We seemed to dodge the curse of day three, mostly. The day started badly with heavy rain, so we dawdled over breakfast and packing hoping it might stop. No such luck. When we finally set off it was after 11am and my legs felt really heavy. After about half an hour I got into the cycling, though, and we cruised along gently in the drizzle and occasional shower all day, with sightseeing and photography stops (there were windmills). At least here the rain is warm!

It is not true that the Netherlands are completely flat. We cycled along a road yesterday that had a warning sign (yes, a warning sign) for a 3.2 per cent gradient. We had several today that must have been around 3 per cent. There was a path that undulated nicely, rising slightly above and then dipping slightly below the level of the main road it was following. Not quite sure why it did this, unless perhaps the undulations for the road had been flattened out while it was built, but it kept things interesting.

We crossed the border into Germany this afternoon with only a very minimal road sign to mark this. Almost as soon as we crossed the border, the quality of the cycle paths slipped a bit, but there are still properly signposted cycle routes on a combination of paths, quiet roads and where all else fails, marked cycle lanes (more than 12 inches wide) at the side of the road. And the junctions mostly still make proper allowance for cyclists. And the drivers give way to cyclists, except for one who was not looking at all as he pulled out of a car park and brought about today’s emergency stop.

Now that we are happily ensconced in our hotel in Werth near Isselburg, the sun has come out – and it is forecast to stay out tomorrow. Not sure how long Bruce’s cycle electronics installation will take, so currently don’t know where we will spend tomorrow night.

Btw, mostly in the countryside today and didn’t spot any particularly good street names, but we did see another Parallelweg and Bruce has possibly solved the mystery: it ran alongside the railway.

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