One of the best things about The Netherlands is that, when the weather is good, you can easily bike around the place! The place is set up really well for cyclists, with many dedicated bike lanes and paths, and often it can be just as quick going by bike than by car (or public transport), with the added bonus that you don't need to find a parking spot for a car at the end! The greatest thing I find though, is the fact that the country is completely flat! Half our bikes don't have gears and we just don't need them! So, it is just a nice relaxing cruise with no hills or anything to work up too much of a sweat!

Last week, I had a concert that was quite close to our place. I checked up the travel times, and it was 20 minutes by car, 30 minutes by bike or 90 minutes by public transport. It was a little village that had minimal bus connections and it also meant that I would have many changes if I took public transport. So, as my wife has been nagging me to do more (some, or any) exercise and the weather has been uncommonly good, I decided to take the bike option. Now, in Holland, it is common for people to ride with have a million bags and children hanging off them. This time, I had no kids, but I did have a messenger bag full of clothes and a laptop, and two instrument cases (one for a violin and another for a viola) hanging off me. The bike that I took that day was our family cruiser, so two kid's seats (front and back), so there was no room for bike packs or anything like that. Also, on the way back, I had a large bouquet of flowers which I also had to find a place for....

Apologies, for the shots. They were taken whilst riding and having various bits and pieces hanging off me... so they aren't the greatest!

Going there

As you can see, the sky is bright and clear and it is nice and sunny. It wasn't windy at all, which is the only resistance to riding that you would get in Holland... The perfect day for a ride! In the shot above, you can see the windscreen that we have for the toddler seat (which is on the front).

Well, I lied a little bit about being completely flat around here. There is the occasional man made elevation, this particular shot was taken at the top of a motorway overpass. So, the bike trail goes up on an overpass to cross the motorway, roughly 5 or so metres up. I only managed the photo at the top as I needed two hands to get the speed up to reach the top!

During the summer, the soil is fertile and the sunlight is all around. This makes for some crazy plant growing conditions, as you can see from the growth on the side of the bike path. This had already been cut back recently.

Another mountain....

So, the reason for that last bridge was to cross over this little canal. Holland is criss-crossed with canals of many types, ranging from huge transport canals to little drainage/irrigation canals. I'm not sure what this particular one is for (well, it's not a huge transport one...), but it was important enough to have a lock and some pumping equipment. Previously, it used to be the work of windmills to do this, and you can see some in the background.

It feels completely strange to be riding a bike right next to the motorway, with cars speeding past at 130 kpm.... Only slightly faster than my speed.

All across The Netherlands, you will see many greenhouses. Flowers, vegetables... the land is crazily fertile here, and so it is really a great export business, especially the flowers.

Did you know?
Holland has a 44% share of the worldwide trade in floricultural products, making it the dominant global supplier of flowers and flower products. Some 77% of all flower bulbs traded worldwide come from the Netherlands, the majority of which are tulips. 40% of the trade in 2015 was cut flowers and flower buds.
The sector is the number 1 exporter to the world for live trees, plants, bulbs, roots and cut flowers.
The sector is the number 3 exporter in nutritional horticulture products.
Of the approximately 1,800 new plant varieties that enter the European market each year, 65% originate in the Netherlands. In addition, Dutch breeders account for more than 35% of all applications for community plant variety rights.
The Dutch are one of the world’s largest exporter of seeds: the exports of seeds amounted to € 3.1 billion in 2014.
In 2014 the Netherlands was the world’s second largest exporter (in value) of fresh vegetables. The Netherlands exported vegetables with a market value of € 7 billion.

Cute hobbit like houses!

...and finally the concert venue is sight... but first I need to make a detour around this field, heading towards that little windmill.

...and there it is! The concert venue, a little church in a tiny village! The trip took a little longer than expected, due to all the photo making and general getting lost whilst trying hear the directions from Google Maps.

The Return Trip

Now, there is nothing better than riding in the dusk. The air is crisp and cool and it feels like you are just flying though the evening... on a bike laden with instruments and flowers...

Bye church! Bye cows!

This was the steel windmill from before... now I was supposed to turn somewhere around here....

Nice little houses in the middle of nowhere again. I didn't manage to catch it in this shot, but the water level of the canal is about where those reeds are. So, roughly at the ceiling height of the ground floor of the house behind!

... not so many photos of the return, it was much harder to stabilise the camera long enough whilst moving to get a low light shot. I think I might definitely do more of these back way bike rides, we have faster bikes in the garage as well as the truck bike. It will be a great excursion for the kids! Just ride out and take a picnic somewhere!