A ride to a cafe in pleasant Hedon along the horrible Hedon Road with its sub-standard cycle path.
Hedon
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Category Archives: Cycling
Brough to Hull
This time we got off the train at Brough and cycled into Hull; I really didn’t want to cycle in and out of Hull again. Great views of the Humber bridge – and I had time to go into the Ferens art gallery and look at a painting by John Hunt of the waterfront in 1837. I got sidetracked by the steam packet on the far left: this went from Hull to Gainsborough, so of course I wondered how on earth it got to a landlocked town. Up the Humber and then up the Trent is the answer.
The Fylde by Brompton
The Brompton and I caught the train to Preston and headed northwards through the Fylde peninsula. A bit unlovely at first: I took a direct route from the station, through old terraces interspersed with garages and workshops, to the start/end of the Lancaster canal to take me out into the countryside. Not scenic countryside: it’s agricultural and flat (although if there is an incline, the Brompton always lets you know about it), but it felt good to be doing this.
I feared I had suffered a total map-reading breakdown until I realised that my OS map was too old to show the bypass that had come as a surprise. Then to Elswick, which was going for gold in the floral stakes, and Great Eccleston for a café.
Over the toll bridge (20p; I’m sure it was only 10p the last time I passed that way 20 years ago) and then beside the Wyre until I headed north to Knott End, where there was a bus leaving in 5 minutes. A little discourteous to blank Knott End like that, but there’s always another day.
Maassluis to Europoort
The Netherlands has gone all out on pollinator-friendly planting, so you come across lovely flowers against less lovely backgrounds.
We did a pleasant loop today to stretch out the short distance from Maassluis to the ferry: Brielle (so pretty) then dull farmland until the pines and dunes around Rockanje.
Nijmegen to Maassluis
I looked out of the hotel window this morning at the Nijmegen commuters and thought that they were dressed for March or November. Where is summer?
Anyway, train to Dordrecht, waterbus to Rotterdam, bicycle to Maassluis, ferry tomorrow. So simple. It’s fitting to finish the holiday beside the river again, with all its movement and interest. From our corner room we have the local ferry, barges and the dock.
Emmerich am Rhein to Nijmegen
Again. Along the Rhine embankments into a headwind. Sheep were penned into small plots, and one small herd looked particularly comical with their stern expressions and dropping ears. The landscape was flat and rather dull, and again I noticed how high the river was, covering the trunks of willows. Nijmegen was comprehensively bombed so it’s rather dull too.
Dinxperlo to Emmerich am Rhein
I assume that peacocks are not early risers: we were woken only by rooks and cockerels. And heavy rain. Which eased off before we left the hotel, thank goodness. This evening we’re back in Emmerich am Rhein.
Old Shoe Box 