Sliding into the Netherlands!

Sliding into the Netherlands! - September 04

What a wet morning! I didn't hear any rain in the night but my tent was all wet when I woke up. It was a chilly grey morning and I packed up as quickly as could, stopped by the office to pay for the camping spot and set off. Haselünne was a nice small town but I didn't stay long, instead continuing directly towards Lingen and Nordhorn. The sun came out as the day progressed, which made the windy bike paths through town more enjoyable. Unbelievable how courteous drivers are, always yielding to cyclists at crossings! At Nordhorn I stopped for lunch and had a pizza while watching coverage on the German news about the latest developments in Fukushima. Things aren't getting any better, and it seemed as if the organisers of the Olympics had concerns about this in relation for Tokyo's bid for 2020. It turned out that the pizza shop was only about 500m from the border, and I crossed at one of the most delightful border crossings I've ever seen! It was a dirt bike path that continued from Germany to the Netherlands, with only a couple of poles (the kind you see to prevent cars entering the bike path) designating the border. My favourite part was the slide! They had set up a little slide right there so that you could climb up on the German side, and slide down into the Netherlands! Naturally I had to try it out :) Entering the Netherlands the landscape didn't change much, but it was very clear that I was in a new country. The street signs were of course different, but also just the feeling of the road, and the look and organisation of buildings was different. I passed through some smaller villages before getting to Almelo right as school was letting out for the day. I met packs of 50 or so school kids riding towards me, many hooting and hollering and offering up high fives! It was a bit tricky finding my way out of Almelo but then followed the N350 from Wierden through Rijssen. Outside of Rijssen I began to hit the wall. Nine straight days of distance cycling was catching up with me and I wasn't feeling too great. I took a break in a small wooded area, had a banana, and after about 15 minutes set off again. Entering Deventer there was quite a bit of traffic, and it was a bit disturbing how ruthless the Bromfietsers can be. (The scooters that share the bike paths). It's a bit crazy that they let scooters going 50km/h+ share the paths with little kids riding home from school. Deventer though was a beautiful city! I passed along the outskirts of the centre past the Rijsterborgherpark to a northerly neighbourhood where my next host from warmshowers.org lived. Jos greeted me happily and showed me up to the room where I'd be staying on the top floor. Jos and his wife live in a beautiful older town home with typical narrow steep stairs. The view from my room at the top of the tall house was wonderful, with a church bell tower nearby always letting me know what time it was! I had dinner with Jos and his wife in their backyard under the grape vines, with them telling me fun stories about their travels on their tandem, their friend who they'd visited in Texas once, and other travellers they'd hosted before. We had a delicious plum pie for desert before I headed up to bed and fell asleep to the chiming of the church bells.

The slide crossing into the Netherlands!

No border patrol here - that's the Netherlands beyond the poles

Exhausted but happy on the way to Deventer

Eindelijk thuis bij mijn zus! - September 05

It was difficult to sleep so I woke up tired. I think knowing that the tour is almost complete makes me restless so it wasn't a great night despite the comfortable bed. I had a quick breakfast with Jos and made myself a sandwich for the road, it was fun seeing him enjoy a Hagelslag sandwich which is what I often have when I'm visiting the Netherlands! Before leaving town I spent about an hour wandering the streets of central Deventer. All the shops were still closed, but it was nice having the streets and squares mostly to myself. Deventer has some wonderful older buildings spared from bombings unlike many German towns, and as Deventer was part of the Hanseatic league it was obvious that they'd had some money to spend on beautiful architecture. Leaving Deventer I crossed the river IJssel into Gelderland and was soon in Apeldoorn. The ring road largely bypassed the town and I was soon instead climbing the hills of the Veluwe ridge. I hadn't expected hills like this in the Netherlands! I was feeling sluggish and a bit tired, also with it being an unusually hot day for September my going was slow. I did though get to ride down one of the longest comfortable descents I'd ever experienced. Almost 2km of just comfortable cruising straight ahead past beautiful forests! After Veluwe I was back in familiar territory with pancake flat landscapes passing little villages and farms all the way to Amersfoort. I was getting close so I didn't stop in town but got a nice tour of the city as I unknowingly took a detour through town. The last section of my ride I rode mainly from memory, passing Soesterberg and heading towards Den Dolder before turning in to Bosch en Duin! When I arrived home only my brother-in-laws mother was home but she gave me a big hug and set out a bowl of noodle soup for me! My sister was out and my nieces and nephews were still in school, so took a dip in the pool and relaxed. 10 days of riding and I'd made it down from Sweden to Holland! Now to spend some time here before heading back to the United States and touring portions of the east coast!

The view from my penthouse suite!

Beautiful morning in central Deventer

Attacking umbrellas in Deventer

Happiness will gladly enter a home where love and harmony reign :)

Arrived to the Forest and the Dunes!

Some stats from Stockholm to the Netherlands:

Number of days cycling: 14

Total distance: 1577km / 980 miles

Average per day: 112km / 70 miles

Total ascent: about 12,000 meters

Flats: Just 1!

Breakdowns: Just once a shaky front wheel hub that was tightened!