We crossed the Rhine back and forth Friday, and until we crossed to the west side for the final time the ride was all urban. Dusseldorf is a big city, and it blends into Duisburg. We've gotten pretty good at riding in cities. For one thing, all the main streets have bike lanes or bike paths. Small streets are easy riding. There are few stop signs in the cities, but lots of stop lights, including lights for bikes. German cyclists almost all wait for green lights, even when it is obviously safe to proceed. We do the same, out of respect for their compliant custom, but it makes for slow going. And our tandem has a lot of momentum to overcome every time we make a fresh start. So be it.
Friday's ride had every imaginable road condition. City bike lane, gravel dike, cinder track alongside railroad (unrideable), an overgrown bike path 6" wide, country road with no lane, rural path beside a highway, and our favorite: road with painted bike lane.
Our hotel is a 3-star in the pretty modern town of Kamp-Lintfort, quite a way off our route, but the only place available at the right distance. Actually, I'd underestimated the distance today, as usual. We were aiming for four hours on the bike but actually did five.
If I did not have the app which shows our position and a GPS track of the route, there is no chance we could have done today's ride with just the text directions in our guidebook for the Rhine route. We'd have been constantly lost. As it was, we got off-route several times, but were able to quickly correct.
We are getting down to it: next Thursday we need to take a train to Copenhagen. Meanwhile, we'll continue our leisurely tour in that direction.
The weather has changed dramatically. Instead of mid-90's, today was in the 70's. S even wore arm warmers until noon.
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