Started the day with a very windy and wet start. A couple of mechanicals upon leaving Arnhem, all to do with me. My saddle has been moving into an uncomfortable position, hopefully sorted and one of my cleats lost a screw, thankfully was found. That’s what comes of adding new stuff without testing it out first. Should be ok now. Winds were 25+ mph avg gusting.to over 40mph. Fortunately in the main from the side and behind, but we knew about it when we turned into the wind.First interesting event was having to cross the River Ijssel, which is very fast flowing, on a chain ferry.

Coffee stop at Wichmond with fab local chocolate cake.Lunch stop was at Borculo, sandwiches from the bakery, but tried to find somewhere to eat them out of the wind and rain. Eventually found a path tunnel.

We certainly know how to live 😉.There was a weather front chasing us across Netherlands, occasionally we would get wet on the leading edge, but managed to mostly keep ahead of the worst.Eventually reached the German border at Zwilbroek, bir of a non-event as you can see from the video below.

Once over into Germany, the sun came out. How bizarre is that.Another hard day in the office, eventually ended up cycling 58 miles today, which is just a regular Thursday or Sunday run, but was much harder than that.Details of the route below.

https://www.relive.cc/view/2433408192

Arrived at our hotel in the sleepy little town of Stadtlohn. Dinner tonight was Greek, challenging when they only have menus in German. Weather looks better tomorrow, off to Warendorf.

A pretty uneventful ride today of about 46 miles, sunny and warm, unlike the UK 🤣🤣 but with a strong headwind all the way, which made for quite a hard ride. As we did not wish to get to Arnhem too soon, had a short break at Zeist to admire the castle Slot Zeist and the surrounding buildings.

Coffee stop at Doorn and a light lunch break at Rhenon.

Final push to Arnhem where we have encountered our first hills !!!. Didnt expect that. Managed to get to Arnhem just before it started to rain (but only slightly 😉😉 not like the UK).

Tonight chilling with a home cooked meal, courtesy of Bernie, with a nice bottle of wine and beers.

Despite the relatively low mileage, quite exhausted. Over the border into Germany tomorrow.

Todays ride is attached.

https://www.relive.cc/view/2430880097

A very lively place. Stayed overnight in a city centre hostel Stayok, loads of students and backpackers.They make great use of the waterways lined with bars and restaurants.Watched a very dismal England performance in a Dutch bar with a very vocal, friendly crowd with a lone Brit in his England shirt 🤣🤣Then braved the dangerous and crowded cycle lanes to get back to the hostel.

Just arrived in the University town of Utrecht, looks a very lively place, will be interesting to find a bar tonight to watch the England vs Holland football match.I have to say that first impressions of cycling in the Netherlands is totally the opposite of the culture in the UK, firstly the bike has priority over cars, they stop to let us cross or pass meaning that it is extremely stress free riding. Most of the cycling is on cycle paths, very smooth and wide, and where we ride on the ride, we have priority, very safe.

Looking forward to a night out in Utrecht. Link here to today’s ride on Strava.

https://www.relive.cc/view/2428451507

Flat and easy miles, great paths and water everywhere. Lunch and beers at Woerden.Stereo typical Dutch scenery, Windmills and Cheese.

Amazed at the infrastructure, cycle paths all the way. The Dutch have a great way of keeping the bikes away from cars. Very easy riding, flat as a pancake and surrounded by canals and ditches. Need to take more pictures of windmills etc. Good nights sleep on the ferry arrived relaxed and ready to go. First coffee stop in the beautiful old town of Delft.First time that Rick has been overtaken on a cycle way by a mobility scooter. She was gunning it

Got to Harwich International and found it was a one horse town. Dinner at the delightful Brewers Fare.Worst meal for ages and no draft beers on tap. Went in search of a better drinking establishment, passed a few until we got to Wetherspoons. Not badThought it couldn’t get worse, until it started to chuck it down with rain. Made it to the ferry like drowned rats to share the departure lounge with a bunch of bikers.Waiting for an hour before being able to board the ferry

Well we are on our way. Train from Solihull to London and then taking our life in our hands cycling from Marylebone to Liverpool St. Boarding the train to Harwich when a jobsworth tells us you cannot come on this train without a cycle reservation. Tick sweet talked him into allowing us on board (veiled threats issued, not really). Given our age, he let us off this time. Said we should go to the ticket office to buy a reservation. Next stop is to change at Maningtree to experience the delights of Harwich International later this evening before boarding a ferry to Hook of Holland.

We are about to embark on another adventure across Europe, Tony Plackowski, Rick Parfitt, Bernie Wareing and Colin Eagle will be leaving the UK on Wednesday 5th June taking EuroVelo Route 2 from Hook of Holland to Berlin. This will be a self supported ride that will take between 2 and 3 weeks taking a gentle cycle following EuroVelo Route 2 which takes in all of the capital cities going from the west coast of Ireland to St Petersburg in Russia. We will be stopping at Berlin travelling between 50 and 70 miles a day stopping at B&B’s, Hostels Hotels etc, wherever the fancy takes us. It is not a race or a thrash, but a gentle ride taking in the sights, sounds and scents of Europe.

The route is below

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton