Back to a boring maximum speed of about 22 kph, so to do this distance we needed the assistance of the train from Papenburg to Rheine. The usual anxiety about getting our bikes on the train, so I checked with the ticket office beforehand. (A ticket office: there’s luxury.) Question: where was the bike space? Answer: each carriage has bike spaces front and back. Total number of bikes conveyed: 24. (More in the summer holiday season.) This seemed like riches indeed – but the reality is that if a train has 24 bike spaces, there will be 23 bicycles on it – particularly if it’s the day after Himmelfahrt. We had no problem at Papenburg, but the train quickly filled up.

We cycled the same route out of Rheine as a week ago along the easy-peasy disused railway, but this time into a sunny headwind. Heek is en fête – nice for Heek but not for anyone hoping for an early night. It’s the town’s Schützenfest – a concept I have difficulty in getting my head around. Schützen means to protect, but this kind of thing is all about guns and shooting. I suppose I should think of it as a celebration of the historical tradition of local self-protection – an early kind of Home Guard perhaps? – and target-shooting is part of it. Also included is parading in green jackets and dark green ties behind a local band – and lots of drinking.

We arrived in Heek in good time so headed off in nostalgic mood along the 100 Schlösser Route to see Burg Nienborg. How many have we ticked off now?