Amazing What a Good Meal…

can do for you after a long day of riding!  We continue to work our way northward having taken refuge from the elements in a comfortable B&B in Niewport on the south shore of the Lek River in the Province of South Holland.

 The last two days have been quite amazing, very different rides taking us first from Geldorp/Eindhoven to Oosterhout, and today onwards to our present co-ordinates. Both routes were approximately 78.546kms (the downside of a bike computer), with the first day involving simply following a canal almost the whole way, transiting small villages and Tilburg, quite a sizable city.

 You’d think this would be pretty much as simple as falling out of a tree...stick to the canal like glue and you can’t go far wrong. We though this too, but it is amazing what can happen! It’s said, “expect the unexpected”…a new bridge, road construction, or perhaps someone moving a herd of whatever. In any event we had a few slight deviations…ok maybe 3…perhaps 4? The best one was after we had ‘skillfully’ navigated our way through a commercial area only to discover that we ended up somewhere well away from our intended route. Standing there looking at our map we were approached by a couple of serious looking riders (we call them Spandex Cowboys…hot bikes, serious riding gear and…helmets!! Very un-Dutch looking). Any way they were super helpful and offered to lead us over the canal and get us pointed on our way. We had a very pleasant chat and I now know where to get a deal on a very good bike in Holland…the price was so good it must have something to do with a truck in some dark alley! Their parting words were, “continue on until you come to the 3rd bridge then cross and you will be close to your destination”. Somehow we must have completely forgotten how to count since leaving home, and we crossed on the 2nd bridge. Ok, not a disaster, we can handle this…more freestyle navigation. Ok, that went well…now we’re really lost. Over there! A nice looking local couple on bikes…ask for directions (everyone in Holland is very helpful). Can you believe it…we had to have picked the only two people in Holland with no English language skills. Ok, don’t panic…our Dutch is improving nicely, so let’s point at the map and gesture wildly until we make some decent headway. Thought that went really well, and off we went…generally in “that direction” to Katcheskelder. 

Somehow we eventually found our destination, a holiday resort where Rose and Ted were hosting their family and celebrate their 45th anniversary. While waiting at the registration building for directions to the unit where the celebration was happening, who should ride up, but our two non-English speaking guides! They knew where we were going, sent us off in a vague direction then they rode to that exact place! Wanted to bang my head against the wall, but saw the humor in the whole thing and decided a cold beer would be much more helpful!! Too funny!

 

 After a welcoming, enjoyable night with Ted and Rose’s very excellent family we were off for a very different ride today…northward across the Delta, along multiple dike-top roads and over a number of quite significant bridges.

 

 

Without our usual map to guide us we had to rely on the small computer maps I’d made at home and the occasional route maps along the way. This actually worked quite well, and without deviation we eventually found ourselves at our destination…so much for those detailed 1:50,000 maps! We cycled through some heavy wind today and flirted with more than a few rain clouds, arriving at Niewport late in the afternoon having wandered past numerous windmills (Dutch – molens)

 

 

 and the cement remains of many WWII German defensive structures (did I say something about bridges?).

 

This super domestic was a bit pooped at the end of the ride as much of the last segment was, of course, directly into a stiff breeze. However, it’s unclear if it was the wind today or all the good cheer enjoyed until late last night that accounted for this unseemly fatigue. After a decent dike-top walk to the local ferry (across the Lek) we found a very satisfying dinner in the town opposite Niewport (this being Monday all eating establishments in our temporary township are closed). As per the title of this entry, it is amazing what a good meal will do to re-energize a person! We walked back to our B&B in a soft rain and the team lead has subsequently drifted off to sleep leaving the SD to reconstruct the past few days.

We have to this point traveled just over 750km through this cycling wonderland and unfortunately we have just 2-3 days of riding ahead before we turn our trusty, temperamental steel machines in. The area we are in is historically significant, and as rain is scheduled for tomorrow, we may stay on a further day before completing our return to Amsterdam. A good sleep and the morning weather will determine the out-come. It nears mid-night…time for some sleep.

Addendum:
To complete the Wild Rooster Tour we had a great ride through the mills to Rotterdam, then on to Delft by train to pick up a new piece of Royal Blue Delft for Annie's collection. From there it was back to Haarlem (820kms - full circle!!) for dinner with our Canadian-living-abroad niece, Eden; a day in Amsterdam and dinner with Imka and Jan. Have a look see...