August 8 On to Gorssel
In 2025 we booked a stay in Gorssell mainly because it was close to Deventer, but it turned out we like “Pauke’s Place”, the hosts, the town, and the region so much we booked a second longer stay near the end of our trip after visiting several favorite places in France.
We had planned to ship the bikes home at the end of our 2025 trip, but while feeling so at-home in Gorssel we made the decision to do one more trip – our 10th – keeping it simple bikes-only – no boats, trains, or rentals vehicles and this time an even longer stay – 10 days in Gorssel.
A comfortable day’s ride for us considering our gear and stops for photos and rest is about 35-40 KM (24 miles) -doesn’t sound like a lot but leaves us with time and energy to explore our destination, buy provisions, and relax. The normal ride from Harskamp to Gorssel includes a short ferry that we’ve taken in the past… but now due to the draught the Ijssel River is too low to run the ferry. This resulted in quite a long detour through Zutphen making our distance well over 50 km.
Along the way we enjoyed a stop at the Railroad Museum in Beekenberg. Then many miles following canal on a narrow single-track paved trail – sometimes force to pull off for opposing cylists. But at least we managed to not fall in the canal. Made it safely across the bridge at Zutphen andbefore we knew it we were at the callis windmill just outside Gorssel. And shortly after that we were enjoying a lavish “snack” at our favorite plan – the historic Post Office in Gorssel.
The next day we rode to see exatly why the ferries are not running…
