Emmerich am Rhein

Dinslaken was only 3 kms from the Rhein, most of it through a council forestWe were away by 6.30 to avoid the mid day heat and it was still a bit dark in the forest.it’s good to be riding beside the Rhein again. It’s very quiet except for the deep thud thud thud of the ships.This is open ,flat land now with huge stop banks . It’s all farmed so we pass over several cattle stops. This guy enjoyed his chin being scratched. We’re still passing countless quarries. The silos are for storing bulk amounts of sorted gravel so it can be fed quickly onto the barges by conveyorsSmooth hot mix, strong tail wind ,ahhhh. Trouble is as the river winds it’s way around we also spend time going IN to the strong wind. (22 kms/hr and taking photos ?) Crazy I know. I’ll end up over a fence one dayJust out of Rees we are following an old railway line for 10 kms. (All cobbles but smooth) . This chap may not get a sore bum but I bet he gets a crick in the neck.Rees. The young girls are probably discussing the cruise ship. We join in a discussion on the best route to Emmerich . We can go straight ahead with the boys from Koblenz, or up and over this bridge to the left bank. What’s confusing us is someone has turned the sign around pointing back the way we’ve come. (3rd sign today to be tampered with )Thatch houses aren’t uncommon in parts of Europe. Even the shed next door was thatched. Pretty eh ?

2pm and 68kms of some of the best biking so far. Christine’s back tyre is bald so we’re going to get a new one and a bit of R and M done on the bikes while we have time. I’ve tacked the map of Rees area on to show how we’re on and off the river as we skirt lakes and quarries. It’s all designed to hold water in floods so it doesn’t all just go roaring down into Holland