Tank Tours

It was back in the saddle today after a short 2 week break in England to catch up with our Miss (Jessie) and other family members. On arrival in our accommodation in Antwerp, where we had stored our bikes, pleased to observe that everything (bikes and panniers) was in good order. Having not ridden for a couple fo weeks, weren't quite sure how the body would fare and must admit it didn't fare well. It was tough going, especially the second half as it was in a strong head wind. One compensation was that we were riding on smooth bike paths. In summary, there are days when you feel your age and today was was one of them for both of us. Eager to get going, it was an early breakie and we were off; indulged our selves by asking one of the other guests tot take this photo of us.  There was nothing pretty about the few kms out of Antwerp or on the outskirts, which was mostly industrial and/or wasteland compensated by the warm and dry weather and deserted roads and...

No breakie today, just a quick decaf coffee and hot water with a slice of lemon for me. We were out of there by 8am, planning to have breakie down the road to Antwerp, which is another storey. Will come back to that shortly. Today's route was a lot better than yesterday's; starting in Breda as mums were dropping kids off to school and a few early starters making their way to work as we made our way out of Breda. Soon we were on cycle paths taking us through fields, farms and and along canals where these 2 dudes were fishing, living the dream. There's something to be said about retirement. You know, I miss fishing more than playing golf. Moving along, through beautiful landscapes, listening to  the twittering of the birds and the sound of the wheels (don't let it drive you crazy); this is what bike touring is all about on a beautiful day. What a difference a day makes? Today's route was in complete contrast to yesterday's. ...

Delft was always on our list of places to visit in The Netherlands and yesterday we did just that on our day off the tour. Also took the opportunity to further explore The Hague on a seriously hot day. Ursi even managed to climb the 300 plus steps up the very narrow staircase to the top of the tower in Delft. Not for me. Our host, Abhi, had organised a home delivered Indian meal in the evening which went down a treat. Nice change from what we have normally eaten on the tour. Early start today; after breakie, we left around 8.45am to catch a train to Rotterdam to reduce the riding distance and time to Breda. It was always in the plan to do that. Getting bikes loaded with panniers on the train is not as easy as it sounds when the platform is quite a bit lower than the train doors. Anyway, we managed to get them up and there was a first experience, where the ticket price for the bikes were more expensive than the passengers. The bikes cost Euro 6.90 ea...

One of the many good things about bike touring for us is taking time out to smell the roses and the 3 days spent in and around Amsterdam was a point in case. Our base in lovely Haarlem: A day and half in fabulous Amsterdam: A day in fairy tale town, Geithoorn But all good things come to an end, so today, we were back in the saddle and through a combination of good luck and planning, we rode a fabulous route to The Hague. It turned out to be a ripper of a day's ride. Given, it was a short ride, we took our time over breakie and getting ready; left Haarlem around10am and experienced riding (on, as always, nice bike paths) a bit of everything today. We cycled through, forests, little villages, along canals, past lakes, next to a golf course, sand dunes, even a National Park (Noordwijk-Binnen) with deer and along the North Sea. Just before we entered the LF1 route, we caught site of a bright purple lav...