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May 24 Wednesday sunny hot 24º C then rain and cool in the evening Bicycle touring Holland We cycle along the crushed rock bike path. It becomes single track through a farm field. We ride our fully loaded touring bicycles past cows and sheep on the bicycle path. I wonder who has right of way? In Kampen we pull our touring bicycles to a stop at a picnic table with a lovely view across a river of downtown and an impressive clock tower. Sailing ships are docked alongside the wharf. A family stops at a bench near us. The kids hop off their bikes and come over to check us and our fully loaded touring bicycles out. Even by Dutch cycling standards, we're touring pretty heavily. Sharon is boiling Chinese noodles with our little pyro bicycle touring blowtorch Whisperlite International stove. She lifts off the frying pan we use as a lid and the kids go Mmmm. Guess they've been cycling long enough to be hungry, too. The father tells us that Canadian veterans were here marching two weeks ago. This town, Kampen, was liberated in World War II by Canadians. There is a plaque by the old city gates honouring the fact. He tells us that the clock tower isn't attached to a church. It was built during an unprosperous time to show how rich the town was -- really a ruse to trick people into thinking that anyway. People sailing past the town would think it must be a rich town because it had such an amazing huge clock tower. And it really is impressive. Speaking of amazing, Sharon managed to whip up with our tiny bicycle touring stove an amazing sweet and sour sauce with pineapples and chicken. After inhaling it all and looking around for more (we might be a tad hungry after bicycle touring the flat Netherlands all day with the extra miles we cycled in many wrong directions) we cycled for a forest, reputed to be on the other side of town. Kampen has lots of parks. One was stocked with various animals. We set up our little Kelty bicycle touring tent in the forest and had a peaceful uneventful night -- something that can be a rare event when wild camping on a bicycle tour, especially in the Netherlands where it seems as though every little nook and cranny of land is occupied. In the morning we ride our fully loaded touring bicycles back into Kampen. The market was just getting underway. We bought bread, tomatoes and cucumbers. I bought grilled chicken, two for $10. One of the best prices we've seen on our Holland bicycle tour. Stocked with goodies, we cycled back across the bridge to our favourite scenic spot from the previous night and enjoyed brunch in hot sunshine at the picnic table. Before long, a wedding couple in a white coach drawn by two midnight black horses came to the spot to take wedding pictures. I guess we're not the only ones who appreciate the view. After lunch, we get back on our fully loaded touring bicycles and cycle off toward Zwolle. (We hope.) We had thought we would be cycling along the placid Ijssel River, but, inexplicably, the bicycle route we are cycling is beside a busy highway instead. In Zwolle we pull our touring bikes to a stop to look through a huge bike shop. Lots of expensive cycling clothes and all accessories for bicycles one can imagine. Cycling shorts $165. Hope those suckers are well padded for that price. Crikey, for that price, I would think it would come with their own masseuse for a relaxing massage after a hard day on the cycle trails. We stock up with two days' worth of groceries, as tomorrow is a holiday. Our map shows a green area, indicating a forest, so we try to cycle to the forest but somehow miss the road and end up in another forest instead. So much for our map reading skills. But, all's well that ends well, I guess. Late this afternoon we needed to refill our water bottles. I saw people, so I pulled my touring bicycles into a parking lot. It turned out to be a camp store. They had Thermarest mattresses for sale for double the price back home. They had Coleman stoves and fuel, too -- the first we've seen since beginning our bicycle tour in Europe. Thunder sounded in the distance. I bought another can of waterproof spray for my cycling rain pants that no longer keep the rain out (after enduring another lecture from Sharon on how I could have bought a new pair of cycling rain pants by now from all the money I've wasted buying ineffective waterproof spray). "But this stuff's made in Holland,"
I whined. I finish spraying my cycle rain pants just as the first few patters of rain fell and I smiled. |
