My Dutch Holiday with the CTC.

Friday 14th April to Monday 23rd April 2017.
On a cycling holiday with CTC Holidays.

We met up at Marks Tey near Colchester and were taken by Bike Bus to Harwich where we boarded the ferry to The Hook of Holland.

It was an overnight crossing which was as smooth as silk. I shared a cabin and was lucky that my companion Mike did not snore!

Windmill with Jo.

The massive wooden gears inside the mill.

Once ashore we drove to Amsterdam stopping on the way for coffee and a stroll around the town of Hoofddorp Here Jo and I found a windmill and were able to go inside. Jo climbed up into the mill room. I merely peeped. 

We boarded our "ship hotel" and once settled in our cabins had time for a walk around before we sailed out of the city to our overnight mooring at Zaandam. We passed some interesting ships and other vessels tied up each side of the waterway. Including an oil rig.

It would be tedious to detail all of our daily coffee stops and sights we saw so I will mainly use pictures and maps to illustrate our holiday.
The next morning the real fun began. Here is our route for the day:

We rode a few miles through the streets and along cycle paths to visit the village of Zaanse Schans. Here there is a collection of typical Dutch houses brought here from all over Holland. There were large numbers of tourists. I heard many languages.

An Easter Bicycle.

A little later we stopped for our coffee fix. The weather was surprisingly cold and as we neared Edam, our planned lunch stop, it started to rain. We were lucky that it was not too hard and we were able to find shelter outside a cafe to eat our lunch.

Cheese Shop in Edam.

We continued after lunch across the polders to Alkmaar. There were many water birds, herons, coots, moorhens, gulls and various ducks. Many of the banks were covered in a bright yellow flower of the Brassica family, very like Rape, possibly Charlock. Also a lot of a little white/pale flower which I have seen in the UK but couldn't identify. for sure, but think it is Cuckoo Flower.

Alkmaar was lovely with many old buildings and some fine ones too. 

We were in the bulb growing area here so there were many fields of tulips and other flowers, There were also some huge sand dunes planted with many trees and we had a lovely run southwards to Haarlem. Another ancient and interesting town. Lots of mountain bikes here taking advantage of the more rugged countryside.

Tulips

Saw a few swallows and some swans which were either Bewick or Whooper.

In some woods there were lots of sycamore seedlings and lilly of the valley.

Windmill in the centre of Haarlem.

Our next stop was at Leiden. We had some more varied countryside en route, with more woods than expected. The trees were pine, oak, ash, beech and sycamore. Many more fields of bulbs, here grown for the cut flower trade. 
Saw some cormorants and I believe one stork, but maybe it was just wishful thinking and was a Heron.

Our joy this day was enhanced by a visit to the world famous Kuekenhof Gardens. They were magnificent. A small selection here: (Don't forget if you click on a picture you can see it and others as a slide show, full screen). 

Tulips of many colours.

Other flowers in a delightful combination.

Mondrian design.

River of Blue.

Lady in historic costume

Royal Delft Cow.

Our next day was enhanced by a visit to the Royal Delft pottery where we had a tour. We saw a master painter at work decorating a dish.

Also many historic details and examples and a video too.

The following day we visited Sassenheim where we saw a number of flower floats being decorated for a festival at the weekend.

Flower Bike.

We returned to Haarlem as our original planned stop was inaccessible due to bridge works. 

The week was now coming to an end with an easy ride into the centre of Amsterdam, passing through the area of Zaandam where we had stayed our first night. We passed an interesting memorial to a Wellington bomber whose crew and perished on their way back from bombing Genoa.

Our very last ride was an unplanned extra to see and ride over the Cycle Super Highway.

All too soon our holiday was over and we were driven back to the Hook to cross to Harwich. This time in daylight which was very enjoyable too, giving us the opportunity to watch the other ships on the sea, to bask in the sunshine, albeit well wrapped up as there was a keen N. wind. and to see these windmills miles out from the coast.

We had a very good time overall, the weather could have been warmer but at least it was mainly dry. The cycle paths were magnificent through the countryside but were not always easy in the towns  and intersections. I estimate that about 90% of our miles were on cycle paths including those marked on the roads very clearly. There are many junctions and roads across the cycle paths where the cyclists have right of way. Despite that I managed to tumble, twice(!) due to sudden stops and not being able to get my foot down from my saddle position. (I usually shift onto the cross-bar as I stop from which point my leg is long enough to reach the ground.) I now have road rash on one elbow and one knee and a very sore upper torso, maybe a cracked rib? 
We had a couple of punctures and one rider had his saddle come off his hire bike. Dave, our leader swapped bikes with him and rode the last 5 miles standing on the pedals.

We had a few problems with route finding due to changes in the road signs which give numbered point locations, but Pam and Dave managed to sort them out.


We crossed many bridges and had several ferry crossings. Here are a few:

Some 149 pictures taken in all. If anyone would like to see more let me know and I will share them.

The captain of the ship and his crew were very friendly and spoke excellent English so we were well looked after and the food was magnificent. Typical continental breakfast which also provided us, officially, with a selection of food for our picnic lunches. Bottled eater and choc bars were also provided. The dinners were very good 4 courses each day except the last when the Captain and his Mate (also his wife) joined us when we had five.

A very good week, suitable to riders of all abilities as the speeds were very gentle and there were almost no hills. The wind was tough at times though as there are few sheltering hedges. Apart from coffee and tea stops and evening drinks with the meals everything else was included in the Tour price.

Gridironman.

Cornish Holiday

Wednesday 5th April 2017.

A fabulous day with plenty of sunshine. I left Treknow around 9 o’clock and headed up the lane to Trewarmett. Just a nice gently climb to get me in the mood! Then after a very short and steep descent there was a long climb of over a mile.

I had chosen Posh for this trip because of his triple ring giving me a bottom gear of about 25 compared to Paris’s 29. A good choice! His tyres were also more suitable for the Camel Trail which is a mixture of surfaces, some tarmac, some gravel, some hard packed mud, some quite stony.

There was a strong breeze keeping the temperature down so I was pleased I had wrapped up well with tights and a muff as well as both a long sleeve top and arm warmers. The next few miles were comparatively flat with a nice long downhill stretch.

I was soon through Delabole and as I was shifting on another downhill I missed the turning to Port Gaverne and had to turn round. The descent into the village was not too bad but the climb up to Port Isaac was too steep for me and I had my first but not last walk of the day, but then descended almost immediately by a 1 in 4 hill to see more of the village made famous by Doc Martin. I spotted the cottage on the opposite hillside where his surgery is situated. I retraced my way walking up a slightly less steep lane to the top of the village where I found a Co-op and a cash dispenser, needed because I was almost out of dosh.

Back onto the B3314 I was soon at St. Endellion where I spotted a Farm Shop serving coffee and cake. Lots of children here enjoying the various activities. Just after that I saw a film crew in the churchyard preparing to shoot a scene. (Maybe something to do with Doc Martin?). I joined a small group of onlookers but the crew appeared to be taking a break so I was quickly en route again. Soon I was in Polzeath where there were surfers enjoying their day.

The very busy harbourside at Padstow.

As it was still only just gone 12 I decided to make Padstow my next port of call. My route was via Wadebridge and the Camel Trail. This proved to be far more dangerous than the roads I’d so far ridden. There were hundreds of other cyclists and one young lad would have ridden straight into me had I not shouted “Look where you are going”. I did not stop long in a very busy Padstow as I needed to find an interesting way back.

I returned to Wadebridge and continued on the Camel Trail to Bodmin. When I checked the map I discovered I had overshot the link to the northern part of the trail towards Camelford, so I retraced my way for about a mile to join it.

This part of the trail was really lovely apart from a somewhat rough surface in places. The gradient was just gently up hill for mile after mile and it meandered along following the river.

At Poley’s Bridge there is this Salmon sculpture created by the school children of St Tudy. This is a replacement, the original having been destroyed by some mindless vandals.

Everywhere the flowers were amazing, but they were particularly abundant along this part of the trail with banks of primrose mingled with celandines, dandelions, stitchwort and a few early bluebells. In addition there were wild garlic, herb robert, red campion.

A couple of miles on, at Wenfordbridge, I reached the end of the Trail. There was a small cafe and bike hire establishment and so I stopped for a Cornish cream tea. - Well I’d not had any lunch!

This gave me the energy to return to the proper roads with steeper hills and traffic and by the time I got to Camelford I was beginning to tire and I stopped for a couple of short rests and to have a drink from my bottle.

As I neared the coast there was a lot of alexanders and on the stone walls navel wort and some sea pink. I am sure there must be more that I didn’t notice on my faster sections.

I hit 34 miles an hour on that one mile hill down that I’d ridden up to start but then had to walk the hill up to Trewarmett. I was home about 5 p.m.

After a quick shower I walked into town to meet my great nephew Simon who I’d not seen for about 18 months. We had a drink and then a nice meal together. What a great end to a fantastically enjoyable day.

Gridironman.

Into Shorts at Last!

 Thursday 30th March 2017. 

This is the second report for the week for the previous one click here:    https://gridironman79.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/rocket-fuelled-gridironman.html

Freefolk Cottages.

A Modern House created from an old Grain Store.

Simon Relaxes in East Meon before completing the last few miles.

The Fallen Beech Tree March 18th.
and below as it was today.

Gridironman.

Rocket Fuelled Gridironman.

I had a great ride today Tuesday 28th March 2017 with six of my Pedaller friends. I set out to lead the group to Petersfield for our coffee break. Apparently I set a fast pace as I was told by PinkPal at one point that she were going to let my tyres down to slow me up. 

Picture taken today, March 28th 2017.

I was forgiven when we got to the top of Stoner Hill to enjoy a fast descent into Petersfield. I stopped to take a snap of the view to the east across the valley towards Rake.

Picture taken from the same spot May 17th 2015.

When we reached the town centre there was some discussion on which of the many cafes we should patronise before we decided on Heidi's. A good choice as they had a good selection of cakes and other delicacies.

I spotted a artist painting a picture of the statue of William III in the square and had a pleasant chat with him and a young lady artist who was also interested in his efforts. 

Our route home was via the Meon Valley and we sped along the A32 for a short way before climbing Wheely Down. (The second time for me this week). Unfortunately Alan had a puncture at the foot of the climb. He had three ladies for company while he fixed it as the other three men of the group waited at the top of the hill! Was this some dastardly plot?

When we reached Alresford five of my pals joined me for tea, in my garden. They did leave me a very small piece of Belgian Chocolate Cake for later. They insisted it was in my best interest that they had removed most of it from temptation.

Another most enjoyable day done and well and truly dusted.

Here is the map and data for the day.

Gridironman.

Explorations

To round off the week I had an exceptionally enjoyable ride with Andrew. I had planned another ride of exploration, this time to go to the QE Country Park via the new Cycle Path from the Puriton Roundabout, but when I woke on Sunday morning I did not feel at all like riding as I was full of aches and pains after gardening all day yesterday. I convinced myself to go and I am so glad that I did because we enjoyed a lovely spring ride. 
The tree that had diverted us last week near West Meon had been removed. Must have taken a lot of hard work even with modern saws.
The route was a familiar one until we got to near Weston. Along the way we saw a lot of other cyclists out enjoying the spring weather. We saw a brimstone butterfly and heard a green woodpecker calling. 

Our first step into the unknown was into Weston village which is now isolated from Petersfield only a mile away by the A3. We were very fascinated by the approach to the village through an old cutting with large trees growing out of the sides.

There are a couple of footpaths and a bridleway from the village but only the one road in.

The New Cycle Path.

We retraced our ride to the Puriton Roundabout and took the new cycle path. The top of it is some way above the A3 itself but he climb is not hard.

View of the A3 from the path.

There is a good cafe at the centre and I enjoyed a piece of bread pudding and a coffee while Andrew had wild boar baguette! We chatted with some other visitors and then found ourselves a good route homewards. We went under the A3 then along a cycle path to the bottom of the road over the ridge to Clanfield. As we climbed I passed a couple of cyclists chatting by the roadside. I recognized one of them as Dave Pilbeam who is, along with his wife Pam, leading the CTC Holiday I am joining in April, so of course I stopped to have a word with him. We then climbed almost to the top of Butser Hill and paused to enjoy the great views in all directions. The descent of Harvesting Hill is much nicer than the ascent!

To round off our day we climbed Wheeley Down and then in Cheriton we had a couple of pints in the sunshine along with survivors of the Battle of Cheriton. When I asked them why they were not on the battlefield they replied "We have made a strategic withdrawal!"

Thanks Andrew for your company and companionship on a spectacular day.

Gridironman.

My Week

I finished the week with a most enjoyable day out with the Veteran Cycle Club Hampshire Lightweights. As you can see a more modest mileage on fairly flat terrain, but oh! that wind made me use all of my 2 gears! This was Scottie's first appearance on such a special ride with me in the saddle. (Bob may have ridden him there before). Lovely countryside with lots of primroses lining the banks.

The Red Dragon Team on their F.H. SCOTT Red Dragons.

I am very happy that I seem to have coped very well with 4 rides in the week totalling just over 154 miles.  The weather has been a bit grey and windy but that is much preferable to the rain.

Many thanks to all of those who have ridden with me this week for making it all such fun!

Gridironman.