Duisburg-Überruhr and back along the Ruhr 105 km

Cycling trip along the Ruhr River between Duisburg, where the river flows in to the Rhine, and Überruhr, and back. Trip largely on cycling paths along the river. The trip offers floodplains, meadows, hills, woods, industry, reservoirs, bridges, wetlands, castles, an abbey, villages, towns and the cities of Duisburg with a climb of the Kaiserberg and Mülheim an der Ruhr. I did the trip on a road bike, but take into account that there are several stretches of semi-paved cycling paths (especially near Duisburg and Mülheim, not too difficult for road bikes - about 8 kilometers in total). Some cycling paths are also used by pedestrians, so watch your speed there. Note that at very high water levels, some cycling paths along the river may be blocked. There are frequent opportunities to eat and drink something.
The trip starts in Ruhrort opposite the Ruhr from Duisburg. At the start there is free parking along the road. From the start you cross the Vincke and Hafenkanal, and then Karl-Lehr-Brücke across the Ruhr. Shortly after you cross a weir in the Ruhr River back to the northern shore. You follow a semi-paved cycling path on a dike (you can also take the adjacent road). Another semi-paved cycling path takes you along the Rhein-Herne Kanal and across the Verbindungskanal. You then follow the Spelldorfer Strasse which is partly semi-paved and shortly after another semi-paved cycling path Am Ruhrufer, partly on a dike along the Ruhr. A bit further the cycling path is paved and continues to follow the Ruhr, and then on to the castle Schloss Styrum. A semi-paved cycling path takes you across the Styrumer Brücke. A bit further you take the fully paved and broad Radschnellweg Rheinische Bahn back across the river into Mülheim an der Ruhr. You leave the cycling path and cycle through the center of town back to the Ruhr at the Ruhranlage park. A bit further you cross onto the Ruhrinsel (island), however during my trip the locks were temporarily closed for roadworks. You follow cycling paths to the Florabrücke where you leave the island. You follow a road along the river to Menden and then enter the Leinpfad (towpath), a paved cycling path along the river all the way to Kettwig. On the way you pass below the A52 viaduct which spans the valley here. In Kettwig is a reservoir dam and a railroad bridge. You continue on the Leinpfad along the reservoir/river to Werden. A bit further is a stretch of cobblestones before you get to the reservoir dam of the Baldeneysee. A cycling path keeps you away from the lake for a few kilometers and the nicely hugs the shoreline of the lake to Heisingen. In Heisingen you climb a bit to the center and then descend to a nice cycling path through the Heisinger Ruhraue. The cycling path takes you to Konrad-Adenauer-Brücke, where you cross the river and turn back on the other side. A cycling path takes you past Überruhr-Holthausen. A road takes you into Kupferdreh where you cross the Kampmannbrücke, and shortly after back on the former railroad bridge Kupferdreh. From here you follow broad cycling tracks along the south shore back to the reservoir dam near Werden. You cycle through Werden and take the Landstrasse along the river all the way to Kettwig, with a short excursion on the castle grounds of Oefte on the way. After Kettwig you take the Mintarder Weg to Mintard, a village almost below the A52 viaduct. A small road takes you below the bridge on the edge of the valley, and the badly paved Mintarder Strasse to the L62 road (the cycling path Ruhrauenweg was partly paved at the start so I chose the L62). You follow the L62 to Saarn where you pass by the Kloster (abbey) Saarn. You then turn back to the river and cycle through the Saarn-Mendener-Ruhraue nature area, where I saw a kingfisher. On leaving this area you take the Saarner Auenweg, a semi-paved cycling path which takes you to Fossilienweg cycling path and then to the Darlington Park in Mülheim.. Here you cycl around Schloss Broich in the park and the continue back to the Radschnellweg Rheinische Bahn, which you now follow in the direction of Duisburg. When the cycling path ends you follow the main road (watch out for tram rails) for a few kilomers and then cycle back to the Schiffahrtskanal, a parallel caneRuhr. You follow the Ruhr on the Kolkerhofweg to the Schwiesenkamp bridge. This is a place where several railway lines and highways cross each other and the river. You cycle into Duisburg and climb the Kaiserberg on a short and steep path into the wooded hill. Going down you pass the zoo. You then cycle on city roads to the Innenhafen, an inner harbor which is being remodeled, factories turned into museums and restaurants. You continue along the harbor and cycle along the old city walls on a cobblestoned street into the small old city center. From here you cycle through the city back to the Ruhr, and a cycling path along it that takes you to the Rheinorange, an orange rectangular slab erected on the place where the Ruhr flows into the Rhine river. You take a look and then cycle along the Rhine to the Rheinbrücke Neuenkamp, cross it, and cycle on the other side of the Rhine along factories to Homberg, with a view of the Ruhr mouth and Rheinorange. At Homberg you cycle around a small inner harbor and cross the Friedrich-Ebert-Brücke back to Ruhrort. Shortly after you are back to the starting point.