After a sleep in, play with the kids, and chat with Cristina and Andreas, I got onto the bike. It was already 13:30, and the wind had turned since yesterday, meaning that I would have more of a side wind than a tail wind. A shorter, less hilly route was called for, and I went more as the crow flies towards Eindhoven, passing through the tail of the Netherlands: rolling fields bursting with ripening wheat.
Fields bursting with wheat
A quicker route means also not going the absolute shorter route which inevitably means going directly up some steep hills and down the other side. I followed the Geul river which took me through the well known, and pretty Valkenburg. A good stop for a late lunch (even though I had only been going for 25km).
It was a long slow trip down a gentle slope to reach the Maas, where I crossed over the river and the border on a ferry.
Crossing the Maas and the border into Belgium
Me at the border crossing
From there it was following the same canal that I took on the way down to Maastricht and Aachen.
Island in the Maas canal
I seemed to have difficulty remembering which side of the canal I cycled down. I was positive that a string of detours weren’t there on the way down. Only after finishing a rather irritating detour which did a big 5km loop to bring me back about 100m further along the canal, did I realize that I was cycling on the other side of the canal. Still, the detour did bring me through some pretty landscape.
LIttle detour
A last little detour through the Malpie again before taking the direct route back home.
The Malpie in the evening
The roads were very quiet cycling through Eindhoven due to the football grand final. Even though Holland was not playing, it seems everyone was at home, and not out enjoying the wonderful weather.
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