Hi Everyone! Welcome to the latest edition of the MyrThenz Blog, this time covering our latest adventure: De Ronde van Nederland. This route is an amalgamation of several long distance cycling routes that follow the borders of the Netherlands (roughly). In total, the route is about 1400 kms. Spoiler: we didn’t quite make it in the two weeks that we had. We rode a total of 845.60 kms on the route. We had an amazing time exploring the different types of nature in the Netherlands (surprisingly varied), meeting up with family and friends, and camping with a 35 year old tent.

Since we will be moving to Finland during the summer, and don’t expect to use our bikes very much there, we’re trying to sell them! So if you, or anyone you know, is interested in buying two amazing bikes, you know where to find us. Here is the link to the advertisement on Marktplaats:https://www.marktplaats.nl/a/fietsen-en-brommers/fietsen-heren-sportfietsen-en-toerfietsen/m1718971729-twee-koga-wordtravellers-inclusief-complete-uitrusting.html

We were able to pick up the LF 14 Saksenroute in Vorden, about a 20 minute ride to the South-East of Warnsveld. From there, the route took us through some of the most typical landscapes, which we would later see a lot more of: fields. Whether they’re filled with grass, corn, potatoes, or sugar beets, we rode through them in many provinces. Yet somehow, we still feel like we can now tell the difference between fields in Drenthe, Groningen, and Friensland. After a beautiful evening ride of about 70 km, we arrived in Enschede at Tenzing’s former student house. It was great to see them again and to hear about the developments in the big city of Enschede. We spent our first night in the comfort of a real bed thanks to Florian (thank you again, Florian). As we’d learned from our first day, the route is not very efficient. For example, if navigating on Google maps will take a route that is 50 km, you can expect to take about 70 km following the “scenic” route. Scenic, of course, refers to those fields I was talking about earlier.

Our next meetup was with Femke in Tubbergen. We left a bit late for the meeting time we set since we were not quite sure how much distance the route would add to the trip. Fortunately for us, three speedy cyclists joined our road and we were able to sit behind them for a bit. We felt pretty cool, going 33 km/h with our heavy bikes and gear! Afterwards, we also felt pretty tired. It was great to see Femke again and she even brought her boyfriend, so we had a double date of sorts. Some time after lunch we decided to cut off part of the route, as we would already be approaching 100 km for the day given the camping we wanted to go to. It ended up being about 95 (see overview of the days & distances below); plenty for our sore butts!

Our next destination: Groningen! Here, we met up with Remco and spent the afternoon walking through the lovely city centre and shopping for food on the market. After dinner (lasagna), we spent the evening chilling in the Noorderplantsoen with Remco and a friend of his. Just North of Groningen, we cycled a very memorable few kms of windy roads through fields with tall grass and lots of sheep. Such a beautiful and different scene! That afternoon, we arrived in a different province again: Friesland. So far, we’d had Gelderland, Overijssel, Drenthe, Groningen, and Friesland. Dokkum was surprisingly beautiful, but maybe that’s because a friend and ATLAS Alumnus sold it so well to us. Thanks Jarmo, for the fun evening!

The next few days, we spent following the “Kustroute”. Some days were very windy, others not so much. One thing most days had in common was sunshine! We got incredibly lucky with the weather and did not cycle in the rain once until the last day! Most campings we stayed at were “natuurkampeerterreinen”, meaning that they’re smaller, actively try to be more eco-friendly, and usually have organically organised spaces with a mix of tents and campers. As an additional bonus, most cyclists try to stay at such places! We talked to many others about journeys and enjoyed seeing the many beautiful bikes and tents. Our favourite one was probably “Het Bos Roept”, near Den Oever, if you ever find yourself needing to camp around there.

Den Haag was our next anchor with a meetup: family! Gillian and Maurits hosted us for two nights and boy did we enjoy sleeping in a nice bed again. They were/are still in the process of moving, which meant that they did not have a kitchen yet. Of course, we were used to cooking without proper cooking facilities. We spent a lovely day on the beach and in the dunes; a perfect day to recharge. Our final anchor was yet more family: Erik and Joke, Myrthe’s uncle and aunt. They had a week in a nice house close to the beach, so we rode down to Cadzand Bad to meet up with them! It was really good to see them again and to chill on the beach and in the water. Cold at first, but once you’re used to it, it is very refreshing.

On our last day, we cycled around 65 km to a train station, from where we took the train home. We were kicked out of our first train by the NS lady because we were traveling with bicycles during rush hour, even though there was plenty of space. So logically we got on the next train and made it home without any trouble! As we rode into the driveway back home, we were greeted by a bright flash of lightning, followed by a very loud bang within a second. Almost struck by lightning, what a way to come home!

Thank you for reading and see you next time! We’re going to spend some time in Sweden before going to Finland for our master’s, so look forward to our blogs on those adventures.

Day 1: Zutphen - Enschede (70.38 km)

Day 2: Enschede - Diffelen (94.60 km)

Day 3: Diffelen - Emmen (49.85 km)

Day 4: Emmen - Groningen (89.51 km)

Day 5: Groningen - Dokkum (80.85 km)

Day 6: Dokkum - Den Oever (82.63 km)

Day 7: Den Oever - IJmuiden (89.46 km)

Day 8: IJmuiden - Den Haag (58.19 km)

Day 9: Den Haag - Burgh-Haamstede (102.20 km)

Day 10: Burgh-Haamstede - Cadzand (63.62 km)

Day 11: Cadzand -Kapelle-Biezelinge (64.31 km)