8 - 11 May
- Port of Rotterdam to Rotterdam: 35km (train from Rotterdam to Breda)
- Breda to 's-Hertogenbosch: 55km
- 's-Hertogenbosch to Nijmegen: 49km
My route through south Holland was dictated by where my Dutch friends live. So I spent nights in three small cities: Breda, 's-Hertogenbosch (or just Den Bosch to us in the know), and Nijmegen. All were nicely old and very European. The more I've seen of the rest of the world, the more I've learnt to appreciate Europe. It was good to be back.
And it was very good too to catch up with Milou, Eward, Inge, Roel and Chantal, to try their favourite Dutch foods, and to get my first experience of being a cyclist in a very cycling-friendly country. Not only does Holland have bike lanes everywhere and motorists who are often cyclists themselves, but it has amazing facilities too, like 24-hour guarded garages where you can lock your bike.
Such facilities are especially important because together with the high number of bikes in Holland comes a high rate of bicycle theft. A young guy cycled alongside me for 20 minutes one day. We chatted about the usual topics that you talk about when you meet someone from Holland: football (he watched the 2010 World Cup Final in prison); drugs (although he was cycling to his friend's house to smoke a joint, he opposed the recent change in the law that stops non-Dutch residents from smoking in coffee shops because now instead he and his friends sell drugs to foreigners on the streets); and cycling (he casually told me that he had just stolen the bike he was cycling). Even though I stated my disapproval of the theft, we remained on friendly terms. Indeed, he cycled for five minutes past this destination to help me find the bike path. Nice to know that even drug-dealing bicycle thieves have a good side.
Of course, a major attraction to cycling in Holland is that it is flat. I certainly appreciated not having to slowly slog up steep hills. However, without uphill climbs you can't have downhill free-wheeling, but maybe that is getting a bit too philosophically deep for this simple travel blog.
And it was very good too to catch up with Milou, Eward, Inge, Roel and Chantal, to try their favourite Dutch foods, and to get my first experience of being a cyclist in a very cycling-friendly country. Not only does Holland have bike lanes everywhere and motorists who are often cyclists themselves, but it has amazing facilities too, like 24-hour guarded garages where you can lock your bike.
Such facilities are especially important because together with the high number of bikes in Holland comes a high rate of bicycle theft. A young guy cycled alongside me for 20 minutes one day. We chatted about the usual topics that you talk about when you meet someone from Holland: football (he watched the 2010 World Cup Final in prison); drugs (although he was cycling to his friend's house to smoke a joint, he opposed the recent change in the law that stops non-Dutch residents from smoking in coffee shops because now instead he and his friends sell drugs to foreigners on the streets); and cycling (he casually told me that he had just stolen the bike he was cycling). Even though I stated my disapproval of the theft, we remained on friendly terms. Indeed, he cycled for five minutes past this destination to help me find the bike path. Nice to know that even drug-dealing bicycle thieves have a good side.
Of course, a major attraction to cycling in Holland is that it is flat. I certainly appreciated not having to slowly slog up steep hills. However, without uphill climbs you can't have downhill free-wheeling, but maybe that is getting a bit too philosophically deep for this simple travel blog.
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