Home Again

Quite a lot has happened since I posted last. We did not always have internet access and so thought I should do a catch up with the rest of the trip.

We left Arnhem and cycled through some stunning forrest on our way to Utrecht.

Through the Forrest

Utrecht is exceptionally beautiful, very students and arty. The streets like many in Holland are paved not with gold but with bricks, many of which are not cemented in making going a bit tough on the road bike. 

This was also my chance to try out a Dutch bike which our host said that we could use to get into town in the evening. It was not a success. There are no brake levers! You have to GENTLY pedal backwards to brake. It was not a skill I mastered on the try out in the local school playground and so it was the bus for us.

In town we spotted the adverts for the Tour de France Grand Depart 2015, Very arty....

Grand Depart 2015

There was also an amount of statues throughout the town centre..

The Thinker

Utrecht however let us down in one small way... We decided to have curry. The one thing about cycling so far is that you really can afford to eat well... Curry it was. The meal itself was not bad but not nearly as good as we get from the local restaurant at home. The service was truly terrible, we were on the point of leaving when our meal eventually arrived. This was the only time throughout our whole week that we had any problem at all...

On the way back to our B and B we spotted these two

The next day saw us leaving Utrecht on the way to Amsterdam. As this was in reality quite a short trip we decided to take an extended route. It was during this that we met up with the Dutch Midgie....

Now I can honestly say that individually the Dutch Midge cannot compete in ferocity with its Scottish counterpart. However if you happen to cycle over a very narrow spit of land between two stretches of water then sheer numbers will make life .... hell. Luckily this lasted only a mile or so and therefore my attempts to keep them at bay did not have to last long. The path will from now on be known as Beastie Lane... Sorry there are no pictures I couldn't stop.....

Amsterdam.. The hoe of canals, Bicycles and Cats....

Bicycle cat

Not sure if the cat belonged to the bike or the bike to the cat....

Before setting off for the ferry and home we decided to have a look around Edam... You've got to keep your cheeses balanced you know. Edam is really pretty but a bit touristy as well ...

Old cheese carriers

We cycled to the end (so to speak) of Edam and reached the Markermeer which although it looks as if it should be part of the sea has been separated by a Dyke ( Houtribdijk) and is actually fresh water...

Yoav testing the water...

Is this a sea I see?

After this it was time to get our skates on and head to Ijmuiden to get the ferry home...

Back to industrial Holland...

In the morning as we were waiting to disembark ( all the right words) we met a really nice French couple who were starting out on a tour around Scotland. We went with them as far as Newcastle and I really hope they have a very long holiday as the lady got off her bike at least 3 times going up the wee slopes into Newcastle.... They were heading for Glen Coe!

In the end WE MADE IT  410 miles. No arguments. A Brilliant Holiday....

And on to Arnhem

We left the city in the brilliant sunshine but ran into a really heavy downpour before coffee time. A couple of lycra'd up old blokes were a bit off declining to share the bit of shelter they' d found and I made their day even better when I got my first puncture just around the corner. Y is pretty quick at fixing such things though, he might even be able to do a team mechanic job and we were soon underway to the nearest coffee stop and bakery. Cake and dry socks cured everything and we were soon on the first ferry of the day....


Later in the day we stopped off at arsenic spot to eat the picnic made from breakfast extras...


Dad would love it,, vista of pig farm. There are loads here but apart from the tell tale slurry smell you would never know as everywhere is extremely neat and tidy..


We made it to Arnhem to stay in a house boat. Above is on of the views from the deck. Lots of ducks which we were told at least twice not to feed.
Otherwise we have spotted heron swans moorhens geese by the thousands and two deer running across our path on the first day.

Delft to S'Hortogenbosch

First century ok, ok it was Kilometres so possibly doesn't count but it sounds good.. We had the wind in our sails ( behind us) so progress was good.
We cycled through the Kinderdyke area where all the old windmills have been kept restored and lived in. Now a National site of interest it was stunning .....






We chose a route that took us along the waterways and used ferries to cross in 3 places....





One even had it's own coat of armour though don't ask me why...



The weather has been kind although I think we missed a huge shower in Rotterdam on the way through as the puddles were enormous and the locals were wearing rain capes. We arrived at a stunning B and B, welcomed by a bottle of beer before heading to town for a fabulous meal whilst watching the Dutch get very excited about Holland winning their football game against Mexico. Happy faces all round..

Posted on the move

Delft to Gouda

This was our quiet day. We had a bit of a wander around Delft in the morning looking at all of the market offerings. Mostly Brocante to use the French expression that best describes nearly junk. A bit better than a car boot sale, not really antiques. We decided then to cycle to Gouda and back. ( this turned out to be one of Y's short routes. 85 Kilometres later we arrived back at the B and B very ready for something to eat. However we did see the cheese.....


And of course had to try some of the cake... It would be rude not to....


Along the way we came across the Wild Rooster...... cattle grids


And a massive blue heart to signal our return to town...

Abroad

We made it to the ferry hampered by a puncture for Y about a mile from the port.
Brilliant cabin although we were to discover later that the HEN Party was next door. Well deserved steak meal and early rest. Can't say sleep due to hen party. On the upside I saw the sunrise from the window or should I say porthole?


Usual DFDS breakfast before watching all the lorries being unloaded... Then it was off to pastures new.




Lots of different landscapes today. Dunes, forests canals ( but not many) and millions of bicycles...


Have arrived in Delft at possibly best B and B I have ever seen... More tomorrow

Posted on the move

Location:Delft

Delft

Tried to blog post yesterday but could not get pictures to upload. Will try later today

Helen

Ferry

Reached the ferry. Bikes stowed. Y fixing puncture from thorny tree. Setting off in an hour or so....

Sent from my iPhone

Lunch stop before heading to the ferry

Sent from my iPhone

We're off

First step complete. Reached the

Fwd: Getting ready (Part 2)

Begin forwarded message:

From: Helen Tzabar <helen@tzabar.org>

Subject: Getting ready (Part 2)

Date: 25 June 2014 11:06:55 BST

To: helen657.Ritchie@blogger.com

Getting this all sorted is beginning to be a distraction from actually packing.
The cycling stuff is ok… 1 set to wear and a change.  BUT what to wear when not actually on the bike? I am limited (by what I am prepared to carry) to one pair of shoes. As you (women) all know this will severely limit the choice of clothes, well that and the fact that it all has to fit in the bike bag and not come out looking like something a Hobo might wear. (the last being K's word of the moment).
Decisions, decisions….
Just hope this email to Blog malarky works or the whole thing could be risky… Here goes...

The train tickets have been collected. Used the trip (and the fact that I was carless today) to use the pub bike. Known as such because she's old but has a certain charm and uses a bit like me.
Nice ( wishy washy word) ride through the park on the way back meant another 8 miles to add to the total.

Relaxed

No I didn't see the Panda in the park but he sums up the day..relaxed

Getting Ready

Today, probably instead of starting a new Blog, I should be getting ready for the off.

I finally got on my bike to the amusement and sometimes frustration of Y a couple of years ago. He is an avid cyclist. He has cycled since his teens. Sometimes as part of a club, sometimes alone. He is a commissary for regional road cycling events and thinks little of setting out on a short ride of 50 miles or so.

He looks the part...

This year I decided to set myself a challenge and aim to cycle 1000 yes 1000 miles over the year.
We did lots of "short" rides together, getting to places such as the Greystoke Cycle Cafe

Cafe Sign

To help give me the incentive I needed, I asked for sponsorship with all monies raised to be donated to the local Gynaecology / Oncology Department which is a part of the department where i work at the local hospital.

I started in February but did very little owing to the weather. March was a total flop. However with April came some warmer (and dryer) days and the challenge was on...

As of 2 weeks ago the total was sitting at 400 miles.

We set off to ride from home to Kippford on Saturday 14/6/14  to stay overnight before returning home on the Sunday as a practice for our planned trip (more later).

Some funny characters there......

Kippford, definitely worth the effort...


This trip helped to boost the Mileage to 530. Things were looking up and I didn't even manage to fall off this time. ( a few stopped or low speed falls had caused a bit of bruising mostly to my ego over the last few months).

Monday 16/6/14 however brought the charity ride that I had agreed to take part in. The main contenders were starting out an epic journey over several days riding from hospital to hospital in the north of England. One of my colleagues and I were to ride the 40 odd miles from Carlisle to Whitehaven with the others then completing their first day by riding on to barrow in Furness.

I was  a real woose. It was all very fast and i definitely held the others back even with the added support from Y and D. At Aspatria I gave up but eventually D and I carried on through Allonby to Maryport before returning by train to Carlisle.... The upside is now I have completed 568 miles and the Big trip starts on Thursday....