The time had come to complete my alphabet and pedal to Unisee parkrun. We were about to begin seven days of cycling from Den Haag in the Netherlands to Bremen in Germany.

I’d just completed Zuiderpark parkrun (see previous blog post) and U was now my final target!

I’d done a lot of planning for this trip. There were 14 days of cycle route plans and 14 nights of accommodation bookings. I had a summary table and created a little folder for each day with all the paperwork we’d need. It was probably overkill but it felt reassuring!

Day 1: Den Haag to De Bilt (Utrecht)

I’d (under)estimated that we’d have around 50 miles of cycling to do today.

After Zuiderpark parkrun, we headed back to our hotel. I had a quick shower before we got everything loaded up and ready to go just before 11.30am.

We headed out of Den Haag via the beautiful Haagse Bos, part of the oldest forest in the Netherlands. We picked up the LF4 cycle route and followed it pretty much all day.

Not long after this I had to stop to take a photo of this patriotic horse poo. I had so many questions. Who put this flag here? Why? Do they carry a stash of flags around with them for such occasions? Do they stick it in any poop or just horse poop? Were we going to see more of these? (Sadly we didn’t).

We passed through lots of farmland on dedicated cycle paths. We also saw our first stork of the trip!

About 14 miles in, we stopped for lunch at a swimming lake called Zoetermeerse Plas. Just as we were locking our bikes up the heavens opened and there was a completely un-forecast downpour! Luckily the outside terrace had big umbrellas so we managed to stay dry. We set off again and soon saw our first windmill of the trip.

It drizzled on and off for a while before the sun came out and it got really hot! We stopped off at a cafe in Bodergraven (about 29 miles in) for refreshments. This was followed by a long stretch along the Oude Rijn, a branch of the Rhine delta. At one point there was a goat tethered at the side of the path that we had to swerve around!

There was a pretty tough headwind for this stretch so we stopped again in Woerden for a water/snack break.

This was supposed to be our last stop as it was already 5.30pm. However, a few miles later, we came across Kasteel de Haar and had to stop and have a look! It’s the largest castle in the Netherlands. It dates from the 13^th Century but fell into disrepair in the 19^th and was rebuilt in the medieval style. It’s owned by the Van Zuylen family and has hosted guests such as Roger Moore, Gregory Peck, and Coco Chanel.  

After this we ended up on a long single-track cycle way for ages. It got a bit boring after a while, but we had a moment of excitement when Ian got stung on the side of the head by a wasp. Not sure it was the kind of excitement he was looking for…

We had a really lovely ride into Utrecht – we didn’t realise we were in the city until we were right in the centre because the cycle paths went though lots of lovely parks.

The city centre itself was incredibly busy because it was Utrecht Pride weekend (which explained why all the accommodation was booked up!). It was brilliant to ride through so many people having a great time out in the sun. Although there had been loads of bikes in Den Haag, Utrecht was the first city where we’d felt swept along in a peloton at every junction. It was great!

We were staying out the other side of town in the Van der Valk Hotel in De Bilt as it was the only place I could find with any space. It was a conference hotel and wasn’t cheap but it was very comfortable and friendly. We arrived at about 7.30pm, having cycled 55.7 miles.

We were able to lock our bikes to each other in an internal courtyard near our room. After a quick shower and call with Ellie (Ian’s daughter), we ate in the hotel because we didn’t fancy cycling anywhere else. I had an amazing hassleback pumpkin!

Day 2: De Bilt to Zwolle

We hadn’t paid for hotel breakfast so we had a cup of tea and a cereal bar and hit the road. We knew today was going to be a long one – I’d (under) estimated it at 70 miles – mainly following the LF9 route.

About 6 miles in, disaster struck! Ian’s second-hand Brooks saddle, which he’d bought a few months before the trip, basically broke in half. It was Sunday and today and tomorrow were both public holidays when most of the shops were shut, so it was unlikely we we’d be able to replace it any time soon. He dug around in his bag and found some physio tape, did a bit of a bodge-job, and set off again.

We were soon heading through some amazing woodland which had sand dunes and large open beach style areas. A bit of dodgy Google translate on a sign revealed that trees had been removed in this “open forest” to give nature more space.

We reached the edge of Amersfoot, about 20-miles in and stopped at a Subway for a sandwich – our second breakfast. There were quite a few other cafes around but they were all closed.

A bit further into town the cycle path was closed because a festival was being set up. We pushed our bikes through the stalls and I took advantage of the portaloos that had been installed.

We made good time into Spakenburg on a long straight road with a tailwind. Unfortunately we were unable to treat ourselves to a cup of tea when we arrived, because everything was closed.

On the far side of town we picked up the Zuiderzeeroute and followed it along the edge of Nijkernauw and Nuldernauw. These are lakes on the spot where the inland sea of Zuiderzee used to be before the land was reclaimed.

Just before crossing the water on for the first time, we spotted a café which was…OPEN!! We wasted no time in dropping down to it and ordering some lunch. I had an incredible cheese toastie with a wonderful melted cheese creation on top!

While we were sitting and eating outside, we felt our first few drops of rain – a warning of what was to come. When we told the waitress we were heading for Zwolle she thought we were crazy, cautioned us about the weather forecast, and suggested a myriad of places we could stop and stay the night before we got there! Pedalling to parkrun demands a strict schedule though, so we were unable to change our plans.

The rain didn’t come to anything at this point and we pressed on, passing lots of holiday resorts along the lakeside. We passed a family with a screaming child who had obviously fallen off his bike and cut his knee. Ian decided we should offer them a plaster from our first aid kit but volunteered me to take it over. I gave a couple of plasters and an antiseptic wipe to his grateful Dad. We cycled off before we had chance to find out if the wipe made him scream even louder.

We’d intended to cross the water again on the Zuiderzeeroute but I’d not realised that this was a ferry crossing rather than a bridge. Ian didn’t fancy the ferry, so we carried on along the cycle path on the north of the lake before crossing a very long dam into Harderwijk. Just as we were heading towards town, exposed on a high road bridge, the heavens opened.

We sped down the other side and took refuge under an underpass. We were about 45 miles into the day’s journey at this point so we knew we still had a long way to go.

The forecast was for rain for the rest of the day, so we had a quick look online to see what our options were for getting a train. While we were doing that, two youths on a moped came down and joined us – they said hello but it all felt a bit weird. Then one of them left and headed back towards town on the moped leaving his friend with us. It all became a bit clearer when he came speeding back down the path and his friend started filming him. I’m not sure they’re ever going to be TikTok sensations but whatever makes you happy I guess.

There were trains to Zwolle from Harderwijk but the rain started to slow down so we decided to persevere. We’d tried various supermarkets over the last hour or so to stock up on snacks but everything was closed. We were beyond overjoyed when we finally had success at a Harderwijk petrol station. The sign outside said it was voted “Retailer of the year: 2021” and we thoroughly agreed – we could shelter under the forecourt roof and they even had a coffee machine!

We rode on into the countryside. The rain continued but it was mostly fairly light for the next couple of hours. As we approached Oldebroek it suddenly got incredibly heavy and we took shelter under a tree.

We waited about five minutes but there was no sign of it slowing down. We’d cycled about 65 miles, and it was quite clear by now that today’s ride would be more than 70 miles. At this point I estimated about 8 miles left – there were actually to be 14, oops!

The rain was relentless. We were soaked to the skin and pretty miserable. We stopped once or twice more to shelter for a few minutes but it was pretty pointless really.

As we approached Zwolle we went over this rather amazing railway bridge. I didn’t stop to take a photo as the rain was still hammering down.

We eventually made it to our hotel – Hotel Fidder & Patrick’s Whiskey Bar – at around 8pm having completed 79 miles of cycling.

We put our bikes in their garage and dripped our way across the floor to our room. The hotel was awesome, a really cool place.

We wrung out our clothes and hung them up to dry, had a much appreciated hot shower, and headed down for dinner.

I’d researched some places to eat in Zwolle but there was no way we were heading out in the rain again so we ate in the hotel which was really nice anyway.

Day 3: Zwolle to Groningen

We knew today would be another long day in the saddle, so when we set off this morning we took a little shortcut to get out Zwolle rather than rejoining LF9 straight away.

We were treated to an amazing tailwind for the first few miles and felt like we were positively zooming along. The dark clouds were amassing though!

We got to the pretty town of Meppel and sheltered under the canopy of a closed café when it started to rain. It was at this point I realised Ian had a massive rip in his shorts! Luckily, he had his bib shorts underneath so avoided flashing the locals.

The rain seemed to stop so we carried on but about half an hour after we left Meppel the rain started to come down again. There weren’t many options to get undercover, but after a few minutes of getting soaked we took refuge under the edge of a building where we’d spotted two other cyclists sheltering.

When it stopped, we carried on a bit further and spotted an open pub so we called in for a cup of tea and a biscuit.

After that, we had a lovely section of route through the Holtingerveld nature reserve. This saw us passing through woodland and heathland on some nice narrow, smooth trails.

We’d been looking at the map for potential lunch spots but there didn’t seem to be many options. The only place we could see was a four-star hotel in Wapse which we feared would be expensive! We were pleasantly surprised by the prices and the size of the sandwiches…

We were soon cycling through woodland again, this time through the Drents-Friese Wold National Park. It was all very pleasant until it started to rain again. Suddenly the nice dusty tracks we’d been enjoying became a bit less nice. When it got heavier, we sheltered under a tree for a while hoping it would ease off. It didn’t.

As we got to the edge of the woods (46 miles into our day) there was a visitor centre and café so we took full advantage, leaving our bikes under the umbrellas outside. It was about 3pm and the rain wasn’t forecast to start until about 7. We had some tea and cake and waited a little while to see if the rain might stop. Again, it didn’t.

Soon after this we encountered what was probably the worst bit of cycling on the whole trip. We were on a path across an exposed heathland with torrential rain coming sideways at us. For about a mile the squishy path was about 10cm under murky water and we couldn’t see what we were riding on at all. At one point we passed a couple on bikes coming the other way – the woman shouted what sounded like a question to us in Dutch but there was no way we could stop.

The rain continued and we pushed on to Groningen.

I’d always known that finding this accommodation would be a bit tricky, so I’d spent quite a bit of time before the trip noting how to get there. When we arrived at the edge of the city there were roadworks everywhere and we were thwarted at every turn! It was really hard to check Google Maps because the rain was still so heavy, but we managed to find the odd bus shelter or overhanging building to stop and plan our next move.

When we were quite close, we decided to stop at a supermarket to get something to cook later. Ian stayed with the bikes and I waddled off into the shop. I was absolutely soaked to the skin and couldn’t function enough to take my gloves or helmet off. I went to the self-service check-out, thinking that would be the simplest option. It wasn’t. Firstly I was “randomly” selected for a bag check. Then after that my Visa debit card wouldn’t work (turns out they only took Mastercard) so I had to be escorted to the kiosk to pay cash. What a palaver!

By the time we finished the day, we’d cycled 75 miles, 29 of them in heavy rain. In my plan I’d estimated 65, when we double-checked with the GPS route this morning it said 85, so we took a few shortcuts and ended up in the middle.

Our accommodation for the night was quirky to say the least. We were staying at Bamboo Lodge on some wasteland at the edge of town which used to house a sugar factory. It looked like various trendy new businesses were opening up there, including an escape room complex made of shipping containers.

We got to the gate of what looked like a fortified compound – Ian later said he felt like we were in The Walking Dead.

We were buzzed in and made our way to the reception area. The man running the place was really friendly and showed us around the communal facilities before taking us to our cabin. I think this would be a lovely place to stay on a sunny day. However, the shared bathroom was a 20-metre walk from our lodge (through a puddle) and we didn’t have anywhere indoors to dry our sodden kit, which wasn’t ideal.

We got showered and hung our things out on the veranda much to the bemusement of the resident peahen. It was still raining and the air was really damp so it wasn’t particularly effective!

Then we headed off to the communal building to cook our pizzas. It took us quite some time to work out how to use the oven, but we got there in the end. There were two guys lounging on the sofas watching Pulp Fiction on the TV. They asked if we minded if they smoked, to which we replied that we didn’t. They then lit up their joints and the room slowly filled with weed smoke. I’m not saying it’s related but I had the best night’s sleep of the trip!

Day 6: Groningen to Delfzijl

Today was our “rest day”. We only had about 24 miles to cycle and so we didn’t leave our accommodation until after 11am. Luxury!

We had a slightly awkward breakfast around the communal table. There were four other people and nobody really spoke to each other.

I’d opted to wear my dry running trainers rather than my soaked cycling shoes. I had everything crossed that we’d avoid the rain and I wouldn’t end up with two soggy pairs of shoes.

We went into town and our first stop was a bike shop so we could replace Ian’s broken saddle. He’d managed almost 150 miles on it, which wasn’t bad going!

Then we called at Primark. Ian’s daughter Ellie had been desperate for their Stranger Things T-shirt but all the UK stores had sold out. Unfortunately Ian couldn’t get one here either but he did buy himself some new pants and me a pair of leggings.

We followed the LF9 route out of the city and then used the numbered junction system to find our way to Delfzijl.

This was the only day we of the trip we didn’t use the GPS but following the cycle routes in Holland is so easy. Every junction has a number and signs pointing you to each of the surrounding junctions. Most of them also have a map so you can double check if you need to reassure yourself!

We had a nice tailwind and it was altogether a pleasant afternoon ride. Ian stopped to adjust his saddle a couple of times but otherwise we just headed straight from A to B – we didn’t even stop for a café today!

We arrived at the Eemshotel and managed to avoid getting wet at all – yay!

The hotel is on stilts over the sea and there were house martins nesting under it and swooping around. They have a bike garage back on dry land so we were able to secure our bikes for the night.

We washed our kit and hung it out to dry. I even managed to wash my parkrun kit, which hadn’t been possible until now because we’d needed all our drying space for cycling clothes.

There was a fabulous heater in the bathroom so we put it on full blast and hung everything up.

We wandered around Delfzijl for a while. We took a look at Adam’s Windmill and tried to find somewhere to eat but the place had a bit of a ghost town feel. It was pretty much deserted. With little other option, we headed back to eat at the hotel.

Luckily the hotel food was delicious and we even got two free appetisers.

To be continued…

The next few days of our pedal to Unisee parkrun are captured in part 2 – stay tuned!