In 2004 I did four long rides and while they were all great, the best was the Top of Holland Bike Ride. I really lucked into this one. A cyclist friend of mine (he’s 80 and still runs marathons, bikes 100-mile a day rides, cross-country skis the Birkebeiner Ski Race, and easily outplays me at tennis—it goes without saying I hate him) contacted me one day and asked if I wanted to fill in for a friend of his that had to pull out of a bike ride in Holland their group had planned. I jumped at the chance, of course.
As the rest of the group had already made their travel plans I made my own and planned on meeting them in Amsterdam. The funniest thing about this trip happened to me on the trip to Amsterdam, and had nothing to do with cycling. I had to fly into Reykjavik, Iceland and then transfer to Amsterdam. When I made the flight reservations I was told that the airlines allow a three-day layover in Iceland for no extra charge. I, of course, took advantage, leaving three days early and reserving a hotel and rental car. After I arrived in Reykjavik I took the hotel shuttle and, upon arrival, checked into the hotel. When asked for a credit card I realized that, while I had brought in my suitcase, I had left my small travel backpack (which I was not used to carrying) in the shuttle. The case contained all my travel documents, my passport, and my wallet (no idea why I put it in the bag but I’m sure there was an excellent reason to do so). I immediately asked the clerk to call the shuttle back, which he did, of course. It took the shuttle only ten minutes to return but it seemed as if it were several hours. My bag was still in the shuttle, a disaster was averted, and the shuttle driver went on his way with a hefty tip in his pocket. I had, once again, been lucky. But that isn’t the funny story—that will come shortly.
I then spent several days driving around Iceland looking at the very beautiful countryside, including Pingvellir National Park, and sampling the local cuisine—it’s amazing how many ways they have found to serve fish.
On the flight to Amsterdam I started talking to the lady in the seat next to me and mentioned that I was able to get a three-day layover for no extra charge. She said, “You know why Iceland does that? They’re a ‘closed’ society, meaning they don’t allow immigration. In order to avoid inbreeding they want non-Icelandic men to stay over in the hopes they will meet Icelandic women and impregnate them before leaving.” I, being single, answered, “What? Well, they could have put out a brochure! I spent three days driving around Iceland looking at rocks!”
The story I just related is 100% true. I cannot attest to the veracity of what the lady told me, but I think it makes for a great conversation starter. Do your own verification if you wish but don’t tell me—it could ruin the story.
I made it to Amsterdam none the worse for wear and was able to meet up with my group arriving at the start of the trip with no further adventures. Our group had enough time to visit the world-famous Rijks Museum in Amsterdam containing beautiful art masterpieces and some, to the untrained eye, seemed somewhat odd—a very interesting side trip.
The bike trip was along a canal and the accommodations were on a very modest but comfortable canal boat. This trip is not for the “put your head down and ride like the wind while seeing only the road and the tire in front of you” cyclist. I am comfortable riding 60-80 miles a day (or more) but am also fine with riding short distances and having more time to see the sights and sites along the way. Each day we would ride 32 or so miles to the next town and the boat would be waiting for us. That way we were able to have the same room every night and breakfast and dinner, prepared by a very capable chef and served by a nice young lady, on the boat. We found our own meals for lunch, with the help of the tour leader. The entire crew and tour leader were really nice people and added a lot to the trip. The rooms were small and each had a set of bunk beds and a small bathroom. They were quite comfortable and we did not spend much time in them, anyway. The weather was warm enough that, after supper, we were able each evening, to sit on deck, have a drink, and discuss experiences of the day’s ride.
The daily mileage was short enough that we could stop and visit various sites along the way without rushing to get back on the road, or I should say, the bike trail because we spent the vast majority of the ride on bike trails. Holland has a large bike trail infrastructure, much like bike highways, and really encourages bike riding as a form of transportation. This made the riding very comfortable, the trails being very well-maintained and fairly level with few hills. They obviously want to make the riding as easy and pleasant as possible.
Our first day was spent getting to the boat in Amsterdam, taking a short boat ride to Zoondam, getting fitted to our bikes (which were provided by the tour company) and taking a short bike ride around town to make sure our bicycles were comfortable for each of us.
I am of Dutch heritage and was interested to find that my last name (Wynkoop—pronounced Winecoop) is spelled Wijnkoop in Holland. The “ij” making a long “I” sound. Rijks means state there and the Rijks Police and Rijks Museum are pronounced with the long “i” sound. I was told, “When you got to America you got lazy and quit dotting the ‘I’ and ‘j’ and it turned into a ‘Y’.” by a local shopkeeper. I told him it was good we did as I have enough trouble getting people to pronounce my name as “winecoop” instead of “wincoop,” Lord only knows how they would pronounce “Wijnkoop” (“wij-ni-coop, perhaps?”).
The next day we rode 21 miles to Haarlem, stopping along the way to visit an old Dutch village, a traditional clog making shop, and a traditional cheese market. We also saw, of course, many windmills along the route which was enjoyable. Not wind turbines, mind you, but actual windmills like you see in photos of Holland.
We had enough time after meeting up with the boat to clean up and take a short walk around Haarlem, then get back to the barge in time for another nice dinner.
On day 3 we rode 35 miles to Oude-Wetering with a stop at Keukenhoff to see the famous flower garden that was, of course, beautiful. We rode past small, well-kept houses along the canal a good share of the day. Very picturesque. We also saw many large fields (not gardens but fields—like cornfield size) of gorgeous, colorful tulips. I have no idea what happened to my photos of those fields so I encourage you to use the internet to pull up images.
We were also treated, throughout the week’s ride, to the sight of large sailboats lined up along the canal and saw several heading out to and on the sea.
Okay, here is where my notes are inadequate and my memory a bit fuzzy (it has, after all, been 16 years). Somewhere along the ride we visited the Zuiderzee Museum (the Zuiderzee is a very large bay-like body of water off the North Sea) and crossed part of the Zuiderzee to one of Holland’s islands in the North Sea on a small ferry and rode around the island for half-a-day or so.
The trip was a great time and I would recommend it to anyone, perhaps with a stopover in Iceland.
We ended the ride back in Amsterdam and, after having said farewell to our crew and tour leader, had an uneventful flight home without anyone insinuating I should have procreated while I was there.
