clairedavieswriter

It’s a final double bill of blogs from Team Bernard, you lucky people.
Today, our three-country end-to-end cycling challenge came to an end, when we reached the North Sea coast of the Netherlands:

In five days of riding, we have pedalled 409.8k from the Belgian border in the south to the northernmost point on the Dutch mainland.

This brings the total distance covered, in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, to 2,185.2k / 1,357.8 miles in 26 days, and our grand total, including the warm-up in Spain, to 2,360.1 km / 1,466.4 miles in 29 days.

As far as I’m aware, our objective today had no name, but this being the Netherlands it did have a knooppunt: it’s number 68 should you ever wish to visit.

Since starting in Maastricht, with its historic skyline, modern bridges and cycle paths along the Maas (as the Meuse becomes in Dutch):

We’ve enjoyed some very Dutch sights (windmill+cycle path+canal must be almost an orange royal flush):

Smells (though to be fair to these ladies, I think it was usually pig manure that was responsible for the agricultural aroma):

And tastes – though sadly I have (so far) failed in my mission to sample pofferjes or stroopwaffels:

I’ve enjoyed trying to decode the language – more successfully in some cases, thanks to context:

Than others…
Which caused me to reflect on how privileged I was to understand the language in Spain, France and south-eastern Belgium, and how much more superficial a traveller’s experience of a place is when they can’t even understand what they’re reading, let alone hearing.

But above all, we have enjoyed this country’s extraordinary cycling infrastructure, whether it looked like this (yes that’s the two-way cycle path on the right, road on the left):

Or this:

Or this:

Or indeed this:

It is safe, intuitive, and everywhere. Having seen policy making in action, albeit in a very different field, I’ve found it fascinating to experience the direct, visible and tangible effect of years of consistent, well-planned and well-executed decisions, both in transport policy and town planning. And the impact on culture, habits and health has been profound. Given how positive the effects are, the most remarkable thing is not that it has endured, but that it has not been emulated more widely. But it’s never too late to start…

Tonight Team Bernard are in the vibrant university town of Groningen, which we reached by train from the north coast. Needless to say, the carriage had step-free access – Belgian trains please take note – which was so easy to negotiate that I did it one-handed while talking on the phone

As we head home, Guillaume’s future hangs in the balance after another less than stellar performance today. In contrast, the ever-dependable Bernard has carried me all this way without a single puncture. In fact, if I can risk a hostage to fortune, he has not had one since I replaced his tyres and inner tubes in La Rochelle last year, over 5,000 km ago. After such exemplary service, it’s just a shame that he didn’t get his reward of a paddle in the sea, because the tide was out (what looks like water is in fact mud):

As for me, the main questions on my mind are where next and how soon?
All being well, the answers are Spain and Portugal, in 2024.
Thanks for following, and hasta luego.