Days 1 & 2: Amsterdam to Raamsdonk
The day after buying a used bike from a Turkish guy I found on Facebook in Amsterdam I hit the road on my bike touring trip headed to Belgium. Even though I had been hoping to make a bike trip work out it all came about quite suddenly. I first had the idea back in May while walking the Camino Portugues. I’ve gone on long distance bike trips back in the states (albeit with road support) and I enjoy traveling human-powered slowly through a country. Over the weeks I had figured that the best place for the trip to take place would be Netherlands and Belgium. Then I learned more about the cycling culture and infrastructure in Netherlands and it was a no-brainer. So over the weeks I had looked at blogs, route planners, and maps. I knew I would try to get to Brussels and then see from there. I had rough distances and towns planned out, but once I committed and bought the bike I re-looked at the direction I would be taking. I had originally thought I would go Amsterdam-The Hague-Rotterdam-Antwerp-Brussels, but I ended up deciding that the mileage was too far that first day to get to The Hague. I was trying to keep it under 40 miles a day because I didn’t want to push the old bike and have it break down, plus it would be easier on my body. But mostly it all depended on where I could find a place to stay that first night. I looked at the city of Utrecht. I looked for hotels/hostels there but didn’t see anything in my price range so then I looked at Airbnb and found a place just outside of town. I checked the mileage and decided it would work so I booked it. The first one I booked fell through and I luckily found another one and booked it after midnight. I decided to take the trip day by day so as not to get ahead of myself because there were a lot of uncertainties. Most being, if the bike would make it. [I go into a little bit more detail about the finding the bike process at the end of my Amsterdam post]
The first test was to see if my bike was still outside the hostel the next morning. Bike theft is common in Amsterdam so I figured if it was still there than I would take the next step and start out.
I left the hostel just before 10 after fiddling around with what to do with my pack. I of course didn’t want to wear it as it’s heavy and the weight pushing me down on my bike seat would result in even more butt pain than I would have. So I ended up taking my clothes bag out of the pack and strapping it down on the back rack, lashing it down with the heavy chain lock. Then I put stuff in my daypack and hung that on the handlebars. Everything else was in the pack that I wore.
The first bit was navigating out of the city, which was a little difficult as I had to check the maps.me app on my phone to make sure I was going the right way and trying to juggle the phone while biking was a little tricky. Just outside the city I got to an industrial area with large warehouses and then more open spaces.
I crossed highways and rivers taking breaks here and there. Once I arrived in Utrecht things got busy again. I spotted a neat whale sculpture made out of plastic garbage. A little further I saw a market and decided to walk around it so I locked up my bike and had to carry everything. I ended up getting some kibbeling and poffertjes just like I had tried in Amsterdam.
I left the city following a canal and then an old railroad path out to the country. I passed by a farm where I saw lots of cars parked so I spontaneously decided to stop and check it out. I ended up getting a local beer, applesap (apple juice), an apple, and cherries. I sat in the field writing in my journal loving how beautiful the unexpected can be.
3 miles later I arrived at the Airbnb. My hosts were really kind and I had a nice space. I cleaned up, ate dinner (groceries I had picked up at the store on the way) up on their roof terrace, and enjoyed watching the Australia v. Norway World Cup game. I hadn’t even thought about the bonus of having my own room with a TV so I cherished it.
The next morning as I was filling up my water bladder I asked my hosts some questions about the Netherlands that I was curious about. Like, Where are the windmills? Where are the tulip fields? Does it snow here? With replies like, near the coast. Further North and near the coast but they aren’t in bloom now. Yes but not as much anymore. We talked about the world cup and that the women’s Dutch team was getting better. They were patient with my questions and helped me with directions to Raamsdonk. Then even gave me some twine when I asked if they had any spare string I could use to tie my bag on the rack better.
I left around 9:30 and had a lovely ride along a river. Then a little further along I came upon my first windmill. It was a surprise because I wasn’t expecting to see one after what the host told me. It was on the other side of the canal and since I thought it would be the only one I would see I took a lot of pictures of it.
Around noon I passed a small orchard just off a side road and decided to take a break in the shade. I really enjoy finding spots for breaks, but sometimes I won’t let myself stop like when I go hiking and end up continuing to walk because I think there might be an even better spot further down the trail. After a break I rode down a street with beautiful houses with thatched roofs. I enjoyed looking at the different architecture, landscaping, and designs as I passed along. I came upon another windmill and this one I could bike straight up to so I stopped there for more pictures and a quick video blog update.
The rest of the way was a straight shot following a highway. I stopped at a grocery store for dinner supplies and headed to the BnB. It turned out to be the hosts last week there so I was probably their last guest. The property was gorgeous and after showering I went out to the garden to eat dinner and journal while listening to the frogs croaking and the chickens rustling. I capped the wonderful day with another world cup game, watched with the host.
