Biking back to Amsterdam

With a long day ahead and no sign of the temperatures getting any cooler, we rolled out onto the trail as the sun was still coming up.



An hour or so later we enjoyed a lovely breakfast in Spakenburg, on a bench by the old boats.

Great excitement came later on, when we discovered that we needed to get a ferry across a small river. It was the bargain price of one euro and was about to leave as we arrived. No time was wasted and it pulled away from the river bank seconds after we'd come aboard.





Then came a forested section which felt really different to everything that we'd seen so far. It also provided some welcome shelter from the strong headwind that we had been up against all morning!



This took us to an old fortress at Naarden, which was guarded by many moats, which when viewed from above (or in our case, the map), made a pretty almost symmetrical pattern.



We had lunch here in the form of cheese and cucumber rolls, eaten under a tree, by the water's edge. A little lie down on the tarp also helped to replenish the energy levels. Leaving Naarden, we had a really fast section as a group of cyclists on e-bikes were trying to catch us up. We clunked into top gear and gave them a good run for their money over an 8km section, before stopping for another coffee break at Muiden.



A cushion covered bench in the shade provided the rest we needed after the un-official race.



And in any case, we had to stop, while some boats were let though the swing bridge we'd stopped by. Three 'swings' later, we decided we should probably get going again...



There really are some marvelous bike about. This one seemed to the choice of the connoisseur parent.



We were both pretty tired by now, but still had a final 15km to go to make it back to Amsterdam.



There was much delight and rejoicing when we arrived into the city centre and a serious sense of relief to be out of the fast-flowing city bike traffic. Down by a canal, we pulled over onto the edge of a busy bar and ordered some celebratory beers.



We'd made it - over 400km of travel around the so called 'Golden Circle of the Zuiderzee.



Just around the corner of the bar was the bike shop, where we returned the hired bikes.



We stopped the GPS unit at 72.14km. A big day for us!



All that was left was to strip the bikes of our panniers, which tucked away into our big bag, which the bike store had been storing for us. They looked after it while we walked around the block for more drinks and a big feed. We returned a few hours later, picked up our gear and took a bus to the airport. Just like that, we were done.

Kampen to the Nuidernauw - Cycling in the heat

If we had more time, today would have been the kind of day where we would have changed our plans and had a day relaxing by exerting no energy and staying close to the sea side. The heatwave is in full effect but we had a schedule to keep to. We’d just have to sweat!

We did however, set off fully fuelled up for the day with a great breakfast which turned out to be included in our stay. After some croissants, ham, cheeses, breads, fruit, yogurt and musli I couldn’t bring myself to try the chocolate sprinkles on bread which we’d noticed a few people eating for breakfast a few days ago. Apparently it’s a thing. 

We set off into the cool of the morning feeling well rested, well fed and strong legged.

Bikes really are the vehicle of choice here - even in the most unlikely of scenarios. 

We kept up the pace all morning and found ourselves on the town of Harderwijk by midday. Nice place. 



It was too hot to stay in the town square, so we lunched here on ice cream and chips followed by a snooze in the park under the shade of a tree. 



Then left town via more cobbled streets. For such a nation of cyclists, you’d think that they wouldn’t really be up for paving roads, but it seems as popular as tarmac from what we’ve seen. 



A final stretch by the water, got us to our hotel by 3:30pm. Our earliest finish yet and we were pleased to have arrived as it’s certainly been the hottest day of riding that we’ve ever done. 



The hotel is a rather fancy one which has its pros and cons. Good news, was that the rooms are air conditioned, which is a total saviour. The rest of the hotel is swealtering 
and outside boardering on unbearable. We went for a very short walk down to the waters edge, but had to return to the confines of the a/c. 

In the evening, we tried to get some food at the hotel restaurant, but it was really expensive and way too hot to be able to enjoy it. After a quick rummage through the panniers, we did a stock take of our supplies and managed to rustle up a pretty decent meal ourselves in the cooler air. There was a big rumble of thunder before bed, but no rain here.

Lemmer to Kampen

It’s been a frazzling day to be outside. The heat has been doing its best to try and zap our energy levels at every peddle turn. The sea however has been delightfully invitingly, cool and calm. 

The day has been roughly broken into sections of cycling along an almost deserted coastal path, interspersed with stops for getting in to the sea once body temperatures reached critical levels again.

On one straight section, the cycle path seemed to vanish in to the haze of the heat and without points of reference it was hard to tell if we were making any progress, until we got to a section of wind turbines.





We had a brief cafe stop in Erk, but it was too hot to stay still. At least we created a breeze by cycling.



Every time we stopped, it had to be in the shade or else it felt like we might spontaneously combust or simply wilt in the heat. Before the final section to Kampen, we had an essential lay down and a feed in a farmers garden by the road side. It was becoming an endurance event and the outcome was uncertain...



Sweaty and tired we eventually made it to the beautiful town of Kampen at 17:15. The last section as we crossed the bridge into the old quarter almost finished me off, as there was a traffic light which made us wait for what felt like an eternity in the full sun. There was nowhere to hide!



Our B&B lodging for the night is in a very old house near the town gate. It’s kind of an ancient attic room, but some how on the ground floor. It had a cold shower and we wasted no time in getting in. 



Once refreshed, we strolled onto the old town square and got some food to re-fuel, followed shortly after by an ice cream at a nice bar with views of the church - which has a cow hanging from the bell tower?....



Total Ride: 63km

Total Sweat loss: 10,000 litres

Makkum to Lemmer - Heatwave Riders

The heat is on! As we wheeled out from our industrial unit at 9am, it was already 20 degrees. 

After discovering a broken spoke on Clare’s bike, we did some running repairs with a sticky plaster and rode out of town over several pretty bridges.

We followed the coast, heading south and would have stopped at Hindeloopen as it was really nice, but decided it was too early. Our legs still felt like peddling. 



Later on we discovered a good looking swimming area, so cooled off where some boats were moored, with, as it turned out, naked crews! 

As recommended by Nancy, Applecake and coffee gave us a perk up at the next town - Stavoren.

Followed by further swims. It was impossibly hot, so only biking (and therefore creating a little breeze) or being in the water provided any respite. Amazing to think it was only 15degs and raining here last week! How lucky!

A final road section saw us into the town of Lemmer. Somewhat out of character of what we’ve seen so far, the beach at Lemmer was packed with people, a circle tent was up, music was blaring and litter everywhere. It was holiday carnage! We skirted what we could and made our way into the equally busy town centre, where we found the directions to our house for the night.

In contrast, it was a little haven of quiet and tranquility. 

Showered and freshened up, we cooked up some great food and enjoyed the evening in our own private garden away from the madness, which we were too tired to return to even if we’d wanted to! 

Total Ride: 62km

Medemblik to Makkum via Bike & Bus

Started out along the long and not so winding road! Nearly twenty kilometres in a perfectly straight line. Really peaceful way to start the day.

Saw Lamas on the dyke...



At Den Oever there was a fishing festival going on and we soon found ourselves having a look around a trawler. Random but kinda fun.



All the boats had flags and flowers on them.



And naturally, there was plenty of fish on sale.





None of it looked particularly edible to me though!?





There was also a very entertaining old fashioned motor-bicycle race. 



We rode through the town, which had been completely enveloped by the festival. 





Then we came across some disappointing news - that turned out to be a lucky break. Bad news: The road was closed to cyclists! Good news, they’d put on a free bus for us!

We were supposed to be crossing a mega dyke/dam. It’s nearly 30km long! (See below). 

You can just make it out in the satellite photo, linking the east and west side of the water (top middle). The bus took us about 20km across to beyond the road works, saving us a lot of effort.

It was so hot, that after a look around the visitors centre, we had to get in the water. Although we had both fancied the challenge of cycling the dam, it would have been super hot and noisy next to the busy duel carriage way. 

With the extra time we had, we went swimming! 

All cooled off, we crossed the remainder of the dam and past a little village called Zurich which had us smile. 

In town, we found shade and ice creams before locating the night’s accommodation.

It was one of the strangest places we’ve ever stayed - lots of little cabins, inside an industrial unit! 

Still, we were happy to be out of the sunshine, so put out feet up on the indoor outdoor terrace. 

There was also an outdoor patio area out back, so we cooled up some good food and rested in the shade.

Total Ride: 63.3km (with about 20 of that by bus!).