August 27, 2023
Biesbosch to Utrecht
All done bike
It rained in the night but was windy enough that we managed to mostly dry the tent and get it packed away before it rained again at 10:30. I woke up to a deflated pillow, which we can add to the tally of things that are breaking down towards the end of our trip. Other things include: James' sleeping bag liner, sleeping bag bag, the eyelets in his shoes, my shoe laces and my front panniers are held together by duct tape.
We had a small detour through the national park to have a look around before we headed north east to Utrecht. There were many bird enthusiasts around, including a whole bunch poised with cameras at one body of water that looked very much the same as the rest to us. There were also lots of little bridges for us to struggle over.
Just as we came into Werkendam we met up with Dirk and Rogier who had set of before 8am to meet us. We had the wind behind us, but that meant that the thunderstorm we could hear was chasing us. Before too long it caught us and we quickly loaded Tobias into the trailer and got that covered, then got ourselves very very wet. The route took us across a ferry, but that didn't start till 12 and waiting around in the rain wasn't attractive so we took a detour to cross a bridge. Its lucky we did because Jan Willem was there sheltering to get his jacket on and spotted us. He'd set out from Doetinchem and already ridden 120km to catch up with us.
We got really wet. It rained. There was lightening and thunder very close by. And hail. James commented that the country seemed to be doing it's very best to make us want to leave. The only good thing was we managed to go really fast because of the tail wind and our friends to set the pace so by the time the rain slowed down we were more than halfway there and close to a pancake house. We all came dripping inside and made a big mess on the floor, but it was warm and dry and I had a huge pancake stacked with chicken satay and salad and an egg on top.
Tobias wasn't so happy to have to go back in the trailer but it was still pretty wet on the road and grey in the sky when we set off. With the wind behind us and the guys on race bikes setting the pace it wasn't long before we reached the Lek near Vianen and really into territory we were familiar riding in. The sun managed to come out too so Tobias could get out of the trailer for the last bit across the bridge at Vianen then along the canal into Utrecht.
There was a great turnout of our friends at the Kromme Haring. It was really special to see everyone in one place to welcome us back to one of our homes. The Kromme Haring was the bar we came to in 2016 when we went for a shop ride with our now good friend Chase and was our go to place for a drink since then. It was great to catch up with friends, and sad to say goodbye to a few who we won't see again this week.
We rode back to Chase and Jess' past our old house and neighbourhood which felt a bit empty, but we feel more than at home here. We have a week to pack up and see everyone before we take off on Sunday. We are around for Knox and Rem's (the kids in this house) 7th birthday which is pretty cool because we went to their first one. I doubt I'll have time this week, but I'm planning an epilogue with how we get back to New Zealand and some kind of reflection on our trip once I've had time to work out how I feel about it. We were talking about it last night that it feels a bit surreal to be over. Most of the time we were so caught up in the day to day stuff that we forgot that not everyone bikes across Europe with a 2 year old and that it's a pretty big achievement. In some ways we are happy to finish - we are tired and all our stuff is falling apart and we want to see our friends and family again. But going back to real life means leaving Europe and not spending all our time adventuring together as a family which has been pretty awesome.
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Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 3,328 km (2,067 miles)
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8 months ago