Ride Day 1: Amsterdam to 's-Hertogenbosch

We made it! We rode about 110 km from our hotel near the airport to 's-Hertogenbosch and Lorie did an amazing job. We took our time, and that helped. But mostly I am amazed that she could ride that far on the first day with her arm in a brace just about 10 days out of surgery. 

Loaded and ready to ride

Thankfully, our first day on the bike was a flat ride. Or course, that's pretty much the way it is everywhere in Holland. We have not been on the bike much at all and we're definitely not ready for hills yet. The weather was near perfect, and that helped. Sunny, a bit chilly at first but warming through the day. A little wind but nothing to cause any problems.

It took us about 6 hours of bike time and we stopped three or four times (one needs sustenance!) If you do the easy math, that means that we traveled at about 19 km/hr on averaged. Just a bit over 10 mph. That's slow but we are not in a hurry and we wanted to see how things went. And if you look back at our prior blogs you could probably find that every first day I say something like this: "We weigh a ton! Yikes! With everything on our bike, all our gear, tent, sleeping bag, clothing for 2 months,  etc. etc., we are just a lumbering truck of a bike." And it is true. We have done this at least a dozen times and the first day is always a bit of a shock. Add to that a lame arm and you get the point of taking it slow.

Happy to be riding!

 

Riding in Holland is a joy. Every road has either a dedicated, separate bike lane, or a lane for bikes on each side of the road. If the road isn't wide enough for 2 cars to pass, then the cars stop to let the bikes proceed and then the cars go. Most of the roads we took yesterday were tiny country roads through miles and miles of farmland, over thousands of bridges over canals and rivers (it is Holland!) and over dozens of dikes. It is amazingly beautiful and everyone is riding a bike. We don't see anyone else riding a tandem, but that's normal. Holland is just all about riding bikes. 

Our first molen!

Sustenance

Waiting for the ferry

We used the ferry to cross one of the rivers - lots of cyclists on board. And we stopped for more sustenance.

A nice spot for a break

Approaching den Bosch

We rode through dozens of small villages like the one in the photo above. Everyone was out at the cafes on such a perfect day. We were both pretty knackered by the time we rode into den Bosch and it was such a thrill to arrive at our friends' house.

In 's-Hertogenbosch we are staying with our friends the Quekel's for a few days. It has been far too long since we visited and we are looking forward to seeing them and their kids, and nowadays, their grand kids! Many years ago their daughter, Marjel, when she was 10, came to live in Camp Sherman for a year and attend the little school. Our kids became fast and lasting friends.