Alkmaar to Hoorn: a short ride today

April 24, 2012

WEATHER: cloudy, sprinkles, then a mix of sun and showers

In the morning Eva's cold was better, but Al felt terrible. His stomach was still very delicate and he only had tea for breakfast. Luckily we had planned a very short ride today, only 27 km to Hoorn. Originally we were going to cycle all the way to Enkhuizen, but several cycling journals had mentioned scenic Hoorn, so we decided it was worth an overnight stay. Al had very little energy, but felt he could manage the short level ride.

For the first 12 kilometres we retraced the route to Rustenburg, yesterday's lunch stop, and then travelled northeast along canals and polders, a very rural ride. We wore our rain booties just in case, but there were only a few sprinkles. A few kilometres south of Hoorn, we reached the shore of the Ijsselmeer. Actually we couldn't see the lake because the bike path was below the top of the dike. Eva climbed up some stairs for a look at the water, and came down to see Al on the ground. He had caught the strap of his rain bootie in the pedal clip as he dismounted his bike, and had fallen over. Except for a bit of road rash on his hip, he wasn't hurt, but it certainly didn't help him feel better!

It was now completely sunny as we made our way into Hoorn, an attractive town right on the shore of the Ijsselmeer. Our hotel room wasn't ready yet, but we unloaded our bags, locked our bikes outside and had some lunch at the cafe downstairs. Al was able to eat a bit of dry white toast, and Eva had a grilled goat cheese sandwich with honey and walnuts. Afterwards we went for a short walk through the town to the market square, and then back to the hotel Posthoorn, where (luckily) there was only one flight of narrow stairs to our room. Good timing because there were rain showers for the rest of the afternoon. Al took a long nap and felt a bit better in the evening. We had dinner at the nearby Hotel de Keizerkroon--a plain omelet for Al and a chicken and guacamole sandwich for Eva.

Order of the Garter looks down on the square in Hoorn.

The square in Hoorn -- even the statue has gotten into the act. The statue of Jan Coen, "The Butcher of Banda", is controversial. He was the head of the Dutch East India Company in the 1600's and was a "good business man" but instrumental in killing thousands of inhabitants of the Banda islands in order to control the very lucrative nutmeg trade. This period in Dutch colonial history has been called "a dark page". Honi soit qui mal y pense...?

Today's ride: 27 km (17 miles)
Total: 358 km (222 miles)

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