Skip to main content

Tiptoe Through The Tulips (and a Formula 1 track)


50km of riding.  
Head wind, rain, snow, sun, a Formula 1 track and billions of tulips.
Two dreams realised.
A big day for the Hamster Jams.

We headed off from our little hut (after taking 2 hours to pack up and get on the bikes), and followed bike paths through the old town of Harlem (unbelievably cute)...


And then to to Zandvoort.  Cody had a dream.  To see the Formula 1 track at Zandvoort.  So off we went - we'd done a weather check before leaving, and were informed that there would be patches of cloud and sun all day, so though it was 7 degrees and we were all rugged up, we were feeling pretty confident of a pretty comfy ride.

It started after Harlem on the way to the beach (Zandvoort is a beach side town)...the head wind.  OMG, "bracing is an understatement".  Poor Roses, this was her first headwind.  We must have been doing about 4km/hr at one point as we're heading up hill with the wind almost blowing us over...and then the rain hit.  For some of us, it was fantastic to be alive, for some of us it was going to require some therapy!

We finally made it to a bus stop up ahead to wait out the rain...


Then we rode the next few km into Zandvoort to find the track.  And we finally did.


That view for the fence was enough for Roses and I - so we headed off to find some breakfast (and somewhere warm) while the boys went to fulfil their dream.



That's one very happy Cody!

The boys came and found us at a pirate themed pancake place on the beach for THE BEST PANCAKES EVER (they even had GF for Roses) - we needed the carbs, the warmth, the nourishment, and the coffee.



Then it was the tulips! 

We rode the most amazing route to the Kuekonhof Gardens, where we had tickets to tour the gardens at 3pm. Mike had visited these tulip gardens when he was a kid, so it was his dream to come back - they are open for only 6 weeks each year, and their festival is held over two weeks, so we were lucky to have seen it.

The ride was just glorious.  The most amazing houses, farms, deer, more amazing houses and the highlight of the whole day...TULIP FIELDS (and Hyacinth fields too!!!  Just cycling past these amazing fields.  We stopped and took pics, and stopped again, and again.  We were all gobsmacked, excited, incredulous, amazed, and overwhelmed by the beauty and colour and magic of it all.

After our tour of the Gardens, we rode the final 13km to our camping hut - a magical total of 50km in all.  The longest day for Roses and Cody ever on a bike, and my longest ride in about 20 years.  WE ARE LEGENDS.  It was hot chocolates, followed by weiner schnitzel all round for dinner!





Warning: There are a billion photos of tulips following - both fields and at the Keukenhof Gardens, continue at your won risk














Mmmmm more frites on site!

Young frites cutter - hand cutting the chips - YUMMMMM.








This one reminded me of Mum.






















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sometimes the Plan Doesn't Come Together

  That's what I had for lunch in the local town.  And Mike's now famous "old cheese roll" is hidden there at the back.  We have had hours of fun and laughter about Mike's lunch.  It was shit. And so was mine.  Cody's was ok.  And there was no food for Roses.  But never fear - a visit to the supermarket (that included lollies, chocolate, chips, Fanta, and pancake mix - both gf and normal) made everything better! Let me go back a step.   We woke up to pouring rain this morning, and then our we-plan-as-we-go fell a bit to pieces today.  We tried to find a trekking hut or cabin for the tonight about 25km south, but it's the long weekend here, and nothing was available.  Luckily, the nice people here in our palace let us stay here again tonight - so we had a day of washing clothes, shopping, watching movies, laughing, eating - and I made another spag bol for dinner.  YUM YUM.   We have a new plan for tomorrow and a trekkin...
1 comment
Read more

WE FREAKING DID IT - 686km in 22 Days!!!

  Well, sportsfans, we did it.  We actually did it.  From Amsterdam to Villers Allerand - 686km in 22 days.  So much laughter, so many crazy moments, so many great places to stay, so many terrible places to stay!  Such amazing food.  So many funny moments.  So many swearing moments.  Rain, hail, snow, sun, freezing temperatures, very cold cabins, cobblestones, mud, water, grass, lots of fields, AMAZING SCENERY, INCREDIBLE CHEESES, and a shitload of FUN!!!! It's hard not to get philosophical, but that could get really boring, so instead, here are some pics and moments from our last day on the bike - 48 crazy km, including the longest 2km of our whole trip - the last 2km, on the "country" track between the champagne vines coming into Villers - it took us over an hour to get through it!  INSANE ending to and INSANE TRIP!  Our final breakfast - feeling happy and sad at the same time Bikes packed and ready to go for the final hurrah! Final mo...
1 comment
Read more

On the Road Again

  We're back.  We've had two days of great cycling since we last posted - and it's been beautiful. After our rainy rest day outside of Gouda we headed off with bright and sunny weather, and the gods were shining on us as we rolled onto our first ferry - it was waiting for us, and on we rolled - it was only a 5 minute journey, but we LOVED IT.  We cycled through beautiful scenery - and even managed to take off our rain jackets for the first time since we arrived.  Aaaah the sun.  One of the best moments so far for me was cycling past a pair of swans, with their nest behind them, and in their nest I could see a lot of eggs - SO FANTASTIC. After a couple of stops on the way, for Dutch Apple Cake, then Dominos in Dordrecht, We rolled into our um...rustic accommodation - the only thing we could find due to this long weekend thing...and we coped! Roses eating her GF waffle  Our VERY rustic trekking hut for the night Our very rustic ablutions block The next mornin...
2 comments
Read more