Author: Steven

This was my last “full” day of cycling as I headed on up to Oxford. For the most part it was the first time that cycling in England on this trip was a pleasure. There were still the potholed roads etc but the wind had abated somewhat and, as I drew closer to Oxford, the scenery and countryside became more like the tourist brochures pictured them.

I stopped at the village of Stoke Row for a coffee as it had been a bit of a slow long climb up into the Chiltons. It’s always interesting to chat and find out about a place. For example Kate Winslet had her wedding reception at the local pub here. The Maharajah of Benares paid for a well to be dug in Stoke Row after hearing that drought conditions also occurred on parts of the Chilterns.  And the St John the Evangelist Church, a beautiful 13 century flint church was actually built in the 1840’s

And then it was on to Oxford via the rivers and canals and some meandering around the nearby countryside.

Well after a few days in London spending time with Aaron and Connor, and exploring around the place and being a tourist, It was time to get back on the bike and start heading towards Oxford with Reading being the roughly the halfway point.

Note to self, do not do this again. In the past when I was cycled through London it has been 4 o’clock in the morning having just arrived from New Zealand. Today of course it was during a regular day so I had to deal with the traffic and bike pods or roots did not seem to make any sense at all but seemed more to be like an obstacle course set up to annoy the cyclist. As you can tell I am not enjoying cycling in England. It was only a short day really about 70 km in all but it was an exhausting day and one of the things I noticed is that the traffic really takes its toll on you not so much for a danger perspective but the fact that it is constantly there and it is noisy and it drills into your head.

Anyway, I have made it to a pub just outside of Reading despite the gale force wins which obviously didn’t help given that they were against me and I am knackered. In fact today has been my slowest day due to the constant stopping for traffic lights, getting my way through gates, and the wind. So my bike and I are now in the hotel room and I’m letting my legs recover.

It’s always interesting when you revisit a place to see how it’s either the same or not the same. As with yesterday one of my key impressions is at the paths and streets are not in as good as shape as they used to be.  I have become a master at spotting potholes at 50 yards and avoiding them as they come towards me like machine gun fire i’m taking the toll on both my bicycle and my neck.

This is a bridge I have always liked. It crosses over a small river , you walk bike across it. This is England is one would like it to be. Of course getting to it requires going under a Motorway and along a deteriorating concrete road! But it’s lovely and I always stop here. I think I’ve biked it about 4 times.

By the time I reached Harlow, I decided enough was enough and decided to take the train into London. Needless to say, the lift to get to the platforms was out of action, apparently had been for over a month so it was unload the bike and haul everything up the steep stairways. I don’t know what people in wheelchairs or passengers going to Luton airport do.   Just to re-enforce the state of railway stations, when I reached Liverpool Street Station, only one ancient decrepit lift was operating and there was a family stuck in it – having considerably overload it with suitcases.

Possibly if I’d started in England I wouldn’t have notice the sad states of many things here. But coming from the continent, where everything seemed to work and was clean threw it into stark contrast.

Well today is the first day back in England and starting up from Harwich. I think I’ve been through this port many time either on my way to Denmark or nowadays to or from Holland. So a lot of today’s route I am familiar with post it ups and its downs.

Needless to say along the way will be places I would remember quite well such as this 12th century Church there is also the Home of Commonwealth War Graves not that I could find or identify any.

After the cleanliness, modern infrastructure and beautiful bike paths and roads of the continent, England is always a bit of a shock. It does take the award for potholes and bad road surfaces, without any other contender close to it. As for bike paths, don’t even ask as they do not exist. There is a general air of having let things go. Perhaps it is just this part of the country.

There are still some picture perfect places that one comes across but they tend to be the exception.

I must admit the day did not start with the best of intentions. Yesterday was a bit of a struggle possibly because of the wind and today was going to be a long day with an opposing wind and plenty of rain. Last night I even looked and planned to simply go Hoofddorp take the train to Den Haag and then cycle remaining distance rather than to cycle the full 75 km.

In the morning the forecast was for the rain to maybe stop about 11 o’clock so I thought what the heck I’ll give it a go and put on all my rain gear, knowing I could bail at various points along the way and take the train. I’m glad I didn’t bail as, by noon, the rain had given awa to intermittent drizzle something I could deal with quite easily and the wind, in a remarkable turn of events, started to come in behind me, gently pushing me along.

Bicycle Ferry

This ride really was a showcase for how beautiful Holland can be for cycling. Throughout the trip I was surrounded by canals of all sizes, pretty little areas, small cafes and bars. I’ve noticed a couple of Bike Barge Touring Companies along the way.  There were even windmills quite frequently along the way that made a pleasant change from the large massive wind turbines that dominate much of the countryside nowadays. I could easily see doing an e-bike (sacrilege, I know) tour around this area. 

Well I have now reached the Hoek van Holland and so the continental part of my journey is over it’s been roughly 1,600 or so. There have been a number of days of rain and the wind has not been always compliant, but it has been a surprisingly fast journey taking just three weeks since I arrived in Sweden. Tonight is the ferry to England and the next part of the journey.

Next Ferry

The wonderful winds returned again, so for most of the day I was going to be going straight into what the forecast called a gentle breeze. A gentle breeze means that the wind is about 20 k’s in speed and gusting up to 35 k’s. However one just keeps turning the pedals and going.

This part of Holland that I’m in at the moment is the newest province and I believe it was in 1975 that it was actually inaugurated. For the morning I travelled mostly along the sea wall on one side the inland Sea on the other side native marshland  And in front of me a long long straight bike path. After some 25 km of this I decided time for a change so I cut inland through to Almere. Probably one of Holland’s newest towns are not a particularly attractive one. Quite a lot of the bike paths followed the railway lines and I could watch with some degree of envy as these trains would whistle by at what seemed like one every three minutes and most of them had little bicycle signs on the side. But I resisted the temptation and kept going and given that the forecast was rain yet again I chose a hotel delightfully I was upgraded into a rather pleasant suite.

As I reached the outskirts of Amsterdam, the houses, canals and general environment became more of the Holland that you see in tourist brochures the only thing missing with tulips.

Tomorrow is my last day in Holland and on the continent as tomorrow night I catch the ferry to Harwich and then have to think about Cycling on the other side of the road, a new set of currency and of course the British miles vs kilometres.

Most of the time while you are cycling you are quite focused, you are looking at how your body is, how far you have to go, what is your days’ goal, where to next. Often these views are associated with an objective such as crossing a country and so the pressure can build after a number of days. Today, to my surprise, was one of those days when I reached an objective and released all those pent up emotions.

I am within 50 km of Amsterdam, but more importantly I have reached the Home of the Batavia replica ship. Why this ship is so important to me I have absolutely no idea – other than of course it’s history in Western Australia and that I am fascinated with what happened off the coast of Geraldton.

Ironically beside the place where they are preserving the ship is one of the biggest outdoor shopping Malls I have come across that has literally gutted the nearby town. It makes me resent the big name brands that now populate our Malls across the world making every single mall the same.

The good news is, at the yard,  they are working hard to preserve the ship with lots of work going on and I was able to spend some time on board.

tomorrow onwards and upwards, because for most of today I have been below sea level.

It was a very very muggy day even the cows were lying down, and I set off this morning, planning to do my typical 80k’s or so. Temperature hovered around 30C for most of the day. So it was a matter of just take it easy and just keep peddling helped by the fact that the ground in Holland seems to be flat everywhere. Although I know that is not of course the case.

it was a hot and humid day and that rain was expected, I decided to stay at a hotel this was not just an ordinary hotel but a 15th century manor with beautiful grounds, and importantly nice cool room. it is also where the first king of the Netherlands stayed. I had always thought that this was Wilhelm the first and indeed both Google and The Royal website say so. a little known fact that has been quite erased from history that there was a king of all Holland before Willhelm. Louis Bonaparte was installed as King of Holland on 5 June 1806 by Napoleon. Wilhelm did not become king until 1813. How’s that for some trivial pursuit question for you.

It was a bit of a surprise when I passed from Germany into the Netherlands. The only reason I noticed was because the signs were in a different language. They were no longer German and then the mobile data on  my phone stopped working although Spark told me I could have a new Roaming package. Eventually, O2 data started working once I rebooted my phone three times.

All the Tree in regimental order

Overall it was quite a lovely day. The roads had steadily improved as had the paths. Although I did take an unexpected detour due to the fact I was daydreaming and a cycling along and hadn’t noticed I was no longer on my course.

Arrived at a typically Dutch campsite, again the pricing so much better than say Denmark, but of course the facilities are different while there are showers and toilets, there are no kitchens and no such thing as paper towels, soap dish soap, etc. But the beer was cheap.

Last night as I sat in my camp chair, for some reason I hadn’t felt so exhausted and tired. I could barely keep my eyes open and contemplated cycling the next date to the nearest town and catching a train. Yet in the morning, I felt as good as new and almost fully refreshed. I can never understand how the body works at times.

A lovely ride today, despite the neck being a pain. So scenic spots along the way such as this old watermill in full working order, or indeed this amazing 500-600 year old oak standing next to an even older church. Being Sunday everything was closed, even Aldi, but it’s no problem when you’re prepared for it. But I did stop at the one cafe that was open along the way.

Tonight’s campground is highly expensive, 9 euro – which included a shower and a beer. In Stockholm that would have bought ½ a beer. The bike paths seem to be getting better and smother as I head west toward the Netherlands. Let’s hope it continues that way.