A boat coming up a channel as I wait at the drawbridge
The bike path leaving Valthe
The bike path south of Emmen
In Coevorden, I had to wait on a drawbridge
And some of the path was those annoying brick roads
but overall it was good, if a bit bumpy
Most of the route paralleled the highway as a bike path, but there was a very nice section that left the highway before Slagharen and used an old road through Luten and Dedemsvaart for almost ten miles. I actually got confident enough to leave the path before Nieuwleusen and take another bike route south through farms to N340 and then ride N340 into Zolle. That one cost me a few miles, but got me away from busy roads for half and hour and into a peaceful, very gentle, rural environment. When I had to continue on N340's bike path, it was, briefly, unpleasant. Then I got back in the swing of things and cranked on into Zwolle.
In Zolle, I stopped at McDs - yes, I was hoping for one! - for a late lunch. I had snacked in Coevorden, but, even after a huge supper - I was at a two person table and the serving dishes completely filled the table - and a good breakfast, I was getting hungry after fifty miles of riding. McDs was located where N340 comes into an autoroute and where another N road heads south. There was a bike path for that road and some of the places listed on its bike path signs where in the right general direction, so I headed down that path after lunch. Pretty soon it gave me the option of going to places that were even more in the direction I wanted, and after riding east across Zwolle on various bike paths, selecting a better destination each time I saw one, I crossed the river Ijssel and headed east/southeast towards HarderWijk.
Leaving Zolle, heading across the river
I think a bridge with a windsock implies some strong winds!
The autoroute bridge I crossed under three times
When I reached Nunspeet, I thought about stopping, but I'd only done 80 miles and I figured I was good to make it to Harderwijk. I was. I even raced a kid on a MTB and won. He was on the other side of the road - these road often have paths on both sides when I passed him cruising at about 14 mph. Since he seemed determined to keep up with me, I speeded up to 15 mph. He held it for a while then gradually fell back. I forgot about him till I entered Harderwijk and looked in my my mirror. He had crossed the road and was drafting me <grin>! He turned of on a side street and I continued to the middle of town. No hotels. I stopped and asked; "Go to Nunspeet, that is where the hotels are." Sigh.
On the way back to Nunspeet, I saw a bike path that went off in the woods and led to Nunspeet. I took that instead of the path along the main road, got lost, and eventually found my way to Nunspeet about an hour and a half after I originally arrived here. Then it took half an hour to find a hotel and finally find one that wasn't full. It was 7:30 when I checked in after riding 95 miles in about seven and a half hours of actual riding. By a direct route, it is fifty mile from here to the airport, but I don't know how direct a route I can, or will use. I'll try to figure that out tomorrow!