Europe 2022

 We went from Aachen to Boxmeer along the Maas and then to Utrecht via Heerewaarden using the amazing knoponkt system. Every junction has a number, and directional signs to the next number. There is, of course, a planning and gps app along with the physical signs. Riding on the Netherlands is remarkable, bike paths often wider than roads, no hills and thankfully we haven’t had any wind yet. There are few “wow” moments but just hours of peaceful cycling with lovely pastoral views.

 All on the Maas trail. Another hot day of cycling, through villages, first and by the river. We ended up in a very cute B&B in a small town right on the river. This part of the Netherlands is fairly narrow we found ourselves about 500M from the German border.

There are a number of ways to follow the Dutch cycle routes. There is the numbered junction system, and then there are long distance routes which meander a bit more we are following the Maas route it tries to stay by the river but that’s not always possible. We got about 40 Kms went into get a drink in a cafe/B&B we met some Australians we had helped earlier. They were suffering from the excess heat. We asked the owner if he had any rooms and he said there was nothing in the whole region and rattled off a number of reasons why it was so. I immediately saw us stranded by the side of the road so I panic booked a hotel. Another 30 INS down the road we were in Horn in an old convent converted into a nice hotel. We had a lovely evening chatting to the other guests and visiting the town’s castle.

 Five Kms out of Aachen and we are in the Netherlands. The bike path is great but, there is a hill, possibly this is the hilliest road in the Netherlands. After about 20 Kms there is an American cemetery. All the Americans who died in combat in the country are buried here all 8000 of them. Young men who died fighting a tyrannical maniac’s army. Amazingly we are still letting young men die in this way. There were lots of other visitors, mostly Dutch people paying their  respects. We rode downhill to Maastricht which is a pretty little town on the river Maas or Meuse. We had dinner in the town square, there since 1600. We had rooms at the easy hotel which was basic but functional.

 We knew today would all be on rail to trail so thought that when Komoot told us 80km to Aachen we thought why not? Problem was Komoot didn’t use the path the whole way. We didn’t know that to start. After some gradual climbing we reached Monschau, this was with 50km still to go. There was a campsite 15kms away so we set off. 10 Kms down the road we started to descend and we stopped to ask someone who told us it was all downhill from there. So we booked an extra hotel night and glided, mostly downhill, to Aachen for a total of 95 Kms.

 I woke at six and a thought popped into my mind. Didn’t I read that the path would be repaired by June 2022? Maybe I’d better check that out. The web site is clear, the path is impassable at the southern end. This is due to the terrible floods of 2021 which took out the rail lines and bits of the bike path. The good news is that enough train track remains to get us beyond the block. Off tho the train and 9€ later we’re on the little train into the hills. We left the train and onto the path which was eerily empty. We were a little worried at first. But slowly people began to appear and we cycled along a stunning valley, which had any number of stations but no trains. We had crepes about half way and we’re quite tired after 50km of climbing but heartened to find the last 10km we’re rail to trail!