Maas Cycle Route: From Venlo to Nijmegen

In Venlo we meet the Maas and want to ride a piece of the Maas Cycle Route.

However, after a few kilometers the meandering of the cycle path becomes annoying, as it does not always follow the course of the river. At one point, you ride four kilometers away from the river to the east, then four kilometers north in the direction of the river, only to return four kilometers back to the river.

We then look for our own paths. With the waypoints, we can navigate superbly, making Maas Cycle Route signage unnecessary.

Several times we come across oversized trash bins into which waste can be accurately thrown from a moving bike.

The method seems to work, as there is no waste around the trash bins. Perhaps this would be a model for the German highway junctions. There, suspiciously large amounts of McDonald's waste always accumulate.

In Nieuw-Bergen, we shop for the first time in a Dutch supermarket and amuse ourselves with the language and the offerings.

Nijmegen is a cycling city. 64% of all urban trips under 7.5 km are made by bike. There are very wide bike paths (about 2 meters) in each direction, contact loops for controlling the traffic lights at the bike path. These are not placed at the traffic light, but at a sufficient distance. As soon as you arrive at the traffic light on your bike, it switches to green. A dream!!! In Hamburg, this would be unthinkable. There, it is a world sensation when, as in Eimsbüttel, a 'green wave' for cyclists is activated, which works at exactly 18 km/h. At 16 km/h and 20 km/h, you just drew the short straw.

The continuation to Utrecht is postponed until tomorrow, as we have to interrupt our journey due to heavy rain. We were once again soaked within minutes. This gives us the afternoon to further explore the city.