Dan and Ellen, hiking and biking across the Atlantic: Groesbeek to near Kalkar

Another mellow day on the bike. Sunny, high temp in the high 70s, easy riding: doesn't get any better.

We had a little trouble finding a place to stay that was in the right direction and about the right distance (weekends can be busy), but finally found a place outside of Kalkar. Since leaving the Maas route we are working without maps, but we headed out on a good bike path from Groesbeek and in a few km--after crossing into Germany--picked up a path toward Kleve. The bike path was following an old railroad line through some small villages and farmland.

Had to stop for this sign:

As we'd also seen along one stretch of the Vennbahn, some old railroad track was being used for pedal-powered excursions. We saw at least 10 groups rolling along: some on small cars like this one and a few larger ones complete with tables loaded with beer.

In Kleve we found a bookstore and were able to buy a good map for the northern section of the Rhine we'll be riding the next few days. The route from there toward Kalkar started out paralleling a busy road. We were well separated from the cars, but it was noisy, so we turned off to find a quieter path. We ended up turning onto a dirt double-track for several km through the woods.

Our destination hotel for the night was about 5 km outside of Kalkar, but we decided to make a detour into the town to take a look and grab a snack. It was very worthwhile. The central market square is scenic, and they were celebrating the summer by putting part of the square under sand for an inland beach.