Day 53: Friday, 1 July 1983

Start: Hotel Terminus, Amsterdam, Netherlands

End: Campground, Groesbeek, Netherlands

The weather was fine yesterday in Amsterdam, but turned chilly, overcast, and windy again today. Naturally.

Pulled out of the downtown stalling around 9:00. Expected problems working my way through the urban area to get southbound on the proper route, but had very little difficulty doing so. Also, this morning the wind is at my back, so I pushed strongly to a picnic lunch around 11:30. As soon as I got back on the road, I had another puncture. Fixed it. Back on the road. Another flat. Wait a minute! I know I carefully checked for sharpness inside the tire before I put the last one back together. This is a whole new puncture. These are the brand new tires the shop just put on Bob yesterday! I'm tempted to ride back to Amsterdam and confront the mechanic, but that would mean riding north with the wind down my throat.

Back on the road with a tailwind and putting a little anger into each pedal stroke. Flying along. One long stretch on a bike path atop a dike along the Waal River is especially fast, fun, and picturesque. That's what I thought all of the Netherlands would be like.

I had penciled in a couple of potential campgrounds along the way, but I'm making good time and shoot past them. Then I see a sign for Groesbeek, which means it's taken me a single day to get from Amsterdam to Groesbeek after I spent four days getting from Groesbeek to Amsterdam by taking the long way around across the Afsluitdijk. So I end up at the exact same site in the same campground where I stayed Saturday night. I can even see the flattened grass where Mat and Erich's tent was, but they're gone.

A good day and a good distance despite two flats. I think I'm back in the groove.

I grabbed some dinner and was sitting by my tent reading when four young ladies came over from their campsite and invited me to tea. How could I refuse? So we walked down to a nearby tea shop (?) and conversed for hours. They ranged in age from 16 to 20 -- where the heck are all the grown-up women and why aren't they inviting me out for a drink? -- and I think they mostly just wanted to practice English. But they were cute and charming and it was warmer than the June Bug, so we stayed up until almost midnight.

Back in the tent it felt especially cold, so I pulled on layers, hunkered down in my odorous sleeping bag, and tried to sleep. Far too much caffeine and liquid before bedtime!

Conditions 

Distance: 120 km 

Weather: Chilly, overcast, tailwind, cold overnight 

Road: Good 

Traffic: Light 

Terrain: Flat 

Mechanical: Two flats 

Physical: Feeling strong