Tandemride in times of Corona around the North of Holland
Tandemride in times of Corona around the North of Holland
Before Corona the plan was to ride to Paris and back on our 25 year old Vittorio tandem. But when the Corona crisis got more and more serious it became obvious that cycling through France and Belgium was no longer possible.
The good news was that just before Ascension Day the Dutch rules on the lock down became less strict. It looked like a 4 day cycling tour of our own country was possible; it was allowed to stay and eat in hotels and on the way there would be many chances to get take away food and coffee.
The North of Holland had been on our list for a long time, but the closer to home the less you feel an urge to work on this part of your bucket list. The first destination was Bourtange, a fortified village in the far North East of the Netherlands. The second target was to visit the medieval towns in Friesland, all famous of the Eleven Cities Iceskating Marathon which is organised only in very cold winters. The last one sadly was held more than 20 years ago.
The idea was to travel very light. One rear pannier per person, frequent washing and no luxuries ( apart from staying in rather good hotels)
It was a challenge to put all the gear in one rear pannier, a good example of "if I had more time I would have written a shorter letter".
Day 1; 148km Vorden-Bourtange
A glorious Ascension day with a light wind in the back. After leaving familiar territory we crossed the river Vecht in Ommen. In the centre of Ommen there were plenty of folks sitting and walking the streets, like there was no Corona lock down at all.
We decided to eat a fruit bar and continued to Hardenberg 15 km down the road. Hardenberg was deserted, we were lucky to find an open Subway which had re openend that day after going bankrupt the week before. The sandwiches were good anyway.
We pushed on through Coevorden and Emmen, it was now making miles through rather boring countryside. This was where we were outclassed by an almost 80 year old on his Koga racing bike who cycled 400 k a week, and had just done the full Pacific Highway Route from Vancouver to San Diego. Ironically, that route was exactly our plan for this summer, but we had already come to terms with the fact the Donald wouldn’t let us in. And who needs Cali when you can cycle in Drenthe?
The last miles from Ter Apel to Bourtange were very attractive and without too much effort we arrived at our destination. We had booked a "What's for dinner"arrangement at 18.30 in our tiny rental house, before Corona we would have been eating in the restaurant. The tiny house was a hit, very nice way of staying the night.
In the evening we walked to the fortification of Bourtange, which was build to defend this far Eastern part of the Netherlands against the Spanish and German troops. There was hardly a soul in the little town, we were very lucky to explore the fortifications on our own.
The breakfast was served in the tiny house. A good breakfast is the basis of a good ride, just after 09.00 we hit the road for day 2.
The weather started out fine, there was a slight tailwind and we enjoyed the wide open spaces of the Groninger land. After 30 miles the open land changed into woodlands.
After Groningen we went into the Netherlands which lies below sea level; the first miles went through beautiful wetlands with loads of birds. We rode on a special bicycle path, on the tandem the high bridges were kind of challenging. The weather changed from nice and dry to windy and very wet. The last 30 miles to Dokkum were though going against wind and rain. The great thing about credit card touring that you don't have to sleep in a wet tent, instead we checked in into one of the better places to stay in Dokkum "Hotel de Posthoorn".
It is situated on one of the turning points of the Elfsteden Skating Tour, if you reach Dokkum in time you have good chances of finishing in Leeuwarden 20 km down the canal.
Due to the Corona we were scheduled in the late sitting in the Hotel's restaurant. Having a wee rest was tempting, but we managed to get out and explore the old city of Dokkum.
Day 3; 130km Dokkkum-Lemmer
This was going to be an epic day, frontal wind force 5 for 100km in Friesland is serious business.
How do you eat an elephant? In small pieces, our first goal was to get to Franeker at 40km. Although there was a lot of wind the ride was great; beautiful villages all with their own windmill and wide open fields with birds and water.
Franeker was in Saturday morning atmosphere and we lucky to find a take away coffee in these corona times. The city is really old and feels like a small version of Amsterdam, without the tourists.
Next stop was in the North Sea Harbour of Harlingen, a short photo break in front of the three-masters.
The next 10 km to the Afsluitdyke were the worst of the trip, we needed a mountain gear to get through the wind (the Afsluitdyke shuts down the former Zuider sea from the North Sea and secured the land from here to Amsterdam).
After the traffic had all disappeared on the Afsluitdyke our direction changed a wee bit and the dyke on our right protected us from the storm, it felt like there was vacuum behind the dyke. We had lunch in Makkum close to the locks and enjoyed looking at the yachts passing by. A tandem bike is supposed to be a relation accelerator, our impression was that a yacht is even faster at relation acceleration.
By now we were running out of time so we passed Workum but we did visit Hindelopen. Small, old, picturesque and many Germans who seem to escape their own Corona rules.
The grande finale of frontal wind was the stretch between Hindelopen and Stavoren.
Stavoren was nice but our standards were high by now and we were getting tired, so we had a drink and a photo shoot on the dyke and continued to Sloten.
The route went through the Gaasterland, a “hilly” part of Friesland next to the IJsselmeer. Special and once again, many Germans who come here to Kite surf. The epilogue of today was Sloten, stunning little old town were you feel yourself walking around in a Vermeer painting.
The last 10 km to Lemmer were not too bad and we arrived at a decent time in our hotel. We had the last of the Corona dinner shifts which gave the opportunity for a delayed Siesta. After dinner we walked through Lemmer and noticed that the weather was changing, it was cold and a bit unpleasant.
Day 4; 141 km Lemmer-Vorden
The day started with a flat front tyre, I should have changed the tires before starting this little tour.
The first 40 km today went in easterly direction, the wind was still fierce and coming from the West, so it was a pleasure. We went through the wetlands of National Park the Weerribben to Giethoorn. It is a nice little village with its canals, typical houses and high wooden bridges. Normally Giethoorn is very busy, it has been discovered by the Chinese.
But today it was desolated thanks to the Corona, so we were one of the few people around. We even managed to get a cup of coffee, which we had to drink outside.
After the coffee it started to rain quite badly, we decided to change into Goretex for the rest of the day. We moved into Goretex and at the same time into survival mode, I am sure the route along the Black River and the IJssel River should be scenic, but not today. In Hattem we took refuge into a Chip shop, the owner was kind enough to let us eat inside while he was on the look out for the Corona Police.
Once again we came into familiair territory and we rode home without flats or extra stops. At home we found the house reasonably tidy after student son had had a party the night before. The tour was only four days but we felt like it was much longer. This is going to be repeated!
