Sunday, May 9, 2010

Wonderful day of riding!

Amsterdam > Amsterdam East > Marken > Monickendam > Volendam (by bike) > Hoorn (by boat). More or less 44 kilometers cycling, another 10 by boat across bay to Hoorn.

Wonderful cycling. Day started cold and cloudy, stayed that way until late afternoon. By 6:00 or so was cold and clear; now 9:30, and it is a gorgeous evening. Went out for a walk around Hoorn, which was once upon a time the major port for the Netherlands trade between Baltics and southern Europe.

Interesting sight as we left Amsterdam: a hotel, at eastern terminus of what became the Holland-America line, that was the final European-side stop of a stream of US-bound immigrants. Their next stop: Ellis Island.

Beautiful riding through the countryside. One minor mishap... we were cycling down a barely one-lane dirt road, when a nitwit in a Mercedes SUV decided he couldn't wait 30 seconds and had to pass. He knocked over one of the cyclists. Just tapped her I think, but it was enough. No major damage, but she was pretty shaken.

SO nice to have the skies clear and the sun shine, even if it is still ridiculously cold! Hope this weather holds for tomorrow.

Gazelle is a nice bike. Easy rider!

2 comments:

  1. Perhaps by now you have figured out why so manny bicycles have these ultra heavy chains and locks…. ;-/

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  2. Please, please, please let the sun shine from now on! It poured rain here today off & on, real gully-washers, and we sure don't need any more, thank you.

    We're going to trace almost the same route out of A'dam, but will go to Marken to take the ferry, since we won't be coming back that way.

    Hi to Katie!

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