Day 05 - Nieuwegein to Renkum

66.4 km - Total so far 274.4 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video

Video of the day: Europe Day 05

Another beautiful day of cycling with sun and a slight breeze. How's the weather in Ottawa?

We can't stop at every interesting place for we would have to spend another month in the Neatherlands. Here are links you might want to click and view info on: Fort Honswijk and Amerongen.

On yesterday's ride, we came upon a war monument (below picture) dedicated to the aircrew of a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Halifax bomber from 408 Goose Squadron shot down the night of 20 to 21 June 1943 near Jaarsveld, Netherlands. Five of the seven lost their lives and 2 survived. The monument was dedicated May 4th, 1985 in the presence of one of the survivors, Lt G.I. Primary (wireless/air gunner). 

Shape and material

The monument on Lekdijk Oost in Jaarsveld (municipality of Lopik) is a glass showcase with an aircraft engine from a Halifax bomber. The display case is pierced by an aluminum wing. The monument is 3 meters high, 3 meters 20 wide and 2 meters 75 deep. The wing is 7 meters high. The text on the glass plate is a quote from the chief of the Dwamisch tribe.

On the back are the names of seven crew members. The text is by Lieutenant George Pridham:

'THEY ARE TOGETHER

FIVE GREAT MEN'.

We got to Renkum relatively early and decided to have dinner at the Airborne Cafeteria. 

Being a former paratrooper in the Canadian Army I have a  particular interest in the area as it is where the "Airborne" portion of Operation Market Garden. Canadian participation is described here. 

Tomorrow we make a stop in Arnhem.

Day 04 - Rotterdam to Nieuwegein

 60.3 km - Total so far 208.0 km - Route pedalled.      

Video of the day: Europe Day04

For the second time this year, we had to adjust to daylight savings time.  We are now 6 hours ahead.

Our first order of business this morning was to do a quick tour of our island and see if we were surrounded by boats. Yup, boats everywhere, saiboats, red boats and really ugly boats. Our's was a very short stay in Rotterdam but what struck us the most was its modern architecture. If you got to build a new office tower make it unique and make it stand out from the other amazing structures.  The must see architecture in Rotterdam

Today's route towards Nieuwegen included two ferry crossings, a UNESCO site at Kinderjiik, the lovely Town of Schoonhoven and all the while following the River Lek. With a westerly wind of 11 kph gusting to 36 kph that would be an easy ride. From Schoonhoven to Nieuwegein, the River Lek looks like a sine wave and our tail wind changes to a cross wind, a head wind and then the cycle repeats. 

We are now safe and sound with an awesome Dutch family we found on the 'Friend's On Bikes. Friends On Bikes offers accommodations to people who travel on foot or bikes.

Day 03 - The Hague to Rotterdam

 56.5 km - Total so far 147.7 km - Route pedalled.    

Video of the day: Europe2025_Day03

After a nice breakfast and conversation with Nicole and Giuseppe, we said our good byes and headed towards our first junction point, the Hook of Holland. 

The view from Nicole's balcony

Back in the Dunes once again, no large grazzers, just the odd horse, no head wind but a slight cross wind. 

Green Houses by Hook of Holland Dunes

As soon as we made the sharp left turn at the Hook, we could feel the immediate effect of that tail wind. We managed to maintain 20 kph all the way to Rotterdam with much less effort. 

We are now at the Ibis Hotel, located on a small island and surrounded by boats on most sides. Tomorrow morning, we plan to circle the island before making our way to Nieuwegein.

This is why I carry bungee cords, one trip to the room :)

The view from our room

Day 02 - Haarlem to The Hague

67.3 km - Total so far 91.2 km - Route pedalled - Part 1.     Route pedalled - Part 2

We left the hotel at 6:36am heading towards the Santos Bikes factory. At that time, we had Haarlem all to ourselves. The Grote Markt, the narrow streets, the stately homes and the numerous wooded parks. I thought about riding off road unto a park trail but had a flashback of a previous experience riding a trail with 56 lbs of luggage. It did not turn out well!

Keen to get to Santos, we got there very much ahead of time. This gave us time to do bike maintenance and install our Canadian flags

Friendly welcome at Santos with coffee, chatted with the founder who commented positively on our bikes and our touring set up. Yvonne was assigned as our host for the 2 hour visit. We got a tour of the factory right down to the assembly stations. One technician is assigned to one complete bike build. No assembly line at Santos. Each wheel is built by one wheel specialist. Initial assembly is assisted by a machine but the final truing is done by hand on the work bench. The completed bike is then turned over to quality assurance for certification.

The factory walk ends where the demo bikes are kept. Yvonne picked out 2 bikes that met our needs in all but colour. She fine tuned the set up, suggested a route and off we went. Your test ride is as long as you need it to be. We were gone for a half hour, made adjustments and added our large panniers. Suffice to say it was a very positive experience. 

After Santos, we passed by Keukenhof Gardens. Being early in the season we viewed fields of crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths and early small tulips in bloom. We saw loads of traffic staff in fluorescent suits, directing a large number of busses, bumper to bumper cars and visitors on rental bicycles. It did not have the peaceful contemplation of an Ottawa Tulip Festival.

Our final destination for the day is The Hague and meet up with our friend Nicole. It was an interesting ride along the Dunes with a slight head wind and intermittent rains showers near the end of the days ride. We were very very happy to hear Nicole's powerful and welcoming voice coming from her top floor balcony.

Giuseppe, Nicole's boyfriend, joined us and we were off to "La Tabla Restaurant". Great food and experience.

Here is a short video  Europe 2025 Day 02

Day 01 - Amsterdam Airport to Haarlem

 23.9 km - Total so far 23.9 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video

Day 1 complete. 

We got to Amsterdam 55 minutes earlier than planned and within 45 minutes we were putting the bikes together. 

Hélène's bike as it come out of the box

We verified each others work ensuring  that everything was solidely put together. As the airport got busier, we skipped the overpriced coffee and sticky buns and hit the bike path. Some initial challenges due to construction at the airport but Hélène got us back on the route to Haarlem.

Cycling in Canada's vehicular traffic can make you anxious. Today we realized that local cyclists can also be cause for concern. The locals ride with an ease and rhythm that we have not yet been able to copy. Once we get the hang of it with our additional 26 kilos (57.3 lbs) watch out!

Tomorrow we have a very early start in order to make a 9 a.m. appointment at the Santos Bikes factory. Right after, we ride to The Hague to stay at a friend's for the night. Weather forecast indicates 20 kph headwinds.

Here is a video summary of our day

So far awesome trip.

Departure Day

Here we are at the airport with the bikes all boxed up, our luggage and fresh shorter than usual hair cuts.   We had a pretty intense session with the folks at oversize baggage screening.  Lesson learned, don't pack your tools too tightly in your tool bag. It appears that a tightly packed tool bag looks like something completely different in the x-ray machine!

We will land in Amsterdam Thursday morning around 8:00am (CET).

Just a few notes on the navigation of the blog. If you are viewing the blog on a computer or tablet you will see to the right of this post the "SITE INDEX" which has information that is static and some will change.  

• The section "Home" will bring you to the daily posts we will make
• The section "The Route - Planned" outlines the route we intend to pedal and will remain mostly unchanged.
• The section "The Route - Pedalled" will change every day that we cycle.  
• The section "Trip Summary" will change every day indicating the mileage, location and accommodation.
• The section "The Equipment" will remain mostly unchanged starting March 28th.

3 Days to Departure

We are busy packing and dealing with last minute planning and preparation.   

Since we will be cycling through 10 countries we decided to pick up a flag for each country that we will add to our bike fanion as we reach each country.  

Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey

However today a keen reader of our blog pointed out that we will also cycle about 40km in Greece before reaching Turkey.  I guess we will go back to the store for one more flag.  Revision, we will cycle through 11 countries.

Our next update will be on our departure date, March 26, 2025.   Most post will take place at the end of the day and we will be 5 hours ahead of our home time.

Hélène & Daniel

14 Days to Departure

 Finally, the blog is public and we are well on our way to do our Europe 2025 cycling trip.

To remain fit and ready for the trip we cycled with our touring bikes loaded for the month of November 2024 until the snow arrived.  

Once the snow arrived we switched to Fat Biking to keep our cycling legs. 

When not on the fat bikes Hélène does cross country skiing(classic and back country) and me (Daniel) I use an indoor bike trainer.

Hélène et Daniel