Early to Rise, Early To Bed (August 22)

After two weeks of NOT being on a bicycle, today marked the return of two-wheeled travel. It’s really a bit hard to believe that it’s been such a long time since I’ve pedalled anywhere. But it has. And that’s not to say it wasn’t a great two weeks. It was. It was a great two weeks, actually. However, this is supposed to be a cycling tour. Actually, I think it’s supposed to be an adventure and it just so happens that it involves a lot of cycling … and one detour to Africa.

As mentioned in my previous update, today got off to an early start as my Warm Showers host, Olle, needed to leave early for work. As such, I got most of my packing done last night and was ready to go at 7:00 AM this morning. Did I mention it was raining? Well, it was. Not all that surprising considering how much rain there’s been on this adventure. If only there was some way to send some of that rain to Kenya – they could really use it!

The rain today actually alternated between a mist and a drizzle. As such, I didn’t bother with my rain pants and just went with a jacket. My legs usually stay warm because, well … they’re constantly moving. My upper body, on the other hand, gets chilled rather easily.

The ride out of Amsterdam was incredibly easy and not just because it was flat. The navigation was effortless. The ease of navigation was aided greatly by successfully getting my computer and my GPS unit talking to each other last night. Thanks to a tip from Olle, I was able to download a route from Google Maps in a format that my GPS unit could read. It didn’t provide turn by turn directions but it at least showed me my route superimposed on the map. Oh, and it turns out the GPS unit’s mounting bracket which I thought I had left on the handlebars of my old bike was actually packed away in one of my bags. I discovered it while reorganizing everything yesterday. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty happy to find it.

One benefit of my early departure was that I didn’t have to deal with the throngs of other cyclists that would fill the cycle lanes later in the day. Seriously, it’s incredible how big the cycling culture is here. And I’ve noticed that the vast majority of those cyclists don’t wear helmets. Those riding electric bikes frequently do but those don’t really count. I’m not saying I didn’t wear my helmet today because that would be moderately ill-advised. However, in the hypothetical situation where I didn’t wear my helmet, well … I’m sure it would’ve felt great.

As I made my way out of the city, I finally got a closeup look at a typical windmill. It is Holland after all. Having spent so much time in the city centre, my exposure to such things had been non-existent up until that point. Of course, I couldn’t very well leave Holland without getting a photo of said windmill. Actually, I stopped for photos of two windmills. There was actually a third but I passed it by.

My efforts to connect with a Warm Showers host for tonight were entirely unsuccessful so my destination for the day became the Warnsborn Campground in Arnhem which is about 100 km south of Amsterdam. One hundred very flat kilometres.

Not that I was stopping frequently to talk to any locals, but I did have a couple of brief encounters during today’s ride. The encounters were brief mainly because I’ve notice that the further I got from Amsterdam the less English there was being spoken. Or perhaps it was just coincidence. Either way, I was very happy that the people at the campground spoke English. My efforts to learn any Dutch have been entirely unsuccessful – and one might even say unacceptable. That said, since I expect to be exiting the Netherlands tomorrow, I don’t anticipate being fluent in Dutch anytime soon. I struggle enough with English.

The Warnsborn Campground in Arnhem is probably one of the better campgrounds I’ve visited. There’s a mini kitchen so I didn’t have to pull out my alcohol stove. There’s a mini library where I could work on my blog and charge some batteries while I did so. And yes, there were also books at the library. The only real downside to the place is the lack of WiFi. Well, there IS WiFi but it costs €1 for 15 minutes and let’s face it, my blog updates would take a lot longer than 15 minutes to post. As such, I just edited a few updates with the hope that I’ll actually be able to post them at some point.

Fast-forward a couple of hours and my updates are now completed. As such, I am now free to use the rest of the evening in whatever leisurely manner I want. And i think I’m going to bed. Sure, it’s not even 10:00 PM but apparently my early start to the day combined with being back on the bike for the first time in two weeks has pretty much used up all my energy for the day. But it was a very enjoyable and successful day.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 101.34 km
Ride time: 5:05:46
Average speed: 19.88 km/h
Maximum speed: 31.11 km/h