BBQ'ing in Bonn

This morning it was time to pack up my stuff and leave Wuppertal behind and head to Bonn. Getting up, breakfast and packing my stuff took only one and a half hour which left me plenty of time to help my brother Ewout pack up his caravan. After saying goodbye to everyone I jumped into my bike at 11:30 AM for the 82 kilometer ride south.

I was only 1:15 hours on my way when it started to rain lightly. And that's no fun when doing a 50 to 60+ km/h down hill. The chain coming off is also no fun, I can tell you. Half way down hill I parked the bike on a parking lot and fixed the problem. In the meanwhile it started to rain more and more and thunder was all around me. So I decided to take shelter at a bus stop in a small village. That also gave me some time to sit and eat.

After the rain I could continue the journey. Bonn is situated lower then Wuppertal and that meant going down more than going up. The climbs weren't that steep and the down hill stretches were long and with a good overview. I like it that way.

Some 20 kilometers before Bonn there was a stretch of off-road though a shadow filled forrest. Seeing that I was ahead of schedule I took the time to have small break.

After leaving the forrest I turned left to find myself being blocked by a tree. Apparently the tree was there for a while because the grass on the side was flattened out by the German people cycling and/or walking.

Just before 4 PM I arrived in Bonn and Josef had already heard the characteristic sound of the velomobile and yelled: "You made it!". We put the velomobile inside and together with grandpa Josef and granddaughter Lilly we headed into town to get something to drink at the beergarten besides the Rhine.

After a long walk and a visit to the play ground we went back to the Janning residence with his wife and daughter for a BBQ. A big fat steak with pasta salad was the choice of food. A wonderful new amount of energy which make it a perfect ending to a warm day of cycling.

Tomorrow we (Josef and I) will do a 180 kilometer ride to Igel to meet the rest of the Euro Tour people. I'm curious the meet the group.

• ‹ previous
• 196 of 209
• next ›