On Sunday morning my fridge made me clear, that I would have to make some grocery shopping, if I wanted to choose what to eat. But in Germany, shops are closed on Sundays. Therefore and in order to break my July routine, I used the wonderful weather to make a small bike tour to the Netherlands. But once I reached Vaals I liked cycling so much that I decided to make first a tour and then go shopping on my way back. I stayed in the Netherlands near the Belgium border, first cycling a signed fietspad. But the signs were all along the streets, so I skipped the path after a while and followed some numbered pathes.
The Dutch cycle path system is quite smart. In Germany every path has an own number from its beginning to its end. If you cycle track 14 you know where it starts and where it ends after for example 30 km. In the Netherlands the cycle paths themselves are not assigned to numbers, but their crosspoints. The signs on the track only show you which next crosspoints you can reach in what direction. And once you reach such a crosspoint you can check on a map for the next number. Thanks to that system, behind Vaals lies a real web of cycle paths. And this web does not relay on the streets but uses also small streets between fields.
I was cycling around, enjoying landscape and view, but after a while I felt that midday sun (my tour took from 12 to 15 o'clock) combined with almost no breakfast were not the best preparation. And fun alone could not bring me far that day. It was so hot that even the wind wath not refreshing but warm. And because I stayed close to the borders, there were hills everywhere. All the time I had to climb slowly a hill, without any shadow. Therefore I decided at one point I should spare my reserves and finally cycle grocery shopping. I still avoided the big streets and finally found even the signed path from Aken to Maastricht. I followed it back to Aken and it is quite pretty. Much nicer than the big street I took in beginning of May. I really liked the new way. Instead leading along streets, it went through some smaller communities and valley back to Aken. Very pretty, but once I reached Aken I realized that I did not come across one single supermarket. I decided that I can also have something else than bread for breakfast on Monday morning and went on back home.
On Sunday morning my fridge made me clear, that I would have to make some grocery shopping, if I wanted to choose what to eat. But in Germany, shops are closed on Sundays. Therefore and in order to break my July routine, I used the wonderful weather to make a small bike tour to the Netherlands. But once I reached Vaals I liked cycling so much that I decided to make first a tour and then go shopping on my way back. I stayed in the Netherlands near the Belgium border, first cycling a signed fietspad. But the signs were all along the streets, so I skipped the path after a while and followed some numbered pathes.
The Dutch cycle path system is quite smart. In Germany every path has an own number from its beginning to its end. If you cycle track 14 you know where it starts and where it ends after for example 30 km. In the Netherlands the cycle paths themselves are not assigned to numbers, but their crosspoints. The signs on the track only show you which next crosspoints you can reach in what direction. And once you reach such a crosspoint you can check on a map for the next number. Thanks to that system, behind Vaals lies a real web of cycle paths. And this web does not relay on the streets but uses also small streets between fields.
I was cycling around, enjoying landscape and view, but after a while I felt that midday sun (my tour took from 12 to 15 o'clock) combined with almost no breakfast were not the best preparation. And fun alone could not bring me far that day. It was so hot that even the wind wath not refreshing but warm. And because I stayed close to the borders, there were hills everywhere. All the time I had to climb slowly a hill, without any shadow. Therefore I decided at one point I should spare my reserves and finally cycle grocery shopping. I still avoided the big streets and finally found even the signed path from Aken to Maastricht. I followed it back to Aken and it is quite pretty. Much nicer than the big street I took in beginning of May. I really liked the new way. Instead leading along streets, it went through some smaller communities and valley back to Aken. Very pretty, but once I reached Aken I realized that I did not come across one single supermarket. I decided that I can also have something else than bread for breakfast on Monday morning and went on back home.
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