June 15 2019 - Day 10
96.4 km
Total distance on the trip 591.84kms
5:40 hrs moving time
77m elevation
Total elevation 1158
Weather - 15 -> 18 degrees, with rain in the morning. Winds were northerly at 14km/h, increasing as the day progressed.
We woke to torrential rain and cool temperatures. So had a long and leisurely breakfast at the hotel to wait it out. When it had slowed down a bit, we packed up and went out to the bike shed and found that I had a flat tyre. The mobile mechanic had it fixed in pretty good time, however, it was soon found that the spare tube for my bike that had been packed also had a flat.
Quick thinking - the mechanic put his spare tube into my bike, and we were off to find a bike shop to buy a new tube to then be changed and put on my bike again. We were thankful for the pressured air the hotel had in the bike shed to make it less physical and to save time.
We found a bike shop (how lucky that every town in the Netherlands has at least one). The man in the bike shop even swapped the tube around to help us out ... and we were off at 11:25 - very late to get on the road, but the up shot was it is much warmer the later it is. 18 degrees.
We head through the town, then along the river, through the compulsory industrial culture and out onto the open road. We rode north and the wind was coming from the north (of course). It was tough in parts especially on the exposed levees we were riding on along the Ijssel.
We continued to head north along the Ijssel and saw a few interesting things on the way .....
Many cute houses along the river, much water and an interesting upcycling of an old water tower into an apartment block.
There were many stork poles along this route with storks in their nests, old houses and other treats.
Had a bit of a rest and snack on the north side of Deventer, and continued our quest north along the river. Several Dutch people had mentioned ‘there is not much out that way’ when we told them our plans ... the towns are further apart, but they are stunning. There is so much wildlife and farmland to see along the way, and war remnants.
We stopped for a bit at Olst, where there is a small castle (Kasteel de Haere) (for me) and some cold war fortifications (for Wayne). The cold war remnants are called the IJsselline and is a very interesting defence network.
The country is so pretty - taking photos takes up much of my ride .... the crown on wheels on the road indicates that bikes are king on this stretch of road - all cars must give way to them. We saw a few of these in our travels. Oh to have the same cycling culture in Australia.
We passed through Zwolle, and saw these beautiful houses overlooking the river. Snapped while riding past.
Zwolle has some interesting street art, architecture, windmill farms and of course, canals.
The ride to Geithoorn continued to be very pretty, even though we still had a headwind which was getting pretty strong in the afternoon.
We arrived in Geithoorn and Google insisted we take the little tracks along the canals through the town filled with people... it was slow going, but it enabled us to get a feel for this wonderful little town. We looked at the map more closely later and found quite a major road with a cycle path next to it which would have been so much faster and less frustrating.
There was a wedding party being transported along the canals which added an extra layer.
Dinner time and we had some Italian which was exactly what we needed - lots of carbs and huge servings.
Sunset at about 10:30 pm. We are usually well and truly asleep by now.
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