May 9, 2025
Nijmegen
Friday
After a lovely dinner, a great nights sleep, wonderful conversation and the joy that familiar faces bring, Ashley and I bid our fair well to Annamieke. Another beautiful day. We were on the Maas route, EuroVelo 19. Our goal is Maastricht for the weekend. Ashley's plan is to take the train home from there, as he has work responsibilities on Monday. The route follows the winding Maas River. We pass farmland, cow and sheep pastures, quaint villages. The Netherlands is spotless and well maintained, almost to an absurd level. The country looks like a movie set. I saw a man scrubbing down a fence. We cycled through beautiful villages with little squares and main streets with numerous, shops, cafes and restaurants. They certainly didn't have the dying small town vibe of many places in the United States. The winding Maas led to 6 ferry crossings. Some were large, some were tiny, one was free, a few were cash only and some took credit cards.
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One issue we ran into was distance. Ashley figured distance using "bicycle mode" on Google Maps. Unfortunately the EV 19 closely follows the winding Maas, adding a few kilometers to the day's ride. My laid-back riding style created a time crunch. We needed to get to our prepaid hotels in order to arrive before the restaurants closed. Stopping to spend an hour or two sightseeing was not feasible. Poederoijen looked like a nice place to explore with a walled fortress and some community activity going on.
Much of the day was spent alongside the Maas with the wildflowers and the cows.
We worked our way towards Nijmegan, spending the night in the Van der Valk Cuijk. It was a very nice hotel with a great restaurant. But it was not quite in Cuijk or Nijmegen, only 2 km off the trail.
Today's ride: 73 miles (117 km)
Total: 167 miles (269 km)
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