Category: France, Belgium, and the Netherlands End-to-End 2023
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France, Belgium, NL End to End 2023 – Day 29: Hooghalen to the coast north of Uithuizermeeden – 80k, 329m climbed
For my 29th and last full day of riding, the Netherlands seemed determined to serve up a complete Dutch experience.We had the amazing cycle paths (have I mentioned those?): With their brilliant signage and knooppunt maps: We had the bike shop (with a wonky church tower thrown in): We had the canals… The ingenious swing…
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France, Belgium, NL End to End 2023 – Netherlands End-to-End complete
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…
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France, Belgium, NL End to End 2023 – Day 28: Wezep to Hooghalen – 83.8k, 396m climbed
All was not well in Team Bernard this morning. To be fair, it was our 28th, and if all goes to plan, our penultimate day of cycling, so perhaps we’re all just a little tired.It started with Guillaume, who has been increasingly cranky of late. As I was getting ready to leave, he crossed his…
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France, Belgium, NL End to End 2023 – Day 27: Nijmegen to Wezep – 90.7k, 402m climbed
I know I keep going on about how good the cycling infrastructure is – and today once again there was plenty to be impressed by, from the clear signage: And the generosity of the cycle carriageways (in red on the right) To the ubiquity of them, whether in town or not: And the fact that,…
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France, Belgium, NL End to End 2023 – Dutch ideas to emulate (besides investing in cycling)
Before I reached my B&B tonight, I knew it was on a working farm. But it turned out that the work it does is rather different from what I imagined. Its relatively new owner, Pierre, a 30-something former logistics manager with no farming experience, explained that it’s what the Dutch call a ‘Care Farm’.How it…
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France, Belgium, NL End to End 2023 – Rest and Reflection in Nijmegen
Inspired by a tourist map at my guesthouse, Bernard and I set off this morning for a gentle tour of the city. We hadn’t gone far when I was lured off track by a nice looking café. Well, it was important to restore my caffeine levels. And I appreciated the details – the little cube…
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France, Belgium, NL End to End 2023 – Day 26: Ohé en Laak to Nijmegen – 102.2k, 404m climbed
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…
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France, Belgium, NL End to End 2023 – Day 25 (part 2): Maastricht to Ohé en Laak – 53.3k, 429m climbed
After all the train-related excitement (see part 1), by the time I reached Maastricht I was more than ready to get back on two wheels. And of course the obvious thing to do on a boiling hot day was to ride away from my destination, so I could start my Netherlands end-to-end properly.However, I found…
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France, Belgium, NL End to End 2023 – Day 25 (part 1): Bernard’s Adventures in Belgian trains
Let the train take the strain, said I.Hold my Stella, said the signalman in Liège.It had all started so well… yesterday, the very helpful man in the ticket booth at Arlon station (still manned after 5pm, I observed) furnished me and Bernard with tickets (€27 and €4 respectively, for a four hour international journey), confirmed…
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France, Belgium, NL End to End 2023 – Belgium End-to-End Complete
It’s another double-bill blog day, and now Team Bernard is two down, one to go for this trip. It being a very minor road, there was no grand country sign to help me mark my achievement this time, but I can confirm that the village of Eischen is on the other side of the border,…
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