Okay so its actuqlly Gerqrdsbergen but i can remember it this way. This post is being composed on a European keyboard that is messing up my typing so apologies in advance for typos. This campsite was not orginally on our route, but because it turned out to be 70 km from yesterdays campsite to Axels house in Waterloo, and we got rather a late start yesterday, mostly because we couldnt figure out the stupid payphone, we decide to stop here fro the night. It is about 25 miles from here to Axels house.
Yesterday was our first experience with hills. The first one came out of nowhere and was loooong. Guess we arent on the flat Dutch terrain anymore. In the middle of the ride several things seemed to go wrong at once: my front tire came loose, we couldnt find our turn, and it started raining torrentially. Luckily the rain didnt last long, we were able to modify our route and diego was able to tighten my tire.
Animals seem to have it in for us. during a stop on the side of the road yesterday a dog nearly peed on diego as he leaned over to adjust a pannier. Then this morning we woke up to discover that the bird ha decidedour tent was a toilet. That was a fun cleaning job...
More later!
TRAINING SCHEDULE
Friday, June 24, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Chillin in Brugge
We are currently in Brugge at Camping Memling, which meqns we had our first successful country border crossing! The scenery here is gorgeous; vast, open farm fields with crops or flowers or various fqrm animals. Taking in full breaths of these Belgian and Netherland-ian air is so incredibly satisfying. The air is not only fresh and invigorating, say, when biking several miles along a tributary that glints in the sun that passes through the large trees that outline the water; there is a sense of satisfaction in the present moment, a reflection of enjoying the pure adventure of this journey.
Maybe thats cheesy, but Ive never camped or biked this much, in a different country, the furthest Ive been from my family for the longest time. There is a strong sense of responsibility fostered within me as we push through the rain or incredible winds coming from the ocean. It is super epic, and I like that.
I need to figure out how to upload pictures from my phone, and find a non European keyboard. Til then, we are alive and about to check out Brugge!
Maybe thats cheesy, but Ive never camped or biked this much, in a different country, the furthest Ive been from my family for the longest time. There is a strong sense of responsibility fostered within me as we push through the rain or incredible winds coming from the ocean. It is super epic, and I like that.
I need to figure out how to upload pictures from my phone, and find a non European keyboard. Til then, we are alive and about to check out Brugge!
Monday, June 20, 2011
FINALLY SOME INTERNET!!
So much for internet cafes in every town...
We spent the night in Oudorp, a beach town on the south west coast of the netherlands. The last few days have not been ideal weather for biking. The wind/rain combined with the fact that our direction reading skills seem to be lacking (although I must say, the Dutch seem not to like to label their streets) has resulted in us being a day beheind schedule.
Yesterday was definitely the most satisfying day of biking despite a wet and windy start. We biked 40 km, our greatest milage yet. Today we are crossing betwen several Dutch islands (the bridges here are impressively long) and if all goes according to plan, we will cross into Belguium tomorrow.
We will have too get off to a late start today (1130ish am) because we had to wait until the reception office opened to get tokens to do laundry. After almost a week, an actual washing machine is sooo not an opportunity to pass up!
All in all we are well. Certainly every day is a learning experience. EVERYONE PRAY FOR SUN!
We spent the night in Oudorp, a beach town on the south west coast of the netherlands. The last few days have not been ideal weather for biking. The wind/rain combined with the fact that our direction reading skills seem to be lacking (although I must say, the Dutch seem not to like to label their streets) has resulted in us being a day beheind schedule.
Yesterday was definitely the most satisfying day of biking despite a wet and windy start. We biked 40 km, our greatest milage yet. Today we are crossing betwen several Dutch islands (the bridges here are impressively long) and if all goes according to plan, we will cross into Belguium tomorrow.
We will have too get off to a late start today (1130ish am) because we had to wait until the reception office opened to get tokens to do laundry. After almost a week, an actual washing machine is sooo not an opportunity to pass up!
All in all we are well. Certainly every day is a learning experience. EVERYONE PRAY FOR SUN!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Luanch Day
Normally I find the sound of rain on the roof soothing. Not however when I wake up knowing that i will be biking 30 miles... breakfast now, leaving in an hour and minutes. More later!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
post out in the city
Diego and I jsut returned from a self-guided trek. Our explorations were centered around the Rembrandt Square area, as that was the only place with a bank that would accept travellers checks in exchange for cash.
I think both the high and low points of the day were the result of our decision to rent bikes from the hotel ( we didnt ride ours for fear of bike thieves). Bikers in Amsterdam are AGGRESSIVE! A woman came up behind me, proceeded to sideswipe me and then curse me out for being a stupid Ameican tourist incapable of riding a bike. I'd like to see her bike 1200 miles in the next two months! Also, it seems that almost every possible pole or fence or rack with bike lock-up potential was taken. We ended up having to move someones bike away from a bench, lock ours to it and then lean the unlocked bike up against ours.
Despite the logistical hassles and ego (as well as arm) bruising associated with biking in Amsterdam, it was quite exhilirating to fly down the streets in a flock of other bikers while being flanked by trams, motorcycles, cars and drunk/stoned tourists. The bikes we rented were big and yellow wtih handlebars about as upright as handlebars can be. I had excellent posture. Diego reminded me not to get too used to the luxury of a crusing bike, we do after all start living on our drop bars tomorrow! (we managed to finish putting together my bike and visited a bike shop to purchase heavy duty kickstands hopefully capable of holding up our gear-laden bikes.
After finally finding the bank, we ate some lunch at a little cafe down a side street (Diego learned that there are in fact burgers in Europe, good ones as I understand it) and meandedered our way through the red light district. Diego asked me after about an hour where the red light distract was and I had to break the news that we were already in it...guess the prostitutes dont really flaunt what they got til the sun sets) Unfortunately, because of our rather late start to the sightseeing (bike assembly and bank seaching took til around four) we never made it into any culturally enriching museums (at least culturally enriching in the strictest sense of the phrase). We did however check out the sex museum (caters to crowd who stays out later). Diego was technically robbed by two old women who insisted that he had grabbed two euro of their change at the ticket counter. A completely false acusation, but as they were yelling at us in Dutch- disconcerting- we just gave them the two euro. The museum was large, but slightly repetitive. Genitalia only really comes in two forms after all. 5 floors of the same was too much.
All in all I really enjoyed the day in Amsterdam. It was very relaxed and much more fun to stumble across diffrent attractions rather than having the stress of trying to specifically find a place, or be holed up inside rather that strolling around taking in the sites.
Tonight should be an early night. Checkout is at 11am and then we will be off. Now that I have experienced the craziness of the Amsterdam biking scene I am a little concerned about maneuvering our fully loaded bikes through thh streets on the way out of the city. Hopefully neither of us gets run over (and lets be honest, if either of us did, it would be me).
Off to dinner and then bed.
I think both the high and low points of the day were the result of our decision to rent bikes from the hotel ( we didnt ride ours for fear of bike thieves). Bikers in Amsterdam are AGGRESSIVE! A woman came up behind me, proceeded to sideswipe me and then curse me out for being a stupid Ameican tourist incapable of riding a bike. I'd like to see her bike 1200 miles in the next two months! Also, it seems that almost every possible pole or fence or rack with bike lock-up potential was taken. We ended up having to move someones bike away from a bench, lock ours to it and then lean the unlocked bike up against ours.
Despite the logistical hassles and ego (as well as arm) bruising associated with biking in Amsterdam, it was quite exhilirating to fly down the streets in a flock of other bikers while being flanked by trams, motorcycles, cars and drunk/stoned tourists. The bikes we rented were big and yellow wtih handlebars about as upright as handlebars can be. I had excellent posture. Diego reminded me not to get too used to the luxury of a crusing bike, we do after all start living on our drop bars tomorrow! (we managed to finish putting together my bike and visited a bike shop to purchase heavy duty kickstands hopefully capable of holding up our gear-laden bikes.
After finally finding the bank, we ate some lunch at a little cafe down a side street (Diego learned that there are in fact burgers in Europe, good ones as I understand it) and meandedered our way through the red light district. Diego asked me after about an hour where the red light distract was and I had to break the news that we were already in it...guess the prostitutes dont really flaunt what they got til the sun sets) Unfortunately, because of our rather late start to the sightseeing (bike assembly and bank seaching took til around four) we never made it into any culturally enriching museums (at least culturally enriching in the strictest sense of the phrase). We did however check out the sex museum (caters to crowd who stays out later). Diego was technically robbed by two old women who insisted that he had grabbed two euro of their change at the ticket counter. A completely false acusation, but as they were yelling at us in Dutch- disconcerting- we just gave them the two euro. The museum was large, but slightly repetitive. Genitalia only really comes in two forms after all. 5 floors of the same was too much.
All in all I really enjoyed the day in Amsterdam. It was very relaxed and much more fun to stumble across diffrent attractions rather than having the stress of trying to specifically find a place, or be holed up inside rather that strolling around taking in the sites.
Tonight should be an early night. Checkout is at 11am and then we will be off. Now that I have experienced the craziness of the Amsterdam biking scene I am a little concerned about maneuvering our fully loaded bikes through thh streets on the way out of the city. Hopefully neither of us gets run over (and lets be honest, if either of us did, it would be me).
Off to dinner and then bed.
AMSTERDAM!
Well we made it across the pond. Only 1250 miles to go...
We arrived yesterday afternoon after two relatvieltyt smooth flights (layover in Spain, ironic huh?) The most stressful part of the day was the debacle of a last minute perscription pick-up fgor me at a pharmacy. I was at the airport waiting with our ungodly amount of cargo for early check-in to begin and so Diego, and Diego's mom & dad had to do the dirty wok (ie. trying to pick up the Rx for me). Apparently I am Jorge's daughter in law, Adriana herself and also Adriana's niece. Luckily it was all cleared up in the end. WHile all this was going on, I was having a lovely chat with a Bosnian woman also waiting to check bags.
Our original plan had been to try and a take a train to the hotel, but that was more realistic in theory than in practice. While the boxed bikes were not incredibly heavey, they were very bulky and combined wtuih the two suticases containg all of our supplies, figuring out how to get on a train and any walking involled would have been next to impossible. In the end we took a cab. Despite the price, 75 euro for 14 km, it was a good decision. Our taxi driver spoke English, but didnt really seem to understand it. He kept suggesting we go to bars and clubs, most likely a saavy business strategy, trying to get tourists drunk so they call taxis..
Our hotel (bicyclehotelamsterdam.com) definitly serves out purposes. It has the steepest stairs I have ever climbed and the room is quite small, but it's clean and the staff is very friendly. This morning we had a very carb-heavy breakfast (cereal and toast) provided by the hotel, the highlight of which were the numerous spreads available (Nutella, honey, various jams, peanut butter and ice cream jimmies??) They have a bike storage shed that we used yesterday as a makeshift workshop to put together Diego's bike. It was quite the process, seeing as neither of us have ever put a bike together before (handle bars, saddle, pedals, and both wheels were all disassembaled for the boxing process).
Before tackling the bike assembly yesterday we had lunch at a cafe near the hotel. Given that it was our first expereince with a dutch menu (and there was no english translation) it worked out pretty well. The only hitch in our lunch was the fact that from somewhere above us somebody (hopefully a kid and not a hitman) kept shining a little red laser beam on outr table. WE could not figure out where it was coming from. Slightly disconcerting but at least we werent sniped..
After taking a nap (neither of us slept on the planes) and setting up the bike, it was almost 11 pm and we had a diffocult time trying to find a place for dinner. We ended up at a bar that let us order food as ong as we ordered the same dish. We washed down our cheese cannolinis with of course some belgian brews (Heiniken). On our walk back to the hotel we stumbled across another bar that upon first encounter seemed to have live music playing. It was live music of a sort: some very bad a cappella sung by a guy from Las Vegas. Think a cross between a very stoned Carrot Top and Richard Simmons gone yoga instructor. ONLY in Amsterdam...If that guy could get a gig here, Diego would have no problem. (We have of course my clarinet, his travcl guitar and both of our voices. We figure if funds run low, perhaps we shall do some busking later in the trip..)
I am on the public computer at the hotel and there are people waiting, so more later!
We arrived yesterday afternoon after two relatvieltyt smooth flights (layover in Spain, ironic huh?) The most stressful part of the day was the debacle of a last minute perscription pick-up fgor me at a pharmacy. I was at the airport waiting with our ungodly amount of cargo for early check-in to begin and so Diego, and Diego's mom & dad had to do the dirty wok (ie. trying to pick up the Rx for me). Apparently I am Jorge's daughter in law, Adriana herself and also Adriana's niece. Luckily it was all cleared up in the end. WHile all this was going on, I was having a lovely chat with a Bosnian woman also waiting to check bags.
Our original plan had been to try and a take a train to the hotel, but that was more realistic in theory than in practice. While the boxed bikes were not incredibly heavey, they were very bulky and combined wtuih the two suticases containg all of our supplies, figuring out how to get on a train and any walking involled would have been next to impossible. In the end we took a cab. Despite the price, 75 euro for 14 km, it was a good decision. Our taxi driver spoke English, but didnt really seem to understand it. He kept suggesting we go to bars and clubs, most likely a saavy business strategy, trying to get tourists drunk so they call taxis..
Our hotel (bicyclehotelamsterdam.com) definitly serves out purposes. It has the steepest stairs I have ever climbed and the room is quite small, but it's clean and the staff is very friendly. This morning we had a very carb-heavy breakfast (cereal and toast) provided by the hotel, the highlight of which were the numerous spreads available (Nutella, honey, various jams, peanut butter and ice cream jimmies??) They have a bike storage shed that we used yesterday as a makeshift workshop to put together Diego's bike. It was quite the process, seeing as neither of us have ever put a bike together before (handle bars, saddle, pedals, and both wheels were all disassembaled for the boxing process).
Before tackling the bike assembly yesterday we had lunch at a cafe near the hotel. Given that it was our first expereince with a dutch menu (and there was no english translation) it worked out pretty well. The only hitch in our lunch was the fact that from somewhere above us somebody (hopefully a kid and not a hitman) kept shining a little red laser beam on outr table. WE could not figure out where it was coming from. Slightly disconcerting but at least we werent sniped..
After taking a nap (neither of us slept on the planes) and setting up the bike, it was almost 11 pm and we had a diffocult time trying to find a place for dinner. We ended up at a bar that let us order food as ong as we ordered the same dish. We washed down our cheese cannolinis with of course some belgian brews (Heiniken). On our walk back to the hotel we stumbled across another bar that upon first encounter seemed to have live music playing. It was live music of a sort: some very bad a cappella sung by a guy from Las Vegas. Think a cross between a very stoned Carrot Top and Richard Simmons gone yoga instructor. ONLY in Amsterdam...If that guy could get a gig here, Diego would have no problem. (We have of course my clarinet, his travcl guitar and both of our voices. We figure if funds run low, perhaps we shall do some busking later in the trip..)
I am on the public computer at the hotel and there are people waiting, so more later!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
First fully loaded camping ride!
Today we are in Maine and doing our first fully loaded riding. I (Diego) have a new Blackburn front rack to carry my sleeping bag, and Emma has a lowrider front rack for her front panniers. I've never been this excited to pack stuff!
Hopefully all goes well, we only have today and tomorrow with our bikes, before they are scheduled for a tune-up and boxing at International Bicycle in Newton. For now, we are doing this last training ride and camping in Winslow Park for the evening, should be a good first evening in the tent!
View Pre-camp ride in a larger map
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Updated tour planning, part 3
This map represents 271 miles of our trip, planned out using the campsites listed at the ACSI EuroCamping website. I recommend opening it in a new window to zoom in and really appreciate the details, including terrain, satellite, and Google Earth views.
View Larger Map
Bicycle maintenance pdf
Here is a manual for bike service that should prove useful during our trip, much thanks to the author!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Last Laconia training ride
So many hills around here, hope it is a good simulation for Europe!
View 373 Davidson Dr in a larger map
View 373 Davidson Dr in a larger map
Saturday, June 4, 2011
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