I always had the impression that Maastricht was a boring place full of faceless EU bureaucrats, but in fact it was vibrant, with lively crowed bars and restaurants. It wasn’t that vibrant when I rolled out at 9 in the morning though ! Everything was pretty deserted.
I knew this was going to be a tough day and it was, but at least it was going to be dry. The route today was going to be around 85km, with much more climbing than previous days, more than a third of that came in the stretch between Maastricht and Aachen, which even tested the endless pelotons that today crawled rather than raced past me. I consoled myself with the fact that the rest of the ride on a converted rail track couldn’t be that bad. But before I got to that I had the odd flooded path to contend with.
Eventually I rolled into Aachen, briefly crossing the main square. Very nice, but would have been better without the cobbles !
The start of the Vennbahn wasn’t exactly exciting, but this railway path winds south for over 125kms. I was going to spend the rest of the day on it.
The path rolled along through suburban estates, out into the country. Perhaps I should say rolled up as it seemed constantly to be climbing. Around every corner I assumed it would flatten out but it didn’t.
It wasn’t steep, but the continuous gradient was draining. Relief came in the form of a station converted into a Bistro. They were doing a great trade, with a constant stream of cyclists refuelling.
After my nutritionally balanced lunch, I cracked on for several more hours of grinding upwards. In fact 770m in total for the day ! As is becoming the routine, something always happens in the last few kms. In this case a brief thunderstorm. I hid under some trees until it past.
A short but steep road with several hairpin bends led to my hotel for the night. A road that I will reacquaint myself with first thing in the morning, but sadly going up !
The one joy of today though was Monschau, the little German town I am staying in. It must win the award for one if the prettiest towns I have visited.
Steady Pedals 
Deutschland looks lovely – despite the rain, which is the only thing in common with Southall ☹️
Given how hard a day this was, rain was probably a blessing. I’d quite like some sun now though ! Monschau was stunning. I’m hoping to cycle down the Mosel which by all accounts is very scenic