Day forty seven: cheering for Deutschland
Düsseldorf to Xanten
When I actually looked at my route for today, I realised I don’t go along the Rhine at all. Instead, this part of the Eurovelo 15 (well I think I’m still on this route) goes slightly inland to Duisberg then back to cross the river, through Rheinberg before getting to Xanten, a town known for its Roman ruins.
The first half of the day was pretty dull. I found out how big Düsseldorf is and seemed to be in its suburbs for over an hour before getting to the suburbs of Duisberg. I’m not sure how else to describe this place apart from being a bit of a dump (sorry Duisberg). It is a Sunday, so it wasn’t helped with no one being around, but the town is surrounded by factories and power stations and itself is rows and rows of ugly pointy houses. Being on a bike was particularly bad because there were so many traffic lights, each turning red just as I got to them. There were no cars on the road, but always seemed to be one person looking at me, assuming I’m going to jump the light. I’ve been told off enough for doing this in Germany (I only ever do when there are no cars in sight), so am now sticking to the rules. It does mean though that you’re constantly stopping and starting, which is really tedious.
To add to my frustrations, the bike signs which have been excellent so far in Germany, seemed to disappear today, so I was having to rely on my GPS and route on my phone. This is something I did throughout Italy, and I’d forgotten how rubbish it is. When you’re in a town particularly, you have to constantly look down to check where you are in relation to the route you’re meant to be on. There were plenty of u-turns when I didn’t look soon enough.
I’m not sure why the signage isn’t as good here. The eurovelo 15 logo was sometimes on the signposts, but not always and sometimes the logo was on three different directions. I’m ignoring it now and just heading to the towns I know are in the right direction.
From Rheinberg, where I stopped at the only open bakery I had seen all day to grab some lunch, the day got much better. I was on a proper cycle path which went in between fields and through villages. Finally, I could get into a rhythm on my bike.
The forecast this morning had said it could rain (with thunder storms) in Xanten around 2pm, so when I saw the heavy clouds up ahead, I raced along trying to beat them.
No such luck. A few drops quickly changed into a full-on downpour. The kind of rain that gets through your clothes and your toes are squidging around in puddles in your shoes in just a couple of minutes. It started when I was on a road in between two massive fields, so there was no option of shelter and I just had to carry on. The drops where so huge it actually hurt my arms! After five minutes (it felt like a lot more in that rain), I found a barn and took shelter whilst the worst of it (including thunder and lightning) passed.
I’m now showered, dry and warm and looking forward to watching Germany play football tonight. I’m staying in a guest lodge and they have a cinema style screen set up – they seem very excited. I’ve been told I must support Getmany though if I want any dinner. So for one night only, I’m all behind them.
