last day

Only one more thing to do: cycle back to Münster, where we left our car more than eight days ago. First though I got to fix my front wheel, I noticed yesterday evening that it seemed wobbly and it looks like it’s not properly fastened onto the wheel fork anymore. No problem as usual, just tighten a few screws and as good as new. We’re off before nine and our first challenge is to find the right route. We’ve been following the western loop the last couple of days and this does not pass via Münster. We must cross from Coesfeld back to the northern loop, but we want to avoid all the steep slopes we did yesterday evening.

Google maps helps us out, proposing three routes to the east, of which we pick the flattest one, first following a rail road and then tackling the hilly farmer’s roads to the side of it. It looked like it might rain when we’re leaving, but it gets sunnier as we go. The wind is a bit less strong today, but it’s still at our backs and we enjoy the small extra push. We pick up the trail again near Billerbeck and turn east towards Münster. We climb up out of town through a beautiful forest and then coast down to Havixbeck. It looks like it might stay dry for a while, so we stop at a bakery for the usual order of ham/cheese sandwiches and a muffin. Actually, two muffins this time, we’re not sure when we’ll be at the car so we want to have a back-up plan.

We decide to push on to Burg Hulshoff to have our lunch there. There’s a remarkable shortage of sunny benches in the area and we hope the castle park will have some. This castle is actually a museum and although the courtyard and park are accessible, you must leave bikes outside the entrance. Since we don’t want to leave our bikes with all the luggage out of sight, we take the first bench by the entrance to enjoy our lunch, before we each in turn take a walk around the small castle.

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On to the next one, only ten kilometers to go to our car so we must find a spot for our muffin. We pass by Haus Vögeling, in private property. We sit on a low wall to admire Haus Ruschhaus, just like Burg Hulshoff a place where the 19th century poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff has lived. The muffin is delicious.

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It looks like we might make it to the car before the rain starts, it’s still sunny in the early afternoon and there are a lot of cyclists out and about. We cycle on to Münster, it’s amazing how the green country side runs all the way up to the city limits. At the car around two pm, while the clouds march closer and threaten to rain on us. Bags in the trunk, bikes on the back and off we go. A quiet three hour drive later we’re home.

Today’s statistics:

• distance: 45 km – for once, exactly as originally planned!
• riding time: 3h05
• average speed: 14.5 kmph