Amsterdam;
Reijks Museum in the background. I got the bike together at the Amsterdam
airport with no problems. It was pretty grey outside and within about 15 minutes
of riding toward Amsterdam it was pretty much a downpour. I got to the hostel
I had reserved a bed at soaked. I wouldn't have to ride in rain like that
again until my last day riding as I got to Budapest. June 2nd I left Amsterdam
and headed south east.
Just a few miles further down the road. That night I stayed in St. Anthonis,
a quiet little town. I got stuck on the patio of a pub when a thunder storm
rolled in. Not the worst place to get stuck. At about midnight I woke up in
the tent to the sounds of bad 70's and 80's music pumping out of some danceclub/bar
right next to the campground I hadn't seen before on the other side of the
bushes.
The
next morning it was still grey and not too warm but it got better later in
the day. Here I am waiting to cross the Maas River on the bike ferry in the
town of Steyl in eastern Holland. I was about half an hour away from Belfeld
where I would camp. The next day I would get to Aachen, Germany.
There
were bike paths everywhere going in every direction. This shot was taken a
few hours after leaving Amsterdam. This bike past was pretty typical for the
area. It was very hard packed dirt and nice to ride on. That night I stayed
at a campground in the town of Elst just north of the Waal River. It was more
of a summer resort for the Dutch that had an area for tents. I camped next
to a Dutch couple that were touring to Rome. I got a hamburger at the campround
restaraunt which turned out to be a big hunk of ground beef with no bun. But
it didn't really matter because I would have eaten anything.
Near
Ravenstein, Holland; the second day I continued the same direction going through
numerous little towns. I was mostly on roads now not bike paths, but there
were so few cars it didn't matter.
Near
Grave, Holland; These two Dutch kids ahead of me were guiding me to the turn
off up the road or possibly playing a game of ditch the American.
