Holland / Netherlands

Just back from our mini-tour of the North Sea route; I'm sure the other half will post his impressions at some point, so I'll just add:

• the Stayokay hostels generally have good secured bike parking - keycard entry sheds with fairly basic racks. If you lock your bike up at all, it's more secure than 70% of the bikes in Holland already.
  
• nicely stocked bike shop in Haarlem, Bike Planet (website in Dutch), worth a look if you're passing.
  
• watch out for mopeds on the bike paths. My one scary moment came when I was doing a fairly stupid overtake on a bend and nearly crashed into one headfirst. My bad, but still... mopeds?
  
• If you get the Stena Line overnight ferry, take earplugs. The wakeup call is blasting 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' on the tannoy at 5.30am. Bastards.