We are on the road again. Or better said, we were on the road again. Early Saturday morning, trying to go out as soon as possible to bike away from the potential rain that was supposed to start around 9am in Amsterdam. Did we manage? Yes and no. We escaped the rain, but not because being early risers, but because the rain didn’t arrive. Lucky us.
The plan for the weekend: a two day loop around the Markermeer, a 700 km2 lake in the central Netherlands.
We split the ride in two segments, the first one from Amsterdam to Lelystad and then crossing the Houtribdijk: the 26 km dike that was supposed to be used to create the Markerwaard, a proposed, but never built, polder in what used to be an inlet of the North Sea. Nowadays, the Houtribdijk connects Lelystad with Enkhuizen. And the second day following the coastal towns of Enkhuizen to Hoorn, and then getting back into Amsterdam. In total 100km the first day, and 60km on the second day. Not bad, a good amount of effort.
As we cycled the first day, we traversed a plethora of towns, from old ones, to new clinically built ones such as Lelystad, built on reclaimed land from the sea. And it was evident where the towns had history or where they have been “modernly” built: Glass from floor to ceiling, big buildings, and so on. Like any building in a major city built during the last 20 years.
What the Netherlands lacks on mountains, it has on wind. There was an abundance of it during the weekend. Definitely it was a great weekend for the kite surfers and people sailing. But for us, it was our mountain. The crossing of the dike was extremely windy. And don’t get me wrong, I like wind, but this. This was something else. Doing the 26 km of crossing with wind blowing against us was fun, frustrating, noisy, and tough. All at the same time. It was beautiful going by the water, and being almost alone in the bike lane. But we were very happy when we reached Enkhuizen. A beautiful sailing town dating back to the Dutch Golden Age.
After a good shower, dinner, and recovery sleep. Like one of those where the body is fully tired, the arms and legs sore, and the brain ready to shut down. It was a good sleep.
We kept cycling. The easy day, 60km to get back home.
Was it easy? No. Of course not. Why would the wind be on our favour. It changed from the previous day, and it kept blowing against us. Yes, all the time. And because no mountains, nothing to break the wind. Just plain fields, perfect for cows roaming around, and agricultural land. For us. A beautiful, but hard cycle back home following a river all the way into Amsterdam Noord. After a short ferry ride, the last kilometres in the city.
Was it more windy than we anticipated? Certainly. Was it worth it, and would we do it again? You bet.
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