Kleve sits on the lower Rhine, a few kilometres from the Dutch border, in a landscape so flat that the one low hill outside the town counts as an event. West of it, the Reichswald is a big, dark forest of pine and beech, one of the largest wooded areas in this part of North Rhine-Westphalia, and for a rider coming from the Ruhr it feels like an exhale. The forest roads are straight and shaded, and the surrounding villages, Kranenburg among them, are neat, brick-built and utterly peaceful.
The history is heavier than the scenery suggests. In February 1945, the Reichswald was the scene of Operation Veritable, when British and Canadian troops fought their way through the forest and the flooded Rhine plain in some of the grimmest fighting of the war's final months. Kleve itself was almost completely destroyed, and its old town was rebuilt in the postwar style. Several thousand Commonwealth soldiers lie in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, a quiet and carefully tended place in the woods that is worth a few minutes of silence, and another large cemetery lies across the border in Groesbeek.
Before that, Kleve was the capital of the Duchy of Cleves, and one of the duke's daughters, Anne, became briefly the fourth wife of Henry VIII. The Schwanenburg, the Swan Castle, still stands on its hill over the old town, and is tied to the legend of the Swan Knight, Lohengrin, who arrived by boat drawn by a swan. A good way to see the castle is to climb the hill after parking in the lower town.
The riding is relaxed rather than exciting. Roads are flat and well kept, speed limits are enforced, and the cycle paths are as busy as the roads. The Rhine and its flood meadows make good riding in spring and autumn, with geese in huge numbers, and a ferry or two. Kleve has plenty of fuel, cafes and bakeries, and Dutch ones just over the border are just as easy. A day here is a gentle one, which is a pleasure of its own.