Cycling south from Keukenhof towards The Hague.
“Towards the south, and towards the warmth,” we cry. Our enthusiasm to straddle our steel horses is renewed. Courses are plotted with Mapout, some coastal, some parklands. Our journey begins within the pastural lands of Keukenhof. A kaleidoscope of coloured fields blind our eyes as we push on, progressing towards the coast. Turning a corner, farmer ‘Joe’ (please note Joe is an assumed name) has lined up all his old John Deere tractors just for me. Don’t know how he knew I was coming, but it was appreciated.
Cycling Headwinds – again.
We have angered the wind gods again. Headwinds gusting towards 45Km/h does make it a little difficult to ride. A quick route diversion puts us into some sand dunes and parklands. Thankfully these offer a little protection from the gusts, however, the constant wind still finds us. That wasn’t too bad, until it rained and hailed on us as well. We took the hint, checked the weather conditions for the next few days and then we took the train. Making our way to Zeeland and one of beautiful islands at the bottom of the western coast.
Vlissingen – the last post
Vlissingen, on the western coast, is (almost) the most southern point of The Netherlands. It is beautiful, has a real beach with real sand and is quite a tourist mecca. History within the area includes much shipping, fortification and all the good European medieval attributes. It even has cannons, massive cannons.
More rain and hail
Clear to the left of us, hail to the right. Unfortunately, the bad weather caught up with us. We made the decision to stop for a couple of days, as the weather should settle and the wind is turning. YAY. Tomorrow we ride again and we should actually have a tail wind. Cycle touring does allow for many aspects of freedom whilst you are travelling. However, it doesn’t allow you protection from harsh conditions. Getting close to sub zero, rain and hail is just a little cool for us.
Vlissingen – cute houses
The cheese shop was totally amazing. So many choices, such little time and only one set of arteries… We settled upon some 5 year old cheese and another with chilli and paprika. YUM. Much of the foul weather was ignored whilst we played darts for a number of hours.
Tomorrow is another day.
