Düsseldorf to Cologne by Bike

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Trip start
November 8, 2015
Düsseldorf to Cologne by Bike Tom Banks
Starting in Düsseldorf
November 8, 2015 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
The bike ride started in Düsseldorf around 12pm.
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Düsseldorf to Cologne by Bike Tom Banks
Schloß Mickeln
November 8, 2015 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Still in Düsseldorf at this point, and not making great progress. The Rhein is a windy old river, and I feel I'm being led on a bit of a wild goose chase.
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Düsseldorf to Cologne by Bike Tom Banks
Schloß Benrath
November 8, 2015 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
I get to Schloß Benrath and consider turning around. It has taken about an hour, perhaps even longer, to get this far. Following the river isn't as simple as I'd thought - I'm constantly being navigated through woods and maze like housing estates. Already, I've been lost once or twice and I'm still within Düsseldorf. I find map and realise that if I'd traveled by the road I'd have made it to Benrath in a third of the time - following the river, with its twist and turns, is not how a crow would fly.Read more
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Düsseldorf to Cologne by Bike Tom Banks
Pit Stop at Urdenbacher Kämpen
November 8, 2015 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
I decide to keep going and I finally make it out of Düsseldorf. About twenty minutes later, after peddling through a patch of dense woodland, I chance upon a campsite with a biergarten. I decide to make a pit stop.Read more
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Düsseldorf to Cologne by Bike Tom Banks
Leverkusen
November 8, 2015 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Leverkusen. Industry, industry, industry. And I think they also have a football team.

Between the campsite and Leverkusen I didn't make any stops. I did, however, make a lot of U turns. I followed the Rhein for a good hour, and then things became a little complicated. Emerging from a woods, I presumed the river was to my right, where it was the last time I'd seen it. But, as I was in the woods, it had taken a 90 degree turn of which I was unaware. I was lost, basically. And became even more lost as I tried to un-lose myself. I went round in circles for a good hour, riding several kilometers in one direction before changing course and heading several kilometers in a different direction. This was by far the worst part of the ride. The sun was beginning to show signs of fading, and I had all but given up reaching Cologne. I was more concerned with how I was going to get back to Düsseldorf from the middle of nowhere. Then, at last, I found the Rhein with Leverkusen in my sights.

I crossed over the river at Leverkusen, then spent 30 minutes riding along side a Ford plant. I passed three train stations: Ford works north, Ford works and Ford works south. The place was enormous, miles and miles of factory.

Then, after Leverkusen, after the Ford plant, I was back alongside the Rhein and closing in on Cologne.Read more
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Düsseldorf to Cologne by Bike Tom Banks
Arriving in Cologne
November 8, 2015 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
It's half five and I finally arrive in Cologne. The Dom has been on the horizon for quite some time, and I hone in on it. Through the vast suburbs I peddle. I finally role up at the Dom just as the sun sets.Read more
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Düsseldorf to Cologne by Bike Tom Banks
Dinner in Cologne
November 8, 2015 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
I lock my bike up outside the Dom and take a short walk to the Altstadt. There, I find a brewery and have pork and dumplings washed down with a Kölsch. Finished, I hobble back to my bike stopping at a bakery on the way to pick up a Weckmann. And then I take the train back to Düsseldorf. After six hours of bike riding and my bum is sore.Read more
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Trip end
November 8, 2015