Amsterdam to Arnhem - Day 62

Date: October 19th, 2009
Distance: 130km
Country: The Netherlands
Song of the Day: Evaporated - Ben Folds Five

Woke up and had (a very large) breakfast with a pair of sisters from Australia. That is one really cool thing about staying in hostels. You get to meet so many interesting people. I guess they were traveling through Europe, but the opposite direction that I was. They started in Greece and were moving north. So they were going to end up in Edinburgh, Scotland. Good luck, and stay warm.

After checking out of the hostel, I took one last ride around the city. It is really quite a pleasant place to bike in. Yeah, you still have to watch out for cars, pedestrians, trams and even other bikers. Oh, also people on little scooters. Yet, it seems like everyone is really nice about it. Basically, the people actually expect bikers to be there. So they generally look out for you.

I also got some pictures of the tilt in the city. Here are two good examples. The architecture of the city itself is pretty fascinating. Almost all of the buildings have a bar sticking out near the roof with hook on it. In years gone by they could put on a block and tackle onto that hook and load goods into the upper floors. Cargo from ships in the canals would be offloaded and stored in these houses. I doubt most of them have been used for 100 years, but I don't see anyone taking them down...

Getting out of Amsterdam was also the easiest time I have had leaving a city. Well, other than London, where I snuck out along the canal. From Amsterdam though there are basically bike paths along all of the major roads leading out of the city. So it didn't take an extra hour which I was grateful for.

The rest of the country was good for bike paths as well. Frankly, it has been the best country to bike in so far. Yeah, admittedly, it is pretty flat. So it does have that going for it. (If you don't like flat roads, try biking with a fully loaded touring rig.) Besides that, the paths for bikes are great. I guess I would explain it as, in most countries riding a bike is accepted. In The Netherlands, it is expected. It is seen as just as important a method of getting around, even between cities, as driving a car. So if you can only tour one country on a bike, I suggest Holland. It isn't perfect mind you. A couple of times the bike path along the highway would end forcing you to wander through a small town. I just don't have any big complaints about it.

But most of the day was just putting more kilometers behind me. Still heading into the wind for some reason. It is disheartening to see those windmills (both old and new) facing the same direction as you are. It did get dark before I got to Arnhem, but I found a campsite just outside of the city. I was quite happy about this. The night was getting pretty cold. I was able to get a nice warm shower and go to bed.

-Dravis