Cycling UK Forum

I would recommend that you do it the other way round (bottom to top). The Netherlands is mostly flat, and the countryside is quite open (with very few hedges). You don't get much shelter from the wind when it is blowing (predominantly from the SW).

I am assuming that you are aiming to travel between the most southerly and most northerly points. The most southerly point is about 10Km south of Maastricht. The most northerly point on the mainland is about 6Km west of Eemshaven (on the Waddenzee coast). My map shows a path over the dike at this point, so you should be able to get right up to the sea.

The route would be: Up to Maastricht to pick up LF3; Follow LF3 from Maastricht to Zwolle; Follow LF9 from Zwolle to Groningen, and then cross country from Groningen to the end point.

A couple of websites that can help with planning routes are:

http://www.nederlandfietsland.nl/fietsrouteplanner/ - This site is good for the long distance LF routes.

http://www.falk.nl/ - Good for routes using the numbered junction system (knoopunts). You can plot routes using the knoopunts on this site, and then print out a map with your route highlighted, and with directions. Unfortunately is does not cover Groningen, but it does cover most of the Netherlands.

Will

If you want to get a feel for the sort of facilities they have in the Netherlands, then use Google Maps. Large parts of the country are covered by the Street View cameras. Although the pictures are taken from the road, you can still get a good view of the segregated paths, and the way they set priorities at junctions etc.

On the beer front, there is a brewer called Gulpener (from the town of Gulpen in Limburg) that makes a really nice dark beer. It is quite bitter, so they normally add syrup to it. Apparently it is popular with the dutch roadies (better than a energy gel any day).

Will

I also use the B&M Ixon / Ride & Charge setup to charge batteries, with a Lil Synch USB AA Battery adapter (http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=108719) to provide USB power output. I always have one set charging in the Ixon, and one set in the Lil Synch charging my GPS (Road Angel) via USB.

I fully charge the NIMH batteries before I go on tour. If I find that the NIMH batteries are not getting charged enough (slow day), then I can pop some Duracells into the Lil synch for a day and leave the set of batteries in the Ixon in for a 2nd day.

I also take the Ixon power lead that can be used to charge the batteries in the Ixon from the mains (if the opportunity arises).

I recently used this setup on a two week camping trip to power my (power hungry) Road Angel and it worked fine (I only had to use one set of Duracells over the two weeks).

Will

I normally just try and avoid them. Most of the cobbles are around the new town and down at the docks at Leith (areas I don't normally cycle through).

There is one road on my cycling commute (Coates Gardens) that is part of NCN1. There is a road parallel to it (Magdala Crescent) that isn't cobbled, but the Council in their wisdom made it one way because of the road works for the trams. There is plenty of space for motor vehicles going in both directions (it used to be two way), the only problem for motor vehicles is where it joins the main road (not a problem when on a bike though). I go down that way on the way to work, because I consider the cobbled street too dangerous, especially in the wet or when it is dark.

If you are coming to Edinburgh and intend to cycle, you should get a copy of the Spokes map - it shows all of the cobbled streets.

Will

I've not used that particular ferry, but I know others who have, and they had problems getting their bikes booked on at short notice. There is only a limited number of spaces for bikes, and they tend to get booked up at this time of year.

If I was you, I would check to see which ferry I could get on before booking any trains.

Will

I'm another fan of Kiwis though I only have 4 pairs. I have trouble finding trousers that fit properly in the leg, and the short (29") Kiwis fit me perfectly.

I take my zip-off Kiwis on tour as they double up as shorts as long trousers for the evenings.

Will

Holland is covered by long distance tourist routes (called LF routes). see http://www.nederlandfietsland.nl/fietsrouteplanner/ for an interactive route planner.

Will

If it was me, I would not hesitate in reporting her.

My sister-in-law had a serious accident about 5 years ago with someone just like her. She was driving along when a car coming in the opposite direction suddenly turned right straight into her. Her car was a total write off (not just in insurance terms). Fortunately nobody was seriously injured apart from bruises and a bit of whiplash, but it was a terrifying experience for my 4 year old nephew who was strapped in the back.

The woman's daughter came to the accident scene and told my sister-in-law that the family had been trying for some time to convince her to give up driving because she simply wasn't capable of driving properly any more, and they were worried that something like this would happen. I think it took this accident to finally convince her to give up driving. The police of course took no action and left it to the insurance companies to sort out.

This sort of thing is only going to become more common in the years to come. Many people are so dependant on using cars to get around that when they reach old age, they will be reluctant to give up the only thing that gives them mobility.

Will

Twenty years ago I was a land surveyor with the local council. On several occassions, we came across bench marks that had moved. They were usually on stone walls that had been rebuilt.

On one occassion we came across one that was obviously wrong, so we used another one that was further away from the site we were surveying. There was a new road being constructed nearby, and the surveyors from that site saw us at work and came over to warn us about the BM. They had used the BM and it only came to light when they were already half way through constructing the road (two sections of road were at a different levels as they had come off different bench marks). I would have thought that they would have levelled between the two BMs to double check their measurements, but time is money - it cost them a hell of a lot of money to put the road right.


Will

Cycle routes in Holland are as rare as midges in the Scottish highlands . Everywhere you look there are cycle routes.

If you are only there for a couple of days, then you probably want to try the LF1 (long distance route) which runs up the coast all the way to Den Helder in the north. Just north of Den Haag it runs through sand dunes, so it is a little bit undulating (for Holland). It will be busy with cyclists at the weekend (including quite a few chain gangs). Katwijk (the first place you come to) is a seaside resort, so has plenty of cafes to stop at.

You could also try following the LF1 south west and then south east to Maasluis, and then head inland across the polder (land reclaimed from the sea) towards Delft.

Another of the long distance routes (LF4) runs east of Den Haag towards Utrecht, and then almost to the German border.

Will

There an episode of the reality TV show Airport a while back where an American guy was arrested going through airport security with a violin case. He was arrested because when asked what was in the case, he replied "a machine gun". He was questioned for several hours, and ended up missing his flight and had to fork out for another another ticket.

Best just to play it straight at airports.

Will

I've done a couple of cycling trips with Exodus, the last one in January which was the Cycle Indochina & Angkor Wat' trip: http://www.exodus.co.uk/holidays/moc.html?

Exodus cycling holidays are very well organised, with excellent support. Sometimes there is some travelling by bus due to the large distances that the trips cover (the trip notes give you an idea of how much cycling there is). There are also some non-cycling days when you do some site-seeing.

On Exodus cycling holidays you ride in a group, though it can be spread out over several miles, with a guide at the front and the support vehicle at the rear. There isn't scope for going off and doing your own thing.

Will

I've got one on order myself. I've used Memory Map for a couple of years on my PDA, but found the battery life a major problem. This device appears to have much better battery life than a PDA running Windows Mobile & Memory Map.

Check out http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=62694&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 - there's a guy who uses it on his mountain bike and has written quite a bit about his experience with the device.

Will

I travel on this stretch of road on the odd day that I commute to work by car.

If you look at the bottom left hand corner of the photograph, you can see the red paint of the cycle lane. It does not look like it is on one of the pedestrian crossings on this road, as there are no markings visible (and the cycle lanes do not go over the crossings). There is no mention in the report that it happened on a crossing either.

At that time of day, motorised traffic is moving very slowly on this road. Cyclists in the bike lane are usually travelling faster than the motorised traffic. I've witnessed several instances where a pedestrian has stepped into the cycle lane without looking, and narrowly avoided getting hit by a bike. They seem to think it is safe to cross because the motorised traffic is not moving, and don't check to see if the bike lane is clear before stepping off the pavement. I would not be surprised to learn that this is what happened in this incident, but the BBC reporting makes it sound like the cyclist was definitely at fault, though they provide to evidence to support that conclusion.

I also note that the report does not mention whether the cyclist was injured or not. Usually when there is a collision involving a motor vehicle and a pedestrian, we are told that the driver was uninjured. Why is there no mention of the cyclist's injuries? I think you are absolutely right to complain about this shoddy reporting.

A strange thing about this incident is that is was not reported in the local rag (Edinburgh Evening News). It is no more than a 100m or so from their offices, and they love to run stories that make cyclists look bad, and yet it hasn't even been mentioned. Makes we wonder if it was a member of their own staff that was involved in it.

Will

White gasoline (not to be confused with white gas a.k.a. Coleman Fuel) is petrol that has no anti-knock additives added. You can probably use it in a stove in the same way that you would use unleaded petrol (i.e. with the same jet as for petrol).

White gasoline is much more volatile than white gas and you should take care not to confuse them.

You might find this website handy if you intend to travel abroad:

http://members.iinet.net.au/~mbuckler/fuel/index.shtml

Will