Geithoorn to Gronigen

June 17 - Day 12

Distance 90.00kms

Total distance on the trip 681.84km

Moving time 4:56 hours

                                  

Todays elevation 56m                                  

Total elevation 1214

Weather - 11 -> 26 degrees - no rain, Winds SE at about 11km/h - in our favour for once.

Not too many photos today as I was not feeling it, and  it was all about the riding, and we rode through a lot of rural farm land which was different shades of green.

We set off from De Kruumte Geithoorn at 9am after another fabulous breakfast.  

The weather was sunny with no rain forecast for the day, and thankfully no serious winds to contend with. It was a bit cool to start with, but we warmed up pretty quick once we were on the road. I was still feeling pretty lousy from a head cold I was suffering from, but Babybel cheese helped me to ride 90kms. I cannot even remember if we stopped for lunch.

We rode through much farm land and an interesting place called Frederiksoord (rough translation - Frederiks resort) where paupers from the city were housed and given land to work on through the ‘Colonies of Benevolence’ in 1818. The paupers were originally volunteers, but then they did not get enough volunteer paupers, so many were were forced from the city to these remote areas to make a new life for themselves as farmers. The first public housing initiative I think. It was a failed social experiment as it was very costly. 

Wayne got a puncture about 20kms from Gronigen - the tube had a massive gash in it, and went down with a bang. 

The church above is in a little town called Norg. It was built in the 13th Century, however the small village has remnants of people living there about 650 BC. We stopped here long enough for a quick photo and bathroom break. 

We finally made it to Gronigen, which looked like an interesting town. On the outskirts on the south side we stopped to find accommodation on the Booking . com app and found something we liked on the north side of town - about 10kms away, so off we went.

The little room we had secured was fabulous. It was in a renovated barn at the back of the farm house, which was no longer a farm. The outlook was rural (there was even a balloon in the distance). The temperature rocketed to about 30 degrees in the afternoon, and we took refuge in the cooler room. We washed all our clothes and hung them outside to dry, with the sun and dry, hot wind, they dried in no time.

I was feeling pretty poorly, so it was rest for the afternoon. It was about 2:30 when we checked in, so we had made pretty good time for the day. The plan was for rest, drugs and sleep so we could explore the city of Gronigen in the morning. 

Dinner was delivery via the food app as we were about 5kms from town. 

Geithoorn - Rest day

June 16 - Day 11

No riding day

                                                                              

Total distance on the trip 520.9

                                                                    

Total elevation 1026

Weather - 16-20 degrees with a rain shower about 3pm.

Today was a complete rest day. We had a leisurely breakfast,  did all of our washing and hung  it out, then lounged about reading books in the beautiful sunshine coming through the windows and skylights. 

Wayne had noticed his tyre was going down, so about lunch time we headed downstairs to fix this. I was coming down with something nasty, so I sat in the sun and drank some honey rooibos tea while he worked in the shed on his bike. The manager of the hotel came out to have a chat, she had spent quite a bit of time in Australia a few years ago and was eager to talk about her travels here, and I wanted to know more about Geithoorn.

Lunch time came around, and we had lunch in the hotel restaurant. It had been very quiet for most of the day, and did not seem to be doing much business. We went upstairs to get changed and be ready for an afternoon walk, we came downstairs and the restaurant was packed. It was Fathers day in the Netherlands, and it was raining. So people had come for a day out in Geithoorn, the rains came and they decided to have lunch to wait it out. We were lucky to get a table.

After our leisurely day we walked into the main town and canals of Geithoorn to see what was going on. Being Sunday, it was really busy with many people in little electric boats zooming around in the canals. When we first came into town and the little boats came around the corner, it was like being in a very large Disney "it's a small world" ride. We were expecting the music. It was a little bit surreal.

Geithoorn is beautiful and very quaint. We did not hire a boat, as it was about 5pm by the time we thought about it, and the boat hire finishes about 6pm, even in the summer when it is light until about 10pm. I think the people who live here are very happy for the tourists to leave.

There was always someone going the wrong way in the canals, which are all one way to reduce crashes, confusion and  congestion.

There were many places to stay here, and if you were staying on one of the little islands in the middle, you needed to lug your gear over the little bridges. Best to pack light. We were staying in a B&B just out of the crazy part of town.

So pretty, so much water everywhere. 

On our walk we noticed a number of people waiting on the side of the canal. We asked someone what was going on, we thought they were standing around being amused by the tourists crashing, but no, about 50 of the villagers had been away on the weekend sailing in the traditional sailing boats and were now on their way home. There was a flotilla of them heading down the canal into the village. It was quite fun to be part of the welcoming crowd. 

We ended up having dinner in town and headed back to the B&B for more rest.

Zutphen to Geithoorn

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. 

On the outskirts of Zwolle we stopped for a rest after 60kms, and made a decision about how far we would continue to take advantage of the warm and clear weather. We were looking on the map and to see far towns were,  then checking Booking . com to see if there were B&B's in the town with vacancies.  By accident we read a review that stated that Geithoorn was the prettiest town in the Netherlands - well we had seen some really pretty towns so we had to see this. We also wanted somewhere which would allow some recreational time on our planned day off. The decision was made - Geithoorn it was and the booking made. 

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.