TdE - Day 46 Hoogstraaten - Leiden

Route: Hoogstraaten - Breda - Dordrecht - Rotte - Leiden
Distance: 123 km
Elevation: 215 m
Duration: 5:57 h
Weather: Sun and clouds, tailwind, getting a bit colder, 17 C

Overall Route: Leiden - Vennbahn - Trier - Mosel til Koblenz - Rhine til Mainz - Main - Tauber - Altmuehl - Donau - Black Forrest - Alsace - Canal Rhine - Rhone - Saar - Luxembourg - Ardennes - Flanders cycling classics - UCI World Championship - Leiden
Distance: 3,091 km
Elevation: 15,749 m
Duration: 46 days, including a rest week at my parents
Weather: Phenomenal! Mainly sunny, a few days with some clouds. More days that is was actually slightly too hot for me to ride than days that it rained (I  think proper rain only on 2 days, and a bit of drizzle maybe on another 2). 

In total over these past 6,5 weeks, I have ridden a bit over 3,000 km (3,091 km to be precise) and racked up a total elevation of over 15,000 m (15,749 m to be precise again). 

I haven't made the calculations, but that is probably more elevation than in the entire rest of the year. Poor flat Netherlands... (picture from quite close to home... just to illustrate the flaty flatness of the NETHERlands):

On my last day of this tour around Europe I put in another long day, with over 120 km... but I was massively helped by a nice and steady tailwind. Plus the weather got better again, no rain, just some decorative clouds. However clearly autumn is coming... the temperatures are dropping. The first day that I did not ride in my T-shirt but instead in the Castelli ROS jacket... albeit mostly with the arms zipped out. 

Probably the nicest part of today's ride was at the beginning, still in Belgium (!) where I had a nice winding river with a bicycle path alongside ...

.... that also continued beyond the border. 

Further on I followed simply what Komoot had planned as a direct route, which, as we are now in the Netherlands was all on either very good, or at least good cycling paths, although mostly along highways, so not really nice areas of the country. But the purpose of the straight line from Tienen to Leiden wasn't to see specially nice parts, but to get back to Leiden by Tuesday evening, in just 2 days for over 200 km. 

And this goal was achieved and something even waited for me back home:

Oh yeah... the first washing machine in over a month!

TdE Day 2 Fietsen door bomen & water (Hilvarenbeek - Diepenbeek)

Route: Hilvarenbeek - Postel - Fietsen door bomen - door water - Diepenbeek 
Distance: 104 km

Elevation: 154 m
Duration: 5:13
Average speed: 18.8 km/h
Weather: sunny and quite hot, 26C

Today in the morning I woke up to my cycling shirt drying gently in the air.

Mukesh might be able to trek for days on end through the Himalaya, but cycling 120 km in the flat of the Netherlands didn’t do any good to his knee. Admittedly it was his first 120 km. So he decided to do the responsible thing and to stay close to train lines where he could return when needed. So he headed back to Tilburg and then on to Den Bosch and finally to Utrecht. In the end he pretty much did the same km as I did, but less than what he would have needed if he had had to go to Maastricht. 

I in turn did continue South. Overall the day saw a lot of forests. And this was a blessing as again it was quite hot, so the shade was very welcome. Already a few km after the start I turned into the forest of Landgoed de Utrecht. 

And a bit later I was cycling on this beech avenue. 

After 20 km I crossed my first international border into Belgium.

In Belgium pretty soon I got onto this Kanal which was nicely in the shades of big trees. Unfortunately after several kilometers the way was blocked and a detour was indicated.

The detour nearly, nearly brought me back to the Netherlands, but I managed to stay on the right side of the road.

Checking the detour I recognize that I didn’t need to follow the entire detour, but could shorten the ride a little bit. This also brought me too the small village of Postel, which seems to be a huge tourist magnet. I don’t really know why there were so many people, but definitely there were a lot of Harley Davidson and other motorcycle riders. There were also several restaurants and stalls with french fries (well I guess they are called BELGIAN fries here!). But I took something sweet at what seemed to be a very famous bakery. Even had a small queue building up outsid of people who came to buy bread.

This was a welcome break. 

From Postel I continues on a normal road which had something like a cycle path attached to it, but at least from my spoiled Dutch background, not a very good one. Kind of cycling in the ditch parallel to the road and with car drivers thinking that as the cyclist is beyond a white line , that line would be sufficient to protect the cyclist from any harm of passing cars. Anyway, it wasn’t soooo bad and luckily quite soon I rejoined my originally planned route, which followed some very quiet canals in the forests.

When my water supplies started to run low, which really means for me that bottle number 1 is getting nearly empty (because I am a real water addict and mightily fear running out) I turned into a very small village along the way and found a nice lady who refilled my bottle. Alternatively there were however some “Biergarten” along the way as well.

My next break I want to take at around 50 km and just before the “Fietsen door bomen” I found a steakhouse. Although steakhouse isn’t really a good description for this magically very peaceful and quiet garden restaurant. I didn’t want to have a steak for lunch with the heat and the other 40 to 50 km to cycle. But a carpaccio and a small salad were ideal.

Well rested and a bit cooled down I came to my first official highlight of the day (although one has to admit that riding along the canals was already great. They seem to be less used, less well maintained than in The Netherlands which makes that they have lusher vegetation around or so it seemed.) Anyway, the first official highlight of the day what is this bridge construction in the middle of a forest that allows cyclists or pedestrians to get to the top of the canopy and then rush down again. “Fietsen door de bomen”: 

 

The first time I did it slowly, stopping for pictures. The second time in one go to enjoy breezing through the trees up and down. Very gentle slope indeed. 

In Wijchmaal I hit a cycling road through the more forest and followed it for 20 km. The cycling road actually is even longer, maybe 40 km. 

Along the way and right about the 75 km marker there was an other very relaxing cafe in the forest on the way, where I stopped for a homemade lemonade and a rhubarb cake. 

At the place where we finally left that cycle way, there was even some blooming heath: 

Admittedly I didn’t manage to capture it nicely. Essentially because it was a bit off limits for cyclists. 

Not too much later, and only 10 km from my accommodation for tonight, I reached the second official highlight of the day: “Fietsen door het water”

I had been here before (I think in 2019) with Matteo and a friend, but - crucially- without a bicycle.  On foot! Which actually was okay as well. 

From there it wasn’t too far to my B&B of the night in the nondescript village of Diepenbeek. One thing I noticed yesterday in Belgium is the lack of welcoming front gardens. Many people have big gardens in front of the house, but either just fill them up with pebble stones, or an often well manicured lawn, however without any flowers, trees or other vegetation. 

Compare that to houses in The Netherlands which often have very lush gardens, like this excellent specimen from Bilderdam:

 

TdE Day 1 Leiden - Hilvarenbeek

Route: Leiden - Gouda - Nieuwpoort - Gorinchem - Tilburg 

Distance: 123 km

Elevation: 149 m

Duration: 6:58

Average speed: 17.7 km/h

Weather: sunny, 25 C

Yesterday was my last working day, and already today my six week Tour d’Europe (TdE) started. Although in the morning I needed to try to send some parcels with all my office equipment back to my company, which DHL had not picked up yesterday. So the tour started with some delay, and the parcels are still at home because the DHL point at Hema could not take these parcels in. 

I had posted the ride on the Den Haag Meetup page, just in case someone wanted to tag along. And yes, an outdoor guide (Trekking and rafting in the Himalaya!) , Mukesh, wanted to come along. So we met up with a bit of delay at Leiden station and started the ride which should bring me about 2600 km through Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Luxemburg, if all goes per plan. Today it started with the first 120 km. 

From Leiden to Boskop, a route that I cycle frequently, but this time through some Boskop gardens. Then on into Gouda and after that we had our first stop at a bakery in Haastrecht. After that continued along a nice, winding small river, through a part of south Holland which is relatively remote, because it is not well served by trains. 

 After crossing the Lek by Schoonhoven, we had lunch in the small, old and very relaxing village of Nieuwpoort. 

We continued to Gorinchem and it became little by little hotter and hotter and my water supplies were running short so we needed to make a small (5km?) detour into Gorinchem where there is a public water fountain, before continuing through the landscape and for the first time in this trip leaving known roads! 

Still quite hot I wanted a break and a cool drink and we found a brewery in Almkerk. I got a big apple juice and Mukesh a locally brewed beer. Sitting in a nice garden in the shades of some trees was very relaxing and when we restarted also the actual temperature had come down sufficiently to be comfortable again. 

Continuing on we came to an other ferry, this time crossing the Bergsche Maas. Luckily it was open. I hadn’t realized in the planning stage that there was a ferry. 

We slowed down. Not sure if Mukesh was tired or if he thought I was tired. Anyway we cruised through the landscape and hit finally the Wilhelminakanal shortly before Tilburg. I knew that part from a previous ride I had done from Leiden to Tilburg (back then passing through Dordrecht) but what was really nice was the Kanal after Tilburg. 

A few km before our hotel we had to turn inland and around 20:30 we arrived. Didn’t have time for a shower before dinner but that allowed us to have a nice dinner in a surprisingly nice village. 

Going South - Day 2

Route: Veghel - Eindhoven 

Distance: 89 km

Elevation: 84m

Duration: 4:37

Average speed: 19.3 km/h

Weather: 18 C, cloudy but dry, sun only getting out when already in train

As my original plan to sleep in Eindhoven and then ride South from there into Belgium and Ride through the trees didn’t succeed yesterday, I was free for new plans today. And plans I made! 4 different options. Option 1 & 2 involved riding to Maastricht (or stopping a bit earlier in Roermond). Options 3 & 4 I came up this morning and were more centered in nice (or at least potentially nice) landscape and less in distance and getting as much to the South possible. This landscape decision was definitely a good one. Very varied landscape. Some riding along canals, some through agriculture landscape, a lot through nature reserve with either forests or heathlands. 

And not a single polder!!!  It wasn’t all landscape either. There was a nice, small (and private) castle as well.

 

It wasn’t a fast ride as there was quite some gravel involved but a very scenic ride. And definitely something I am going to repeat with people from the meetup group. At the right moment in time a small Biergarten appeared in the middle of a forest:

And , hey, I went as much to the South (and actually a few meters more) as current Corona restrictions allow:

Going South - Day 1

Route: Leiden - Veghel

Distance: 131 km

Elevation: 152 m

Duration: 5:52h

Average speed: 22.4 km/h

Weather: 17C, cloudy but dry, nice tailwind 

During the week the weather was finally fit for summer. Now on the weekend it got grey again, but at least no rain and reasonable temperature for cycling. So nothing to complain. 

After trying out my Apidura cycling bag over Pentecost for the first time, I gave it a new go this weekend. Originally I aimed to do my first century ride (I.e., 100 miles = 160 km)… but I started quite late (around 10:00) and although I had mostly tailwind, the last stretch I had planned from Den Bosch to Eindhoven would have had sidewind and in Den Bosch I was only at about 105 km. So riding an other 55 winding through the landscape didn’t sound attractive. Luckily I hadn’t booked any accommodation for the night yet (I had checked yesterday and it seemed that there was more than enough available in Eindhoven, so no hurry). So I repainted my ride and headed to Veghel instead. A surprisingly ugly, mid sized town, with a lot of industry. 

But open restaurants! 

I think today was the first day that restaurants in The Netherlands were again allowed to open indoors. 

On my way here I did however come through three nice small villages/cities. 

Schoonhoven

… Nieuwpoort…

.. and Woudrichem. 

Day 7 - Venlo - Deurne (Leiden -> Venlo trip)

Bicycle: 39 km

Train: 180 km

Riding time: 2:24 h
Total ascent: 78 m
Avg speed: 16.3 km/h
Route: Venlo - Deurne
Weather: Cloudy, headwind and drizzle (sometimes), 18 C

Yesterday I had reached my official and unofficial goal of this one week ride through the Netherlands. But today is Sunday. So one more day off before returning to work. 

My initial plan was to cycle towards Eindhoven and to take the train there. But already today in the morning it was clear that the wind would be against me and that potentially some rain could be coming my way too. So instead I followed a route back to Deurne, but on different paths than yesterday when I make the Deurne -> Venlo trip in the opposite direction. 

Out of Venlo I came through this strange park or maybe some kind of university campus. Not sure. 

After about 20 km, as usual, I had my first break. I found this bench alongside the way. As in the past days, I had brought some sandwiches from my breakfast. 

I have found that my ideal break schedule is to have a break approximately every 20 km. Sometimes it can be a rather short break. Other times longer. On this 7 day trip I actually always had sandwiches with me so didn't need to go to restaurants for lunch. Just for dinner. And unfortunately Dutch cuisine really isn't very good. I would say that apart from the breakfast in the B&B in Middelburg, I did never really have great, good food. Not even in the 4star hotel in Deurne. Probably yesterday evening in Venlo I could have had a chance, but I was tired and didn't want to go out for dinner. So just went to a Döner place close to the station (and the B&B) and ate in my room. Which was exactly what I wanted. 

But really I am missing the onsen. It is such a great invention to go off to an onsen after a day of riding. Relax in the waters and then have a hearty meal with a cold beer, before making the last few km to this nights accommodation. Pity onsen are not more widespread. 

After my lunch break today unfortunately it started to drizzle. Not strong enough to really call it rain. But still strong enough to get quiet wet. Shortly before crossing America... 

... I had briefly considered to go to the next railway station, which would have been only about 4 km away. But decided to continue in the rain/drizzle. Sometimes it stopped, sometimes it started again. Luckily on the last kilometers to Deurne station it had stopped and surprisingly although I had not donned my rain cape, my jersey and cycling shorts dried in time for my arrival at the train station, so I am not sitting in damp clothes here, but rather in smelly, sweaty ones. 

As a summary of 1 week cycling through the Netherlands, I can say: 

• Landscape is a bit boring, even though I noticed some differences. 
• Heavy headwind (as again today), isn't good fun 
• I should have made shorter daily trips to be able to do also some sightseeing. Yes, I like cycling, but 7 days nothing else but cycling and eating is a bit boring. Maybe a better idea is to look for 1 or 2 bases and ride around, including some sightseeing. 
• Even July can be cold. I hadn't brought my bicycle cap or cycling scarf, and both would have been nice (and are really lightweight) 
• Cycle touring with the brompton is also in the Netherlands comfortable. Due to Corona, bicycles were not allowed on trains. But folding bicycles were. As of 1st of July they changed the rules again, and now you can again bring a normal bicycle on the train, but need to reserve first. 

Day 6 - Deurne - Venlo (Leiden -> Venlo trip)

Bicycle: 62 km

Riding time: 3:41 h
Total ascent: 123 m
Avg speed: 17.3 km/h
Route: Deurne - Venlo
Weather: Cloudy, but no rain, 18 C

Today, after nearly 400 km of cycling, I reached Venlo, the official goal of this one week ride through the Netherlands. The unofficial goal however was a supermarket in Germany to get sweet mustard! 

The ride today was shorter than the other days, only about 50 km, plus an other 10 over into Germany and to the source of sweet mustard. 

The countryside had less forests, more farmland, but with fields. A lot of corn fields, some asparagus fields, but very little dairy pasture. It seems to be a part of the country with a lot of pig farms, but they are never allowed outside. 

Although it continuous to be mainly flat, it is not totally flat. But going over the boarder to Germany means climbing a hill with 3 - 4 % gradient. Something unseen in the Netherlands (with the exception of probably the Southern parts of Limburg). 

Although the wind is no longer blowing at force 6, it was still pretty windy, so finding a small hut for lunch, was nice. 

When cycling over to Germany, I expected some kind of indication on the boarder that one crosses into a different country. But there was absolutely nothing. Only the language on the signs changed. But yet, I managed to take a picture of poor brompton, yet again divided between 2 countries: 

 

Day 5 - Baarle-Nassau - Deurne (Leiden -> Venlo trip)

Bicycle: 72.9 km

Riding time: 4:18 h
Total ascent: 83 m
Avg speed: 16.9 km/h
Route: Baarle-Nassau - Deurne
Weather: Cloudy, a bit sun and no rain, 18 C

Today was a relatively eventeless ride from Baarle-Nassau to my second convent hotel in this trip. 

Less forests than yesterday, a few more fields and a long ride along a channel. 

The channel is quite similar to the Vliet channel that links Leiden with Den Haag and Delft. But with much less boat traffic. Obviously today was a weekday (Friday) so not many recreational boat riders but also not a single transport ship. So maybe this channel is now outdated for transport. 

Following the entire time the LF route would have resulted in a 84 km ride. But after so many km in my legs from the previous days, I had planned also a somewhat shorter version. Unfortunately that went right through Helmond and from there along a rather major road to Deurne. So the last 10/15 km weren't the nicest to ride. We are talking the Netherlands, so obviously there was ALWAYS a cycle path but even cycle paths alongside busy roads aren't really nice. But it brought me to my hotel a bit earlier so I had some rest time. But not enough time on catching up with the blog. This here I am writing while waiting for my dinner. But the blog post for Day 3 is still waiting to be even drafted. At least I got cleaned up the one for Day 4 in the afternoon. 

The shortcut through Helmond however brought me to these cube houses, by the same architect as the more famous ones in Rotterdam. 

Good thing tomorrow is a quite short ride. 55 km along hopefully scenic paths to Venlo. Actually if I would just take the shortest path, Venlo is only 36 km away. But no reason to cut things short tomorrow.