Day 108: Wesel to Düsseldorf

August 20, 2025

Day 108: Wesel to Düsseldorf

Yesterday after writing my blog post and eating some cereal for breakfast, I bid farewell to Jan and started my ride around 8 AM. I haven’t started this early in quite some time and I enjoyed the cool weather in the morning.

Again, I followed the EuroVelo 15 route. The route actually has two options, one is the west side of the Rhine River and the other is the east side. I took the east side.

My ride to Düsseldorf was mainly on the bike paths and the roads. The German drivers were very generous and gave me plenty of space when passing.

I contacted my college friend Joe, who lives in Düsseldorf, to see if I can take my bike into the shop that he works at so they can take a look at my bottom bracket. Joe told me their customer service isn’t great and he will take a look at my bike when I get to his place.

Around 11 AM, I had lunch at Duisburg where I tried a Turkish coffee for the first time. The coffee cup was very small. I had to watch a YouTube video about how to drink it. The proper way is to sip some water first to clean the palate then sip some coffee. It’s an experience for sure.

I rode my bike for another two hours and arrived at Joe’s apartment in Düsseldorf. We were very happy to see each other since the last we saw one another was about 10 years ago when we were in graduate school at Simon Business School at the University of Rochester. Joe is also a close friend of Colin and both of them cycled across America in 2008.

Joe inspected my bike and said that the bottom bracket is fine. The squeaky noise actually had disappeared in the past few days of riding. I also Googled the life span of a bottom bracket. It’s between 2000 and 10,000 miles, which is quite the range. I’ve ridden a total of 5300+ miles on my bike since I bought it so I’m guessing it can go about 4000 more miles. Maybe I’ll have it checked again in Türkiye if it has any issues.

Joe fixed the headset because it was a little loose. He took it apart and cleaned the bearings. Joe also put some helicopter tapes on the fork where the paint has worn off to prevent any damage to the carbon fiber. I’ve never heard of helicopter tapes before. Supposedly, they work well. Lastly, Joe tightened some bolts and pumped up the tires. My bike got a full service thanks to Joe! We decided to meet today for coffee and lunch so I can thank him for all the work he did on my bike. I also met Joe’s wife Kathleen before taking off again.

I cycled to Takumi 6th Spicy Tan Tan Men, a Japanese restaurant recommended by Joe in Little Tokyo to have some ramen. Afterward, I pedaled around the city, first to Hofgarten, which is a park, then the old town district Altstadt, then the Rhine embankment promenade. I also passed by Rhine Tower and saw a Frank Gehry designed apartment building near Medienhafen.

I arrived at my Warmshowers host’s place after 5 PM, having cycled 55.4 miles for the day.

My host is once again named Jan. Must be a popular German name. Jan is 31 years old and works as a police officer. After I settled in, we decided to take a stroll since it’s so nice and sunny out. We walked to the Rhine Tower then sat on the promenade with drinks and talked about life’s plans and the FIRE movement.

Jan had made a list of 100 things to do before 2030 so he can improve his life. I found that to be very inspiring and it’s great for personal development. I also made five year plans before. They helped me make my dreams become plans, then plans turned to actions, and actions turned into results.

After the promenade, Jan and I had a vegan dinner at Sattgrün Hafen before walking back to the apartment.

I took a shower and went to bed soon after. I couldn’t sleep until after 11 PM. I think the Turkish coffee was the culprit.

This morning, I woke up around 7 AM. Jan already left for work. I will be spending a rest day in Düsseldorf and meet with Joe for coffee and lunch. I might also meet another friend Diego for dinner.