Author: Simon Tobi

Another pretty route to Vorden which included this ancient watermill (see pics) plus my 4th landmark pic in front of an ancient /14th century farmstead called Bomelas!Met up with my brother-in -law David and his wife Maggie in Vorden. David is accompanying me for a few days til Sunday.

Any patch of stagnant water is accompanied by a frog chorus in these parts !

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With David on our way to Arnhem, we met our first sustained climbs – a complete 320m of inclines ! But before that , we called in on a classic car showroom – not a museum but an actual dealership . 1970 Porche -yours for £150k .The Maserati – considerably more ! Made it to a generic  city hotel in zarnhem and did the Arnhem Bridge museum – Operation Market Garden in Sep ‘44 undone by too many Germans unexpectedly still around! They just didn’t give up !

David told me the cycle way was blocked – that’s bullocks I said !

Left what was a rather quiet B&B in Hardenberg to continue on forest trails. Our British expectation of a B&B breakfast involves the owner taking your order for a fryup and generally being hospitable . This was a solo breakfast with scrambled egg on toast left on a small heater -no sign of human life ( except me) ! Oh well – I did knock on before leaving to explain that I may have broken the filter coffee machine 🙁.

The usual desperate search for a coffee at around 11am led me to a cafe with an open door . Hooray ! But no, was told it opened at midday “ when church finished” pointing to the service opposite . A frustrating morning navigation -wise with a few forest tracks that didn’t exist and trying to escape a couple of towns en route .
Arrived at a rather posh looking hotel at Ootsmarsum – average age of clientele 110 . I obviously dropped it to 107. The town was rather twee – famous for its artists evidently but it did have a brewery plus bar 👍

Pint at the brewery at Ootmarsum; traditional amusing place name; some very large thatched bldgs!

Next morning off to Hengelo via more forests and passing through the impressive university campus of Enchede followed by the magnificent vista of FC Twente’s stadium ! No statue of Steve McLaren but did chat to two lads who worked at the cafeteria !

This is where I stayed in Hengelo . A disused water tower that a couple is renovating . A lot of work still to do but my room was funky ) /sorry forgot internal photo 🤷‍♂️. They’ve kept the industrial feel inside . Otherwise Hengelo is a low- rise functional kind of place – certainly not the wealthiest part of the Netherlands . I hope they can make the water tower work -need to attract punters to Hengelo !

So an easy exit from Groningen and the landscape quickly changes to forestttscks – very attractive with a variety of campsites. However after passing through Borger, I carry on a bit further west to Schonloo. The hotel faces a roundabout so more Motel but takes some time to get a beer after being redirected from my outside seat which is evidently reserved . Forget to say that 3rd landmark photo is bagged – a clump of ancient stones called Dolmen ( No19 in the area to be precise). Took a bit of finding off main route.

The next morning, some furious pedalling through more forest tracks and across grassland – some weekend cyclists out in full kit all looking like Chris Hoy and slowing down for no-one ! Also some people out jogging apparently miles from anywhere – how did they get there ??? I’m missing something . So Saturday is approaching scorchio and I wince when I see an another bit of open exposed road cutting across a field ahead of me . Through uninspiring Emmen and Coevorden to the modern looking town of Hardenburg . Set on a waterway – it’s neat with lots of functional low rise housing but all well-cared for . People are out at bars / restaurants on a Sat nite enjoying themselves so who am I to judge. ( OK – I already have done ).

Big field of spinach ??

Lazy cows

Interesting menu item .,

Dolmen No. Nnnnnnineteen

19!

So decided to make an early start from the campsite ( 8am) feeling very self-riteous ! As if to mock me, the wind was howling ! I had to battle to get across the area of water known as Lauwersmeer via the dyke . But having crossed , I seemed to leave the isolated Friesland behind me . Everything seemed more developed. I then veered south across a national park – plenty of bird life although efforts to snap some have eluded me .

A word about refreshment opportunities (certainly in this part of the Netherlands) eg .coffee/ lunch . There aren’t many of them . I’ve seen more closed cafs than a deserted Eastenders set . Anyway , screeched to a halt at a museum this morning to get a coffee from a local lady and found an honesty booth for lunch .
Carried on battling wind , wending my way round fields and crossing canals . Please note the aesthetically pleasing electricity pylons – if we need more in UK to ferry our renewable energy about , can’t we buy them of this supplier please .
And then , the buildings of Groningen loom into view . Suddenly cycling traffic increases 1000% – everyone completely certain they’ll never collide with anyone . I have to say the Komoot directions are brill – get me to the overnight stay easily – admittedly a rather anonymous NH hotel but I’m tired and it’s fine . Step out to wander around – completely student city . Another observation, by no means all roads in Groningen have cycle lanes and yet loads of bikes and buses and cars co-exist apparently patiently( Need to check accident rates however !) . It does strike me if a large volume of cyclists exists , motorists adapt and are just more careful 🤷‍♂️.

Took us a little while to leave the suburbs of Alkmaar – when you leave a town you often discover it’s bigger than you thought ! ie not just the historic centre you spent the previous night in . Back to some duny landscape along the coast with a fair bit of cycling traffic , this being a Bank holiday Monday in the Netherlands. Few Bank holiday riders also ! Another mechanical problem with a loose pedal for one of our team that would have to wait for a cycle shop the next day. After some competitive hill racing from recently retired lawyer (I promised not to name you , …..,Angus 🙄) – well OK smallish undulations -to try and destroy me with 18 days yet to go, we arrived in the unremarkable outskirts of Den Helder . Got better as we arrived at the quirky hotel along a waterway with beer and food just opposite – perfect ! Rooms at the top of steep stairs – a feature in this country with tall narrow buildings . An emotional dinner as I bade farewell to my friends who obviously had had enough after 3 days . Ha! In fact most faced an arduous cycle back to Haarlem west of Amsterdam – longer than my stint next day .

The arty Hotel de Werf had a record player plus some albums in each room so some pics below show some of the eclectic selection available -some well known , others less so .. With reference to trawler pic with seagulls following , I was just looking for Eric Cantona to complete the picture !

After much promised quizzes and jollity on the party boat that is the Hull to Rotterdam ferry , we retired to bed at a civilised 11pm. Some to a standard and some to an upmarket cabin with minibar and a porthole! The following day started in a rush to breakfast on the ferry with my phone ( no signal) not registering the time as an hour ahead ! Needn’t have worried as my cycling buddies were later and there was plenty of time for a healthy fry-up!

The first bit of the route away from the ferry port did not bode well for the start of this adventure . Heavy rain ! We stopped after a short ferry hop ( Rozenburg- Massluis) for a coffee feeling a bit bedraggled and cold. Two minutes after resuming , the shout went up – puncture! Oh dear – one of my friends , Karen, had some bad luck . Saving some time trying to fix it ourselves , a cycle shop 1min away obliged !
Once in The Hague, we asked around for a lunch stop and a Turkish kebab place came up trumps .

View from Rozenburg to Massluis ferry

Weather improved in afternoon as we wended our way through the
Hague finally emerging into the coastal dunes . That made for some considerable relief ! After an ice cream stop , we arrived at Nordwijk , our first stage and dispersed to our different accommodation . Our first round of drinks on Sat evening apparently free due to an “ admin” error !

Two panniers packed ready for 3 weeks of pedalling ! Have I forgotten anything ? Too late now .