild poppies bring me such joy, and I never see this anywhere else I go in the United States.
Our entry into the Netherlands was marked with more red. On both sides of the road were designated cycle lanes, and it was beautiful and refreshing. It announced that we, on bicycles, had our own place on the road and were welcomed. We belonged here. This is how it was for the rest of the day. If not on a red road, we had our own paved and protected cycleway that cars could not go on. It is so important that, when building roads, you incorporate cycling infrastructure as a forethought rather than an afterthought, and the importance of it showed: these roads were heavily used by cyclists, pedestrians, and other people recreating. This is how people commuted, and it was both normal and encouraged.
Compared to the other days, we had some minor hills to tackle, but they were laughable compared to the mega climbs we had in Switzerland. We made it through the day in good spirits, enjoying the ease of the biking infrastructure. We paused for a long lunch in our first larger Dutch town where there were many shops lining the brick streets. Eating next to the water fountain, we admired the constant flow of bicycle traffic. There were people in the 80s and children riding every type of bicycle. Frequently, teens would also be seated sideways on the back rack, cruising across town.
The end of the day started to feel like a grind. By starting at 9 AM instead of 8, our arrival was pushed back an hour. This was in addition to the 45 minutes of waiting for a ferry to not pick us up. So, we didn’t make it to our Warmshowers house until after 7 PM, which isn’t ideal for me. I think it’s important to have more downtime in the evening, and we would still have to eat dinner and socialize with our host. I was very grateful to finally arrive because waking up at 7 AM, packing the bikes, and traveling until 7 PM is exhausting on multiple fronts.
An older French woman in a vibrant, flowery shirt welcomed us. Yvette had so many smile lines over her face that deepened when we arrived, and she herded us into her backyard which was popping with floral rainbow colors. Everything about her and her home was lovely. The trim around her home was bright green, and some of her kitchen walls were yellow. It felt fresh, cheery, and happy. Like all the houses we have been in, there were also no screens in the large windows. The strong breeze would periodically close the doors around the house. She waved it off, "Eventually, they'll all be closed." The natural lighting, bright colors, floral aromas, and fresh breeze rolling through the home were unbelievably tranquil.
Yvette is such a cool lady. She met her ex-husband on holiday in France, and he swept her off her feet and brought her to the Netherlands. But, he was so money-driven, and everything in her life became about making and having more money. She didn’t explicitly say this was the cause of her divorce, but she expressed her pleasure at having gotten rid of him. She joined Warmshowers because she wanted to finally do something that didn’t involve money! And she had met people from all over the world, helping them, caring for them, and fostering relationships. She barely even rides a bicycle, but she has adopted and cared for the cycling community. A true trail angel.
In addition to her divorce, she also had lung cancer, so she wasn’t supposed to smoke. But, she lit a cigarette and smoked with one hand while stirring a pot of pasta sauce with the other hand. All the while, she spoke about hosting international cyclists and dropped little nuggets of life wisdom. She also wasn't supposed to drink wine, but she had a glass anyway. Yvette also made sure to cook carrots for us because she needed us to eat some vegetables!
In the evening, she wrangled out a couple of tubs of ice cream (a delightfully recurring theme from our hosts) and a variety of toppings including fresh fruit and whipped cream. She didn't stop trying to provide for us the whole time. Until we went to bed, she kept offering us coffee, tea, and chocolates. She set us up in the living room to watch English-speaking TV shows.
The news speaks of the bad things that people do in the world, but it's important to remember that most people are very good and very kind. Maybe I'm biased because I use an app that is intrinsically about giving, but these are the people that are out there. You just have to make the connection and talk to strangers.
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