NL2018 Day 13: Weert to Maastricht

Thursday 21 June 2018

This was our planned route for the day:

We had a good night’s sleep and then enjoyed an excellent breakfast in our little B&B. everything was really well presented.

We had contacted the Vrienden op de Fiets place where we would be staying tonight and they had said we couldn’t arrive before 5pm. As the distance for the day was planned as 70km we didn’t have any urgency to leave and so stayed until past ten o’clock.

But it was eventually time to head off towards Maastricht so we opened up the garage.

We had a nice chat with the landlady about velomobiles. We really liked B&B Piekoo Belloo and would recommend it to anyone staying in Veert – as long as you can cope with steep stairs (although you need to be able to cope with those for most houses in NL it seems!)

Having had lots of issues with cycle path quality yesterday, today’s route began as. A very big improvement. We had mostly very smooth cycle paths and they were wider than they often can be. Despite this we were riding at a very relaxed speed – I didn’t feel the need to rush and wanted the rest really. We rode to Stramproy, Haler and Ittervort on what seemed like really quiet roads.

At Wessem we crossed the Maas.

We thought we might stop for a cuppa in Maasbracht but ended up riding a bit further, to Echt, before we found a suitable stopping place.

Klaus was feeling more peckish so then had a spaghetti Bolognese. I had had a larger breakfast so didn’t need any food at this point.

We spent quite a long time in Echt and on our way out we stopped at an Aldi to buy some biscuits and chocolate.

After Echt we had a long climb up a ramp to cross the Julianakanaal on a bridge we have been over a few times before. This time on the downhill afterwards I rode on the cycle path but noticed too late that the hedges either side had recently been cut. I expected a puncture but was very lucky that I didn’t get one. Klaus had wisely ridden on the road here.

I did wonder if I had a puncture as I found the going very hard after this point. Klaus was up ahead and I had difficulties keeping up with him. We had a few interesting bits of routing, including the bridge below just for bikes (you can see Humphrey crossing it).

And now my turn…

The bridge had been put in for bikes to cross over some kind of construction area.

But just to keep us on our toes there was a ‘bicycle sluice’ to slow us down but Humphrey and Millie were able to squeeze through.

From here we were riding along quiet lanes through villages without much activity. And then we arrived at Berg aan de Maas, somewhere we have found ourselves many times. We were following the route from Roef and it took us up the massive hill in the centre of Berg. I had to change down to my Granny Ring to get up it (only the third time I have used this in the last 3 months) and found that once I wanted to change back up to the big ring I wasn’t able. This is due to my arm disability and the grip-shift which is very stiff. In the past I was able to use my right hand to change the gear with a bit of contortion but I couldn’t manage it this time for ages. Eventually I managed it but had been freewheeling down the street unable to pedal fast enough and with Millie’s lid half open so I could get my good hand onto the left side. I didn’t enjoy it at all. Etienne at EMvelomobiel.be has a trigger shifter in stock for me and one hope was for me to visit him tomorrow to get it changed. This absolutely confirmed that I couldn’t do the mountainous riding tomorrow though – if I can’t change into the granny ring then there’s no hope.

I had just got the chain back onto the big ring when I realised I had taken a slightly wrong turn and we were now going up another hill to a bridge over the canal, which was wrong! I was painfully slow up this hill and wanted to try to divert off this wrong route but there was no chance. Klaus who was right behind me got a close pass from a lady, who then proceeded to cut right in front of me, making me call out in fright.

Klaus overtook and we turned around in a side road, going back down into the town and back onto Roef’s route. This took us down some back roads and then we found ourself at some roadworks and there was no way through. We had to turn round again and clearly the best route was over the bridge over the canal and down the other side. So it was up the hill to the bridge again.

Once we got over the bridge and onto a side road I had to stop. I was completely exhausted. Having ridden the first steep hill, then had the stress with the gear change, then the hill to the bridge, then the close pass, then more fiddly routing, then turning round because of roadworks and over the bridge again, all within ten minutes, my energy had just disappeared. I have limited energy reserves for hills and need to have a chance to build them back up again, but this had all been too much.

I ate a biscuit (I wondered if not having lunch was a factor in my tiredness) and after a few minutes carried on, but I had no power at all. I was managing to ride at about 14 km/h.

After a few kilometres we reached Elsloo and I spotted a reasonable looking cafe. I felt it best to stop to try to give myself a rest so that I could manage the final 15km to Maastricht. I was completely pooped.

They had a decent cake – this would be called Stachelbeer Baiser in Germany.

We stopped for about half an hour and had a cuppa as well as the cake. We started talking again about fitting an electric motor to Millie to help me with this sort of situation (hills and acceleration from stationary).

When we set off again we had instant appalling road surface – really rough cobbles on a fast downhill with a sharp turn at the bottom. My teeth were nearly rattled out of their sockets!

We pootled on, on mainly quiet roads but with a few complicated road crossings. At one point I was overtaken by a guy on a loaded touring bike; clearly I was not riding at my best!

It was not completely flat where we were riding, there were a few very gentle inclines. In the background of this shot you can see a few of the hills around Maastricht.

Klaus will, on his ride tomorrow, have a fair bit of climbing and descending.

Because of my tiredness I also made the decision not to go to emvelomobiel.be tomorrow as I felt the 60km round trip, returning late in the evening (he only opens at 18:00) would not be a good idea. Fortunately the B&B that we will be staying at tomorrow is happy for me to arrive very early.

For today’s accommodation we had found a Vrienden op de Fiets in Heer near Maastricht. There was a good parking area for the bikes and the hosts’ daughter’s dog was very interested in them!

We had a room in the attic with a view over the Maastricht skyline. The blurb from Vrienden op de Fiets said we have a separate bathroom but this was not the case; however, they had a second room and a guest came at 9:30pm and her room did have a bathroom and also a mini kitchen. I am not sure why we were relegated to the lesser room!

We had a short walk down the road to a pizzeria – which was my first proper food since breakfast. I guess my tiredness is a mixture of food choices today, overall food (too many carbs, Klaus and I feel much better on low carb), the cumulative effect of drempels and cycle lanes and bumpy roads and perhaps just a bad day. I feel very tired which I don’t usually on a longer tour, I usually get fitter and fitter. We will see what tomorrow is like, but my actual route is only about 20km so I should have plenty of time to recover!

Tomorrow Klaus will brave the mountains around Maastricht. I hope that he will take some photos that I can include in the blog tomorrow. Watch this space!

3 comments

  1. Moin,

    wie immer interessant zu lesen Deine Reiseberichte. Das mit den Umwegen, Berg hoch und wieder runter und wieder hoch kenne ich zu gut ); Ich fühle da mit Dir (;

    Freue mich auf den Rest der Reise.

    BTW: Das B&B Pico Belloo wird meine ich anders geschrieben? Habe danach gesucht und bin dann unter Piekoo Belloo fündig geworden.

    Außerdem habe ich noch einen Schreibfehler entdeckt: Doppeltes ‘had’

    Klaus was feeling more peckish so then had a spaghetti Bolognese. I had had a larger breakfast so didn’t need any food at this point.

    Viel Spaß noch für die weiteren Tage!

    Gruß
    S.

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