Today the effects of the past 3 days hiking set in. It was a long and sluggish day, and not my best. I arrived in Venlo city center at 0815 and waited fifteen minutes for café Bruxelle to open. Enjoyed eggs Benedict for breakfast and continued the route promptly. As I was taking a break in the cool shade of the forest a young man with a thruhike kit walked past and I struck up a conversation. His name is Tom and he started at the most northern part of the trail 2 weeks ago, doing the entire Pieterpad in one go. I asked if he wanted to hike a bit together and he agreed. We spend the next 3 hours walking and talking, mostly about past hiking adventures. We enjoyed a lunch at Herberg den Bos and parted ways when he went to the supermarket for groceries. The second half of the afternoon was the real lowpoint of the trail thusfar. It was very hot and I was zapped. It was slow going. Arrived at the campground around 1800. Met a german bikepacker who worked as a firefighter in Dusseldorf and we chatted a little before I took a shower. Hopped on a loanbike from the campground to Roermond, where I enjoyed a delicious bowl of miso ramen. Cycled back to campground and am happy to call it a night.
