Across the Ijsselmeer to Makkum: another spectacular day of riding in Holland
We are really looking forward to today's ride. We know that the countryside will be pretty with villages along the way to Den Oever, the starting point of the dyke. And best of all, the wind continues to be in our favour. It has shifted a bit to a northwesterly, which is pretty good for crossing the Ijsselmeer.
Barry has often told me of his experience riding this 32 km dyke 46 years ago with his mom and dad. We have spoken of riding it together and this is the day.
It was the vision of C. Leyl in the early 1900's to build a dyke across the Waldensee and create a freshwater lake for this region. He was a visionary and it took some time for this labourious undertaking to be realized. Unfortunately, he died a few years before its completion, but at least he knew that his dreams and hard work would come to pass.
There are 3 spots where one can stop on this dyke - at 5 km there is a monument to C. Leyl, at 14 km there is a Texaco station (which sells food and ice cream) and 5 km before the end is a museum on the site of many bunkers where the Dutch were able to defend during WWII.
When we reached the end point at the village of Zurich, we were wind swept and tired. We were so pleased to keep a steady pace of around 20 km/hr. We must be getting stronger as the wind was a bit of a factor.
We stopped at Makkun and found a site at the huge waterfront campground on the lake. This place is paradise for wind surfers. Everybody comes here for this reason. It was a beautiful spot - the sandy beach and open water are 50 metres from your campsite. We were once again the only cyclists.
When we arrived, a woman from Hanover Germany, came up to us and insisted on preparing hot tea or coffee for us. We must have looked tired. She brought us a table and tray with a bit pot of tea. What a nice welcome.
The only problem was the outbreak of mosquitoes. Yikes - nothing repelled them, including our deet and bracelets. So we got into the tent and that's a good thing because it immediately started to rain.
We were tired and immediately fell asleep.
A good day.
Our neighbour at the campsite was camping for the first time with his family. We enjoyed sharing our experiences with him about his home country, Belgium and the joys of camping.
We stopped at this gas station and were royally entertained by this rooster who literally stops traffic and holds up the cars who come to get gas. The clerk told us that the roosters and hens from across the road spend much of their time here.
We talked to these two women in Den Oever just before beginning our 32 km long crossing of the dam stretching across the Ijsselmeer. They had just completed the ride coming from the other side.
What a small world it is. We were stopped at the Texaco station rest stop and this couple had just flown back from Canada. His brother lives in Kingston, Ontario and he had bought a book of this artist's work - Keristead, an artist well known in the region. Funny that I opened the page to the painting of Chisolm's Mill in Roslin - a beloved place for my family.
