Master this Technology.

Just got to Düsseldorf. I wrote some blogs last night (didn't have internet to post). Here's one about the trip from Zaltbommel to Nijmegen:

Tuesday (Zaltbommel->Nijmegen), 40mi
I had no internet in Xanten, so this is coming to you from Düsseldorf. Tuesday I rode from Zaltbommel to Nijmegen. It was around 40 miles over dikes (dijks) and along canals in the Dutch countryside. The weather was overcast and bit cooler, but it didn't rain. I passed through several small towns but nothing really eventful happened except when my bikepath was blogged by a herd of sheep. I would've tried to pick my way through but they looked rather surly and they had already covered the path in excrement. The detour didn't add that much time. Eventually I arrived at the industrial outskirts of Nijmegen. Here, I believe, is one of the many massive pump stations that help control the water level in the canals. There was also a pretty serious set of locks that were moving barges up and down the river.

Once I made it into downtown Nijmegen I immediately made my way to the Velorama Museum. Apparently, it's the largest historical bicycle museum in the world. It was three floors of bikes, starting from the very earliest wheeled, hobbyhorse designs to the hi-wheel (hi bis), penny-farthing disasters to modern recumbents and folding bicycles. As an interesting aside, the very first exhibit was a life-like manikin of Leonardo da Vinci standing beside a fully wooden bike with a chained drivetrain. From what I could understand from the attendant’s broken English, some lost documents of da Vinci’s had been discovered by monks that suggest he invented the chained drivetrain hundreds of years before they became popular. The story is unlikely and it is thought the documents are forgeries, but until it is proven one way or the other, the curator is leaving the sculpture up. Anyway, it was awesome and I took a zillion pictures. However, from the very beginning I noticed that an awful lot of emphasis was placed on the French bicycle designers and manufacturers throughout the told history. I had the feeling that the curator was probably a Frenchman. My worst fears were affirmed when I came to the very top floor and entered "the black box". It was a small raised room that had a motion sensor activated World War II bicycle diorama within, complete with life size human models in the appropriate garb and machine gun sound effects. This was all fine and well, but there was a little button with a French flag that I couldn't help to press. Well, some sort of French victory music started blasting and a new room lit up with a bunch of French wartime relics. It was hysterical. They may have helped to move the bicycle from the rich person's toy to the working man's vehicle, but they did not win the second World War! Haha.

Anyway, I then wandered around to check out historical Nijmegen. I guess it was originally settled by the Romans (and probably before) so there's quite a bit of history there. I found a place to stay right near the old square, had a Maoz falafel for dinner, a few beers at a place called Funkenstein, and then turned in for the night.

Here's a pictorial of the Zaltbommel to Nijmegen leg:


Tuesday's leg. Interactive map.


Path blocked by sheep.


Locks near Nijmegen.


Bully!


The first rollerskates. Looks safe.


The retrodirect. That's for Jimbo.


And, finally, a second lesson in how to burn down your hotel.