So the final weekend of my tour begins. Today I was heading for Oudewater, just west of Utrecht and then on Sunday towards the Hook and a ferry home, maybe with a sightseeing detour thrown in if it’s dry and I’m not facing 35mph headwinds !
I decided to have a big breakfast, so as well as the healthy yoghurt and granola snd the assorted pastries, I decided not to pass up the chance of a stack of pancakes and bacon.
It was dry leaving the hotel and I was soon crossing the mighty Rhine on fantastic cycle path alongside the road bridge. The next 20km stayed broadly alongside the Rhine on top of a dyke. There were obvious signs of flooding and I wondered how the owners of many of the beautiful houses on the dry side of the dyke felt, as many were close to or below the current level of the river.
It wasn’t too far into the ride before my thoughts turned to food again. I nearly always lose weight on a cycle tour, so I’ve been trying harder this time to increase my calorie intake. The problem though is often there are no shops to be found, village after village with nothing. Then I had a bit of luck, a petrol station. Always s source of sugar/calorie rich snacks. In this case I hit the jackpot, a not very nice pastry filled with Marzipan 400kcals result ! and some equally calorific Stroopwafels, which I’ve saved for emergencies !
My route for the day was turning out to be surprisingly pleasant. Quiet country roads and even a ferry thrown in.
As I rode away with the gaggle of other cyclists, I began to let myself dream that this could be my first dry day. There had been dark clouds in the distance all day and the roads were often wet, so it looked like I was chasing the rain, but never catching it.
Well either I speeded up or the clouds slowed down, because with 20km to go, the heavens opened. Initially I hid under some trees, but after 20 mins I was soaked and the rain was still coming down, so I decided I might as well carry on. Eventually the rain stopped and it warmed up, which made for a decent end to the day. As earlier the route was quite varied, but had some lovely sections alongside small canals.
The final surprise of this route was left to the very end. I’d picked my destination to allow me a long day today, with a shorter ride to the ferry tomorrow. Hopefully short enough for some sightseeing in Delft or Gouda and a proper lunch. But Oudewater turned out to be a little gem. Exactly how you would imagine a Dutch town to be, which of course most aren’t
and yes the buildings really were leaning. It’s not my dodgy photography.
Steady Pedals 