Coastal Ride – Cycle Superhighway
Netherlands & Belgium: Stage 02 – Hague to Haarlem 52 Km (Wed 6 July 2022)
Weather: 16⁰C min – 20⁰C max, mostly cloudy
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” ~ C.S. Lewis
Every day is different on a cycle tour. Yesterday’s story was about blue sky, stunning scenery and pretty villages. In contrast, today the sky was smeared with a film of streaky cloud and a mesh of vapour trails left by the early morning flights across Europe. Most of the way the landscape consisted of sand dunes and scrubby bushes, the only tinge of colour coming from a lemon coloured wild-flower that lined the bike path. Nevertheless it was ruggedly beautiful, almost like stark moonscape.
Villages were few and far between, only a couple of drab, tacky, seaside towns overlooking the dirty grey coloured North Sea. How glad I was that I stopped for breakfast at the splendid remote Hotel Duinoord 10 km after leaving Den Haag (the Hague).
Pleasure today came from the pure joy of non-stop pedalling on a magnificent cycle superhighway up the coast from Den Haag to Haarlem near Amsterdam. Enjoyment was derived from being part of a cycling fraternity taking advantage of the splendid cycling infrastructure in this country. There was a steady stream of cyclists all the way, comprising biking enthusiasts of all ages, shapes and sizes … street-clothed, helmetless, office workers on their upright city bikes … geriatrics like myself exercising their lungs and hearts in an attempt to achieve longevity … young children (and sometimes little dogs) carried in a “bakfiets” (a popular cargo bike) pedalled by their mother or father … energetic, athletic youth powering along, driven by massive, rippling, calf muscles, riding on fancy Colnago and Pinarello racing bikes, wearing colourful cycling jerseys and (yes indeed) helmets.
The town of Haarlem where I am staying was a real surprise packet as I wasn’t expecting too much. It is a significant sized town with lots of interesting streets, laneways and mews. There are so many restaurants it was difficult to choose, but I fluked a good Egyptian one far away from the tourist square and wasn’t disappointed.
And so ends another day of pleasurable riding in Holland. Pure cycling joy!
Looks like another good day for you 🙂 The photo of the deer little fellow in the dunes was unexpected! Oooh – lucky you, finding an Egyptian restaurant – did you try ful medames (my favourite)?
You will be disgusted with you dad Soph. I had calves liver and enjoyed it!