With the wind in our backs..

Today's distance: 85km (53 Miles)

Today is the day we were heading towards Dordrecht, the town where I was born, let's say.... a few years ago. It is also the place where my parents grew up, met and got married. The plan is to stay an extra day to explore around and be a little more lazy after being on our bikes for 4 days. I had booked a stay at a Bed & Breakfast in the old part of Dordrecht that had a high rating of 5 tulips on the Dutch B&B website...

We rolled out of Ouddorp at a reasonable time on a beautiful sunny day.. The forecast mentioned a possibility of rain later in the afternoon but we hoped to beat it to Dordrecht. The wind was mostly in our backs as we rode through the beautiful Dutch country side. The pictures sometimes really don't adequately show that which is why I started to experiment with the video setting on my Iphone. It seemed to work fairly well for the windmill tour yesterday, so why not some of the scenery along our ride? I even downloaded some simple video editing software for Ipad to "stitch" together some of the clips so that you wouldn't have to click on too many Youtube links. Maybe nobody cares out there to see them anyway, but it it something that keeps me mentally busy in the evening before going to bed. Linda thinks I am crazy..

The big problem is taking video with one hand with my Iphone while trying to keep the bicycle (and me) from going into a canal at the same time. I also turns out many of the best clips somehow didn't record properly (mostly upside down). I decided to not to post those and cause someone vertigo. I will have to pay more attention next time how I hold the Iphone. Regardless don't expect a Spielberg production!

We were relatively close to Rotterdam which is the 2nd biggest city in Holland. It was also the largest sea port in the world when I was growing up. Amazing that you really don't get a sense of that riding through wonderful nature areas along the way. The Dutch are very protective of keeping as much of the land preserved as either a nature area or for farming.

We crossed under the Maas river in a dedicated bicycle tunnel which was really cool. Hopefully you get a sense of that in today's video. Also of a girl taking her horse for a run while riding her bicycle along. I had a hard time trying to catch up to them so I could take the shot.

We had to do a detour of about 10km when the bicycle ferry we were planning to take was not operating. We had to push into the wind several kilometers back up the river which really gave us an appreciation of lucky we have been having the wind in our backs for so long.. We met another long distance bicycle touring couple, Nick and Barbara from the UK who were heading from London to Budapest. We biked with them for a while, but split up further down the road since they were heading for Breda which is further south in Holland.

We were 2km from Dordrecht when the skies opened up and gave us a decent soaking. That was no way to welcome a returning resident! Well, I really only lived there 1 month before my parents took me with them to the US.

We finally made it to downtown Dordrecht and checked into our really neat B&B called the "De Luthiers". The owners (Lucienne & Wout) have a business building and repairing violins, cellos, and guitars that is part of the B&B. We got a sneak peak of their workshop when we checked in and hope to be able to see more tomorrow (with pics to follow). Here is their link: http://www.deluthiers.nl/en/lucienne-and-wout

 

Route towards Dordrecht

Morning view from our B&B

Waiting for the drawbridge to close

The bicycle tunnel under the Maas river

Waiting for the bicycle ferry

Our first selfie of the trip

Saw many out walking their dogs. This is a Kangal dog from Turkey, bred to protect sheep from wolves and bears. My parents had a dog like this. This was a 18 mos old male who was already as tall as my waist with a head the size of a bear! Very friendly though..

First Applegebak of the trip. No, I don't think we will be starving....

Linda ready for a nap after the appelgebak

Our B&B in Dordrecht

 

 

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Cycling along the dikes in Zeeland.

Today's distance: 58km (37 Miles)

Woke up around 4am with little "pitter-pat" sounds of light rain on the outside of our tent. It was still very dark, but the rooster at the farm we were camping at felt like letting everyone know that it was time to get up... You could also hear the wind howl in the trees above us, luckily our tent was nicely protected from that behind the hedge. West Holland, Zeeland is especially notorious for heavy winds that whip up from the North Sea.

The light tapping of the rain started turning into a much heavier beat, more like a snare drum. Got out the Ipad with the new SIM card and checked out the weather radar where we were. Sure enough it showed a large green blob right over us. It looked like it would blow over in a few hours and it looked clear after that. Really nothing for us to do but wait it all out before packing up the tent and getting our stuff ready on the bike.

The rain stopped around 10am and we were able to head out fairly dry on our bikes at 11:30 in search of coffee and a bite to eat. We found the perfect place in a village not too far down our route that served pannekoeken and poffertjes! Yeah!! Pannekoeken are like large crepes with butter, powered sugar, and anything else you like inside. I got one with apple slices. Linda went for her favorite poffertjes which are like little puffy pancakes, also with butter and powdered sugar. That with the extra strong European coffees and we were ready to tackle what was ahead..

I will have to revise my helmet/no helmet ratio from yesterday and will now make that 2 to 100 instead, at least for a weekend. We saw a lot of sport riders out in large groups, matching outfits, fast bikes, and helmets on their heads. I wanted to take a picture for the blog but they were by us faster than I could get the camera out of my handlebar bag. Most looked pretty senior in age which was encouraging. Saw many of them later in outside cafes enjoying a few glasses of beer, hopefully after their rides were done. We also saw many folks out and about, typically with their families out enjoying the weekend doing some sort of sport or exercise. Linda can't get over her observation that all the Dutch kids were blond and very cute.

We were making good time down the road with the heavy wind mostly in our backs. Saw a large dark cloud to our left over the North Sea heading our way when we riding across the Delta works dike across the Oosterschelde. You could see a definite squall line over the water which meant that heavy rain and even heavier winds would soon be upon us. If I was on our sailboat, I would immediately drop all sails and batten down the hatches. On bikes however, the only real remedy is to find shelter immediately. Luckily we were about halfway across the dike close to Neeltje Jans, an island the Dutch built to house most of the Delta Works operation. We stomped on our pedals to get there as quickly as possible, trying to beat the squall coming up. There was a small Frites restaurant right at the beginning of the island and we managed to make it inside without too much incident.

We rode out the storm in the cafe and saw the sun peeking through the clouds so headed back on the road. We went past the museum on Neetje Jans that has all you need to know about the amazing Delta Works project which was built to help protect Holland from such devastating floods that it experienced in 1953. We skipped the museum his trip since we had been there when we lived in Belgium. It is a real treat for those of you interested in what man can do when faced what would seem an impossible challenge. It is referred to the 8th Wonder of the World. You can see how the Dutch are the best in taming the seas. I wont delve any further but you can read/learn more here: http://www.deltawerken.com/23

We decided to call it a day since we got a late start and find a place to stay in Ouddorp (Old Village). We hit the jackpot and found a nice Bed & Breakfast near the center of town. We were walking around town looking for a place to have dinner when we saw another working windmill spinning at a good clip. The windmill caretaker motioned us to come in and visit inside. "Just go and climb the stairs up and look around" he said in Dutch. So Linda and I did just that. This windmill was originally built in 1753 but looked to be in great shape. All the working parts were still like it was originally, mostly all wood, even the moving parts that helped to turn a large mill stone to grind the grains. The stairs were a little scary since they were really steep and worn. They had a large rope with each one that you could use to pull yourself up. Hope some of the pics (and maybe videos) do it justice..

Route across Zeeland

Pannekoek..

Poffertjes..

New age windmill

Typical Zeeland farm. Why can't the ones along Hwy 55 look like that!

Dark cloud approaching..

Delta Works.

Linda riding over the Delta works. That whole road on this side of the barrier is for bicyclists only..

Stiff wind at our side..

Lots of windsurfers enjoying that wind! Crazy!

Mom and her chicks along the road..

Linda heading across the dunes of Zeeland.

Garden at our B&B.

 

Linda climbing the ropes inside the windmill

There was a wooden shoe workshop inside

One of these would look great at River Dunes!

House down the street from our B&B

Yes! I had fresh Zeeland mossels for dinner!

 

 

 

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Hello Holland!

Today's distance: 78km (49 Miles)

Forgot to add yesterday's mileage and route map to that post. Now corrected..

I got up a little earlier than Linda and decided to walk around the center of Ghent in search of coffee. Most of you probably already know that most Europeans are usually not morning persons, at least as far as most businesses and eating establishments go. It was 7:30am and pretty much every place was closed shut and not planning to open until later in the morning or afternoon. Even Starbucks which noted for opening up early had their opening time set for 9am. I finally found an old coffee roasting place down an alley where I was able to get a couple of cups to go to take back to our hotel room.

It was a beautiful sunny, crisp day and we set off out of Ghent towards the Dutch border. The ride for most of the day was fantastic on bike paths or dedicated bike lanes. We got to enjoy some great scenery along the way without having to worry about getting run off the road. You could gradually sense the transition from Belgium (more forested and hilly) to west Holland which had wide open farm fields with more regimented placement of trees along streets and canals. We love both types of sceneries, just different. You could also begin to notice the difference between the people as well. The Belgians are typically more reserved and usually don't make eye contact. The Dutch seem more outgoing and will greet a stranger more readily. There are always exceptions especially when we got a big thumbs up from an elderly Belgian sports rider shouting words of encouragement. It really put a big smile on our faces!

We finally rolled into Breskens which is right on one of the sea inlets in Zeeland, the Dutch province we were in. We had a nice lunch and headed for the ferry to get to Vlissingen. We were amazed to see that the ferry service was solely for bicycles and pedestrians only. The cars had to cross through a tunnel about 50km further inland. The whole ferry entrance was done so that you could your bike ride in, buy a ticket and practically ride onto the Ferry (they did want you to walk your bike on for safety reasons). It was a nice and quick ride over to the other side. These ferries are dual hulled and go a lot faster than the ones we have in North Carolina!

Got off on the other side and rode to Middleburg which is one of the oldest towns in Holland. It was a great ride along a canal with with bicyclists everywhere in all shapes, sizes, ages, and genders You quickly see why bicycling is such an essential part of life in Holland whether for sport, work, school, shopping, or simply getting an ice cream on a sunny day. We passed many large groups of teenagers on bikes seeming to have a great time together apparently on their way home from school. Had to make use of the trusty bicycle bell several times to have them make room for us to pass on the bike path. Got a lot of laughs, giggles, and funny looks when us "old" folks rode by on little bicycles, lots of bright yellow bags strapped to them, and helmets on our heads. I will say that only 2 in 500 cyclists in Holland wears a bicycle helmet... We seemed to be one of those two..

We took a break in Middelburg and had a beer in the outside cafe on the main market square. Great location for people watching. The old church next to us must have had a marathon wedding thing going on. We saw at least four couples drive up in wedding regalia right behind each other. When one couple would leave the church, the next group would arrive and repeat the process. Must have been some of the quickest wedding ceremonies we have ever seen. Maybe it was the nice weather that prompted it all?

Headed over to the local Telco shop (Vodafone) to buy a prepaid data Sim for my Ipad so that I could still get access to the Internet and email without wifi. The plan for tonight is to find a campground since the weather is so nice. We also wanted to make sure we got at least some use of all that camping stuff we are hauling around Europe! The blog for today will be posted online complements of the new SIM card (hopefully).

We finally were able to find a camping spot near a town called Oostkapelle at a local farm. There is more to that story, but it is late and have already been too long winded on this blog post... I will sign off and leave you with a few pics of the day..

Today's route

Town hall of little Belgian town we rode through

 

Today's route

The sun flowers were happy on this nice day

A statue of wolf (Ysegrim) in a monk's robe on the outside of Watervliet, Belgium.

Crossing the border into Nederland (Holland) in my Orange Road Holland shirt.

Coffee break

Walt's traditional Dutch lunch. Kroketten with frites (and mayo)

Bikes on the ferry..

One of the bike ferries.

Canal from Vlissingen to Middelburg

One of the many wedding couples...

Kids in Mom's bakfiets with their icecream cones

Colorful crowd..

Our trusty tent set up behind a nice hedge protecting us from the wind

Windmill in Oostkapelle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Leaving Brussels...

Today's distance: 74km (47 miles)

Off we went early in the morning from Marianne's castle into the unknown after we got our Bike Friday steeds packed and ready. Again, it was hard leaving such a great place with such great hospitality, but we couldn't come back to the US saying we decided not to do our planned bicycle trip...

Anyway, I powered up the trusty Garmin bike GPS to lead us on our way towards Ghent. We wanted to avoid going back through downtown Brussels during rush hour, so I had picked a route that went straight west through the more rural part. It seemed our Garmin had a more adventurous spirit than we had bargained for.... It immediately put us on a single track dirt trail through one of the farmer's fields. Yikes! After that we were treated to some of Belgium's best old cobble stone roads that would have done the Paris-Roubaix bicycle race proud, and then added some serious hills on top of it all! The good part is that we got to see some very interesting parts of Belgium via these remote "thoroughfares" that we otherwise would never would have! All part of our bicycling adventure. The GPS finally routed us on some decent paved roads and we were able to make some progress towards our planned destination.

We went through a little town in Liedekerke and stopped in a cafe for some lunch. We are now in the middle of Flanderen (Dutch speaking part of Belgium) so I am finally able to use my rusty mother tongue. Ordered Linda which I thought was a cheese sandwich, but ended up as a mixture of sour and cream cheese over bread, decorated with radishes. A pretty sight but probably not what she had in mind. I at least had butter ordered with it instead of "smout" which is Belgian lard. Still a feast that can quickly clog the arteries. Luckily we are doing some more biking before the day is done.

We do have to say that our GPS, now called "Eddie" (after Merckx fame) did a commendable job of keeping us on bicycle friendly roads, even if the bike of choice for that trail should have been one with fatter knobby tires and full suspension fame. Not a little foldable bike with lots of luggage strapped to it! However Eddie didn't quite anticipate all the construction and subsequent detours that we had to take. Once we followed the detour signs for the bicycles only to ride up a path that ended up on a train platform! The construction workers didn't say a thing watching us go up that trail, but we know must have busted their guts laughing afterwards. They saw us come back down and then were more cooperative in giving us the right directions to Ghent.

We finally rolled into Ghent around 4pm and had an adventure finding our hotel in the middle of downtown. Not as crazy as downtown Brussels, but close. Found a secure place for the bikes in their underground garage, got cleaned up, and explored downtown Ghent a little further before dark. We both liked it a lot and think it has a lot more to offer than either Brussels or Bruges as far as sightseeing. Definitely need to come back and spend more time here on a next trip!

Heading for Holland tomorrow!

Route du jour

Linda with LinLin, Marianne's house helper.

Eddie thought this was a fine route to take...

Leaving Rhode-Saint-Genese..

Another brilliant route! (there were stairs on the other side..)

We couldn't quite make ou what this building was. Maybe a fancy rock climbing tower?

Linda seriously questioning Eddie's judgment of route selection.

 

Linda's cholesterol special for lunch

 

A robot grass mower. Maybe a replacement for Harry and Trapper?

Our bike Friday's eyeing the local competition..

Yes, we got detoured here! A train platform..

 

Looking out from our hotel in Ghent

And they have canals as well like Bruges..

Love the variety of house fronts.. Would it be approved by the ACC at River Dunes though?

Maybe this one instead? It could rival the Jayne's..

Belgium, the country of many beer choices.. Not just Bud and Miller lite..

We couldn't quite figure out what this was all about. There is a University nearby though, so maybe...

End of a great day!

 

 

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