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After Day 1, I was getting used to the cycle network, and the novelty of miles of traffic free cycling. I had got the hang of the Junction signing, and found it easy to adapt my route 'on the fly' using the ANWB map as my guide. I was more alert to some of the pitfalls: don't expect signing at every road junction in urban areas. Also, the very popularity of the network means that you need to keep your wits about you in busy urban areas, especially at 'cross roads' where two cycle paths cross. Cycles have their own traffic lights, and it's not the done thing to ignore them. Cycle paths can be used by mopeds, and these pose a particular danger.
Day 2 dawned wet, and there was a light drizzle as I left my Rotterdam hotel.
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| Damp morning in Rotterdam: note the traffic lights for cycles. |
I wanted to visit the heritage windmills at Kinderdijk. I could go south of the Nieuwe Maass river on LF2 to Ridderkirk, but worried that the ferry to Kinderdijk would be infrequent, so decided to play safe and stay on the north bank to Krimpen, from where there is a continuous ferry service. The rain eased up but it remained overcast. Crossing the River Lek proved dead easy: you just ride onto the ferry for the short crossing. (The river system hereabouts is complex, leading to a profusion of river names for the various branches of the Rhine.)
LF2/LF11 is an excellent path which takes you beside the waterway with classic Dutch windmills on both sides.
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| At Kinderdijk, you could be riding through a painting from the Golden Age (if you ignore the factories on the distant horizon). Legend has it that in a flood, a child was washed ashore in a cradle, hence the name Child's Dike. |
As the cloud lifted and the sun began to peep through, I decided to head through the polders (KP 19, 7, 14 68, 67) to the little town of Nieuwpoort.
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| Cycle path through the polders |
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| I stopped for a drink in the little town of Nieuwpoort |
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| I crossed back over the Lek by the Schoonhoven ferry |
I now followed the road along the dyke on the north bank of the Lek (KPs 10, 87 etc to 09). This was an unexpected bonus: excellent views all round, and the sun and blue sky appearing to set the Lek off to its best advantage.
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| Dike on the north bank of the Lek: although a road, it was very quiet, the main traffic being other cyclists |
I entered the Utrecht conurbation at Hoog Zandfeld: after initially getting a bit lost, I managed to pick up the KP signs and followed the massive Amsterdam-Rhine canal till at KP23 I headsed east into the centre of Utrecht. At this point I had the sensation of being a drop of water in a tributary of a growing river of cyclists. It was rush hour, and I have never seen so many bikes (save on one of those massive sponsored cycle rides). Around Utrecht station, it was difficult to make the necessary turns, or to stop and check directions, so great was the flow. It was not helped by the extensive works going on around the station.
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| Cycle park at Utrecht Station |
Anyway, I persevered and made my way out along the River Vecht to
my B&B above a suburban shopping centre. This B&B was really comfortable and the owners Hans and his wife were really welcoming, stowing my bike safely in a lock-up, and providing lots of local gen. I went back in to Utrecht centre for an evening meal: I loved Utrecht: it's a thriving university town and has a great atmosphere.
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| My bike, poised to be lifted aloft in the secure cycle park under the town hall in Utrecht |
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| Night-time in Utrecht |
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