Day 6 - Nijmegen - Thorn

Woke up to sunshine this morning.  What a difference - the world looks so much better today.  After breakfast the first place we stop at is at "Groesbeek" - the site of the Canadian War Cemetery.  It is very impressive to see how immaculate the graveyard is kept.  We see a landscaper there trimming the grass by each row of tombstones.  We gather for a group photo and then Bill reads the poem, "In Flanders Fields."  I know we are not in Flanders but the words can apply to Groesbeek as well.  Very touching - how sad for the families who lost their young sons when you see the ages of the soldiers who gave their life for us in Canada.

Just couldn't get the Canadian flag to unfurl

  Leaving the cemetery, the landscape has changed, almost rolling hills for Holland.  There are fields of flowers and vegetables in this part of Holland.  Pastures here have horses and not cows - a beautiful part of Holland as well.
Today's route is along the Maas River for a long ways on bicycle paths and because of this we do not  meet up with the support vehicle very often.  We can brag that today was the first day of cycling without any rain - dark clouds did roll in the last few kilometres but we did not have rain.  What a blessing!
Tonight we are staying at the Hotel Crasborn in the town of Thorn - it's a very interesting old town in the province of Limburg.  In fact the church across the street is over 800 years old.  We were served a delicious 3 course meal tonight.  The single guys with us have to take their wives out for some very fancy meals to make up for the fact that they weren't there to enjoy these meals.  We're going to leave at 10:00 tomorrow morning so we can explore this town a bit more first.  Later tomorrow we will leave Holland and travel into Belguim.

The view of the church taken from inside the Hotel Crasborn

Distance Cycled  130 km.     Flat Tires 2     Total Flats  9

Day 5 - Bunnik - Nijmegen - Aug. 30

The weather hasn't changed - enough said - no choice but to get back on the bikes.  We left Bunnik at 9:00, rain gear on once again.  Went through the towns of Odijk, Langbroek, Leersum before stopping for lunch in Amerongen.  After lunch the sun was out and we cycled on top of the dykes passing through the towns of Kesteren, Ochten and Dodewaard.  Our stop for the night was at Hotel Rozenhof on the outskirts of Nijmegen.  Now the sun is shining - we've seen a "rainbow" - hope this is a sign of better things to come.  At the motel we ask for a laundromat - by now our wet clothes do not smell very pleasant and are still wet.  They make the gracious offer  of their industrial washer and dryer - how much better can it get.  The cyclists rush to take a shower, we gather all the laundry and get it started while we eat a delicious 4 course dinner at the hotel.  What a treat to get it done for everyone.  We fill 5 clothes lines with cycling shorts in the furnace room.  They were all dry in the morning.  We were spoiled with free WiFi as well here.

Total Distance 70 km    Flats 0  Total Flats 7

Since I am posting this on Tuesday night, I should say that first thing in the morning Andy fixed Rita's flat tire so there should be a flat for Monday but we will count it for Tuesday.

Day 4 - Sunday, August 29

John doing laundry during "happy hour"

we're thinking the laundry is going to dry overnight....

Well, first of all our laundry was wetter than when we hung it up on Saturday.  No laundromat anywhere close by....no cycling today - the van seats were filled with passengers going to the "Domkerk" in Utrecht.  It was quite a formal service - organ music played by Jan Jansen, a famous organist.  The red carpet was rolled out for the children's message and the minister sat down with the kids on the carper.  The service was ended with a celebration of the Lord's Supper where we all stood in a circle and all drank out of a common cup.  We were invited for "Koffie" after the service.

Next mission was to find the restaurant where we would enjoy an Indonesian "rijstaffel" that evening.  It was located alongside the canal under the street.  We climbed up 375 steps in the "Domtower" but could not get to the very top because of thunder and lightening.  Even though it was raining, the sights from this height were impressive.  Touring Utrecht would have been much more appealing on a sunny day.



Rain doesn't stop the dutch from biking...





Just Pictures

For today we have a photo extravaganza. For a different perspective on the journey you can also try http://johnhelenandskoki.blogspot.com/

Day 3 - Etten Leur - Bunnik (Utrecht) - Aug. 28

Woke up to sunshine - the bikes are all checked over, the Garmin and TomTom are programmed and we sit down to breakfast and last minute instructions.  By the time breakfast is over, the clouds have rolled in again.  Rain gear is packed in bike bags just in case - you just never know....it is so unpredictable.  The cyclists are cycling along and all of a sudden the heavens open and it's raining. It stops as quickly as it starts.  Today was the day to see windmills along the Molen Weg and there were lots of them.

 A pretty picture from on top of the dykes where the cyclists and the van were travelling.  It's amazing to see whole communities lower than the dykes - lush green fields with cows and sheep all grazing.  The cyclists were very thankful for the strong tail winds today.  The van couldn't meet up with the cyclists for lunch because a roadblock had the van travel many kilometers around to get there so they landed up eating at a cafe and could dry off and warm up before they set out again.  Anna had her challenges driving today - the roads can get so narrow and cars park on both sides and traffic is 2 way and no one wants to back up......Anna did land up backing up and then we decided to turn around and go another way.  Thankfully "Betsy", the TomTom voice, can re-program the route.  It is so funny to hear Betsy pronouce the Dutch names of the places we need to go to.

Saturday night's accommodation is at the "StayOkay" hostel in Bunnik - very close to Utrecht.  Anna and I had arrived first and were impressed to see the cyclists being led in by an 8 year old with his father.  The 8 year old was in his glory!  We joined 50 others for a delicious buffet supper.  Doing laundry is becoming a challenge - laundromats aren't as readily available as at home.  Last night the garbage pail became our wash tub.  It was filled with warm soapy water, all the wet and dirty cycling clothes were dumped in and John VanderSteen began "agitating" the clothes, first with his hands and then his feet got into action as well.  Joe rinsed it all out while he as showering and then it got hung up outdoors hoping it would dry overnight.  That was not to be - it rained again.  John and Joe wrung it all out again and rehung it hoping for better weather.  During breakfast another cloud burst so it was wrung out again and put into a garbage bag and hopefully we will find a place to dry it today.

Distance traveled - 120 km.   Flats 2 -      Total Flats 7

Day 2 - Delft - Etten Leur - Aug. 27

After a good night's sleep by all - we were treated to a delicious "pannekoek" breakfast - this is not the norm for Holland, pannekoeken are for lunch but they agreed.  Once more it was a rainy morning.  The van could not be parked close by so it had to be picked up for all the luggage and the cyclists were off once again.  Right now the blog is being written by someone who is not cycling so you are getting the perspective from a support team member - cyclists will hopefully write a blog from time to time.  I unfortunately do not feel safe cycling so have joined Anna in the van - Anna is very happy and so am I for now.  Today is going to be a long day of cycling - it's on top of the dykes and the tail wind is favourable.  Mid day we are to meet at the Delta Works Expo for a tour - this would be a welcome rest for the cyclists and a chance for them to warm up.  Because Anna and I have gone shopping for supplies, lunch is "tailgate" today which saves time for the cyclists.  Too bad coffee shops aren't as readily available as we are used to.  The afternoon is long and wet once again and the cyclists arrive at "Het Witte Paard" in Etten Leur at 6:00 p.m.  The bike paths make the route longer because Bill has worked hard at avoiding major highways.  If you are checking your maps, you will notice that this is the case.

Distance travelled today 131 km - Flat tires 2 - Total flats 5

Rainy conditions make for more flats since the roads are wet and the tires pick up all kinds of gravel.

Day 1 - Schiphol to Delft - Aug. 26

Wednesday night some of us met up at the IBIS Hotel very close to the airport. The van had been picked up by Bernie and Anna and was ready to meet the cyclists at the airport on Thursday morning.  Seven were coming in just after 7:00 a.m. Thursday.  Weather forecasts called for heavy rain along with thunder and lightning and we were wondering if the planes would land.  Forecasts this time were right on.  We woke up to pouring rain and made our way to the airport for the 9:00 a.m. meeting time.  Everyone had arrived by 9:30 - some of them coming out of the arrivals area with their bikes all assembled already while waiting for the rest of their luggage. It's amazing how smoothly this all went - the 3 kisses were given to those we hadn't seen yet and one last coffee from Burger King and we were ready to roll.

 We couldn't postpone the inevitable any longer, the rain was not letting up and we had to make our way out of the airport - everyone had smiles for the camera....rain gear was a must.  Bill had his "Garmin" programmed for the cyclists on the bike paths and the "TomTom" was programmed for the van and we were off. 



Assembling the bikes at the airport.....



Ready to roll....rain gear on.....

We met up a few times during the ride but that's difficult when cyclists are on the "fiets pads" and the van on the road.  At noon we met up at a deli in Alphen a/d Rijn - the cyclists had cycled all morning in the rain.  The van followed the cyclists in and parked with the bikes.

Drying up while eating lunch



Adrian is enjoying his "appel taart with slagroom"



 

 Leaving the deli turned out to be a challenge.  Anna and I had come in before 12:00 no problem.  Right at noon, poles come out of the ground in the "centrum" of any city and block access to this area.  We tried each way out and met up with road blocks.  We finally asked 2 city workers how to get out - they were surprised we were in the "centrum" and asked us how we got there - we didn't know anymore.  They said in order to get out we had to talk to a pole and it would activate the other poles to go into the ground.  We laughed thinking they were pulling our leg but they insisted.  We asked them, "what do we say to the pole" and they replied you tell it you want out.  Anna asked if one of them would go with us and they agreed.

 It's a funny sight to see someone talk to a pole but it worked and we were on our way - another new experience.  That afternoon there were some more heavy showers for the cyclists but by the time they arrived in Delft the sun was shining.  A great way to finish off the first day.

"Talking to a pole - it worked"

 Delft is a beautiful old city - also the birth place of Bill Wybenga and John VanderSteen.  If the cyclists hadn't had enough exercise for their legs, there was more yet - our sleeping quarters were up 3 sets of very steep steps and suitcases had to be carried up as well.  They served us a delicious 3 course meal at "Het Konings Huys" that night - we all had an early night....
Distance cycled - 70 km - Flat tires - 3

Are we having fun yet.....

We are even though it rains whenever.....the skies just open and it pours one minute and then the sun comes out again.  This will be a very short post - more to come tomorrow when we have our day off.  Just wanting you all to know that WiFi is not as readily available as we had hoped - other nights we get in too late and once supper is over and we've had our get together, it's too late to get to the computer.
I think we are an awesome group of people - we are having so much fun.......probably too much - three day of cycling are over - they have gone well.....more details tomorrow.

Three more sleeps......

Each day this week someone from the group will be making their way to Schiphol to get ready for the cycling to begin.  Today some are arriving and tomorrow and the next day.  The last ones will fly in Thursday morning, unpack their bikes and start cycling.  Let's hope all luggage and bikes come along....it could be interesting.

Getting Ready to Roll....

This blog has been set up to allow friends and family to keep track of the 16 of us as we make our way from Schiphol airport to the countryside around Milano, Italy.  We will be "on the road" literally from the 26th of August until September 16th.  All of us will be making our way to Holland at different times and will meet up with each other the morning of August 26th at the airport.  Some will be coming in early that morning, will have to put their bikes together and be ready to start cycling the roads of Holland.  We will spend 5 days cycling Holland before we head to the next country on our itinerary.  All our luggage will be loaded into a van which will travel along with us.  Anna has volunteered to be our designated driver.   Bill is busy loading the necessary maps into the "TomToms" so we can all arrive at the same destination each night. Each cyclist is getting their last training rides in and bikes serviced before the bikes get boxed for transport. 
Stay tuned for the next entry....