Friday July 29, 2022, 70 km (43 miles) – Total so far: 2,168 km (1,347 miles)

We’ve now cycled 2160 kms and are a couple of days away from Holland.

The day started out slowly. I woke up with a headache and a bit of a rash on my face, so we tried to find a pharmacy before leaving but failed. Instead we found a bakery so at least we had lunch.

Mike has downloaded a guide from Cicerone which follows a route (not necessarily the Eurovelo 15) and it has been really good so far. Thanks to Dan Pengra on crazy guy for the tip. The ride into Cologne that I was worried about was so much easier than I thought it would be. The Eurovelo 15 route went on main roads, but the route Mike downloaded took us along the river all the way into Cologne.

There was an industrial stretch with massive factories pumping out stuff into the atmosphere and it was an ugly sight to see.

The streets of Cologne heaved with people and we pushed our bikes through the masses, decision made not to look around as we’re not used to big crowds. We saw the big cathedral from a distance and took some photos which was good enough for us.

Getting out of Cologne was a breeze too following Mikes new Cicerone guide. We had to do a big detour around the massive Ford factory which sprawled across both sides of the road. It was Friday afternoon and there was nobody around, no traffic, nothing, so we figured they probably take a half day.

We rode through farmland and beside the river most of the way and then we had to catch a ferry to the other side of the river. We were at the 65 kms mark for the day with no camping in sight, so at the 70 kms mark we found a hotel right on the cycle route and we checked in there. This trip is now costing us a fortune and we need to stop staying in hotels. Or get a job.

The hotel we are in is very nice with a view of the river. We went downstairs for dinner and it’s the best meal I’ve had in Germany yet. I ordered the vegetarian option and got an amazing Spanish Tortilla with fried mushrooms and salad. Mike ordered luncheon sausage (he thought he was getting proper sausage).

We’re not sure where we’re going tomorrow. We’ll cycle through Dusseldorf and Duisburg and I don’t think there is much after that for accommodation. Guess we’ll worry about that tomorrow.

Video for days 53 and 54 can be viewed here:

You can follow our journey on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAP03_iOV9QrtahRxRPBTVB9ZTNOmdiznv