We have arrived in the Netherlands, after a 2week flying visit in a Fiat 500, to Family and friends in England.
We suffered very painful throat infections after the flight followed by coughing fits, which are now slowly subsiding. The positive side of it is that despite the initial pain and discomfort we did not feel unwell or as far as we can tell were not contagious.
We sailed from Harwich to Hook of Holland on the overnight ferry, where we met my younger brother Arie. He drove us to the cycle shop to collect our folding bikes, which are the only folding bikes with racing bike wheels. They are an American design called Montague and I am relieved to say they exceed my expectations in quality and performance thus far.
This bike tour is different from my previous tours, because Veronica is riding with me from Holland to St Dezery in the South of France, a distance of around 1500 km.
We plan to arrive there around the middle of September at a leisurely pace, enjoying the scenery, food and wines of the regions we pas through.
We carry a minimum of gear, packed into 2 front panniers each, sleep in small hotels, B&B's
or the local police cell as a last resort.
The folding bikes including carrying bags are a necessity as well as an insurance policy, we do not have time to bike back to Holland before flying home to NZ, or if weather, mechanical breakdown, physical limitations or marital upheavals force us to abandon we can pack up and get on a train to catch our plane home or prevent an irretrievable situation.
The reason for riding to the South of France in the first place is a 60th birthday celebration of my cousin Willem's partner Shalini, with family and friends for 9 days in a luxury vila called Mas de Pinet in St Dezery near Uzes.
We moved to Scherpenzeel, staying with our friends Frans and Ellen to prepare for the tour.
I set up the bikes, strapped the NZ designed carriers to the carbon front forks to carry our waterproof Ortlieb panniers.
We are training and testing the bikes by riding with our gear the beautiful bike trails which criss cross the National Parks, forest, heaths and some small deserts of the central provinces of Utrecht and Gelderland.
Our planned departure date is 9 August, when the blog will start in earnest.
The folding mechanism, simply fold it in half by releasing the lever on the crossbar
Assembling the bikes with Frans in Scherpenzeel.
Veronica ready to go !
A training ride in Gelderland.
6 comments:
We look forward to hearing how your trip proceeds. We have enjoyed following your earlier trips.
I looked up reviews for Montague bikes. They look very interesting.
All the best Miriam and Nick
Can't wait for all the updates. Look after each other. Janey xx
Hi Willem and Veronica . I am not having much luck posting a comment. This is my third try so if it it does not work I will have to enlist the help of a five year old!. Good luck on your travels - we hope you had good weather at the starting line. looking forward to following your progress.
It may work better to comment as Anonymous,
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Ha Willem & Veronica. Bevalt het zo samen onderweg? De fietsen zien er mooi uit. Het weer is redelijk maar af en toe veel wind of hebben jullie daar niet zo'n last van. Hier alles zijn gangetje. Van Sylvia begrepen we dat het misschien mogelijk is zaterdag de 27e september elkaar te zien. We willen een kleine familieparty houden bij ons thuis zodat iedereen die jullie wil zien van onze familie de gelegenheid heeft om jullie te ontmoeten. Hartelijke groeten van ons en we volgen jullie! xxx Bram& Gerda
Hey have your wheels fallen off ? Where are the updates!
Janey xx
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