Komooto-Waran Gunther

This morning, the route took us past the Walberberg estate along the Rheindorf Castle Trail to Phantasialand – and that was essentially all the elevation gain we needed for the day.



From Weilerswist, we continued past the Friesheim Woods, across the Lechenich Mill Stream, and through the fields near Erp

The tour began with the always enjoyable ride from Merkenich to Worringen, more or less along the Rhine.



In Zons, the weather was rather mediocre, so instead of visiting the medieval old town, I stopped for a coffee at the bakery.



Then it was on to Stürzelbach on the lovely little road.



Following the Norfbach

It's great to be back on the bike, cycling through the Rhein-Erft district.



I was just way too warmly dressed at first. But if you react in time (and have a large saddlebag), it's not a problem.

First, a bit of city exploration between Nippes and Longerich.

It was quite good, but the "Heckweg" connection between Ginsterpfad and Etzelstraße turned out to be a terrible potholed road.

Conclusion: either take the beautiful Ginsterpfad or the beautiful Etzelstraße, but never switch between the two

The light was mostly quite hazy today,

and I don't think I saw the sun, but with very pleasant temperatures, we could really enjoy the autumn.

The most beautiful stretch was between Grefrath and Mödrath, even though there was a section on a bike path, but at least it was well-paved.

From Kall to Voißel, I was still in the mood for experiments, and even temporarily abandoned the unfortunately renamed, but still magnificent highlight called the

Winding Road above Bergbuir

komoot.de/highlight/1117388?ref=ahd

to explore.

There's practically everything here—except curves. The undulating

In Mönchengladbach, I initially drove around rather clumsily, but soon found myself on a lovely forest ride around the Volksgarten park.

Then I made a detour to the Stadtbad (public pool): a beautiful outdoor pool, where, after a brief negotiation, I was allowed to look around.

I continued on quiet paths

First, in pleasantly mild temperatures, I followed familiar paths through fields and neighborhoods of Cologne, Frechen, Bergheim, and Pulheim.

Between Oberaußem and Büsdorf, I noticed a paved field path I hadn't seen before. A glance at the navigation system made it clear to me that this would be a one

From Essen Central Station, you can quickly reach the "Rheinische Bahn," a route closed to motorized traffic with excellent asphalt, which crosses Essen's city center without any intersections and leads to the center of Mühlheim an der Ruhr. Perfect!



But: the route was soon closed, and I had to improvise

Yesterday, just before falling asleep, I planned a tour from Kaldenkirchen to Cologne. During the train ride this morning, however, I thought: since I'm already sitting on the train for so long, why not go one stop further to Venlo and enjoy the Meuse?



The Germany Ticket, as well as the NRW day ticket