This is the day I was looking forward to the most and now I find it is the day I am least looking forward to writing about...
The ride from the ferry at Rotterdam, to the hostel at Amsterdam, was strewn with mishaps and little did we know, as we set off in high spirits, just what the day would bring!
We awoke to the sound of the ferry's passenger announcement and didn't need much encouragement to get downstairs to breakfast! Breakfast on board is a grand affair, a massive hot buffet of anything you can think of for your plate. Also there is cereal, yoghurt and fresh fruit! Scrummy :-)
With bags packed and cabin checked for leftovers we queued our way down the stairs to get to where our bikes were safely stashed and stowed! Beside us the motorbikes were revving and raring to go... their engines growled as the offloading started and we madly honked our horns to the amusement of the bikers who waved and honked in reply...
It was soon our turn to ride off the ferry and we freewheeled down the ramp and onto Dutch soil, once again honking and cheering. Passport control were so relaxed that there was nobody there! So we cycled out of the Europort and re-grouped into our teams on the other side of the barrier! Bikes were checked and any necessary tweaking or adjustments were done... and then we were off...
Cycling along the block-paved surface, we snaked along behind Mark, finally joining the cycle track and pedalling alongside the wind turbines, standing tall and graceful along the banks of the river....
It wasn't long before the flat, easy ride we'd been looking forward to became strewn with obstacles - concrete barriers to be precise! Yes - the Dutch had decided to close the cycle track for work (the nature of which was unclear) and so we were stopped, literally, in our tracks! And yet... not to be put off and more to the point with no other known route, we decided to proceed! Yep - over we went... girls, bikes, panniers and all! There were not just one, but three of these concrete barriers! Waist high, butted up against a fence on one side and a wall on the other... the only way was up! We dismounted and one by one we climbed over and lifted the bikes up and over too... even Andy's tandem, complete with daffodil!!
Eventually, three barricades and one full height wire security fence later, we were finally able to get properly underway... Onward girls - to the ferry! Once over the river it was onwards through some gorgeous villages towards Delft..
This section is gorgeous and a pleasure for us all! We pedal swiftly along down the block-paved streets, honking our horns and calling 'hello' to the locals! We wave at the children and generally revel in good-humoured banter!
We stopped in Shuipladen (?) at about 11am for a break and to stock up on supplies, namely Mars Bars from the local supermarket! We take the chance to try and spot where we are on the map - a useful idea as we would later find out!
Soon we were off again and it wasn't long before we found another obstruction in our path - a building site! The cycle track was plainly visible, on the other side of security gates and a half-submerged crane! No way around it so we had to go through it...
undeterred we managed to get the bikes around the gates and across the sand to the cycle track and then saddled up and rode off as though we did this every day...
We pedalled on though towns and villages, following the cycle tracks, occasionally stopping for a drink or a comfort break! The homes are all gorgeous, all well kept and each with their very own outside space! No matter how small the yard or how large the garden, each home has its outside space set up ....
Of course today is Saturday so there are always plenty of people out and about, sitting or pottering in the garden or otherwise going about their business! It's a really happy ride today, a good feeling! Sunshine, blue skies and good company! It wasn't long before our thoughts turned to lunch and we started looking for the familiarity of Valkenburg Meer, not realising that we were taking a different route...
We soon came to an open sandy area and headed off through sand dunes along a smooth block-paved track, passing pedestrians and cyclists and leading out into a wasteland of drifting white sand and dry grasses... The wind which had been with us all day was more noticeable here and we leaned into the wind and stepped up the effort required to pedal along...
As we cycled the team became more and more spread out... the pressure to keep going was intense and we found ourselves battling long, drawn out slopes which drained our reserves and took ages to conquer... we would finally reach the top and then sigh with dismay as yet another slope loomed before us...
(If you look closely you can see white dots (cyclists) along the road travelling uphill from left to right!)
We pushed on, energised by the thought of lunch, trying not to think of the undulating dunes and hoping we'd be clear of them soon...
It became a struggle... both mental and physical!
Some of us found that keeping our head down was the only way to do it whilst others struggled to simply keep moving forwards... all the time heading into the gusting wind... We became too spread out to call out encouragement to keep focussed!!
At one point I could see nobody ahead of me for miles, and when I turned around there was nobody behind me either! My legs felt like lead weights and my mind was playing tricks on me... what if the track split? Which way should I go? What if I had already missed a turning? What if I was lost and they didn't notice? I had no choice but to trust myself and pedal on... believing that there were friends ahead and more friends behind...
Eventually I saw them, stopped at the side of the track, waiting for me... they were resting and waiting and the front riders had been there a while. I gratefully (and gingerly) got off my bike and straightened my aching legs... I looked back down the track and could see nobody coming up behind me... I took a long drink from my bottle (which had been hard to do whilst cycling uphill into the wind!) and had the last somewhat mangled cereal bar from my saddlebag!
Once again I looked back and saw a lone figure in the distance, Sandra, head down, battling along! She got closer and closer until she pulled in behind me... exhausted and close to tears... She looked at me and I gave her a big hug! It's surprising what a boost we get from being with the team - and how much we miss it when we get split up!
After what seemed like ages, more figures were seen in the distance and another couple of riders pulled up, followed a long way after that by Andy and the last of the team! Whilst the latest arrivals rested Andy rode forward to discuss tactics with Mark whilst we waited in the blazing sun... at least whilst we stood still, the wind was welcome!!
We set off again determined to keep up, no matter what it took! After a while we came to a junction and paused to check the way but couldn't stop long due to flying ants swarming round our ankles... we hopped back on our bikes and carried on! Mark called back that he'd had contact from Gary and we were just a short distance away from them... The other team had arrived at the lunch rendezvous and were waiting for us... This spurred us on and we pedalled along the last of the track and out onto a seaside promenade... littered with bikes and weary cyclists... it was 4.30 in the afternoon!
The van with lunch eventually arrived and its fantastic driver had to get straight off to go and meet Rich's team who were in Valkenburg waiting for their lunch too! Lunch was in a box from P and O Ferries - their lunches are always marvellous! Thank heaven today was no exception! Sandwiches, crisps, hard boiled egg with salt and pepper sachets, an apple, an orange, a cereal bar, carton of juice, a bag of 6x mini-muffins, and a danish pastry! Fantastic!! Just what we needed! God Bless P and O :-)
A decent break and a chatter was much needed to fill up our reserves of energy AND morale!
Gary's team set off first as they had arrived sooner but we soon had to ring them to ask that they wait for us... Our SatNav system wasn't working and we had no way to find where we needed to be - the map was useful to a point but not practical to cycle with and we couldn't keep stopping as it was already late in the day and we needed to make good time from here on in...
It was decided that we would join up with Gary's team and make one huge snake of bikes, with Gary at our head, Sian at our tail and with Mark and Andy at intervals in between!
Spirits lifted at once - the more the merrier was true! We set off, winding our way along the roads, turning this way and that, following faithfully until we reached the familiar sight of the canalside cycleway and the pretty little houses lined up alongside! The sky was blue, the wind had dropped (a little) and Sandra and I knew that this stretch was beautiful and easy!
'How are ya feelin.?' came the familiar cry... 'Gorgeous!' we all shouted in reply! Energy surged through the team as we charged madly forward and set a fine pace! Those who had not been with us from the start were surprised into silence!
The miles sped by as we made good time, crossing roads where necessary and stopping only when we had to! We knew that we were doing well!!
Then disaster! One of the girls collided with a bollard in the middle of the track and as she came off another girl hit her and cycled over the top of her... Sian radioed ahead and we all stopped whilst the ride guides helped to get them up and check them over... Fortunately nothing broken (riders or bikes) but a split lip to be tended! So it wasn't long before we were on our way... only to be stopped less than 10 minutes later when one of the girls, still shaken up, wobbled and came off again! She was fine, no worries, so all back on the road again...
Then we saw the aerial launch ramp at the Lifeboat Station... we had been looking out for it and having not seen it we assumed that we had passed it miles back but just not noticed!! We felt instantly deflated as we realised just how far we still had to go! We pedalled on in silence for a while... but couldn't resist the banter for long!
Soon the city advanced and the cycle track gave way to bustling streets and pavements, busy enough but thankfully quieter than usual due to the hour... One of the team had arranged to catch a train from Amsterdam to Brussels that evening and so two of the guides escorted her to the station, leaving Gary at our head and Sian at our tail...
We attract quite some attention, a long line of girls all snaking along... ;-) With Gary being the only guy with 40 girls, he got some looks too (secretly I think he liked that!).
Cycling through the Amsterdam Forest was quite surreal...
still and quiet and cool... cycling through parks and seeing people out to enjoy their Saturday evening... barbeques cooking, families having fun, children running and playing... even lovers, hoping for peace amongst the shady trees... and instead being jolted from their seclusion by a line of 40 cyclists honking horns and shouting. 'WooHoo! We see you!!!!'
Onward and onward we pedal along, quieter now, tired and just wanting to get there...
Junctions become very frought affairs, desperate to stay together and not get separated... everyone is edgy and there are a few near misses as wheels touch and we bunch up a little too close...!
Once again disaster strikes... one girl is thrown off her bike as she clips the curb. The ride guides are already with her as we pass and they wave us ahead to where the rest of the group are waiting. We all take our bikes off the cycle track and wait patiently. Some of the team have seen blood and we speculate that she might need an ambulance! We watch and worry and wait...
We are only about three miles from the hostel but we know that we must have the ride guides to continue! They can't leave her but we see them bandaging her head and wonder if she is thinking of continuing the ride? Thankfully she had been wearing a helmet when she fell otherwise this could have been much worse! The bandage makes her helmet impossible to wear so the wrapping comes off and the helmet goes on! What a girl! Brave? Foolish? Who knows but she's back on her bike and ready for off!
We are all aware of the danger we are in... exhausted, hungry, keen now just to get there in one piece! The team are on alert, adrenaline is all that's keeping us going now! We call out to each other to leave space, we call out the lights 'Green Light! Good to Go' or 'Red Light, Stopping!!' Banter is abandoned as we focus on the serious job of getting everyone there with no further mishaps!
We ride on, finally reaching the Vondelpark where we know the hostel lies... it looms up through the trees and in silent relief we ride up to the gate... Riders dismount and quiet words are exchanged... no whooping, no tears of joy, no phone calls home... in complete contrast to last years triumphant arrival...
We made it... we're here... weak smiles... and a few tears... but more of relief than of joy...
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