Holland / Netherlands

Here are some notes from a ride I did back in May 2017 that we called the Tour of the Low Countries or Four Countries in One Day

Starting from Epsom just outside south London the plan was for a massive loop taking us across to France then into Belgium and Holland where we caught the overnight ferry back to Harwich and then rode back home to London

Distance: 550 km over three days

Day 1
Late on a Thursday evening in April having commuted home from a day's work in Canary Wharf we left my house on the edge of Greater London at 23.00 for an overnight ride to Dover.

We arrived in Dover circa 05-30 Friday morning and found a petrol station with a Costa Coffee bar to give us a caffeine buzz to wake us up. My contact lenses were feeling dry and gritty and I was shivering in the dawn light as we queued up with the cars and articulated lorries in Dover harbour.

It's a short two hour crossing from Dover to Dunkirk and we had booked ourselves into the Premier lounge for some peace and quiet, free coffee and pastries, USB charging ports and comfortable chairs to stretch out and catch some zzzz's.

All too soon we arrived in Dunkirk and navigated ourselves out of the port and onto familiar roads as we had tackled this particular section 12 months earlier on another trip.

We had ridden overnight in England, landed in France and ridden into Belgium and I was starting to feel it in my legs and my head after the previous day's work in the office, the missing of a night's sleep and the 265km we had tackled as we crossed the border into Holland for our fourth country in one day.

Sluis is one of the first towns you come across in Holland and after a quick meal my head hit the pillow at 21-00 and I was asleep before the lights were out for a glorious 12 hours sleep.

Day 2
Saturday morning in a small town in Holland and this was the fun section of the route as we joined the North Sea Route and crossed bridges, dykes and sea inlets in a series of ferries mixed in with some gravel type trails heading towards the Hook of Holland. There are cafe's galore en route and at the various ferry terminals and we hit the caffeine and waffles hard.

Fortunately the famed coastal winds were either low or in our backs and we made good time arriving early evening for loading onto the overnight ferry to Harwich.

The overnight ferry booking includes a cabin and again after filling our faces with carbs in the onboard restaurant the lights went out as the ferry chugged it's way slowly westwards across the North Sea. I didn't sleep particularly well, perhaps because of the movement of the ferry or perhaps because of all the caffeine and sugar taken on board during the day but I had a restless night.

Day 3
Another bright but chilly morning as we disembarked in a bleak looking Harwich at 06:00 on a Sunday morning and headed westwards in the quiet country lanes of Essex.

A couple of hours into the route and we arrived in Colchester and were queuing outside a Cafe Nero waiting for it to open to get our fix.

After the poor night's sleep on the ferry, the continuing input of caffeine and sugar and the continuous turning of the pedals my mind was feeling fuzzy to say the least. I was awake but not particularly aware of what was going on.

This was fine for the quiet backwaters of Essex but as we entered London we hit the mean streets of Stratford, Bow and Mile End. After the wide open spaces and laid back approach of the previous few days I was struggling.

We had intended to ride through London and head south on our familiar cycle commute but we had both had enough of the traffic, the huge volume of people enjoying a sunny Sunday and the familiar broken glass on the cycle routes and so we headed to London Waterloo for the 30 minute train back to Surrey with yes, another coffee in our hands.

So a tough end to the trip but this was an epic ride and looking back on it now the memories are amazing,

Day 1 to Dover https://www.strava.com/routes/28714939
Day 1 Dunkirk to Sluis https://www.strava.com/routes/28714991
Day 2 Sluis to Hook of Holland https://www.strava.com/routes/28715090
Day 3 Harwich to London Waterloo https://www.strava.com/routes/28715138

Here's some GoPro footage I edited consisting mainly of the Dutch section of the trip although there is a bit of France and Belgium in there too.

In Hell I'll Be in Good Company