Day 110: Düsseldorf to Dortmund

Yesterday, I rode out of Düsseldorf after having breakfast at a local bakery. I didn’t take any photographs until I was out of the city limits since I wanted to concentrate on traffic and trying not to get hit by cars. The drivers are very careful of cyclists, but I was still cautious, as a cyclist should be.

I rode mainly on bike paths and bike lanes. Sometimes I’d ride on the shoulder of the road if there weren’t any dedicated bike paths. I feel if the cycling infrastructure in The Netherlands is rated 10/10 then Germany is 8/10.

For lunch, I finally tried the German schnitzel, which is a thin slice of meat that is breaded and fried. When I was going to pay the bill I found out the restaurant didn’t take credit cards. That was the first time I encountered an establishment that only takes cash. I had to find an ATM nearby to withdraw some euros.

My Warmshowers host told me that I should arrive at 5 PM so I had plenty of time. I ended up resting at a McDonald’s in the town of Wuppertal for a while. When I finally reached Dortmund, I had cycled 44.7 miles for the day.

In south Dortmund, I met my hosts, Kerstin and her partner Beate. We chatted about cycling while chilling in the back porch. Both Kerstin and Beate will retire in a year and cycle around the world. We might meet again in South America next year if all of us are cycling there. So we will keep in touch.

Beate works as a nurse and she was concerned that I’m bike touring without any travel insurance. Since she is the third person to recommend that I should have insurance so I purchased travel insurance from imglobal.com for my time in Europe.

For dinner, Beate made vegetarian pasta that was really good. I had drank too much Pepsi and had trouble falling asleep last night. I ended up doing some research about different bicycle companies in Germany. Germany makes some of the best bicycles in the world, but I have no reason to buy a new bicycle.

This morning, I woke up at 8. After having breakfast with Kerstin and Beate, I’m writing my blog post now. I will be leaving later than usual to Münster. Luckily, I don’t have to be at my host’s place until 6 PM so I have plenty of time. 

A shared bike path

Finally on a nice bike path

One of several tunnels I had to cycle through

View from a bridge on the bike path

Must try the German schnitzel

The gravel path

Riding on the shoulder

There must be an election in Germany since I've seen so many of these signs.