Day 11 – Nettetal (DE) to Cologne (DE)

April 5th, 2022

We slept reasonably well, all being considered. With heavy rain hammering on the roof, the tarpaulin flapping in the wind, and the local duck population partying all night, it was far from continuous sleep, but the in-between rest added up to enough.

Deborah had her alarm set for 6 am, but we were already awake before it went off. As it was still too dark to see without a light and the point of getting up so early was to get away before any local earlier risers spotted us, we enjoyed the warmth of our sleeping bags for another thirty minutes.

It was almost 7 am before there was enough light to mobilize. It would have been earlier, but it was evident even in the sun had decided to stay in bed a little longer due to the general gloom outside the broken windows.

We carried the bike and trailer out of the cabin over the broken glass still scattered around the floor. We then packed each pannier inside before braving the torrential downpour to load the bags on the Pino. Once packed, we quickly pushed the bike along the short track, now flooded from the overnight rain, back onto the main trail. Cycling past the campsite that had refused us just twelve hours before, we were happy with how things had turned out. If we had stayed at the camp, we would have been hauling a wet tent all day, knowing that we would be sleeping in a soggy tent tonight.

The rain defined the day, which continued to pour down with only a few short interludes. It was also a day of start and stop navigation towns and cities, passing through Süchteln, Neuss, Düsseldorf, Leverkusen, and Cologne. While the cycle network is almost as good as the Netherlands, the continual need to stop at cycle traffic lights slowed our progress.

As we approached Cologne, a young chap pulled alongside on his bike, holding his dog’s leash in one hand. He was interested in what we were doing and invited us back to his apartment for tea and a shower. As we were already late getting to the campsite, we had to decline, but it was another demonstration that the world is indeed full of amazingly generous people.

While we weren’t convinced, there was a need to do so; Garmin, God of the Route, had us cross the river three times, the first using a bridge, the second a ferry, which did break some of the monotony of the city navigation, and the third another bridge. The first two crossings went without incident, but the second bridge crossing that Garmin suggested had three flights of stairs, which would have required us to take fully loaded Pino apart, so we ignored it and pushed on to the next bridge with our fingers crossed. In fact, we had everything crossed as we both needed the toilet quite urgently too.

Just as we approached the top of the steep ramp to the start of the bridge, we were greeted by a chap that enquired what we were up to. We explained that we were heading to the campsite on the other side, confirming that we were cycling around the world beyond that. A lovely chap that would have even offered us a bed for the night if he didn’t live in an apartment, but he did guide us across the bridge and pointed us in the direction of the quietest of two campsites upon reaching the other side. Unfortunately, he was heading in the other direction and broke away before I was able to ask his name.

Upon reaching the gates of the quiet campsite at 7:10 pm, we were greeted by a locked gate and noticed that the reception closes at 7:00 pm. Reminder ourselves that we slept in an abandoned cabin in the woods last night, so we shouldn’t be so picky; we cycled back to what we assume is the noisy campsite and checked in.

As Deborah checked in, I chatted to a young couple from the South of England on a short holiday in their campervan. The campervan looked a little cosier than our tent, so I must admit a little jealousy, but our wee MSR Mutha Hubba isn’t all that bad, so without further delay, we headed over to a nice flat stop, struck the tent and sorted our gear out for the night.

The campsite has a great covered area for cooking and eating, so we headed over with all the food we had, hoping that there were enough edible calories to keep us going tomorrow to a supermarket.

With over electrical device we own plugged in charging and Deborah trying to rustle up a few calories, I continue my best to get caught up on the daily blogs.

As I sit here about to close down this computer (Deborah is in the shower), the traffic is still thundering across the bridge somewhere up above me in the dark, but after today’s 95km cycle, I don’t think I will be hearing it for too long.