Holland / Netherlands

@mr_bang and I are touring fixed gear from Copenhagen to Amsterdam these days. Let me know if you wanna hang out! We expect to arrive around friday.

1 Attachment

Is Amsterdam the endpoint of your destination?

those look like utility bikes alright!;)

Yes, it is. We're in Hamburg tonight.

Maybe another Copenhagener and I are going further to Brussels next week - but not 100% right now.

Ah ok. Don't know how saturday goes, might be able to go to Amsterdam in the evening. Otherwise sunday is an option. I'm near Rotterdam, more to the south.

Going to Utrecht next week and getting the ferry from Harwich for the first time. Does anyone have experience with the trains from Liverpool St to Harwich? My ferry is not till 11pm and I need to check-in 45 minutes beforehand.

One train gets me there there at 10:17pm but that feels risky as it's non-direct and I am cutting very close. The closest direct train gets me there at 9pm but that means spending two hours waiting unless there is fun to be had in Harwich town?

Also any suggestions for places to cycle to and from Utrecht if I've got 4 days to kill in the middle of my trip.

You can get on the boat from about 7pm I think. Restaurants, bars etc. on board. Many laughs to be had with eastern truckies.

You can smash it up to Amsterdam on the canal from Utrecht - I forget how far but it's an easy day trip. Rotterdam a similar distance - ride south out of Utrecht and find the road along the river Lek and go west.

Amsterdam and Rotterdam are easy to do on the bike. You can also check out Gouda which is near Utrecht and have some stroopwafels and cheese.

+1 for Gouda. Lovely ride across the Polder to get there.

Did a some of this last week… make sure you get a train early as my early one was canceled and had to get a later one. Like owlz says, you can get on early and hang about on the boat. Its kind of worth it because you're paying for a cabin that you can only really use for few hours. Amsterdam is on 45k from Utrecht, and check out Lf4 cycle route, from Utrecht, which is pretty nice. If you cycle the coast at all, make sure you're going North, the wind was pretty epic when I went!

I may be too late but ride up the big canal to bodegraven and eat at de molen brewery. The beer is amazing and the foods pretty great too.

@porkypie thank you for the trip, made a detour on my way to Rotterdam only to discover that it's closed most of this month for maintenance :-( Luckily it was only a small detour.

The winds over here are really strong right now, after two hours of riding against 40km/h headwinds I had to jump on the train as I was behind schedule.

Spending a few days in Holland at the end of the month. Does anyone have a good route for cycling from Amsterdam to the Hook? Probably going to stop for lunch and a wander in The Hague. Looks like the logical route is Hoofddorp -> Leiden -> Hague -> Hook. Strava autoroute gives me the comedy option of following the coast all the way which looks a bit too off-road. Getting an overnight ferry back so I've got all day to pootle down if there's places worth stopping to see.

@Colonel_of_Truth It's actually a really really nice route down the coast (providing the wind gods aren't against you), it goes through sand dunes but it's a dedicated bike path most of the way (certainly not offroad). I'd recommend going Amsterdam -> Haarlem -> Zandvoort then straight down the coast going through Noordwijk, Katwijk, Den Haag, then finally to the Hook. If it's sunny, that's a great day.

It's all signposted so you barely need to plan. You can though plan a route online and follow the 'knoopunten' and follow the numbers. Green routes are more picturesque / quieter. http://www.fietsen.123.nl/pagina/falkplanrouteplanner

@Tijs may have a better idea!

sorry this link https://www.route.nl/routeplanner

though planning isn't essential

@Tijs may have a better idea!

Are you my secret stalker? :o

@Colonel_of_Truth : I would ride to Noordwijk and then through the dunes all the way to The Hague. It's all on road and super easy and nice; I ride it all the time!

Ah cool, yeah I figured there would be cycle paths along that way but google maps doesn't give much away. First time cycling outside of the UK so I've been planning routes but I fully expect to abandon them and just follow signposts.

The cycling routes are very well indicated by the signs like you said, so you should be good.

Like everyone else, I recommend to just follow the coast line. Last time I did that route, the roads were smooth and easy to follow and it's a nice interval training :)

Dilemma. I'm planning a Amsterdam-Dieppe tour in May/June and debating whether to take a Lock.

On the one hand, it's pretty safe out there, and I'll be cycling with a friend so we can take it in turns going into shops etc.

On the other there is something nice about just locking up and forgetting about your bike for a little while.

It's a light weight tour: tarp, dry sack on handlebars etc. So a lock does add a significant weight. But I do want to enjoy the off-the-bike time.

Help me decide, opinions please.

Take one, it gives you freedom to move, especially in urban areas. Plus you'll get stronger along the way and probably won't notice the extra weight after riding for a day or two :)

l'eroica Valkenburg this year!

I've managed to arrange another trip this year, going in 5 weeks - my usual harwich variation for a long weekend. This time I'll try to get to as many breweries as possible (am thinking het uiltje, de molen and kaapse) as well as possibly catching a Feyenoord match (it fits the schedule best) on the Saturday night. Can't bloody wait, especially as I've barely got in the bike this year.

come to Limburg one day earlier and join the 'mannen van staal' retro ride ;)

https://www.facebook.com/events/1710147009231745/