Europe Day 30: 40 Miles

Rotterdam, Netherlands to Utrecht, Netherlands

Today’s ride was much like the last 2 in terms of the elevation being completely flat. I did have the benefit of nice scenery and no rain which made today’s ride the best I’ve had in the Netherlands. Riding in the Netherlands has been defined by the flat roads and bike paths which make for easy navigation in and out of the larger cities. Rotterdam and Utrecht are two of the largest cities in the Netherlands and it was very easy to get from one city to the other.

I was the last one out of bed in the 8 person hostel room this morning. I knew today’s ride would be under 4 hours. With check in starting at 2:00 PM in Utrecht, it didn’t make sense to leave Rotterdam until after 10:00 AM. I had another standard hostel breakfast buffet and then hung around in the room until it was time to leave.

The bike path right in front of the hostel took me east out of town. I could feel the wind coming from the south and was happy to be heading northeast today. For the most part the wind wasn’t a problem other than a few short stretches where I was heading south. Once out of town the bike path took me along a small canal which went through the woods and then along a golf course. I then continued along farm roads until I hit the town of Gouda, famous for its cheese.

From Gouda I got on a bike path which followed alongside a road for a 12 mile stretch into the town of Montfoort. I stopped at a grocery store in Montfoort to grab lunch and take a small break before finishing out the day. Tonight’s hostel is on the edge of the city of Utrecht in a forest area. It is a nice change of pace from being in the very busy area of Rotterdam last night. The last 3 hostels I’ve stayed at have all been managed by the same company, so check in today felt very familiar. While the 3 hostels have been physically very different everything else has been the same down to identical bed linens in each place.

Once I was checked in, I took a shower and then a nap. I plan to spend tomorrow in the city of Utrecht and decided I would just relax today. The hostel has a café and bar which is open until midnight. I plan to head over there for dinner and a drink later tonight. Tomorrow will be an off day spent exploring Utrecht, followed by my last ride on Saturday, a quick 30 miles from Utrecht to Amsterdam.

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Musings:

• I’ve gotten used to the bike paths in the Netherlands, but not the mopeds which are also allowed to utilize the paths. The mopeds are fast enough that it seems dangerous to mix them into bicycle traffic, but they are too slow to be out on the road with cars. While riding on the bike paths I’m not usually thinking about a moped which could be quickly zooming around a blind curve right into me. Yesterday while riding into Rotterdam I witnessed a collision between a moped and a cyclist. Luckily the windshield of the moped was the only thing that seemed to be damaged. The rider on the moped had significantly more speed and weight behind it which could have made for a bad collision. Overall, I’ve felt safer on the bike path than the roads, but it would be nice if the paths were for cyclists only.
• I found myself in a real catch-22 while checking out of the hostel today. My keycard didn’t work on the bicycle storage room, so I went to the front desk to ask for help. The guy at the front desk took my card to try it but ended up using his own card to open the bike room. Once I had all my gear packed onto my bike, I went back into the hostel to grab my handlebar bag which I had left in my room. This is when I realized that the guy at the front desk still had my keycard. I asked if I could have my card back so I could go up to the room, but he told me he was not allowed to give me a card without ID. Unfortunately, my ID was in my wallet in the bag still in my room. I needed my ID to get the keycard, but couldn’t get the ID without the keycard. I couldn’t believe I actually had to explain to the guy that I had given him my card not more than 2 minutes ago, so he could just verify that I was indeed the person that he had just seen and skip the ID formality.