Day 10 : Changing tack

A great day’s cycling today. Had breakfast at the hotel then made my way back onto the cycle route.

Cycling through countryside, national parks and nature reserves gives me great opportunity to see a lot of wildlife, such as the biggest snails I’ve ever seen, the swifts, swallows and martins that play over the farmers fields, chestnut brown squirrels, startled mice and rats, and rabbits.

On several occasions I’ve seen what I’m pretty sure are eagles, and I got my closest encounter today when I was cycling down a country road that was lined with trees on both sides. The bird flew just 10m ahead of me along the road for only 10 seconds or so, before it disappeared off through a gap in the trees. It’s size, and the size of its talons were really impressive.

I reached Höxter at lunchtime. I came across a decent camping shop (which had a better selection of bike panniers than any bike or camping shop I’ve seen in London), and bought some gas as I’m not sure how much I have left. I found an outdoor hut on the river serving food and had lunch there.

Höxter marks the place on my tour where I stop following the West to be East route and turn off to a cycle route heading South.

And the new route is great so far. It follows the course of the river Hesse, so is nice and flat, and I’ve encountered about 100 other cyclists today – on the previous route I only saw about 5-10 cyclists each day.

Weather has been good today. Only a few showers in the early evening and I found shelter for the worst of it. I found a campsite without needing any diversion, so I’ve checked in and set up camp here for the night. €10 + .5 for a shower – bargain.

The campsite serves hot food so I’ve opted for a currywurst thing (no healthy options on the menu, though I’m craving a salad!).

Bad Meinberg to Hemeln, 100 km. Total so far 816 km.