Day Nine

 21/05/25 - Day Nine

A real game of two halves today. The good, the bad and the ugly. Started tremendously, rising at 6 to avoid being woken by dogs and their walkers. Unzipped my tent and my guess at the sunrise was spot on as I was hit by the deep orange light. 

Ahmed's mistrust of aluminium quickly proved true as I discovered my rear rack had broken at a weld point. Putting one of his cable ties to immediate use! I hangboarded whilst I packed up my camp and rode the ferry back to Klemenplatz for cash and coffee. Having paid the ferry man, I rode a mile upstream and sat on the beach taking full advantage of my first proper rest day. I ate a punnet of strawberrys I bought at the farmers market and tried to work on my t shirt tan lines. I did some admin, finally publishing the first blog posts and making a shopping list for stuff I needed to get in Düsseldorf later on. A new STEEL rear rack being the number one priority! 

Taking the cruise-y 5 miles in the sun, I went to a decent looking bike shop, but it turned out to be a brand shop. The next one I arrived at was a serious bike shop. And I mean proper. The man behind the till spoke “a little English” then proceeded to tell me he’d refer me to a mechanic to find the proper technical solution for my needs! I don’t think any British mechanic would say technical solution! Needless to say, I was in safe hands, and Till appeared. He found and fitted a proper steel touring rack. 

Then came a series of events that led to my wits end, all self inflicted mind. I’d had to hang around till 5 waiting for my rack to be fitted, which was when I had planned to be setting up camp and having a relaxed evening of writing. My frustration grew as the supermarket didn’t have any wholewheat pasta. Then I cycled out of Düsseldorf and in search of a campsite. I had spied a proper one for €6 but it looked crowded when I got there and not wanting to pay anyway I made the decision to press on. Again it proved difficult to find a camp. I pedalled for over an hour more endlessly searching. Cursing myself for passing the opportunity of a simple camp, in the knowledge that I could be tucking into some food right now. 

Eventually I located a subpar place on the shores of the Rhine, littered with rubbish, a world apart from my camp last night. I kind of hated it, but it would do, and the ground was flat! It wasn’t long till I was munching down 1800+ calories. Having called home to give them an update of my progress, I felt much better and fell asleep instantly. A hectic end to an otherwise relaxing day.

 
Peeking out first thing



 
Criminally good strawbs

Bridge out of Düsseldorf, mid meltdown



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