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Here I have reproduced the blog I kept while I was on my self-supported European bike tour from Amsterdam to Switzerland and the travelling I did before and after. The original is kept on my blog at http://henrythehorrible.blogspot.com.
Monday, October 08, 2007
# posted by Tripp : 2:56 PM
Another gorgeous day in Nederland. Today was the first leg of the actual tour. I rode 70 miles from The Hague to Zaltbommel. It went pretty well although I did get turned around in a couple of the larger cities. For the most it's really easy to follow the roads as things are signed very well and often time their are separate signed bikepaths (fietspad) where no cars are allowed. Unfortunately I left my mini-USB cable in the Hague so no new pictures today. I'll upload some tomorrow when I get a new cable in town. However, I do have interactive routes of where I went biking back near the coast on Friday and Saturday.
Tonight I'm staying in the luxorious Hotel Tivoli. Pictures tomorrow to show its beauty, but, to give you an idea, I had to go to a Chinese restaurant to check-in.
This was Friday's ride around the Hague. Interactive Google map here.
And this was Saturday's ride with Craig around the Hague. Interactive Google map here.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
# posted by Tripp : 2:25 AM
Ok, here are the promised pictures from the first leg from The Hague to Zaltbommel. I'll do the pictures for yesterday and today when I get to Xanten. Time to ride.
Here's the route from Monday 10/08). Google Maps interactive map.
All set to go from Craig's.
Waiting for a drawbridge over one of the canals.
The medieval town of Dordrecht.
I had to take a ferry to cross a river to get to Werkendam.
Another windmill. They were used for both milling grain and also pumping water from holding ponds to canals and vice versa.
My lovely hotel room in Zaltbommel.
And how to do the ghetto plug conversion. In my defense, the live wires were already just hanging out of the wall.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
# posted by Tripp : 12:24 PM
Just got to Düsseldorf. I wrote some blogs last night (didn't have internet to post). Here's one about the trip from Zaltbommel to Nijmegen:
Tuesday (Zaltbommel->Nijmegen), 40mi
I had no internet in Xanten, so this is coming to you from Düsseldorf. Tuesday I rode from Zaltbommel to Nijmegen. It was around 40 miles over dikes (dijks) and along canals in the Dutch countryside. The weather was overcast and bit cooler, but it didn't rain. I passed through several small towns but nothing really eventful happened except when my bikepath was blogged by a herd of sheep. I would've tried to pick my way through but they looked rather surly and they had already covered the path in excrement. The detour didn't add that much time. Eventually I arrived at the industrial outskirts of Nijmegen. Here, I believe, is one of the many massive pump stations that help control the water level in the canals. There was also a pretty serious set of locks that were moving barges up and down the river.
Once I made it into downtown Nijmegen I immediately made my way to the Velorama Museum. Apparently, it's the largest historical bicycle museum in the world. It was three floors of bikes, starting from the very earliest wheeled, hobbyhorse designs to the hi-wheel (hi bis), penny-farthing disasters to modern recumbents and folding bicycles. As an interesting aside, the very first exhibit was a life-like manikin of Leonardo da Vinci standing beside a fully wooden bike with a chained drivetrain. From what I could understand from the attendant’s broken English, some lost documents of da Vinci’s had been discovered by monks that suggest he invented the chained drivetrain hundreds of years before they became popular. The story is unlikely and it is thought the documents are forgeries, but until it is proven one way or the other, the curator is leaving the sculpture up. Anyway, it was awesome and I took a zillion pictures. However, from the very beginning I noticed that an awful lot of emphasis was placed on the French bicycle designers and manufacturers throughout the told history. I had the feeling that the curator was probably a Frenchman. My worst fears were affirmed when I came to the very top floor and entered "the black box". It was a small raised room that had a motion sensor activated World War II bicycle diorama within, complete with life size human models in the appropriate garb and machine gun sound effects. This was all fine and well, but there was a little button with a French flag that I couldn't help to press. Well, some sort of French victory music started blasting and a new room lit up with a bunch of French wartime relics. It was hysterical. They may have helped to move the bicycle from the rich person's toy to the working man's vehicle, but they did not win the second World War! Haha.
Anyway, I then wandered around to check out historical Nijmegen. I guess it was originally settled by the Romans (and probably before) so there's quite a bit of history there. I found a place to stay right near the old square, had a Maoz falafel for dinner, a few beers at a place called Funkenstein, and then turned in for the night.
Here's a pictorial of the Zaltbommel to Nijmegen leg:
Tuesday's leg. Interactive map.
Path blocked by sheep.
Locks near Nijmegen.
Bully!
The first rollerskates. Looks safe.
The retrodirect. That's for Jimbo.
And, finally, a second lesson in how to burn down your hotel.
Friday, October 12, 2007
# posted by Tripp : 12:12 PM
Wednesday (Nijmegen->Xanten, GER), 50mi
I woke up in Nijmegen, had a quick breakfast, and wrote a blog or two. I then wanted to check out a few more places in town before I headed for Germany. The most important of these was, of course, Barbarossa’s ruins (unfortunately this was not the pirate Barbarossa, but I pretended). He built a castle in 1155 on the ruins of Charlemagne’s castle. Unfortunately the county sold the castle for building material in the late 1700’s and all that remains are the two churches at either end of the castle.
Eventually I left the Netherlands behind, turning away from the Rhine (Waal as it was in the Netherlands), and entered the rolling farms of northeastern Germany. It was probably the best riding day so far - it was sunny all day and just slightly warmer than the previous days (mid to high 60s maybe). However, I was barely able to infiltrate the German defenses as they had a very tight security perimeter at the border (kidding). I actually didn’t know when I crossed the border, but there was a point with a few boundary marker stones where the signs turned from Dutch to German. Anyway, getting away from the dikes of the Netherlands and into the German countryside was a pleasant change as I was getting tired of grinding away in the exact gear for miles and miles at a time. Also, the Germans have not prepared their bikepaths for me as nicely as the Dutch did. I've now hit packed sand, dirt and even some gravelly sections, whereas in the Netherlands it was always nicely paved or tiled. But the change is welcome.
I passed through the picturesque towns of Kleve and Kalkar and eventually found myself along the Xantener Nordsee (a lake) and was then suddenly in Xanten. It was a little over 40 miles in all and I felt a little bit more tired than the previous journey because of the more hilly German terrain. Apparently, the town of Xanten has just discovered that it was a Roman settlement thousands of years ago after a farmer dug up a bunch of golden Roman coins. They're excavating all over the place and they have an outdoor archaeological museum that shows the Roman excavations. They also have a new huge museum dedicated to the Roman history set to open in April next year. The town itself has a pretty, ancient square with a huge church and ancient walls and entrances. I'm staying at the local youth hostel which is mile or two outside of town, but it's only 20 euros and as clean as a hospital. Although the last place was new and clean, it was 50 euros, and the place before that (Hotel Tivoli), well, let’s just say it wasn’t worth the 45 euros I paid. The youth hostel room has room for four or five to sleep, but I’ve got it to myself and it has its own bathroom. I swear it’s never been used.
Some pics from the journey to Xanten:
The route. Interactive.
Nijmegen old town in the morning.
Avast! BARRRRbarossa's ruins! Alas, no buried traayysure, only some refuse left by the local rabble.
I think this was the Dutch-German border. It was a very difficult crossing.
Finally, some dirt paths.
Typical bike path signage.
There I am outside Xanten!
My final installment of how to burn down your hotel (I finally got the plug adapter).
# posted by Tripp : 1:12 PM
A quick post on the Dutch. Now that I’ve left the Netherlands and entered Germany, I want to write a quick piece about the Dutch and travelling in the Netherlands. I would first like to say that it was a pleasure. I’d admittedly never thought about travelling in the Netherlands until this bike trip. But now I will definitely think about going back (besides, I didn’t even get to spend a night in Amsterdam). The Dutch are generally friendly to tourists, most of the Dutch understand and speak English well, and they are excellent business people. The Netherlands are clean, they have good weather (as far as I can tell), the transportation systems are efficient and well-signed, and, because their money comes from their successful financial businesses, you don’t feel like everyone is trying to gip you as a tourist (whereas in Greece, where tourism is the number one industry, I felt like everyone was trying to sell me a crappy product or service). Anyway, it was a pleasurable experience all around and I would recommend a visit to anyone (especially a cyclist - that’s what the country is made for).
# posted by Tripp : 1:13 PM
Thursday (Xanten->Dusseldorf), 60mi
So, I’m starting to hit the populated, industrial part of the Rhine. I was going to stay in a place called Duisburg but it was pretty dirty, so I pressed on to Dusseldorf. The day started so misty I could barely see, but it cleared up and became a beautiful day. I mostly followed the Rhine, got lost in some farmer’s fields, and even made a friend for a little bit of the journey. I passed through one very nice river town called Kaiserswerth and took a couple of pictures there. Kaiserswerth had some more ruins of Barbarossa that I was pretty excited about. Again, no buried traayysure.
The route. Interactive.
A misty start.
My Heeed on the Rhine.
Crossing a farmer's fence.
Kaiserswerth path (with flood marker).
Up close of the flood marker.
More of Barbarossa's ruins.
My biking friend. He had shaved head except for one clump on the left side that you can sort of see. He also has a sweet plumber's crack.
# posted by Tripp : 1:33 PM
Friday (Dusseldorf->Bonn), 65mi
Another long day and crummy weather. Low morale today due to the weather and the industrial views of the Rhine (called the "unromantic" part of the Rhine in a guidebook I have). However, now that I’ve arrived here in Bonn, I feel much better. Bonn is a nice old town with a few ancient squares and a big university. I’m going to investigate it more tomorrow.
Anyway, I was going to stop in Koln (Cologne) for the night, but it was a big commercial city and wasn’t very interesting except for the largest Gothic cathedral in Germany. I ran inside and snapped a few photos. Some of them came out strange though – I think my camera might be on its last legs. Not much else to report.
Here are the photos:
The route. Interactive.
A street near where I stayed in Dusseldorf.
German engineering at its best. A bridge that floats when it floods!
I passed through Leverkusen which I think is the headquarters of Bayer.
Cheee-eeese. Sadly, I finished my last snack here in Leverkusen. The delicious Dutch Kloosterkaas.
The giant Koln cathedral from outside, across the river. It was huge.
# posted by Tripp : 1:44 PM
Aah. I am finally all up-to-date with the blog. Hopefully I can stay up-to-date because this just took two hours at 8 euros per hour. I can believe I just paid for wireless internet!