From Apledoorn to Rhenen: A forray in the forest

August 24, 2015

Apledoorn is a the edge of an extensive forest this is a National Park. We set the Garmin Touring Plus for Ede a town well along our way. We left early as rain was forecast around midday. It had rained in the night so it was a bit wet under foot. Very soon the GPS said 'Turn left onto the Unpaved road' we obeyed. Before long it was not dignifying our route with the name road it was calling what we were on trails. We were deep in the forest it was mainly oak with some conifers, there was little undergrowth and there were tracks going everywhere. Four deer crossed our path and I saw a wild pig, there were lots of plg rootings on the forest floor. Without a GPS we would still be there and there was a slight worry in the back of our minds that it might not get it right and when it told us to do a U turn we panicked a little. Amazingly we came upon a paved cycle track cutting its way across. That didn't last for long and it was turn left once more into tiger territory. This path however was uphill and so sandy that we could barely push the bikes and Kens chain came off at the back and got caught. That was a slightly low moment and we decided, back to the paved track and follow that as it must eventually lead out of the forest. It felt wonderful zooming along on it and before long Ken said 'look there is a horse' and shortly latter 'there's a house'. We had ridden for 20km in the forest without seeing a sign of humans. It was fun particularly seeing we eventually found our way out.

Out of the forest we were on the N304, running through the edge of the forest, it had a fiespat beside it and we knew that in about 25km if we followed it we would get to Ede. Arriving in Ede we were back in the real world with windmills, mobility scooters and bicycles and there was even a coffee stop. What a fancy coffee it was with a little biscuit, a small glass of water and a tiny glass with brandy with whipped cream in it. That in all probably accounted for the somewhat inflated price No one in Ede seemed to have heard of Rhenen and it wasn't our pronunciation as we wrote it down for them. The touring plus also refused to acknowledge its existence so there was nothing to do but to get the Etrex out and it said 'Of course I know where Rhenen is I'll take you there'.

After the wilds of the forest it was surprising to be in such a built up industrial area. One small town seemed to run into another, much of the housing seemed to be in medium rise apartments, the shopping areas were big and soulless and the industry supporting them all around. It was neat and clean but certainly not pretty.

Eventually we were led up into a rather tame forest which took us to the attractive town of Rhenen. This appears to be a holiday destination. There is a zoo nearby, our hotel has lots of bikes for hire and there is a river,which I am yet to see, close by.

It all looks as if it will be pretty easy

And it still does - we took no more photos of the forest after that

Its not the cockpit of an A380 but plenty of navigation devises

Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 1,087 km (675 miles)

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