Of course there are windmills along the route.
6000 Dutch cyclists, some very expensive road bikes, an awful lot of bananas, boxes of krentenbollen (currant buns), thousands of litres of sports drink, several tonnes of penne bolognaise at the finish and, for us, a little over five hours in the saddle…the 6th annual Classico Boretti ride. Continue reading
Filed under Cycling
Riding with the wind for a change.
This island is 20 kilometres long, 10 kilometres wide and has more than 135 kilometres of cycle paths. It’s not hard to guess which country we’re talking about.
Texel, the most southerly of the Dutch Wadden Islands, is flat. Mostly. Continue reading
Filed under Cycle touring, Cycling
It is a historic day in the Netherlands. Queen Beatrix announced she will abdicate in favour of her son after a 33 year reign. This is in line with Dutch tradition, the Netherlands does not have a tradition that the monarch rules until death. So on April 30th 2013, the Netherlands will have a new head of state: King Willem-Alexander.
Part of Hans Brinker’s advertising campaign.
Brag about your worst hotel experiences and you establish yourself as an intrepid traveller, a courageous citizen of the world.
Amsterdam’s Hans Brinker Budget Hotel is playing up its credentials as the world’s worst accommodation, hoping to attract the brave, the curious and those looking for an impressive traveller’s tale.
Could it really be as bad as the website suggests? Continue reading
Filed under Budget travel, Holland
The long and windy road, and nothing else between Emmen and Roswinkel.
We arranged a final (for this year) farewell family gathering in a village in Drenthe, and my brother-in-law Hans suggested riding the bikes would be the best way to get there. That suited me fine. Drenthe is a super cycling destination.
Drenthe, in the north of the Netherlands on the German border, does not offer a lot of organised entertainment. They make some fuss about Kabouterland (‘Gnome Land’) though those of us over five find it a bit childish. It’s in the village of Exloo, which English speakers think is an amusing place name, but that’s where the fun ends.
Yet Drenthe is a very popular holiday destination for Dutch people. The main reason is that the cycling is brilliant – thousands of kilometres of quiet, flat, well-surfaced country roads and bike paths, through fields and forests, past thatched farmhouses and pretty villages. Continue reading
Filed under Cycle touring, Holland
Everybody is welcome, everybody is fine, even those who are not gay are happy.
But the highlight as ever was the Canal Boat Parade. Continue reading
Filed under Holland
