clairedavieswriter

Happily, I didn’t need my waterproofs after all.

To many people, my destination today is still synonymous with Operation Market Garden, the daring attempt by Allied forces, commanded by Eisenhower and Montgomery, to capture a series of bridges, including at Nijmegen and Arnhem, in September 1944, and thereby hasten the end of World War 2.
Bernard was keen to point out that he and Monty share a Christian name. I was more interested to learn that the Field Marshall used to live just up the road from us, in Isington, and that he’s buried in Binsted – both places that we regularly cycle past. Perhaps he would have recognised this old workhorse, quietly rusting beside the road near Landhorst:

These days, the Dutch regions of Limburg and Brabant that we rode through today seem to be the country’s market garden in the literal sense, growing potatoes, onions, carrots, maize, and a lot of asparagus:

And it wasn’t just vegetables: Berry Brothers were pretty confident about the quality of their soft fruit

And this old mill – whose cloth sails these men were in the process of unfurling…

Is still producing flour:

Thanks to the very kind manageress at last night’s hotel (where the veggie lasagne was sensational), I wasn’t doing badly for food myself. As I planned to leave before breakfast, she made me a picnic: two rounds of sandwiches (cheese and crudités, because she’d remembered I was vegetarian), a yogurt, a banana, some water… and one of these:

It would’ve been rude not to, even if it was the first one I’d eaten in decades, and all the sugar made my teeth curl.
I also enjoyed my first in-ride coffee for days – and even ordered it in an approximation of Dutch. Although to be fair, ‘een koffie’ isn’t all that hard. And I may have mumbled a bit when trying to say please. Word of the day: alstublieft

I was in good fettle, but the trusty Bernard had started to make uncharacteristic noises in his rear wheel. What should an intrepid, independent female adventurer do in such circumstances? Phone a man at home of course. Specifically, Dr Brett the Bike Whisperer – newly appointed (as of today, by me) Help Desk of my local cycling club. I would give him five stars for speed and quality of response, not least because I’d thoughtlessly messaged at 7 on a Saturday morning. He remotely diagnosed a couple of potential issues, reassured me that Bernard would probably be ok, but that I should get him checked over, if possible.
How fortunate then, after so many weeks in the middle of nowhere, that we found ourselves in the Land of Many Bike Shops. Less than an hour later, at Peeters Fweewielers, in Heel, no fewer than three mechanics looked, listened and twiddled, before pronouncing that there was ‘no problem’. I was mostly reassured, though I think only one of the three could actually hear the noise I was talking about. Come on Bernard, you can do this.

Cycling in the Netherlands is predictably glorious. Obviously the terrain helps: if there’s no wind, you can just turn the pedals without effort. But it’s the seamless cycling infrastructure that really makes the difference. You always know when you join a new road that there will be provision for cyclists – usually separated from the traffic:

In towns, bikes and cars often share the space, but vehicles are squeezed into one central lane which effectively gives bikes priority:

Funnily enough, if you make cycling safe and stress-free, more people want to do it, and no one uses lights or wears a helmet (with the exception of speedy Lycra-clad local gents, and slow foreign tourers). All the other customers at my coffee stop had arrived by bike, and in every town, people of all ages were out shopping on two wheels

And while Belgium’s specially adapted bike carriages left much to be desired, here the specially adapted bins that allow cyclists to chuck in their rubbish as they ride past are a work of simple genius

As are these gadgets for junctions with traffic lights. You just ride up and lean a hand on the red bit to summon a green light

And of course the knooppunt system is brilliant – even Guillaume seems to have got the hang of it now

The road and cycle path designers had even thought to plant trees, so that on a hot day like today you could often choose a shady side to ride on

But even so, after over 100k in the heat, Team Bernard was more than happy to see this sign

And relieved to know we hadn’t gone A Bridge Too Far

Tomorrow we’re taking a break – see you on Monday.