Month: September 2020

Introduction

“Well, its flat isn’t it?”, said everyone we spoke to about our next adventure. After last year’s tour to Spain and France, and the incredible amount of climbing we had to do over the Pyrenees mountains – I have told you that we don’t do climbing haven’t I? I did? Sorry; just thought I’d mention it – we decided to go for endurance in the saddle rather than climbing lots of mountains this year; something we are both better built for and where better than the European country which is the most famous for being flat. Holland!

This year we chose to cycle the ZuiderzeeRoute in the Netherlands. It is a circular route that (mostly) follows the coast of the IJsselmeer, which is a closed off bay bordering Flevoland and Freisland in Northern Holland. Closing off the bay from the sea resulted in a freshwater lake evolving as the water run-off from the land diluted the salt water over the years to extinction. The official route around the man-made lake is 400km (approximately 249 miles) but as the ferry from the UK would land us at the sea port of Ijmuiden twenty or so miles west of Amsterdam, we decided that it made perfect sense to start and end the tour at the ferry port. This spur was therefore incorporated into our tour. We would pick up the official route of the ZuiderzeeRoute where is traverses Amsterdam. This extra mileage would take our total journey distance to just over 300 miles, which would be a new record for a BoysGoneBiking tour. The ferries were booked. The hotels sorted. Restaurants organised. The challenge was set.

Day 0 :: Cheshire to Ijmuiden

After completing a couple of last minute jobs – haircuts and transfer of the official route maps onto our GPS system – we set off from our home county of Cheshire up to the North East of England to pick up our ferry from the Port of Tyne in South Shields. The day was cold and grey but we were optimistic that the weather would improve as we went across the North Sea and onto the continent. The trip up to South Shields was good with no traffic problems (surprisingly), and after a quick stop for a Maccy D’s and a terribly healthy Krispy Kreme doughnut for lunch to kick start the carbo loading, we arrived at the Port of Tyne. It was a small sea port which meant no hassle with crowds of cars, campervans or lorries. The secure car park was right at the side of the check in area and was quiet, so we parked up as close to the port entrance as we could and unloaded the bikes. Front wheels reattached and luggage – panniers, handle bar bags and under seat tool kit – on-board, we cycled down to the check in desks.

As the port is not big or sprawling you get to see the large ferry – the DFDS Princess Seaways – docked just the other side of passenger terminal. She was quite a sizeable looking ship compared to others that we’d sailed on whilst crossing the English Channel for previous tours.

The check in process was smooth and simple. “Ooh, you’re in the nice restaurant for dinner”, we were told by the lovely Geordie lass at the check in desk. Did she mean the normal restaurant was terrible?! We would never find out as we had booked the “nice restaurant” for dinner on the way out to Holland and on the return journey. Quite glad we did by all accounts.

We cycled through the Border Patrol and were directed straight onto our ship. We walked up the rear entry ramp and were told to strap our bikes to the fencing at the side of the car deck. Within minutes of walking onto the ship the doors were closing. It felt like we had only just made it in the nick of time, and I thought we were doing so well! Never mind, we’d made it safely on board, so we headed off upstairs to find our cabin amongst the rows of identical corridors and doors. The cabin was cosy enough (i.e. small) but perfectly fine for the two of us for the one night of the crossing.

At 5pm, with a loud bellow of the ship’s horn, we set off on our journey across the North Sea. The “nice” restaurant was the North Sea Bistro, and she was right; it was very nice. A fantastic meal of Lobster Bisque, followed by a steak with all the trimmings, and a crème brûlée, all washed down with a bottle of red wine and coffee to finish was a lovely start to our trip and a relaxing way to while away a couple of hours. We had a window table too, so were able to watch the coast line of the UK float slowly by – the route to Holland from the North East hugs the coast of England right down towards Kent before heading across the sea to the continent, so we were in sight of land for a lot of the evening. After dinner it was predictably up to the bar. There was entertainment provided in the form of a guy singing to his guitar in the Compass Bar or a group called “Sky Fall” in the main stage area. There was even a cinema – it must have been very small – and a casino, with croupiers manning a roulette wheel and a blackjack table, as well as numerous slot machines to suck your cash out of you. Plenty to keep you occupied on the almost 17 hour crossing. We decided to grab a table near the bar in the main entertainment area and see what “Sky Fall” could provide to keep us amused. They were mildly amusing, especially after a couple of pints of lager, and they helped to pass the time as we progressed slowly towards our destination. The house band reached the end of their set about 11.30pm, so we sensibly decided to head back to our cabin rather than order another beer. We had a long day ahead of us tomorrow, and trying to cycle 60 miles with a hangover would not be a good idea. We can be sensible when we need to be; well usually most of the time!

Day 1 :: Ijmuiden to Hoorn

Unlike the Brittany Ferries of previous tours, there was no gentle music to softly wake you from your slumber, just a crackly announcement over the in-cabin tannoy that breakfast was being served in the self-service restaurant. We opened our curtains covering the porthole window to reveal blue skies; the same thing happened two years ago when arriving in St. Malo in France to cycle Le Petit Tour de Manche. We left a cold, grey and wet UK to land on the continent with blue skies. We couldn’t believe our luck once more, as the forecast the week before the tour was promising grey skies with a dead-cert chance of rain.

After showering we headed upstairs to the Explorers Kitchen for a buffet breakfast. This was the usual affair of queues, crowds, and over cooked, dried out food. I think we definitely made the right choice with the Bistro Restaurant last night. We found some edible bits and bobs, mostly toast and eggs which are good food types for cycling at any rate, and ate what we could to load up ready for the days cycling. We promised ourselves something better for lunch.

After a trip back down to the cabin to change into the BGB cycling gear and repack our bags, we went back to the car deck to untie the bikes and load them up ready for the off. The process of unloading a ferry is a tedious one, and it seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to let the cyclists – of which there were a lot – push their bikes down the exit ramp. Eventually we were allowed to exit the ship through the forward doors and make our way out and onto dry land. There was a small queue of cyclists waiting to have their passports checked. After a few gruff questions from a burly border patrol officer about why we were here and where we were going (in the nicest possible way), we were through the port gates to where the BGB 2018 Tour would officially begin; the Dutch town of Ijmuiden.

The first leg of the Tour was not part of the Zuiderzee Route. It was a spur that we had located using cycle paths all of the way from the ferry port at Ijmuiden to Amsterdam, from where we could pick up the official Zuiderzee Route and start the loop of the IJsselmeer in a clockwise direction. There were two possible directions to go from the port, and unfortunately we took the wrong one. Our GPS beeped as it does when you go off route, within a minute of starting out. So we got out Google Maps just to see exactly what was going on. We were on the wrong side of a diverging triangle. A quick left turn through the town brought us to the other side of the triangle and the GPS was happy that we were back on track. The route tracked alongside the main road towards Amsterdam, and it was clear that the Dutch were very clued up on how to keep cyclists safe. Everywhere we looked there were clearly marked cycle routes. Usually they were off the road, but even where they were on-road, they were clearly marked and the drivers took great care to keep away from us. At the traffic lights there were separate lights for cyclists that allowed us to have a safe passage across the main roads whilst cars and pedestrians waited for us! We were going to like it cycling here.

The route was generally industrial as we headed towards the capital, with large business storage units on both sides of the road. There were also a colossal number of wind turbines wherever you looked; these huge structures dominating the landscape in all directions like mighty statues. They made quite an eerie whoosh, whoosh, whoosh sound as they rotated gracefully around in the wind. It was obvious that they were taking full advantage of their mostly windy flat country to generate renewable energy.

Slowly, as the day progressed, we noticed more domestic looking buildings appearing. The aircraft overhead were ever present as they headed into Schipol Airport. We knew that we must be getting nearer to the city. Even though we were getting closer to Amsterdam, there was still a lot of greenery around, with the cycle paths keeping us alongside narrow rivers and small lakes. There was a lot of water in this part of the world, and the houses seemed to aggregate along the banks of the rivers to get the best outlook over the water.

The river side path passed alongside the first traditional Dutch windmill we’d seen – a huge wooden structure brightly painted in red – before it ended on a busy main road. Still we had safe separation on cycle paths which had their own mini traffic light system to control the flow. We safely crossed the busy main road and started to head into an increasingly built up area which was the start of the capital city of Amsterdam. We hadn’t managed to get any water this morning coming from the port so we thought we’d better seek out a supermarket now that we were in town. We found a coffee shop – La Casa de Michael, and no it was not that type of coffee shop, you understand – and stopped for a coffee and a bit of a rest. Whilst we sat pouring over the maps for the beginning of the main route we noticed a sign for Lidl at the end of the street; perfect timing. We finished our coffee and cycled the short distance to the supermarket to get some water on board.

After filling up the water bottles and stocking up the panniers with water, we applied sun cream and finally retraced our steps back to the main road. The route we were following was headed further into the city along the Haarlemmerstraat, passing by designer shops and cafes that did look like those types! When we first looked at the route linking the ferry port to the start of the Zuiderzee, we thought it skirted around the centre of Amsterdam, but as we cycled on it was becoming increasingly clear that we would get to see some of the centre of the city too. It quickly became progressively busier as we hit the middle of Amsterdam. We saw a canal with the typical Dutch scene; tall narrow houses, river boat taxis, bicycles, and bridges. It was quintessential Amsterdam right before our eyes and it was fantastic.

The route took us along a busy high street before we came to a large bustling area with cars, bicycles and trams all buzzing around and in between each other; chaotic but all seemingly moving in perfect unison. We crossed the tram tracks and busy square, heading towards the Amsterdam Central railway station. Up ahead, we noticed the biggest multi-story bike park we’d ever seen – not that we’d ever really seen a multi-story bike park before. There were literally thousands of bicycles parked side by side up a long spiral. Apparently, only one in four Dutch people own a car and we could see why. Who needs a car when the country you live in is so bicycle friendly! We cycled through an underpass which brought us to the water front by the station’s main entrance. Here there were commuters by the hundred heading to the busy ferries to cross over to the north side of the river. You had to be careful cycling around here as it was too easy to get swept along with the crowds. We got off and pushed our way slowly through the thick crowds to get a better sight of the waterfront.

It was an impressive scene in front of us, with numerous boats and ferries criss-crossing over the river to the north bank. After a few obligatory photos, we took to the cycle path again which followed along the water front, taking us past several river cruise ships before crossing a large bridge over a branch of the main river. The cycle path carried on sandwiched between the shop units on our left and the main road and then railway track on our right, until it took a sharp dog-leg left and immediately right past a large Chinese restaurant – the “Happy Happy Joy Joy”; great name and we wondered if it sold more than just chow mein! It did look very inviting and despite promising ourselves a good lunch today it was still too early; we were not yet on the main route so we had to press on.

We tracked through an area that was more residential than retail with apartments and office blocks on both sides. There was a large indoor market on our left, busy with shoppers. The cycle path wound left and right along wide avenues with tree lined central grass verges, before we were taken away from the road and onto a riverside path. There were more riverside properties giving fantastic views over the water to their owners. The cycle path ended abruptly at a road which turned right. We stopped to enjoy the view back down the river from a bridge that crossed it – there were some unusual houses on floating pontoons at the side of the river – and to check the maps as we thought we should be seeing signs for the Zuiderzee route by now. The sat nav seemed to indicate it was still several miles away! Had we got lost as we crossed through Amsterdam? We didn’t think so. Closer inspection of the sat nav cross referenced with Google Maps showed that we were looking at the wrong end of the line! We were in fact just around the corner from where we should intersect the main route – school boy error; we often make a few of those on a tour. We carried on around the corner and saw the name of the street: the Zuiderzeeweg. It sounded promising, and suddenly, there on a lamp post just a little further down the aptly named Zuiderzeeweg was our first sighting of the Zuiderzee route – LF21a.

The main route is circular around the lake and is divided up into three main sectors; LF21a, LF22a, and LF23a. The LF stands for “Landelijke Fietsroutes” – rural or long distance routes in English – and the “a” denotes a clockwise direction, which we were following. There are also corresponding “b” signs to follow if you were to go aong the same route in an anti-clockwise direction. It is all beautifully simple and from what we had read before we came, the route is generally very well sign-posted. The official part of the 2018 Tour had begun.

We headed over a long curved sweeping road bridge on a cycle path alongside the main road heading northwards out of Amsterdam, and through a residential area made up mainly of low-rise apartment blocks. There was a new wide bore pipe being laid across a busy main road, and it was currently suspended precariously high over the road on a make-shift scaffold bridge. We carefully crossed over the road and through the road works, passing beneath the long pipeline suspended above our heads, all the time still safely on our cycle path. The route turned off the main road as it headed toward Durgerdam and the coast. The level of the road was below sea level at this point and there was a long levee obscuring the view of the lake. The levee eventually lowered to reveal our first proper sighting of the IJsselmeer that we had come all this way to cycle around. It looked magnificent with the sun glinting off the surface as we cycled along at our steady pace. It was about lunch time as arrived into Durgerdam. The town itself was small and quiet, focused mostly along the harbour with its many boats moored to floating pontoons. We cycled past what looked like a café on the waterfront so we stopped and went over to it to see if we could get some lunch. There were a couple of blokes outside fixing the awning over the entrance way. We asked if the café was open for lunch. It was a private members club and was not open to the public, but he directed us to a café further on into town – all in Dutch. We don’t speak Dutch but it has some similarities with German, so I could grasp the odd “links” and “recht” so we thanked them and cycled off to see if we could find the café they were trying to direct us towards.

We followed the route which seemed to coincide with the sparse instructions we had for the location of a café, but we did not come across it. Lost in translation I’m sure. We left Durgerdam and the main road to head inland. There were numerous small hamlets as we passed along the edges of the fields but nowhere that we could see to get some lunch. It was incredible, though, to see cycle paths alongside even these small isolated country lanes. The next village along was Ransdorp and it seemed larger than the previous village we had passed through. Our hopes for lunch were raised. We spotted a pub on the right as we cycled along the main street through the village – Hotel-Café De Zwaan. Even with my lack of Dutch I understood it was “The Swan”. Perhaps the large sign hanging on the outside wall of the pub of a swan swimming gracefully on a lake might have had something to do with it. It was open so we locked up our bikes against the fence opposite the pub and went inside. It was a small British looking bar, with a large billiards table dominating the room. There were a few locals enjoying a lunchtime beer and some chatter, and a weathered looking bar maid keeping their drinks topped up. It smelt of stale beer and old cigarette smoke. Not my idea of a pleasant lunch time atmosphere but we had limited choice and we were hungry. We ordered a couple of Cokes and checked out the menu. It was a simple affair but there were options; unlike the Zebra Café we ate lunch in whilst cycling Le Petit Tour de Manche in 2016 – cheese burger and chips was the only option back then, although it was very tasty! It was a cheese and ham toasty, eggs or meatball. We went for the eggs but we were not able to have that dish as “Mother was making her meatballs”. We were a bit puzzled why this meant we couldn’t have eggs, but settled on the meatball. The meatball arrived – singular as displayed on the menu: one large meatball! – sat upon two slices of dry white bread with some mayonnaise on the side. Bit odd we thought. We assumed it was a local dish so… when in Rome as they say! We ate the meatball and it was actually very tasty to be fair, it was just the unusual presentation and accompaniments that had us a bit stumped. We had a second Coke to wash it all down and restock our fluid levels and settled our bill, which was very reasonable. Overall it was a simple lunch but nice enough with plenty of protein to keep us going for the afternoon’s cycling up to Hoorn. We just wished the place smelt a little less like a 1970s dirty old man’s pub!

Through the village of Ransdorp, the road turned sharp left and then snaked its way through a vast expanse of fields, all criss-crossed with narrow drainage ditches. Holland is very vulnerable to flooding, but it is not until you see the complex infrastructure built everywhere to keep the land safe do you understand the scale of it all. We turned off the main road onto a smaller country lane, and the cycle path ended for the first time. We were on a shared road, but there was no traffic to worry us. This gentle cycle along field boundaries continued for some time. The sun was shining and the weather warm, so we ate up the miles enjoying the views as they appeared in front of us. We arrived at a small village called Zuiderwoude and passed by the central church which was in the typical Dutch style. Most of the churches we had seen so far were tall and narrow like the houses, with a tower and then a steeple on the top. This one was set back in its own grounds – a grave yard – and looked mighty impressive against the smaller surrounding houses. Clearly the focus of the village.

The small road continued beyond Zuiderwoude for another mile or two before meeting back with the main road at the side of the lake. The cycle lane was back and right up on top of the levee so we got a good view of the lake whilst the traffic buzzed away down below on the main road to our left. From our elevated position we could see a much larger town coming into view. A quick look at the map saw this town was Monnickendam and we would pass right through it and by its large harbour. This was a town I wanted to see as it is famous for its large masted ships crewed by groups of youngsters who want to learn the older more traditional sailing techniques. I was hoping we might see some of these old ships up close. The route went through what was clearly an older part of the town which took alongside the quay, and there as we’d hoped were several of the promised old ships with impressive rigging and huge sails which I’d read about in the guide book. They looked splendid and I’m sure we could have had great fun sailing around the lake aboard one. We took a few photos before pressing on over a traditional Dutch cantilevered lifting bridge and headed left along the quayside past bustling bars and restaurants through this busy little town.

Monnickendam was actually a sizeable town and it took a while to cycle across it. There were lots of interesting looking shops and more than a few cycle shops offering new sales, second hand bikes and repairs, which is perhaps not too surprising in such a cycle happy country. The road out of town went alongside a very busy main road before turning us right diverting us away from it. We stopped at a red light and noticed a shop opposite the junction selling cheese and clogs. So far today, on day one of the trip, we had seen windmills, dykes, and tulips, and now cheese and clogs. Was there anything left to discover in Holland now we could tick the obvious ones off the list? The sign for the clog shop was an enormous clog strapped to the top of a red double decker bus; and why not? It certainly had impact and is something that we will always remember.

The trail was now back on the road but it was quiet. It was following the shore of the lake closely as we mainly passed by fields with the odd house or farm appearing into view as we went. We passed an old windmill on our right as we approached another town – Volendam. The trail left the road and climbed up a short way (quite a long way for Holland) and onto a brick paved road. The road was lined with houses and then shops as we moved towards the centre of town. The road met the shore line at the harbour where there were a lot of shops and people milling around. It was clearly a very touristy town and was so busy we had to get off and walk with our bikes for fear of bumping into someone! The shops were mostly aimed at the transient tourist trade, offering cheese, poffertjes (a Dutch speciality a bit like a mini pancake) and clogs, and they were doing a roaring trade. We stopped to admire a galleon type ship docked in the harbour before slowly picking our way between the crowds enjoying the sunshine and shopping for cheese and tat.

We passed along the busy high street through the middle of town, and eventually the volume of people thinned out to a point where it was safe to mount our bikes and continue our way in the saddle. The trail took to the levee again tracking the lake side. The “sat nav” beeped to us that we were off track so we quickly pulled up and checked where we were. We had passed a ninety degree left turn about one hundred yards back. We retraced our steps and located the missed signpost. We were too busy admiring the view over the lake to see the sign post at the turn. We noted to ourselves to keep a sharper eye out in future. We took the correct left turn which took us into the town of Breewijd. The trail was largely residential and not very interesting and we were wondering why it took us away from a glorious view over the lake to this. We followed the route for a few miles and it brought us to a new town – Edam. It now became clear why the route had diverted us away from the lake to here. Edam is probably the most famous of Dutch cheeses, and according to Wikipedia was the world’s most popular cheese between the 14th and 18th centuries because it travelled well without spoiling in the holds of large slow merchant ships. This is where it all started. We passed a huge bike park at the side of the train station and crossed over a bridge to enter the old town. The streets were very narrow and atmospheric with tall houses hunched shoulder to shoulder along both sides. The road widened out with the river flowing down the centre and the occasional bridge over the river to afford access to the other side of the street. It was very quaint to see and had a lovely relaxing feel to it. We passed by the official Edam Museum. We were not really sure quite how interesting a museum devoted to one or even several types of cheese would be and we didn’t really have time to explore it either, so we talked ourselves out of paying it a visit. It did look like an interesting little town though and if we were ever back this way we made a promise to spend more time exploring, and even visit the cheese museum.

The trail was heading back to the coast, turning us north again after our diversion through Edam. We cycled along for several relaxing miles, passing through the coastal villages of Warder, Etersheim, and Schardam. The route was mostly sandwiched between the lakeside on our right and the field boundaries on our left, and with the sun shining onto our faces it was making for a very pleasant afternoon; cycle touring at its best. It was after 6.00pm when we arrived into Scharwoude as we passed the 50 mile mark, and we knew that we couldn’t be too far away from our day one destination of Hoorn. We could see a large town across the bay to our right and according to the map this was Hoorn coming into view. The route was back onto the road with salmon pink cycle lanes at each side as we headed through Scharwoude towards Hoorn. After a further three miles we arrived into Hoorn passing by the quirky looking church and on to the pleasant harbour. I noticed tonight’s eatery, Restaurant Lucas Riva, to our left and I had memorised how to get to the hotel from here by looking at Google Maps last week. I lead us knowingly along the harbour and then over the bridge to find our hotel just on the left – the Hotel de Magneet. The hotel owner was there at the door to greet us as we pulled up. He explained how to get out bikes around to the secure garden at the back and gave us the key to our room. We walked our bikes around the back of the hotel and through the secure gate to the garden. We unloaded them of all their bags and locked them to the garden bike rack for a well-deserved rest. As we fastened the bike locks into place it started to rain. The timing could not have been any better.

The room was upstairs in one of the garden annex buildings. The stairs were steep with all our luggage and tired legs but we managed to get up there safely. The modern room was a good size with four comfortable beds. After unpacking, showering and changing into our evening garb, we headed out for a treat: a six course fine dining tasting menu with a wine flight at the Michelin starred Restaurant Lucas Riva. We had an incredible evening – despite me launching a glass of champagne over Mike courtesy of a wobbly table – enjoying all of the tasty food and accompanying fine wines. The service as well as the food and drink were excellent, and the main man himself even made the time to come to our table and have a chat about the food and what we were up to on our visit to Holland. We staggered back to the hotel with full stomachs and a little hazy from the endless wines, and slept soundly until morning.

Day 2 :: Hoorn to Makkum

We woke up early with surprisingly clear heads; it must have been to do with the quality of the wine we drank last night rather than the usual cheap plonk we partake in! We opened the blinds to clear blue skies, although the ground outside did look wet. It must have continued to rain in the night after we got back to the hotel. We showered and dressed back into our cycling gear before heading down to the main hotel restaurant for breakfast. It was a buffet style breakfast but with enough tasty croissants and muesli, plus eggs and toast to fill you up. After more orange juice and a couple of cups of tea we dried off the bike saddles and loaded them up with the panniers and bar bags, applying a good dose of GT85 to get rid of the water from the gears and lubricate them, and we were ready for the day ahead. Our itinery for today was to be just short of 65 miles to a town called Makkum on the eastern side of the IJsselmeer. Today would take us across the Afsluitdijk, the 20 mile long causeway built between 1927 and 1932 that connects the west side of the lake to the east side, and keeps the lake as a lake separate from the Wadden Sea. We were looking forward to crossing this incredible feat of engineering this afternoon.

We settled our hotel bill and chatted to the owner and another guest for a few minutes. Our fellow guest was an English chap who had come to Holland to lay flowers on his father’s grave. His father was shot down and killed not too far from Hoorn in a Lancaster Bomber during WWII. It was the Dutch Remembrance Day on Friday 4th May so he had come to celebrate the lives and bravery of the allied soldiers alongside the Dutch. We wished him well and said our thank yous and goodbyes before heading back out onto the trail. The route ran right past the hotel door which was a big factor when choosing the hotel, plus it was highly rated on TripAdvisor. So returning to the route was simple. We had learned our lesson from the first BGB Tour in 2013 – the Trans Pennine Trail – where some of our accommodation choices were ridiculously off route to the point where it took us an hour on one day to find our way back from the hotel to the main route; never again. From there on we vowed to find accommodation on or at least very close to the main route, something that had worked excellently for us ever since then, and this tour was no exception.

The route continued on the quiet cobbled streets through Hoorn and quickly separated away and onto a cycle path. The path took a right-angled turn to follow the lake shore line to our right. There were a lot of industrial looking buildings on our left as we tracked the coast. After a couple of miles the trail took another sharp turn to head inland towards the town of Wijdenes. We passed a lovely windmill at the side of the lake which had been converted into a house. There was a field of deep red tulips next to it. We stopped for photos of the lovely scene and commented how nice it would be to live in such a setting with incredible views of the lake from your bedroom window.

Wijdenes was made up of residential houses with no shops that we could see. Local corner shops seemed few and far between in Holland, and it got us thinking just exactly where could the local’s pop out to in order to buy a pint of milk and a loaf of bread?! – And then we passed a Spar shop which must have been doing a roaring trade as the only place in town to buy anything to eat. The town was very neat and tidy and all the houses and gardens we passed looked beautifully kept. They were obviously very house proud. The route left the main road through the town and took us on a quiet country lane lined on both sides with tall trees. A small stream ran along the road side and the occasional house with a large garden was dotted beyond that on our route. Riding along the empty lane was fantastic in the sunshine, only interrupted by the dappled shade of the tree canopy. This road lead us out of Wijdenes but the trees, albeit in a younger form continued to line the way to another small town; Oosterleek.

Oosterleek was much smaller than the previous town but still beautiful. It felt like we were cycling through a model village with the road narrower and the houses in much smaller proportions than its bigger neighbour. The coast was back in our sights once more as we left the quaint town behind, turning left to track it northwards again. We were back on the lake side cycle path and made good time along the smooth tarmac. We stayed on this path until mid-morning when our thoughts turned to a coffee stop. We passed by a newly built caravan park as we headed further inland towards a town. Our eyes were peeled for somewhere to stop for a break. The cycle path took us through an underpass beneath the main road which led into town, and brought us directly into a small marina filled with moored boats – de Kolk. We spotted a café on the other side of the marina, so we tried to head over to investigate. The cycle path took us past a row of small cottages and on towards a steep metal bridge, but the only way forward that we could see would involve climbing up a steep set of steps to go over the bridge which is not something that would be fun with two fully loaded touring bikes. We back tracked past the cottages to check where we must have taken a wrong turn. The sign posts pointed back to the way we just came. It must be the right way, we thought. We were a bit confused by this, and whilst scratching our heads over our predicament we spotted a cyclist coming the other way. We decided to watch and see what he did. He cycled towards the steep steps that would take him over the bridge, and then cycled right past them and through a building which stood behind the bridge, coming out the other side to head in our direction. There was a tunnel through the building by the bridge! Feeling rather stupid that we didn’t spot this, we sheepishly cycled on back past the cottages and through the tunnel to reach the other side of the marina. After all that, the café was closed but we spotted a second one further along the marina which was open. We stopped and sat outside De Woeste Hoogte at a table in the sunshine, ordered a couple of cappuccinos and had a laugh about our inability to see a large hole under a building. Well, at least we now knew what to look out for in future.

Coffees drank and biscuits finished, we saddled up again and retraced our steps back along the side of the marina to where the trail headed off and further into the town. The towns beyond the marina were Broekerhaven and Bovenkaspel. They were quite busy little towns with houses lining the route in the usual style, with the rooflines coming low down the side of the walls, and no shops. The road went literally straight through the town, and then took a ninety degree right turn next to a large square tower after passing over the railway via a road crossing. The residential houses continued as the road headed back towards the coast. There was an interesting looking gatehouse along this part of the route that bisected the road. The gate house or Koepoort was the original west gate into the harbour town of Enkhuizen. Clearly the road used to go through it, but the road was now wider and needed more breathing space so it went around it instead. We were glad to see that they didn’t just pull it down in the name of modernisation.

We entered Enkhuizen with its delightful harbour area where we spotted more old fashioned ships moored up to the dock. Just as we passed the last ship and approached what looked to us like a fortified gate house, it started to play beautiful bell music from its clock tower. We stopped to listen. How nice it would be if British clock towers played such interesting tunes to strike the hour. The gate house was the Drommedaris. Built in the 16th century, it was the south gate house into Enkhuizen, which at the time was a fortified town. The unusual building was used as the entrance to the old harbour and a prison. The clock tower that entertained us so beautifully contained a carillon constructed with 44 bells. The building was heavily damaged by the RAF in bombing raids during World War II, and some of the damage can still be seen. Today the building is used as the town’s cultural centre, housing a café and as a venue to host events in the town.

After a little backing to and fro through the narrow streets, the cycle path reached the coast again and then headed north past a camping ground and then alongside a curious theme park. It was named Sprookjeswonderland and seemed quite spooky from the outside. Lots of little wooden houses, like evil goblin houses, were scattered around the dark woods. There were plenty of young children running around having fun so we supposed it could not have been too scary in there. The path wound its way around the theme park’s car park and then off back along the lake side.

Some lovely smooth miles followed as we quickly passed a few small coastal towns. It was getting towards lunch time and we could not see anywhere to eat in any of these small towns. Everything was residential or closed. As we were succumbing to hunger and despair, we noticed a large old building stepped back from the road with a sign outside – Stoommachinemuseum. Judging by the machines on display outside and our deduction from the word “Stoom”, it was a steam museum. There was a sandwich board on the pavement outside that promised chips and toasted sandwiches. It sounded like a good place to stop, and as we had no other immediate options we pulled into the museum grounds and found a bike park. We secured the bikes and headed to the little café.

The café frontage was a small hatch in the visitors centre and when we asked for a toasted sandwich and chips, we were offered crisps to accompany the sandwich. Of course, in Holland chips are crisps, not chips as we know them and were looking forward too. So we settled down to a cheese and ham toasty with a packet of crisps and a coke. Not quite the delicious food we were planning for the trip, but we were so hungry we didn’t care too much. I finished with a stroopwafle and sent a photo of the delicious wafer biscuit treat to Katy (my wife), who use to live in Holland and wanted me to get her some. I told her that I had bought the last packet from the café – which I had – but I would try to find her some to take home later on during the trip. I never did find any to take home for her.

Lunch finished, we were too short of time to look around the museum itself. It looked very interesting from the outside but we had a long way to go before we would reach Makkum for the night. We got back underway by re-joining the cycle path outside the Stoommachinemuseum.

Back on the trail we headed north and very quickly arrived into a sizeable town called Medemblik. The route took us right through the centre of town which was lined with lots of cafés and bars. It looked like we had peaked too soon in our search for lunch. We passed through its harbour area with lots of street side cafes, and also saw a lovely steam train waiting at a station by the lake side. It was named “Bello – 7742” and it was built in 1905. One hundred and thirteen years old and still going strong!

The route north of Medemblik was fairly quiet with only the odd house dotted here and there between large fields. In the distance, over the lake, we could see our lake crossing coming into view. It looked an impressive sight from this distance and only became more impressive as we approached ever nearer. The cycle path took us into an industrial town called Den Oever and swept us around to the start of the Afsluitdijk crossing. Originally the Zuiderzee was an inlet of the Waddenzee, an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of north-western continental Europe and the range of low-lying Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. It has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The area around the former Zuiderzee was vulnerable to flooding. In 1916, a combination of a storm at sea and an enormous surge of water from the IJssel caused flooding in large parts of the area around the Zuiderzee. Dikes burst, people were killed and the damage was enormous. There had been talk of plans to tame the Zuiderzee for some time, and the engineer Cornelis Lely was now asked to produce a plan for the construction of the Afsluitdijk. Work began in 1927, and the last section was completed in 1932. The original plan was to drain the land behind the dam and reclaim it for farm land but this was met with fierce opposition because of the threat to the livelihoods and economies of the local town and fishermen living along the banks of the Zuiderzee.

The Afsluitdijk sections off the Zuidersee from the Waddenzee to form a lake – the Ijsselmeer – and over the last 80 years the water in the lake has become fresh water rather than salt water as a result run off from the surrounding banks and gradual dilution of the sea water.

Just before we set out along the length of the dam, we passed the first landmark of the tour – 100 miles!

We headed out onto the dam’s cycle path which disappeared into the distance alongside the road, and we were met by huge clouds of small flies! They were sat in a long column right along the centre line of the cycle path and stretched as far as the eye could see. We had no choice but to suffer the flies as there was no alternative route to cross the dam. Needless to say we cycled with our mouths firmly closed and with our heads cocked to one side as much as you can when cycling a bike. The combination of sun cream on our hairy legs and swarms of flies was not a good mix, and we were soon caked in a thick layer of flies. We had been looking forward to crossing the Afsluitdijk, but this was totally gross and was spoiling our experience. Around about the half way mark there was a refuge and café area. We stopped and scraped off the flies from our legs. We bought an ice cream from the café to lift our spirits before carrying on, and on, and on. The dike is about 20 miles in length and apart from a slight deviation near the other side, was dead straight. The presence of the flies continued all the way to the other side. We were quite exhausted when we hit the other side of the lake because we had been breathing as little as possible to prevent taking in any flies. We stopped for a rest and to remove the remnants of the little buggers from all the nooks and crannies. The chains and cogs on our bikes were also covered in flies; utterly disgusting.

After a rest, a clean-up and glucose sweets to keep us going, we set off again. The road we were on was heading to Zurich, but not that Zurich. We turned south for the very first time as the cycle route rounded the crest of the lake and started down the east bank of the IJsseleer. We were back on a country lane with a few cars and motor bikes for company, but nothing stressful. We were looking forward to that first beer of the day after our fly-filled ordeal passing over the dike. The road passed between a small island to our right and the mainland to our left, and eventually the town border sign for “Makkum” came into sight.

The route weaved its way through a residential area before arriving into the town itself. The hotel we were staying at was the “Hotel De Waag” and again was literally right on the route. We located it very easily in a pedestrianised area of the town. It was busy little town with a few bars full of people enjoying a beer or three; something we would be partaking in very shortly. The owner came out to meet us in front of his hotel – something that must be traditional in Holland. He advised us to go around the back of the hotel where there was a garage waiting for us to safely and securely store our bikes overnight. We unloaded everything first and put the bags inside the foyer of the hotel before walking the bikes around to the garage to lock them away for the night.

After checking in with reception we headed up the very steep stairs to unpack and have a quick shower before dinner. The room was not enormous but was comfortable enough with a hot powerful shower. What more do you need? The Hotel De Waag also rather coincidentally had one of the best TripAdvisor rated restaurants in Makkum, so it was an easy choice for us to eat in tonight. The owner showed us to our table and got us a couple of local beers. He explained the menu options to us in detail as our Dutch was pretty much non-existent, and we settled on a mixed grill and a delicious steak between us, finished with crème brûlée plus another beer or two. We decided against going out to explore the town as after two days in the saddle our legs and backsides were grumbling a bit and we were shattered. We headed up to our room and fell asleep pretty much instantly.

Day 3 :: Makkum to Blokzijl

The next day dawned bright and clear with beautiful blue skies. Our luck with the weather was continuing. After a further shower and dressing into the team colours, we headed down to breakfast. The breakfast room was separate from the main restaurant, tucked away at the back of the hotel and it displayed an impressive array of cereal, pastries, eggs, cheeses and meat, as well as toast and jam. The coffee was freshly brewed and strong. All excellent quality and we ate our fill to get as much energy on board for the day ahead.

After breakfast we settled the room account and then headed out of the back door of the hotel to the garage where we had locked the bikes the night before. We loaded the bikes and gave them their daily dose of GT-85 to keep them happy before heading back round to the front of the hotel in order to relocate the cycle route. Today we were heading to Blokzijl, a journey of 58 miles. The route went right through to the other side of town, crossed over a river inlet via a road bridge and then tracked the bank of a river on the opposite side of which was a huge building with Feadship XL on the side. It is the home of the Feadship Royal Dutch shipyard where they construct custom luxury super yachts; no two are the same! A bit beyond our pockets, so we didn’t stop to take a look. We soon left the town limits and the route crossed a roundabout before taking us back onto a quiet road right by the side of a narrow canal. The area around us was simply great expanses of green with very little else to see. The lake was hidden from view by the levee to our right which was home to many sheep slowly eating their way through the lush green grass. I’m sure it would be very exciting if you were a hungry cow or sheep, but for the cycle tourist it was a little uninspiring. Still, we had the blue skies over head and the fresh air to enjoy.

The road carried on through this bland country side for several miles until we arrived into the small town of Gaast, where the route took a sharp left turn down a narrow path and into the heart of the town. It felt as if we were cycling through people’s private property as the path wound literally right past people doors and windows. It was certainly much more interesting to cycle through the town and peep through peoples front windows than stick by the side of the endless levee. We left the town behind and cycled between more fields before re-joining the road again in the town of Ferwoude. The road headed back out towards the the levee, and there were fields on both sides. We assumed it was here to directly protect these small towns against severe flooding from the lake. We briefly touched the outskirts of Workum, leaving the town as quickly as we had arrived. From what little we saw of it, it looked like a very nice little place. Back to the fields again; this side of the lake seemed to be much less densely populated than the western side. Mostly fields with small villages dotted here and there. The route headed ever slowly southwards and back to the coast, deliciously looping around the town of Hindeloopen, where we crossed a metal bridge and spied a fantastic looking quirky wooden bridge further down the canal.

We passed a few coast-side camp sites on the way towards Molkwerum, and it was around mid-morning and with our thoughts turning to coffee when we pulled into the picturesque town of Stavoren.

We stopped at the harbour side as we spotted De Hotel Vrouwe van Storen, which had a lovely alfresco seating area outside in the sunshine. It looked too good to pass by, so we locked up the bikes and took a table for coffee and cake. It was a lovely place to sit with the sun beating down and watch the world go by for a bit. We could have stayed there all morning and enjoyed more cake but we still had a long way to go before we could stop for the day.

After taking a longer rest than we should have allowed, we were back in the saddle. We double backed on ourselves for a few yards to pick up the route again on the other side of the café. The road was surfaced with grey bricks set in a herringbone pattern rather than tarmac and it was a good surface to cycle on. It was also devoid of traffic. Crossing a couple of bridges over an inlet took us back to the coast road and out of Stavoren. The trail was now sandwiched between the ever present levee and a stream, all running parallel for some quite distance. The only feature to note on this section of the tour were the occasional cattle grid every few hundred yards giving a tender bottom-nudging rumble to the back side as we passed over them. We quickly learned to stand up as we traversed them. This vista did not change much for quite some miles apart from the lake putting in an appearance as the levee lowered. This area forms part of the National Park Weerribben-Wieden which is why it is so sparsely populated, which is no bad thing and joking apart, was pretty breath-taking to cycle through.

We spotted what looked like a monument on our left which was described on the adjacent sign posts as the monument to the Battle of Warns. Having never heard of this battle, we Googled it; The Battle of Warns was a battle from the Frisian-Hollandic War between Count William IV of Holland and the Frisians which took place on 26 September 1345. The Frisians won the battle and repelled the Dutchmen from the eastern coast of the Zuiderzee. It looked like a lump of well-worn rock but it was very old so is not surprising and it was interesting to come across amidst the more repetitive surrounding landscape.

Eventually, we saw what looked like a town appearing on the horizon. We passed through this town of Laaksum which was really just a small hamlet and we were soon out the other side and back onto the same road. This took us further inland now and through the village of Mirns. This village was surrounded by forested areas which was nice to see after the flat scenery of the previous miles. It was back to the coast as Mirns slowly disappeared into our rear-view mirrors. Sorry if this sounds a bit repetitive, but it rather was!

It was approaching lunch time and we had just coincidentally arrived into the town of Oudemirdum. The town was certainly bigger than the small villages and hamlets that we had been cycling through during the morning, so we hoped there might be a little café somewhere to get something to eat. We stopped on the route and there were certainly more houses about but no obvious places to stop for some lunch. We almost cut our losses and continued on toward the next town of Lemmer which looked much bigger on the map, but we had a hunch to cycle in the opposite direction off the route further inland. Within a minute we came upon what can only be described as the main high street through the town which had several cafes and restaurants to choose from; a perfect find.

We had a look up and down the street at all of the eateries on offer and settled on a little place call the “Brasserie de Brink”, mainly because it was busy, which is always a good sign for a restaurant, but it also had a free table in the sun. We locked up the bikes in a passage way to the side of the café and took our table. We quickly ordered some food and treated ourselves to a beer as this town pretty much marked the halfway point of our adventure. Cheers!

After we finished our lunch and beer, we stole a few more minutes rest in the warm sunshine before settling our bill and saddling back up, retracing our steps along the high street and back to the point where the road met the trail. Slowly the trail took us back towards the coast passing several farms along the way. The edge of the lake came back into view and you could clearly make out the more built up west coast where we had been just a few days ago. Further down the road they were doing some reinforcement work to the Levee but the cycle path bypassed this without any bother, apart from a few large stones to avoid on the cycle path. We crossed over a bridge with a great view of a wind turbine farm in the lake some miles in the distance.

The town of Lemmer slowly opened up before us. This was a big place, at least compared to other towns we had visited so far. The building works continued into town and the cycle path went right across a roundabout through the centre. The cycle path was a bit strewn with debris from the works but with care we navigated through it successfully. It was set in the middle of a dual carriageway with busy roads either side. We were certainly glad that we were not on these roads! We continued into town and past a huge harbour to our left full of big and small pleasure boats, and you could hear the constant “tink tink tink” of the boats rigging ropes banging against the main mast in the gentle breeze. A couple of minutes later, and quite unexpectedly, we came across a beach. It was quite a big beach and was clearly man-made at the edge of the lake but it looked very inviting and a lovely thing for the residents of Lemmer to have on their door step.

We crossed yet another bridge over yet another inlet and then headed back to the coast as the cycle path took us out of town and on our way to Blokzijl. There was a long row of wind turbines to our left as we continued along the coastal path, stood tall and neat like a row of soldiers keeping guard over the coastline. The scale of these things is immense when you get up close, and the noise they make is extraordinary. There were more wind turbines in the lake to our right. These were the same wind turbines we had spotted from the trail a couple of hours earlier ahead in the distance. We by-passed the town of Urk and arrived at a bridge crossing over a larger inlet of the lake. This was the point where the route split into two different branches; one following the coast and one heading inland around the other side of a natural island in the lake. Our route would take us along this inland spur. This would mean that we would not see the lake in all its glory again until we arrived at its southern edge nearer to Amsterdam as we close the loop.

We carried on along our inland spur which took us out into the open country again. This was similar to the trail we had followed in the morning but without the levee, so we did at least have views to either side to enjoy. There were some very long and very straight parts to the trail in this area and we were very much inland at this point, but it all made for a very pleasant afternoons cycling if not for sightseeing. The straight sections changed to winding roads after a few miles which made a welcome change and kept us alert. These bends in the road circumnavigated the numerous farms on this side of the lake. They mostly seemed to be cattle farms, sheep farms and pig farms. There was a river alongside us to our left which demarcated the border between Friesland and Overijssel, the two local provinces of this part of Holland. We were just in the province of Overijssel.

The trail turned to the right and over a bridge next to some residential properties which had their own private moorings and it brought us to the small village of Ossenzijl. We remarked that we must be close to our destination by way of the -zijl at the end of the village name. We weren’t that close but admired our flawed logic later that night in the bar. Just before passing over a little Dutch cantilevered bridge, the trail took us right to follow the narrow path alongside a canal. It was a beautiful area and we decided to stop and have an ice cream. Time was getting on but a little treat was in order to keep us going. A couple of Cornetto’s were purchased from the little canal side shop and we found a small bench with a great view over the canal to sit and enjoy them in the evening sunshine. It is amazing how the simple joy of an ice cream on a warm sunny evening can lift your spirits.

There appeared to be houses backing right onto the canal along here. What a fantastic place it would be to live. We wound our way along the canal side path, using small cantilevered bridges to get over narrow inlets that went to people’s private moorings at the backs of their houses. The path was not very wide in places but it was great fun to weave along after so much long and straight cycling today. The canal side path ended at Nederland where we re-joined a country lane which took us towards Baarlo and then on towards Blokzijl. We put a few more miles under our belts before we saw a larger town up ahead. We reached a roundabout and to our left was the town sign for Blokzijl. We headed into town and in the centre was a large square water basin where we presumed boats could moor. We were tired so decided to investigate further in the morning.

We located the Hotel Auberge aan het Hof where we were booked in for the night. It also had the best restaurant in town so once again we didn’t have far to go for dinner. After checking in with the lovely and very welcoming host, we had the customary cold beer before we did anything else. Our room was across a court yard on the ground floor, which was welcome to find after the previous climbs up steep staircases with sore legs, and was perfectly comfortable with a large bathroom and loads of hot water coming out of a very powerful shower. It even had a little kitchen with cold drinks in the fridge at no extra cost! We unpacked all of our gear and power showered before heading back across the courtyard for dinner. We had some great food and wine in the restaurant and the hosts were very attentive but not intrusive. We highly recommend staying and eating in the Hotel Auberge aan het Hof if you are in the area. After a slow meal (deliberately – our choice, not theirs!) and a few more drinks we headed back over the courtyard for a good night’s rest. Even though some of the scenery we saw today was quite bland in places, it had been a good day out on the trail.

Day 4 :: Blokijl to Nijkerk

Another day dawned bright blue and clear. Back over the courtyard was a lovely breakfast room. We were lead to our table and a fantastic spread of warm pastries, breads and jam was waiting for us as well as the usual cereals, meats and eggs. We had another fabulous breakfast washed down with copious amounts of coffee, but it was soon time to settle up and bid a fond farewell.

We loaded the bikes, sprayed them with GT-85, and headed back down the narrow street towards the waterside. Blokzijl was originally a port which developed around the peat industry in the 1580’s. An interesting thing to see was a large canon on the harbour side which was apparently used as a warning system against the rising tides rather than to take out invading troops – this was a major problem of course before the Afsluitdijk was built. These days it attracts water sport enthusiasts rather than trade boats. It was a quiet little town with pleasure boats moored in the harbour and people sat around in the early morning sunshine reading novels or chatting with friends; all very tranquil and relaxing.

Today we were heading south west around the bottom of the tour circle to a town called Nijkerk. Due to its position between two waring regions, Nijkerk was regularly the scene of war. In fact, in 1412 the village was completely destroyed. It was rebuild and destroyed several times over the years of conflict, and the name Nijkerk means “New Church” in Dutch as a nod to the number of times the local church was destroyed and rebuilt.

We headed out past the lovely harbour and down the narrow side streets lined with small shops – they don’t seem to go in for pavements in these small Dutch towns – following the route which passed right through Blokzijl and out the other side. The eastern side of the Zuiderzee has been relatively quiet compared to the west from the first part of the tour, but we speculated that it would become more populated again as we headed westward towards Amsterdam over the next couple of days. It would certainly be nice to see more interesting little towns rather than endless flat landscapes.

The endless flat landscape continued before us. We did pass through a couple of small villages – Sint Jansklooster and Poepershoek – and just skirted past the edge Zwartsluis, which means lock by the river Zwarte, which is not dissimilar to “sluice” in English of course, but they were mostly residential as far as we could see. The road up ahead came to an abrupt halt at the water’s edge. We had reached the landing area for the ferry that crosses the Zwarte Water and it was across on the other bank. It was a good excuse to get off the bikes for a while whilst we waited for the ferry to come back across the river for us. Also waiting in the queue was an old vintage truck that was attracting a lot of attention from people waiting to use the ferry. The small chain ferry eventually headed back over the river to pick us up and take us across the short distance to the other side of the river bank.

The crossing was short; it cost us a couple of Euro for us and the bikes, but it was nice to take a different form of transport for a change and rest the backsides. On reaching the other side we were first off as cyclists and back on the trail. A couple of kilometres down the road and we entered a much more populated town – Genemuiden. The road took us right past a small harbour and through the centre of leafy suburbs, with some large properties set back from the road. This quickly changed to the more typical street side properties lining the road. We reached a small roundabout at the edge of town and headed towards Kampen, which looked to be a much larger town than many we have seen recently. It spans a wider river and we had seen photographs of a really interesting looking bridge that crosses the river through the town that we wanted to see. We should also get there around about lunch time, so lunch in Kampden was the plan.

The route threaded its way through Zandberg along streets and passages between houses and apartments. It very much felt like we were on the outskirts of somewhere bigger than just a town; we must be approaching Kampen. The roads became busier and we saw more people as we approached Kampen. The bridge we had seen in the handbook was up ahead and the trail took us over it to reach the centre of town. The bridge, known as the City Bridge, spanned the Ijssel and connected IJsselmuiden and Kampen. It had a central portion that elevated a whole section of the carriageway upwards keeping it horizontal. To achieve this there was an elaborate pulley system in each corner of the elevated section, with all the pulley wheels painted gold and which were glinting in the mid-day sun. This gave it the appearance of a contraption seen in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory; quite a sight. Arriving in Kampen also coincided with us passing the 200 mile mark. We were feeling good!

We turned right off the bridge to find a good vantage point for a photograph of the fascinating structure and happened across a nice looking (and smelling) fish and chip shop. As it was just about lunch time we thought that a nice portion of fish and chips was on the cards. The “Palingboot het Bottertje” was a fish and chip shop built into a floating pontoon on the river in full view of the City Bridge. We locked up the bikes outside and headed aboard. We decided to dine in and took a table on the terrace so we could enjoy the sunshine and the views over the river. The fish and chips were excellent as were the views. Looking towards the town itself, it was a busy old place. The maps showed the route taking us right into the centre of town. It would be great to see the heart of the place on a busy sunny afternoon.

Full and satisfied on our excellent fish and chips, we reluctantly left the table, saddled up and headed off into town. As expected it was a very busy place with lots of bustling shops, bars and restaurants being enjoyed by lots of people, many sat out with a beer in hand whiling away the afternoon in the sun with their friends. According to Wikipedia, Kampen has one of the best preserved old town centres in the Netherlands, and still today you can see a section of the original ancient city wall and three of the old city gates, as well as numerous old churches. It was a lovely place and great to see so much activity after travelling through many largely deserted villages, open plains, and quiet towns.

Leaving Kampen though one of these fabulous gates, the Cellebroederspoort, took us into more suburban surroundings and though what looked like a University campus, and it was indeed adjacent to Ichthus College which we presumed explained the student like apartments and populace milling around. Still, we were on a smooth, tree-lined cycle path through here so we were having a great time. It continued straight as a die for quite some time, with narrow canals criss-crossing the path before traversing us across a busy motorway and then plunging us back into the country side. This long and true cycle path was called the Cellesbroeksweg and it took us efficiently to and through the small village of De Roskam, and then on and on until a sharp tight turn immediately into the village of Noordeinde, which apparently means north end in Dutch. North end of what exactly, we couldn’t work out, but it was another small settlement near to the Drontermeer, the body of water formed by the presence of the land mass to our right in the Zuiderzee. The narrow road followed the course of the Drontermeer to our right with wide open farm land to our left, and not much else. The hustle and bustle and fish and chips of Kampen felt like a distant memory. A tall levee appeared for a while, blocking what little coastal view we had of the Drontmeer. This same vista continued until we entered Elburg, some 10 miles from Kampen. It felt like we had cycled a lot further; it must have been the extra weight of the fish and chips!

Elberg was a lovely little walled town surrounded by what could only be described as a moat! The old town was rectangular in shape and very reminiscent of the layout of a Roman settlement. Historically, there was evidence found here suggesting that a Roman army had been based in the town which would explain the classic playing-card layout. We entered from its northern most point over a short-arched cobbled bridge. It was a pretty place with tree-lined streets, and cobbled or herringbone patterned bricks covering the road surfaces. We passed along a pedestrianised route which cut right through the centre of town and sat alongside a central narrow canal. It was a traffic-free zone and was obviously the centre of town with numerous cafes and bars lining the route. The straight trail through town re-joined the normal road and cut though an embankment which was the foundation mound of the old long-lost southern city wall. The road cut right through the foundation mound and out to the newer developed areas of the town. We left Elberg and re-joined the cycle path again; turning left and then right to head south once more on a narrow lane.

We passed by a house which had numerous metal structures erected in the front garden along with a sign for 150 euro, so they were being sold as some form of bizarre sculpture for your garden. Some looked pretty good but they really were too big to pack onto the back of our bikes, so we had to pass by on the offer to buy one. All of the houses along this lane were very neat looking with lots of land around them. Very different to those tightly packed together in the nearby towns. After a few hundred yards of cycling along here we came back into the open fields again, and the narrow strip of water between the mainland and the island came back into view to our right. We left the narrow lane to join an even narrower lane that held to the coast, and looking at the map it re-joined the same lane in a mile or two after a bit of a short cut for bikes; nothing wrong with a short cut as long as it’s official.

According to our maps, the next town was Lage Bijssel. Sneeze and you’ll miss it. There were literally two or three properties. One of the two properties was a lovely thatched cottage, and as we passed it admiringly, the town was gone. To be fair, there were a few more properties further up the lane which we presumed were part of the same sprawling town. It was very nice actually with all the space they had around them. They really were not on top of their neighbours, and if you didn’t like someone you could probably avoid them most of the time. We took a right turn past a camp site off the narrow lane and spotted an old windmill just around the corner. We stopped to investigate. The old windmill was called the “Moil De Duif” and there was a neat looking café beneath it. The windmill itself has been restored as an example of a working mill for educational visits as well as general visitors. As it was not that long since lunch time we decided it was too early to stop for more food and drink, so we took some photos instead and headed off on our way.

The road we were on passed through lots of varying scenery, lined with tall trees in places, and then past farms with fields of animals by the road side including llamas, and on past large open fields full of crops. The variety was much better to look at. We passed a Europarcs site at Veluwemeer which looked a bit like a UK Centre Parcs but on a smaller scale, and it was right on the back of the river in a fantastic setting. The route started to head back inland again on a cycle path and skirted around Hierden but did take us through some nice leafy suburbs. There was a motorway off to the left which was the busiest road we had seen for some time and meant we were heading to a larger town this time. We cycled underneath a bridge which took the motorway overhead and entered the town of Harderwijk alongside a railway line. This was a much more densely populated town with even a go at some high rise flats, but they only managed to get about five stories high, thank goodness. The path took us around corner after corner down streets between neat rows of houses. This went on for some time and felt like cycling through the suburbs of an English city, although there was no litter, disused mattresses or fridges in people gardens. The housing estate eventually ended and the cycle path tracked alongside a main road. There were some larger businesses along here, like banks, car dealerships and even a cinema. The houses returned again as we headed away from the town centre back out to the suburbs, and they were more traditional on this side of town and presumed it was the older side of Harderwijk as we were slowly heading back towards the coast. This section of coast had a few cafés and ice cream parlours and was probably a hot spot for the locals on a sunny day. It was pretty busy today as the sun was shining, with people milling around enjoying an ice cream and the views over the water. We left the quayside along the Wellenpad cycle path which followed the coastline and joined up with the Zeepad cycle path further along the shore, and then the Waterkeringpad cycle path. We found a massive bike on this part of the route which we thought would look great on the website, so we stopped for some photos.

This chain of cycle paths took us along the coast for a good distance, but then abruptly ended in the carpark of the Telstar surfing club. It looked like a smart place so we decided to investigate. It was about time for a little rest, a drink and an ice cream to cool us down. We went inside to explore and took up a table outside on the terrace overlooking the lake and watched some people having a great time surfing whilst we enjoyed a beer and a magnum ice cream. It was a lovely little spot but time was getting on, so back in the saddle, on we went through the car park where the cycle path carried on until it brought us into another, much bigger car park who’s most interesting feature was a McDonald’s Drive Thru – we were not tempted by it! The Palmbosweg took us further southwards, all the time with the river visible beyond the trees to our right. The trees changed to another levee blocking the view, so we were sandwiched between the levee and a busy motorway which was not the best. Eventually the levee lowered and we arrived at a roundabout which we knew was where we needed to leave the route and head into Nijkerk for the night. The road from the roundabout to the hotel was long, straight and fairly busy but as we had come to expect by now, we were safely on a separate cycle path running parallel to the main road. Passing another McDonalds Drive Thru, the town was becoming increasingly more built up. Our stop for the night, the “Golden Tulip Ampt van Nijkerk”, which sounded more like a Chinese restaurant than a hotel, came into view and we cycled wearily up to the front entrance.

It was a good size hotel and looked quite smart. We saw a large number of bike racks out front but they were filled with identical electric bikes. So either there was an electric bike manufacturer’s conference going on, or an electric bike hire company was working from the hotel.

We checked in and were allowed to store our bikes in a lockable shed behind the hotel. So we stored them away for the night and headed to the bar for our customary beer to end the days riding. We sat outside at a table in the hotel court yard to enjoy our beer in the last warmth of the day. Then it was up to the room for a shower and to get ready for dinner.
Tonight we had chosen to visit a local restaurant rather than stay in the hotel. The restaurant was an Argentinian steak restaurant so we were looking forward to some great juicy steaks. It was called Restaurant De Salentein and was about half a mile or so from the hotel. There was a handy pathway over the road from the hotel which cut off a corner and the restaurant was not far from there. It was set in an impressive white moated house with turrets!

We both tucked into delicious and very large Argentinian “Tournedos” steaks with all the trimmings, washed down with a bottle or two of Argentinian Malbec “Portillo” from the Mendoza region. It was an absolutely fabulous restaurant. The food was delicious and the service excellent. It is definitely a must visit place to eat if you are in the area. We slowly made our way back to the hotel with full bellies and fuzzy heads, and even found the energy after the walk back to stop off at the hotel bar for a final night cap before bed. Needless to say, we didn’t have too much trouble getting off to sleep after all that.

Day 5 :: Nijkerk to Ijmuiden

The final day of our tour to Holland dawned. Well, it was almost the final day. The actual final day of the trip would be spent driving back from the North East to Cheshire, but today was the final leg of cycling to get us back to the ferry port in Ijmuiden ready for the overnight ferry back to the UK. We therefore had a time scale to work to and could not dawdle too much. We were up early and set off before breakfast was served in the hotel, so we had the intention of finding somewhere enroute to eat once back on the trail. We packed up our gear and paid the bill, retrieving our bikes from their night in the bike shed. We loaded them up and gave them their usual dose of GT-85 to keep them happy. The first part of today’s leg was spent retracing our steps back to the roundabout where we left the trail the night before. We decided against McDonald’s for breakfast and would look for something better in the next hour or so. We arrived back at the roundabout and took a left turn to head west towards Amsterdam. Nijkerk was just about the southernmost point on the tour and from here in we would start to slowly head back up the circle of the Zuiderzeeroute in a north-westerly direction.

Spakenburg was the first town we visited this morning, and it was a lovely looking place albeit very quiet as it was still pretty early. The route took us around the harbour that sits in the middle of the town, surrounded by many shops, bars and restaurants. It looked like a really nice place to be of an evening. After we circumnavigated the town centre we headed back towards the coast passing a nice looking yachting club on the way. It was pretty cold this morning but the blue skies overhead made it a worthwhile price to pay. The road we were on was quiet and hugging the coast again and then the cycle path reappeared as a levee rose from the road level upwards taking the cycle path with it. We followed the cycle path up the incline of the levee and enjoyed an elevated view over the lake glistening in the morning sunshine. Our elevated view point unfortunately only lasted for about half a mile before the path dropped us down again and pushed us back onto the road – it was nice whilst it lasted. The road took us inland and brought us to the town of Eemdijk. We knew that there was a ferry crossing on this section of the route which took us from Eemdijk over to the other bank of the river Eem. We took a right turn off the main road through town to the ferry crossing point; everything was very quiet. We thought as it was early it was likely that the ferry had not started running yet, so we sat down and waited for someone to turn up. And waited. And waited. It dawned on us that this ferry might not be going today. A closer look at the ferry shelter at road side revealed that it did not operate on Sundays. Today was Sunday! A little annoyed with ourselves that we had not checked out the information board sooner, we back tracked to the road junction to consider our options. At that point we noticed that the sign post at the junction that showed the route heading to the ferry terminal also had a second sign indicating the LF23b went on down the main street too. It looked like an alternative route was sign posted for when the ferry was not operating. We consulted the maps and following the diversion would add about 6 miles to our route today, but we had no other choice. We headed south along the road out of Eemdijk following the river Eem, and crossed the river using a bridge in Eembrugge about half way through the diversion. You have to be flexible when travelling such a long way on bikes, and coming across little problems like this and finding a way around it really is all part of the fun.

The terrain on the other side of the river Eem was flat (of course) and consisted largely of wide open fields with narrow streams between. The lanes we were cycling on neatly followed the outlines of the fields. We cycled around the boundaries of a large number of these rectangular fields and on to a very long straight lane. This lane ended abruptly at the side of the water with no bridge to cross, but there was a small floating pontoon which we presumed was the way across. At first we couldn’t quite work out how to get the pontoon over to our side but we quickly worked out that you had to wind a winch that housed a chain which was connected to the pontoon, so we set off winding the handle and saw the pontoon slowly edging back across the water towards us.

Once it was with us, we boarded the pontoon and we found a corresponding winch on the pontoon itself so we could slowly wind our way back across the water. We had never been on a self-propelled ferry before so it was quite the experience for both of us. Back on dry land, we headed north again and finally re-joined the route where we should have arrived had the proper ferry actually been operating on a Sunday. The lane continued north and bar a small dog leg, took us over the narrow river Goyersgracht, via a small bridge. This bridge also took us from the region of Utrecht to North Holland. The town of Huizen looked pretty substantial on the map, and after crossing over the busy A27 we skirted around it as we headed back in the direction of the coast. This approach to the coast was through what looked like a building site but after looking on Google maps it was more like a shallow quarry of some kind. There were some interesting looking apartments along here which overlooked the lake. The back of the apartment blocks were angled at approximately 45 degrees and they had individual gardens on each balcony, two on each level for three floors. They looked like fantastic properties and it meant that each apartment had some form of outside garden space no matter what floor you lived on! There were four or five of these apartment blocks along the coastline. Passing through parkland brought us to a large beach front area – the “Strand Zomerkade”. It was mostly apartments lining the promenade, and what few shops we could see surrounding a central square were largely all closed up as it was early May and also Sunday morning, so even though we were thinking we could really do with something to eat there was nowhere open that we could see. We carried on away from the promenade along the cycle path by a main road and hoped we would come across somewhere soon to get something. The road was wide and open, and lined with trees. It took us past an inordinate number of car dealerships and down to a little harbour. We spotted a café open to our left and so pulled up quickly to see if we could get something to eat and drink. We had already completed 25 miles this morning and that was running on empty. The café – Restaurant De Haven van Huizen – was set back from the harbour but it had a separate under cover seating area right by the side of the water, so we found a free table and sat to see what was on offer. All they had were cakes and drinks, so we ordered a couple of apple pies and accompanying cappuccinos and it would have to see us through until lunch time. It was very good apple pie, so we ate it slowly to savour it and enjoy it, but also to prolong our rest by the picturesque harbour side.

After we had finished our breakfast we climbed back on our bikes and headed along the side of the pretty harbour. We were cycling past a large car park to our right when we realised that we had lost the route signs. We pulled to a halt and checked where we were against the route map. The route had taken a sharp right hand turn through the large car park which we had missed as we were waxing lyrical about how nice the apple pie had been for breakfast. We retraced our steps and spotted where the route had deviated off to the right, so off we went through the car park and were back on track. Our trip into a car park didn’t last long and with a couple of hundred yards we were back on a dirt cycle path which headed through some trees and was slowly taking us back to the coast. Cycling through the forest was really nice and a change from the open areas found on a lot of this trip. It was quite cool but refreshing as we speeded along the smooth pathway. The narrow cycle path eventually connected up to a wider roadway but still kept us in the heart of the forest. Riding through here was fantastic, surrounded by large trees and dappled sunlight, and with all the wildlife singing around you we would even go to say it was one of the nicest parts of the route. Our trip through the forest went on for a good couple of miles. As the forest was thinning out, the surface beneath our tyres changed from dirt track to tarmac as the route headed south and past some very grand properties. We noted one gate in particular – as it was in English – had a coat of arms with two red dragons, one either side of it on the gates, and the words “HOUSE OF DREAMS – WHAT DREAMS MAY COME” beneath the coat of arms in huge letters. We didn’t know what went on in there, but hoped it wasn’t the headquarters for the local swingers association!

The sign posts indicated a left turn up ahead which took us off the road and onto a very narrow dirt track, which was more our kind of cycling. The track took us completely out of the forest and along field boundaries with wide open spaces around us. We felt very exposed after the last couple of miles cycling through the forest. We kept on this narrow track passing beneath the busy A321 motorway and then up ahead we saw an incredible looking moated town with fortified walls. It was like something out of a movie. The path wound its way around the surrounding water showing off the walls from all angles until it brought us over a wooden bridge and through a gated entrance – the Utrechtse Poort – into the town itself. The impressive looking town was Naarden. According to Wikipedia, it is an example of a moated star fort and was granted city rights in 1300. Interestingly, because of its distinctive shape from the sky, it was used during world war two as a rallying point for allied aircraft returning to England from raids over Germany.

On the inside once through the gateway we were greeted by a wide open courtyard with a lovely fountain as its centrepiece. We stopped for a little look around and to sit for a while and admire the fascinating scene all around us. It was a pretty interesting place. The cycle route took the road which circumnavigated the town, following closely around the perimeter wall. All of the houses were arranged neatly around wide road mostly lined with trees and bushes and then the cycle way narrowed as it took us towards the northern side of the town. There was no impressive gateway in the northern wall like there was on the way in but the route took us over a causeway to cross the moat, and looking back at Naarden gave a fantastic view of the star shaped wall structure.

Very quickly the route headed off the road again and back onto a dedicated cycle path named the Zuiderzeepad. The Zuiderzeepad by-passed the new part of Naarden outside of the old town walls and underneath the A1 before changing its name to the Schelpwag as it took us across what appeared to be a series of boggy looking fields but which turned out to be a golf course – the Golfbaarn Naarderbos. We passed underneath the busy A6 before finding ourselves in the town of Muiderberg where we caught site of the lake again. The route through Muiderberg was literally all through a housing estate, until we hit the Dijkweg which was in a much more pleasant green and leafy area. The Dijkweg carried on alongside the lake, although it as not visible due to another levee blocking the view. It was very nice cycling as the path was smooth and the view to the left open and fair. This lovely long ride continued and ended up canal side as we neared Muiden. We crossed the canal via a small road bridge and entered the town on its eastern side. Mudien was a lovely little town sat across three inland spurs of the Ijmeer. Around the inland waterways were numerous shops and cafes; it was quite a buzzing little town. The first bridge to cross a waterway was open as we approached, so we were sat in a busy queue for several minutes while the water traffic passed by and the bridge was reopened. The other bridges through town were all closed and we made good progress with the road then following the riverside for a distance. The river became progressively wider as we cycled west, and when we finally came to cross to its north bank, it was via a pretty substantial bridge. Once through an industrial area, we picked up a cycle path again headed back towards the lake and then turned northwest alongside the Amsterdam-rijnkanaal heading back to Amsterdam. We were on the north bank of the wide river at this point, and so the trail took us over a lovely modern sweeping bridge, the Nesciobrug, to bring us back over to the south side. We free-wheeled down the gentle slope off the Nesciobrug bridge and back on the river side cycle path, but this time on the south bank. This followed the river northwards on a narrow causeway before we came to the road bridge where we had picked up the official route 5 days ago. The official route was complete, but for us the tour would only end at the ferry port in Ijmuiden.

All that was left now was for us to retrace our steps back through Amsterdam and then out along the spur to the port. We decided that we would have a late lunch at the Chinese restaurant we passed on the way out of Amsterdam, the “Happy Happy Joy Joy”. We got there in good time and found a table outside in the sunshine, before ordering a couple of noodle dishes and beers to wash it all down. The food was really good, and we wished we had had time to stop on the way out to enjoy it again.

After our late lunch we back tracked across Amsterdam enjoying the sights and sounds as we went. The spur back towards Ijmuiden saw us pass the 300 mile mark, smashing our previous record for distance cycled on a BGB tour.

From there we were kept on the cycle path by the river link from the North sea to Amsterdam until we arrived back in the small port town of Ijmuiden. Our ship was there waiting for us, although we were in plenty of time this time around. We joined the queue of other cyclists waiting to be allowed to board. After what seemed like an inordinate amount of time, the port gates opened and following passport and ticket checks we were allowed to board and stow our bikes in the hold. We quickly located our cabin and dumped all of the gear before heading up for a beer. As the sun was shining we went up to the open air bar on the top deck of the ship and ordered a couple of cans of Fosters served in plastic cups – very classy! Half way through our “refreshing” beverages the ship’s horn sounded loudly signalling that it was time to depart and head back over the North Sea. We stayed up on the top deck for quite a while to watch the Dutch coastline slowly pass us by and then disappear from view, before heading back down for a shower and to change ready for dinner.

We had booked a table in the “posh” restaurant again for dinner. We both chose different dishes for the return trip, and the food in the North Sea Bistro restaurant was equally as good as we had remembered it on the trip out. Once we had enjoyed our meal and finished a nice bottle wine, we headed up to the lounge bar for another beer or two and to see if there was any good entertainment going on this evening. We settled on a guy taking song requests and singing along to his guitar, and he was absolutely brilliant. We ended up watching him all night and probably drinking a bit more than we should have done. We went to bed pretty late after he had finished his set and fell sound asleep to the slow rocking of the ship.

Day 6 :: South Shields to Cheshire

We woke up to an announcement that breakfast was being served in the self-service restaurant. We showered, dressed into our civvies, and re-packed our gear. We were in no particular rush to get up to the restaurant as we knew what was on offer would not be great. We headed up there as the ferry docked into the Port of Tyne in South Shields. There was plenty of time to leave the ship but human nature is to panic and rush to get off. This meant that the restaurant was emptying quickly and was quieter, so we helped ourselves to the least dried up breakfast items we could find, and sat at a window table overlooking the port. The Port of Tyne was very industrial and areas of the port that were not in use lay largely derelict and were not pretty. All rather shabby. After breakfast we checked out of the cabin and retrieved our bikes. We cycled off the ship and through the UK Border Force check point. The car was parked within a hundred yards of the Border Patrol kiosk, so it was a quick and simple job to relocate the car. Bikes reloaded into the back of the car along with all of our luggage, and we hit the road for the trip back down to Cheshire.

It had been a good tour. Holland was really nice and flat so not too trying on the legs – the steepest parts of the trip were climbing the stairs! We had completed a good distance, breaking all previous records, and saw some interesting places and met some lovely people. The weather was also remained generally good for the whole week which is all we can ask for.

We would certainly recommend the Zuiderzeeroute, and especially so if you don’t like too much climbing. The Dutch are very welcoming and their English is impeccable which makes things much easier for ignorant Brits like us. Get on over there and enjoy their fabulous country.

Until next time.

The Boys.