Holland / Netherlands

Ha ! could well have been me! Love Depijp!
Katsu coffee shop ftw!

Ha, it was definitely you, I was outside Cafe Flinck and you were locking up outside Katsu! I'll holler if I see you again.

This you may find useful/interesting. It's a list of "green" campsites in the Netherlands. Places where you can build a fire, if swimming nearby is possible, etc. It costs 15 euro per year to join, then you receive a book with a list of campsites and also the subscription allows you to use the campsites. Worth it imho:

http://www.natuurkampeerterreinen.nl/

Ha Ha! Yes Bro, very soon!

i still have the befamed/self styled "mutant" on duty there as well

Don't know if they will show Flanders, but the Volkskrant building /Hotel has a bar at the top with great views , great on a summers eve, one of my fav spots tbh

Thanks. Not going to get a chance to make it the Volksrant building sadly, looks lovely, especially with the amazing weather in Amsterdam at the moment.
Stumbled across the Rapha shop and watched Flanders in there.

If the couple who had the his n hers Koga Miayata's outside cafe de Laurierboom are on here, love your bikes

Just got back from my 4 days in Holland, between 50km and 100km each day at a leisurely pace. Weather was kind to me apart from 5 minutes of torrential rain/sleet as soon as I got off the ferry which completely soaked me through (had to change clothes under an awning in the ports carpark). Utrecht to Amsterdam was the most enjoyable leg, followed the Amstel river for quite a way stopping in villages for bread and cheese, blue sky all the way. Stayed in hostels in Rotterdam and Utrecht and rented a houseboat in Amsterdam as I figured I'd be sick of hostels at that point.

First bike tour and first solo holiday abroad and it all went pretty much without problems. Only minor issue was being told by the grumpy woman at harwich that I shouldn't have done rail and sail if I was bringing my bike as it had to be booked in as a vehicle. 15 minutes of computer faffing and £4 to amend my ticket and I was on my way.

Had the same issue with rail sail last year. You'd think they'd have done something about their comms by now to get the message across. But nope.

Yeah the woman at the port was moaning that cyclists do it all the time and she wished they'd read the website more carefully. I wanted to say that perhaps if it's a constant problem then maybe the website isn't clear enough but I just wanted to get on the damn boat so I politely smiled and nodded. Out of the 7-8 cyclists going through check-in with me, there was another bloke solo-touring who'd done the same thing as me and we gave each other naughty schoolboy smirks through the booth.

Also if anyone's planning to stay in Rotterdam I really recommend Hostel Ani & Haakien, safe and easy bike storage, brilliant staff and a nice communal atmosphere.

Am off to Harwich tomorrow night, 3 days of riding, a few breweries, maybe a rijstaffel. Lovely.

I've done this with the parents:

http://www.hollandcyclingroutes.com/long-distance-cycle-routes/zuiderzeeroute

Lots of small nice towns and some longer areas with cows/grass and herons/grebes/lapwings and other birdies. If you do it...try to plan the route so that you DO NOT have headwind on the big dyke (afsluitdijk) as that's 35 kms of pure windfighting then.

We got quite a bit of headwind, NL is windy.

Edam is lovely, and there are many super nice towns on the way. We did 50 miles a day, but you can also spread it out and stay in towns longer.

http://www.vriendenopdefiets.nl/en/ is 20 euro per night per person if you join. For the non campers (or KRampers as my da calls it) it's just fine. You get a bed and a basic breakfast.

Some places were great with superfriendly people and nice brekkie, some very basic with dry bread (ergh) but hey, a bed for 20euro a night, you can't complain really.

There are some non NL addresses these days too.

Yay!

Le Manfriend noted how quiet Amsterdam is and it's true. There are lots of tiny roads only suitable for cycles/one way roads, so the car is pushed to the margins resulting in a very quiet city compared to many other areas.

Maybe the cycling professor will note that too.

rode wijk an Zee to den helder loop today via castricum, egmonds , Bergen an zee , calaansoog etc , gravel, pave and path , headwind on way out , Garmin @unt died at 50 miles out , angry on way back so was faster with wind behind as well , beautiful blues in the sky today

Only chance I'll get to do my annual Dutch pilgrimage next year is first week in April (v strong chance we'll be relocating up north later in the year)...

I'm going to get drenched aren't I?

I went the first week of April this year. I got really lucky with the weather as I really wasn't prepared for the wet, only took a slightly waterproof jacket. There was a torrential hail/rain storm as soon as I got off the ferry that lasted for about 10 minutes, just enough to soak me as I waited to check out of the port, then it was dry and sunny for the following 4 days.

But yeah, if I did that again I'd plan to get rained on all the time.

yup - I went a couple of weeks after you and it was....character building. Day one was a wet old schlep up the LF1 (still great of course).

Hah, I did the same route North to South and it was nice enough to sit on the beach to eat lunch. Total dice-roll at that time of year.

That's me on for next trip the weekend of Paris roubaix (I know I could go to that but, nah, it's way grimmer round there if the weather is iffy). Might head a bit further north this time, see if I can catch some football too. (Or just do the usual of brutalist architecture and beer)

right, I'm off to that Holland on Thursday night

Nice long ride up the LF1 on Friday
De Molen in Bodegraven for lunch on Saturday

Need a recommendation for watching Paris-Roubaix on Sunday - anyone? can get to pretty much anywhere in Randstad

ride back down the LF1 on Monday (the last stretch on the path at the top of the dunes rather than the LF1 itself is usually a highlight of the trip - views are glorious and it's generally empty)

Tip for anyone just off the ferry in Hoek. About 10 miles up the LF1 there's a newish cafe called coffee and bikes in Kijkduin. Lovely coffee.

Anyone know much about Wagenengen/Nijmegen/Arnhem?

no expert on routes, it's very nice there, national park Veluwe is great, and there's some hilly bits near Nijmegen. any specific wishes? I know people in or near all towns you mention so could get you some tips