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Monday 4th September 2017 Benrath to Wesel Today the weather was lovely but the first part of the ride at least was perhaps not quite as nice as some of the other stretches. First we had to get through Dusseldorf, an enormous place with extensive suburbs and industrial sites. It took ages, tacking this way and that as we used the GPS's 'goto' function to try and keep us on track.
After Dusseldorf we had a brief respite along the river then the same uninspiring urban slog again as we entered Duisberg, the city where the Ruhr meets the Rhine. It's a major industrial area and can't be avoided on this route but if it could be, we would. Once again it just went on and on...
Anyway we got through it and even had quite a nice lunch in Duisberg at a city cafe we happened to pass by. After that things improved and the route became more rural, following levees a lot of the time. By the time we reached Wesel we had done 90 km making the trip total to date 722 miles.
We're staying in the Pension Offizierskasino, a large old building which Andrew thought reminiscent of the Adams Family residence. No carpet on the stairs, a once grand stone staircase in the hall, a wooden beam holding the roof up in the middle of our room... cheap though, and clean. There was a large, iron-studded door with a lock on it in the hall leading to our room... must be where they keep 'the Beast', we thought, or maybe the mad woman with the axe...
My black eye has cleared up and the various scrapes are healing but my wrist still hurts - I think it needs a few days without being jarred by holding handlebars to let it settle down. Will have to wait for that though. This might be our last night in Germany - hopefully we'll reach the Netherlands tomorrow. 55.8 miles today making the total 721.97 miles. | |||||||||
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