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May 23 Tuesday 21º C sunny Bicycle touring Holland Balk is supposedly to our north about three kilometres. We cycle south to Lemmer. We follow signs supposedly leading us to Lemmer. In five kilometres we arrive in Balk (!). We cycle south. We come to Stolke, which, on our map, is in the east. Where is Lemmer? We pull our fully loaded touring bicycles to a stop and decide to have lunch. I buy a sweet bread and we sit on a bench by a canal. A group of high school kayakers come floating past. That would be a neat way to see some of the old towns. Some women on a four-day bus holiday come over and talk to us. They take our picture and address, saying they'll send a photo. We ask directions to Lemmer and receive conflicting results. Hmmm. Sounds like the same problem we're having. We get back to our Dutch cycle tour and head off in the direction we think Lemmer should be. We see a sign. We're farther away from Lemmer than when we started cycling this morning. We cycle along, following route signs for a bike route to Lemmer and end up in a town with a concrete marker pointing to Lemmer in the opposite direction. We've cycled almost a complete circle -- where we started cycling from this morning is about five kilometres away. Totally dejected, we pull our fully loaded touring bicycles to a halt and buy a litre of vanilla ice cream. We pour cherry jam on top to drown our sorrows. After inhaling the ice cream concoction, we restart our bicycle tour, heading back in the direction we came from -- this time being extra careful to look for the concrete mushroom-like blobs that mark the way. Now I know why the Dutch call the markers mushrooms. They are low and hidden in the grass. Luckily the scenery is good and the weather is fine for bicycle touring. As we cycle back, past houses we passed an hour or more ago, people wave and say hello. Apparently, we are locals now. On the outskirts of Lemmer we can't resist getting mislocated once again. We end up on a dead end by a canal with no way across. A bridge is above us. A helpful fellow cyclist stops on the bridge and looks over at us and our fully loaded touring bicycles. He points that we have to cycle back and then cycle around to get on the correct road that will lead us to the bridge, over the canal, and into Lemmer. We decide that rather than cycle back, we will take a short cut and push our bikes up a steep embankment to the bridge. I reach the top of the embankment just as an old lady cycles past. Sharon says, "See, when you follow the signs you don't even have to pedal fast." We had passed the old lady cyclist back in the meadows at least half an hour ago. In Lemmer, Sharon leaves me with our fully loaded touring bicycles and goes in to buy groceries. I take out my book bag from my front bicycle touring pannier. As I turn my bicycle wheel sideways, I notice my front tire is coming apart at the sidewall. I pretend not to notice the bulge as I let air out of the tire to reduce pressure on the side. I ask a passerby where I can find a bike shop. Thirty-four dollars later, I have procured a made-in-Holland tire with a blackwall and cool shiny reflective strip -- the only 27-inch tire in the shop. I also bought new batteries for my Avocet cycle computer. It takes two at $8 each. Ouch. Batteries are not cheap in Holland. We cycle out of town, looking for a picnic spot. As I turn my handlebars sharply, my foot kicks my front ESGE bicycle fender and breaks it in two. Some days touring by bicycle are like that. Hordes of bugs are out for an evening fly. I don't know how people can cycle without eye protection. The bugs are constantly dinging off my eyeglasses. We cycle past an old couple by a route marker sitting on a bench. We shout a cheery hello as we fly past on our hell bent for leather fully loaded touring bicycles. In a couple of hundred metres we rein in our fully loaded touring bicycles and decide to go back and check that bike route marker. Sure enough, we were supposed to turn left. The bike route we are supposed to cycle is a single lane crushed rock cow path. Interesting. What happened to our paved cycle path? Maybe this is the off-road route in the Netherlands? We talk to the old couple sitting on the bench. I cannot fail to notice that he has a bug in his eye. |
