THE END.

Before we knew it we were by the beach in Scheveningen on LF1 (click here to read my first thoughts on the place). For anyone who has read my blogs you’ll recognise the name! You’ll probably also know that it’s not so far from where I used to Au Pair. Thus for old times’ sake I dragged my sister on a detour right into the centre of The Hague in order to reminisce on my memories there (here's a little summary of the city as seen by me). A quick sprint through the fountains of the Spui and a cycle around the station's lovely zebra clock made it a fun farewell as we caught the coastalroute back to Noordwijk. Nice to finish the trip with familiarity. 

Thanks Soph for doing it with me!

They really couldn’t have placed our final photo-point better…the Noordwijk lighthouse was right at the end of the town’s boulevard. With a snappy photo on a dying phone we’d finished it. The following days were spent being utterly spoilt by our family friends in the impressive Dutch summer before flying home. One of my first memorbale experiences in NL had been in Noordwijk so it felt right to finish the adventure there. 

They say fortune favours the brave... in so many ways on the trip it felt like it didn’t- our daily bike failures made sure of that. With time, however, we've come to realise something. Actually we couldn’t have been more fortunate. We had three weeks full of challenges, experiences and beautiful sights…not to mention a fantastic music festival AND we made it back in one piece. I mean really, what’s not to be thankful for!? 

The best bit? We’re the only Brits on-record to have done it and certainly the only ones to have done it on such old bikes!

Making it to Middelburg- (18/06)

Little image of Middelburg Station here, it's a busy place!

Well and truly in the province of Zeeland much of our way was along the water’s edge. As the name suggests most of the province is below sea level, consisting of a number of separate islands as well as a strip bordering Belgium (but we cut that bit out!). With an affinity of water comes one of wind, the two being intrinsically bound, so slowly but surely wind turbines became a regular sight and our pace in the burning heat suffered. It wasn’t the only one, our camera too seemed unable to cope and ceased to work! Through too many toils to list we wound up with great relief in Middelburg, the capital of the province.

Back on Track- (17/06)

With the end of PinkPop it was time to pack up all our stuff and start cycling once more- but not before a quick scheduled train trip to take us back up onto the Ronde van Nederland route. You do have to pay to take your bike on the train in the Netherlands and it's only allowed in non-peak times but priority is given to you if you get in the designated carriage so the experience was not overly traumatic. Getting on and off the steep stairs at the platform and indeed off the platform out of the station was however. A little surprising for so bike-friendly a country. Nevertheless before the day was up we’d passed through the well-known cities of Eindhoven, Tilburg and Breda all in a westerly direction- parallel in fact to that of LF13. It felt appropriate that on our mother’s 60^th birthday we had made such definite advances toward the end of our NL adventure. Home felt on the horizon.    

PinkPop Day 3- (16/06)

If you are not a great fan of optimistic adjectives please read no further…

• Out of pure interest we headed to see a band called Puggy at the Brand Bier Stage and were wowed by their catchy pop tunes. It was lovely to see an Englishman, Frenchmen and Swede gel so well together.  
• Next up Bastille. We knew 2 songs of theirs before listening to the humble Londoners perform and now we know an albums worth. Their songs had such great beats that it was difficult not to shuffle along to them.
• At the 3FM Stage old-timers Stereophonics provided some great easy-listening.
• Following The Vaccines on the Main Stage was Ben Howard. He was fantastic. Not just another Brit with a guitar. Interestingly a women (in his backing band of 2) switched instruments for each song, playing mainly the cello, and sang beautifully to add to Ben’s rustic vocals.  
• Closing the festival with a 2 hour set were Green Day- not our usual cup of tea but I have to say they entertained. They sure know how to get an audience going and it was a lot of fun if not a little bit messy.

All in all a fantastic festival.   

PinkPop Day 2- (15/06)

Another day full of music. Here are some of them…

• Passenger on the Main Stage. Having only really just hit the big time, with his song Let Her Go, you’d understand if he was a little nervous. Well if he was he didn’t show it! Absolutely note perfect. Just him and his guitar and a dumbstruck crowd. What a unique voice. He made us proud to be from South East England.
• Ellie Goulding on the Brand Bier Stage, a large marque next to the Main Stage, created an electronic bubble. Having heard a lot of her in the charts, in a lot of collaborations, we wondered whether it would work live. Well, it did. The stage effects were awesome and her voice, played back at points as an echo, didn't disappoint. 
• Thirty Seconds to Mars, who we’d actually never heard of, were a great warm up to the Kings of Leon on the Main Stage. Being a massive fan of the Scottish rockers, they (and The Script) were who I’d come to see, it was an hour of my life I will never forget. Utterly mesmerising. They played a load of great new tunes which we both vowed to look up and download on return to Britain! 

PinkPop Festival- (14/06)

After a quick 6km we were at PinkPop! 

It’s an annual 3-day music festival held in Landgraaf and it’s actually the oldest annual pop festival in Europe! PinkPop 2013 was its 44^th edition. It’s had some pretty insane line-ups in its time and this years was no exception yet still hardly anyone in the UK has heard of it. Of A,B,C and D (in order of proximity to the festival terrain) we were happy to get our spot in Camping B right by it’s food court and party tent. Once we’d safety put our bikes in the bike lock and stocked up at a local supermarket we walked the 30 minutes to get to where the music was at…

• First up Paramore on the Main Stage. We were surprised by how many of their punk-style songs we knew and lead singer Hayley Williams’ energy was contagious.
• Then off for a little bit of Jimmy Eat World at the 3FM Stage towards the back of the fielded area to hear some more Americans.
• Leaving them early we got prime spots at the front of the Main Stage for one of my favourite bands, The Script. The music was even better than on their albums and the atmosphere as we all jumped and sang along at the top of our lungs was incredible.  
• Then to finish the evening off, The Killers. An hour of pumping rock classics like Mr Brightside and When We Were Young. It was a great first day. 

Nearly there...- (13/06)

A bike-failure induced stop in a wet Valkenburg.

We felt very much at home in Maastricht so it was sad to say goodbye but it was more than consoling to know we were edging closer and closer to PinkPop. What’s PinkPop I hear you ask…? More on that later. 

The aim of the day was simple: to camp out the night before PinkPop in nearby Heerlen before setting off early the next morning. With the weather taking a torrential turn, the surface a steep one and our wheels a waning one that aim proved extremely difficult. I mean we passed through a place called, when directly translated, Mountain. Certainly not the furthest we've ever had to cycle but at 10pm we’d made it.    

Maastricht- (12/06)

Now to roam off the Ronde van Nederland track. Instead of heading west we continued to the very tail of the Netherlands and the capital of the province, Maastricht. It’s a lovely historical city with a mountain of shops, buildings and parks to look around. Being home to a thriving international university we really enjoyed people watching in the central square (squares being an integral part of a Dutch city). 

We’d booked into a Stayokay hostel for the night, well known in NL for their good basic accommodation, which was such a luxury after 2 weeks of sleeping in a tight-packed 2-man tent. Speaking of luxury.. the unlimited breakfast of the next morning was decisively pushed to its limits :)

More Maas- (11/06)

Continuing along the Maas we entered Limburg, the most southern province of the Netherlands, and it was noticeable how differently they spoke- distinctively German in sound. Within the province they actually have their own local dialects so with my amateur level of Dutch it was no wonder I was confused. Fortunately no spoken Dutch was required to reach our campsite! Interestingly from the previously vast nature of the Dutch landscapes there was a definite feeling of density and vegetation as we made it to Roermond. Our campsite was again surrounded by water, a very familiar but nevertheless welcome sight on the tour.

The Maas- (10/06)

To kick of the day we had a look around the city of Nijmegen. A bit of a climb up the high-street led us to a good many market stalls which were lovely to look at. Yet further uphill brought us to a park with great views along the canal that was to join the river Maas. Exiting the city we started our southerly descent right along this beautiful river. Following LF3 we, perhaps unnecessarily, hopped back and forth across the water throughout the day making great use of the little boats that make the journey non-stop on demand. 

Time was very well spent at our campsite relaxing our ragged limbs on the grassy river-bank.      

De Hoge Veluwe Park- (09/06)

Having set up camp in the outskirts of Arnhem we found ourselves perfectly placed for a day at the Hoge Veluwe Park. It’s the largest privately owned nature park in the Netherlands with 5,000 hectares of woodland, heathland, drift sands and peat bogs.

With 1700 free white bikes, visitors can make use of the 43km of bike paths to explore this extraordinary place. Happy to ditch our bikes for the day we loved cycling around the park load-free! The weather was naturally windy but with the sun out we spent a relaxing hour or so sunbathing by the many helpfully placed picnic benches. 

The 13km to the Visitors Centre from the entrance was worth it for the information about the animal habitat, methods of maintenance and history. From there the Kroller-Muller Museum and Sculpture Garden satisfied my artist interests. A great day out for the family. I highly recommend.   

A bit of history- (08/06)

Getting around the river Ijssel we intended to spend the day in Arnhem but with yet another puncture we were forced to stop in the city of Doesburg. As we tried to enter the high-street we were (and I kid you not) stopped by medieval guards who informed us that bikes were not allowed. Having explained the situation we were then escorted by guard to the bike shop beyond the gate. Turns out the town was having its annual medieval celebration, the Doesburgse Hanzefeesten. Well we thoroughly enjoyed having a look around the craftsman stalls, antique market, and traditional venders, listening to the folky live music and observing everybody’s medieval fancy-dress.  

Eventually we made it to Arnhem. A place I’ve always wanted to visit, being a bit of a history lover. We wandered through the city streets on the way to the Battle of Arnhem Museum situated intentionally within sight of the John Frost Bridge (named after the Major-General who led British forces in defence of the bridge). The museum was really interesting, mapping out the movement of Allied and Enemy forces chronologically with clips from the infamous film A Bridge too Far (although that is of course fiction). I really liked the walls displaying the feelings/accounts of German and British soldiers as well as Dutch eye-witnesses (both young and old).

If you really don’t know what I’m on about I suggest you read up on your WW2 history. Be warned though, there's no happy ending here.  

Ijssel Reunion- (07/06)

Navigating ourselves was never too difficult, we followed the LF signs and if they weren't there then often bike checkpoint numbers (or ‘knooppunts’ if you’re Dutch) were. Failing that, red-lettered signs for nearby villages or towns, with the number of km to go, could also be found. In some cases navigation was made EVEN easier by the fact that there was only one possible path. As our long day of cycling entered its final quarter this was certainly the case. Courtesy of the river Ijssel. 

The 113km river flows all the way to the Ijsselmeer* from its origins in the German Lower Rhine. By simply following the water we made it our campsite which was conveniently located along its edge.


A bit of a risky place to put a campsite if you ask me, I'm guessing the path in the photo was once accessible....

*remember that?... the area by the Afsluitdijk up in the North

Overijssel delivers- (06/06)

Making further strides through Overijssel we met its largest city, Enschede but not before a rather bizarre find. We’d been working our way steadily through a pretty dense area of forest until suddenly it completely opened up and we found ourselves encountered with something more at home in the landscapes of Africa or Asia, the Lutterzand. Dismounting our bikes, advised for your safety, we walked along the steep edge following the meandering river until the forest appeared once more. 

It was amazing to think that not a few kilometres back had we found the Denekamp. Stunning in a different way with its bustling pavilion complete with an encasing lily-clad lake, traditional watermill, lock and blossoms...      

 

No glitches- (05/06)

Another day for the landscapes. A pleasurable 90km took us to our campsite in Den Ham, now in the Dutch province of Overijssel. 

Perhaps it is worth saying that the day was actually our first since starting the trip where we suffered no bike failure. By that I mean… no long detours to find bike shops, no carrying our bikes for kilometres, no forking out for new inner tyres or frames and no relying on the good will of others. In a celebratory mood we found a nearby restaurant and treated ourselves whilst hoping against hope that it would be the first free day of many... 

Dolmen Day- (04/06)

With the turn of the week it was time to start the descent of the eastern border, stop heading north and start going south. The rays of sunshine heightened the beauty of all the flower fields and forests that we cycled through. We happily photographed them all. 

There were, however, a few points at which photographs played a more important, less leisurely, role. Along the entire route were 6 photo-points. Basically points where a photo of us and our bikes were needed to prove that we had actually completed the Ronde van Nederland properly- no cutting corners. The day heralded one of our favourite photo-points of the trip... the largest dolmen in the Netherlands. Don’t worry I also had no idea what one was before we saw it but hopefully the picture will help! Pretty impressive, no? 

Going to Groningen- (03/06)

With probably over 300km cycled we were very happy to have a day where more time was spent sightseeing than cycling. A brisk 40km under the sun bought us to the city of Groningen, the largest town of the North but definitely not what Brits would consider large. Our cycle route took us straight from the countryside into the central square with its town hall, tourist information and church all in immediate sight. 

It was really refreshing to see some youthful faces as the rural cycle routes were very much dominated by quick middle-aged professionals or meandering elderlies. Let’s just say I wasn’t at all surprised to hear that students make up around 25% of Groningen’s population! With the weather still warm we plucked up enough courage to take an evening dip in our campsites lake to top off a great day. Yet another stunning natural campsite to add to the list and not a stone's throw from a bustling city.   

Day #5- (02/06)

We’d been following LF10 since leaving Den Helder and it bought with it a noticeably greener scenery than that of our first few days. More and more wind turbines began to penetrate the increasingly flat horizons. The undulation of the coastal routes was certainly not missed! All along the Dutch western border were further opportunities to hop off to one of the Dutch islands but having already more than halved the suggested speed for completing the Ronde van Nederland we thought that 1 was enough this time.

Onward we skirted a beautifully enormous man-made lake, the Lauwersmeer, and enjoyed a free pedalo around the considerably smaller lake surrounding our secluded campsite later that day. With the setting sun came thoughts of our grandmother (our 'oma') who was born in the very province of Friesland. It's nice to know that we can now say we've been there... 

The Day of the Afsluitdijk- (01/06)

It’s no secret that the Dutch are proud of their water management and the Afsluitdijk, constructed between 1927 and 1933, is the jewel in their crown. With its completion the damming transformed the ‘Southern Sea’ into the fresh water lake of Ijsselmeer so with that on our right and the North Sea on our left we set off down it. The dyke/motorway is 32km long and it helpfully bought us from the province of North Holland to that of Friesland. It was certainly the toughest day of cycling with heavy winds and rain bringing us to frequent stand stills with little place to shelter. Once the dyke was behind us a hot chocolate in Harlingen proved enough to get our ragged selves the last 30km to our campsite. What a way to start the month.

- Due to weather conditions no photos of ours truly represented its outrageous length so here's a nice one from Wikipedia!

 

Texel- (31/05)

What is Texel (or Tessel if you're Dutch)?

It's 1 of the 5 inhabited Dutch Wadden Sea Islands, by far the largest and the most touristy (hence all the Germans!) of them all.


Our campsite was on the west side of the island in the village of De Koog where the beach is what draws the crowds. Awaiting on a bike repair we took full advantage of it's sunny coastline and soaked up some sun whilst wandering around the town. It was then with reluctance that we headed back to Den Helder for an afternoon crossing, making some progress along the borders of North Holland before setting up camp for the night.