Come Along on a Bike Ride with US, Won't You?

 

Riding along the canals on our way to visit Delft

Monday, April 18, 2022


Today is our first full day of riding, after our "taste" of Rotterdam yesterday, where we tried out our bikes and figured out how to manage intersections, bike lanes, shark teeth and zebra crossings (markings on the pavement indicating who needs to stop and who has right of way.)

We planned to visit Delft, the Hague, the beach at Scheveningen, the North Sea dunescape and end up in Leiden.  Our planned distance was about 50 km - but we ended up doing 60 (37 miles).

We started the trip in Schiedam, from our boat, the Aurora, after a hearty breakfast.  We had our helmets (-surprise to us -- none of the natives wears bike helmets in the Netherlands -- not even kids-),  our water bottles, our panniers to carry our stuff.  We were ready.

These bikes were great for riding - although the electric pedal assist that I had was quite heavy.

We began our day with a lovely breakfast, including eggs and bacon.  Yum.

We started biking from the Aurora - so this was our first site in the morning

Michael puzzling about the traffic lights in Schiedam.

Our group is small - 6 bikers today.  Two of us are using electric assist bikes, the rest, including Michael, are on regular touring bikes.  Our leader, Willem, goes first and we follow him in a line, as we don't have maps or GPS for where we are going.

The town of Schiedam was fairly busy, with many street crossings, cars, other bikers and pedestrians.  It's a national holiday (day after Easter) and also the first sunny, warm day they've had in a while, so lots of people are out and about.

It was fun to ride through the neighborhoods and check out the houses and gardens. There are many blooming trees - crabapples, Japanese cherry trees, etc.  Lots of "pink".  And the flowering bulbs are blooming in their pretty little street side gardens.

So many flowering trees - the streets seemed "pink" from all the color.

Typical house next to a small canal

Lots of blooms decorating everyone's green space

As we left Schiedam and headed for Delft, our path became more pastoral and rural.  It was fun to see the farms and the larger canals.  We saw lots of waterfowl, sheep and horses.  We saw a stork (brings good luck) and a few great blue herons.

Pretty house along a small canal, with a swan and lots of tulips a-blooming.

What's not to love about biking along tracks like this??

A typical bridge crossing a canal - and a Michelin star restaurant on the left.

The baby lambs are out in force - so cute to see them frolic like little jumping beans.

Our weather was perfect - sunny and in the low 60's.

This is the approximate route of our full days ride - 60 km along a good part of southern Holland.