Chicago Al 

This is off-topic but as I mainly hang out here I thought one post would not be out of place.

My wife and I just returned from a long-desired three week trip to Europe, a week of which was a cycling trip through North and South Holland. I booked it through a local company which supplied the bikes (rather heavy Dutch style 'touring' bikes with Nexus 8-sp), did the routing, booked the B&B accomodations (very cozy and 'gezellig'), and arranged for our bags to travel ahead of us by courier. In short a very tame, easy kind of touring, esp as our mileage was probably never more than 40/day. And of course all but a bit in the dunes was flat.

So, not very serious cycle touring..but the most important goal of all was achieved: my wife loved it. She's even talking about doing it again next year. And though I could have gone for something more challenging, a bit anyway, it was a very enjoyable, relaxing trip: beautiful countryside, lovely old towns like Leiden, Delft, Utrecht. The tour operator is a genius of routing (he's also a surveyor) so we'd do zig-zags in order to pass by things he thought we would like to see. The approach to Delft ended in a spiral through the old town, though the market square, along quiet canals and past the Oude Kirk before coming to the door of our B&B, right as the sun came out from the clouds...I'll never forget that.

We got unseasonable weather for mid-July, cool (temps in the 60s-low 70s daytime) and rainy. We were kinda ready for that, could have done better, but in the end the weather was just part of the adventure.

Nederlands is obviously the most bike-oriented country in the world, and I can't emphasize enough how *easy* it is ride there, anywhere, city or country. It's obviously good for their national health, but I don't know that many people there ride for fitness or exercise...they just ride *to get someplace* and they do it all the time. And they don't need a special bike for that either, almost all the bikes you see are strictly utilitarian.

While in Amsterdam I saw maybe 10 or 12 old lightweight bikes in a week, but out away from town there were recreational cyclists on all kinds of road bikes, mostly new but a few older. One of our B&B hosts in fact had a beautiful pair of Zeilemanns, one blue and one yellow.

I could go on and on (already have!), and I'll happily do more if anyone PMs me for details, but I'll close for now before this gets to sound any more like a commercial. However I will attach some pics:

wahoonc

Sweet! My bride and I are planning a trip to NL, just got to get our vacation time scheduled in the same month I had hoped on this year, but it is looking like it isn't going to happen.

Aaron

David Newton

What are you talking about "off topic"?
More...more!

Thanks for sharing!

wrk101

I've been thinking about doing that trip myself. All prior trips to Europe were travel by motorcycle.

noglider 

Charming pictures (of course), and you two make a terribly handsome couple. That's a good idea, ya know. I'm trying to convince my wife to get into cycletouring, and that's a great way to start.

Elev12k

Yes, that is how Holland looks. Am used to the scenery from my daily rides

Great to hear you two enjoyed!

JunkYardBike

Nice report, great pics. 40mi/day sounds just about right for an enjoyable trip.

Chicago Al 

Oh, yeah, after two weeks in NL, we went to Paris for a week. There is some kind of big bike race that ends there in the summer.

We waited two hours on the S bank of the Seine, all for about 15 seconds of the peloton going by. Here are two of the four (!) frames I pulled off, followed by a shot from a minute or two later, either of a lanterne tres rouge...or just some connard.

auchencrow

Fantastic photo's Chicago Al! Thanks for posting them and sharing a little of your vacation with us all!

blaise_f

Pictures and stories of riding bikes, on a bike forum, is never off topic, in my book.

A+

bgross

Beautiful photos, beautiful countryside.
Thanks for sharing.

noglider 

Ha!

I was there in Paris in 2002. It was something I'll never forget.

buldogge

I love me some NL...

Thanx for sharing.

BluesDaddy

Very cool... +1 thanks for sharing!

dbakl

Sweet, I'd love to do the same: always wanted to go there. Wife and I are doing 10 cycling days in Spain in October...

Chicago Al 

I can't recommend it highly enough for anyone with a cycling-shy spouse or partner. It is *so* easy, comfortable, friendly, scenic, basically everything you could want. Except 100% dry...that can't be guaranteed! To be sure, my wife is pretty game, and our 'honeymoon' was three months in Greece, mostly hiking in fairly remote areas. But that was a long time ago.

My wife had done some local riding to get into shape for the trip, up to 20 miles on local paths, riding our daughter's Centurion mixte. While we were in the NL she said it would be too boring to do those same paths after we got home, and it was hard not to agree with her. But to my surprise, this past week she suggested we go for one of those rides. I still don't have her Bob Jackson mixte done, so she went on the Centurion, to which I attached the nearly-new Brooks B67 I'd scored for her. She was quite skeptical of the Brooks. I had some trouble with my bike so she rode on quite a bit ahead of me, and I didn't catch up to her until about mile 12. She was having a great time, thought the Centurion felt light as a feather after our heaving Multicycle touring bikes, and she really likes the Brooks!

Italuminium

+1 on that

lotek 

So where are the pictures of the Zielemans?

sounds fantastic. I didn't see nearly enough of the country when I
was there, I do plan to go back and hopefully do some touring.

marty

Chicago Al 

No pictures of the Zeilemans, Marty, they were in our host's shed. I did admire them though and warned him that the next day he might find that one was missing, replaced by a heavy 'Multicycle' type bike. And though I knew the name I have to admit I did not appreciate the whole story until I looked up the brand including some threads here. Maybe I should have made him an offer on one...or both. They both looked mint, both 'Type Special,' though I think equipped somewhat differently. Stunning blue and yellow paint on them. One had Bluemels, I remember that.

btw for anyone checking into this thread...in my TdF pictures above, the second picture of the peloton blowing by us shows Mark Cavendish, in green, looking over the heads of the group and plotting his next move.

Sorry I didn't get in touch when I was in your town, Italuminum. Leiden is indeed a nice place. And after riding through Den Haag, we came back the next week by train for a day outing. Lovely place as well, and the Mauritshuis is a jewel of a museum.

lotek 

well they were all called 'Type Special'.
A Zieleman with Bluemels? I would have liked to see that as
that's sort of where I'm going with my latest one.
rest assured they are few and far between, even in the
Netherlands.

marty

Italuminium

Ha, that's ok, glad to hear that you enjoyed it!