Day 51: Wednesday, 29 June 1983

Start: Campground, Berkhout (Hoorn?), Netherlands

End: Hotel Terminus, Amsterdam, Netherlands

It poured down all night and it's still raining in the morning. I rest -- snug and warm in all my clothes in the June Bug -- and read, hoping to wait it out. I'm only going to Amsterdam, so I only need a couple of dry hours. By 10:00 it seems to have stopped. It's still chilly, gray, and windy, but I dress in heavy-weather gear, pack up the wet tent, and start south. Within a few minutes it's raining again.

Somewhere along the road I come to a railroad crossing. Just as I'm approaching, the lights start to flash, but the crossing arms remain upright. I slow to almost a dead stop and carefully look both ways. No sign of a train in either direction, and I really hate to lose all my momentum, so I ride on across the tracks. Bad idea. 

From out of nowhere a police car flags me over. Two youthful cops, looking quite stern, walk back to me. When I make it clear I don't speak any Dutch, they segue seamlessly into English and want to know why I neglected to stop at the railroad crossing. I tell them the crossing arm was still up and no train seemed to be coming. They quote me chapter and verse from Dutch regulations that all traffic must stop and wait if the light is flashing, even if the arm is up. I apologize profusely as rivulets of rainwater flow down my nose. They seem willing to let me off with a warning. Then one of them eyes me suspiciously from top to bottom, studies my bike, and has one more question. 

"Why are you wearing such a ridiculous helmet?" 

It's true that none of the millions of Dutch riders seems to own a helmet of any kind. I quickly decide it's useless to try to tell them about Mike crashing onto his head back in Illinois. "Well, it's just the custom for American riders."

After that I ride for a few miles in the rain with a well-outfitted Danish rider. He has the best rain gear I've seen. In particular, thick black wool tights with black leather on the front of the legs. Very warm and functional in cold rain. [2010 Note: Upon my return, I tracked down the same style in thick black polypro with windproof nylon on the front; still using them in cold, wet weather, although -- surprise, surprise -- they've become a little more snug around the waist.]

By the time I get into Amsterdam the rain has pretty much stopped. I had planned on staying at the hostel, but apparently it's a real zoo. I don't have a guidebook, and I've been too out of it to think about asking anyone for advice on where to stay. Maybe I should have asked the cops. I follow signs to the city center and randomly pick the Hotel Terminus, just because that was the name of a planet in Asimov's Foundation books.

My bike's not allowed inside. I have to take it to the huge underground "stalling" across the way where everyone parks. The attendant gives me a ticket and rolls Bob away. Well, he should be easy to locate among all these plain black bikes.

Conditions 

Distance: 30 km  

Weather: Cold and raining 

Road: Good 

Traffic: Very light 

Terrain: Very flat 

Mechanical: Worn out tires 

Physical: Feeling better but wet

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