After riding 2 months through Japan in autumn of 2017, I am now back in Europe, working... but still riding on my brompton whenever possible. Currently this is mainly in the Netherlands, close to home. But hopefully other countries will join the list.

Sunday, 30 September 2018

Ride through the dunes to Hoek van Holland

Bicycle: 64 km 
Riding time:  3:55 h
Total ascent: 272 m
Avg speed:  16.4 km/h
Max speed:  32.0 km/h 
Route: Den Haag - Hoek van Holland - Leiden
Weather: Sunny and clouds but getting colder


Day 2 on the new bicycle. Yesterday when I came home I saw a message from one of the meet-up organizers proposing a ride for today from Den Haag to Hoek van Holland. Since I wanted to ride anyway and riding in a group is also more fun, I signed up. 

Well, we weren't finally a group, just the two of us, but it was still nice enough.

We met up in the centre of Den Haag in front of the Peace Palace, the seat of the international Court of Justice. 


And then rode through the city out to the dunes. 

Only minutes after taking this picture (on top of a dune which I had climbed with some difficulties with my new bicycle), we were both fined with a quite steep fine for riding on a pedestrian-only-way. I hadn't even noticed the sign at the beginning of the lane. Well, at least now I know that riding on pedestrian ways is not tolerated in the Netherlands...


Well, there was nothing to be done, so we continued our ride along the dune to Hoek van Holland. Which is in a strange position. It is just at the end of the Rhine, opposite of harbour of Rotterdam, the largest in Europe. 


But on this end it is a small beach village (well, actually I didn't see the village itself at all, only the "chiringuitos" on the beach). We had lunch in one of the places sitting in the sun and I probably did start to get a sunburn... which however most likely will be the last one of the year and then returned on nearly the same way back to Den Haag, obviously this time avoiding the pedestrian walkway. 

I had hoped to be able to see Crazy Rich Asians in Den Haag, which is no longer on show in Leiden, but the only screening was around 18:00... and we had ended our ride around 14:00.


So I continued on towards Leiden on a bicycle path I knew well straight from Den Haag to Leiden. 




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