Molly had the terrific idea of biking to the North Sea as a day trip this weekend. She planned the route, and she, Jonathan and I set out at about 9 a.m. this morning. Several miles outside Amsterdam, we were delayed by a sudden, fierce rainstorm. Fortunately, there was a house nearby, so we took shelter on the side protected from the wind. We still got a little wet, but not completely soaked as we would have otherwise.
The ride there took us a lot longer than we thought it would, mainly because of a persistent headwind. When we got to the North Sea, we all agreed that the ride had been worth it. The North Sea was glorious, even with ominous gray clouds looming overhead. Apparently, Nederlanders take their beach fun whenever they can get it, no matter the weather. Several kite surfers were out bending wind and wave to their wills. It was pretty awesome. We iSchoolers were a little less brave; wading a few meters out into the water was enough for us.
Riding back to the hotel was way easier, with the wind at our backs. We suspect that even in pancake-flat Holland, there was also a bit of a downward slope (yay!). We made a couple of stops, too: one at a cemetery dedicated to people who died fighting against Germany as part of the Dutch Resistance, and in Haarlem at a museum and a cathedral. It was super cool to see the organ Mozart once played — it had really impressive pipes (I love looking at organ pipes).
It wasn’t the longest bike ride I’ve been on, but it was definitely the best one I’ve been on in a long, long time.
I’m glad you got some long-distance biking in… I know you love it. I laughed when your email said you might not miss me if you went on a bike ride, haha… so true. I’m not a good biking companion… glad you had some friends to go biking with too!
Sounds fun! 