Otterlo, Holland

July 18, 2022

back to the Netherlands!

First, for those sharp-eyed readers who challenge every entry (you know who you are!), I added a couple of km to the map because we cycled from the Arnhem train station to the Zyperdaal Bistro before we actually started towards Otterlo.

Today was mostly a train day, as we caught the regional trains starting in Cologne on the 10:17 to Duisberg (Dooz-burg, not Dweez-burg as I had been saying). If we had continued to bike this section, we would have biked Cologne to Dusseldorf one day, then to Duisburg the next. Then Xantan, then Arnhem. Since it was getting more and more industrial, we decided to train it. This first segment went very well, and we both had seats right by the bikes.

Then with a 30 minute wait in Duisburg, we got our tickets to Arnhem and hopped on another train - which would mean no more train changes! With these great seats facing the bikes, we were walking in tall cotton.

Or so we thought. An announcement (in German) had several people looking around and murmuring, so we started asking what was that? A fellow who spoke some English said this car would not go to Arnhem. Part of the train does, not this part. Damn, and most of the people had already fled the train and gone to those cars. We scrambled along the cars looking for any empty bicycle spots. None. We went to the very last car and Marjory got in but my bike didn't look like it would make it. Just too crowded. Then a really nice German fellow grabbed my handlebars, said "come on!" and pulled me on. Wow. Obviously a biker and a nice fellow to boot. We talked the whole way until he got off a few stops later.

We got off the train in Arnhem and it was a massive, modern station.

Quickly we were outside, then started google maps to find a restaurant. There was a bistro about 2 km away, so off we went. Great soup and salad combo. And then komoot took over, and we started off toward Otterlo. Super bike paths - right, we are in Holland again!

those wonderful red bike paths in Holland

We actually had a stiff climb for about 15 minutes - I know...Holland. But northwest of Arnhem is known for hills, and they were steep enough. Once to the top, I see the path divides into 2 with a dividing meridian. Sheesh!

And then we are riding more or less beside a road the entire way, but with these great tall trees. I find that I appreciate big deciduous trees more after living in the Rocky Mountains, where we primarily have spruce, pine, and fir.

Mature trees on the right, and then about 8 km of junior trees on the left A concrete pathway. Wow. Lots of bikers passed us quite quickly, the eBikers were going about 30 kph, the road bikers faster. No other slow tour bikers but us.

As we biked north, the area dried out considerably. You can start to see pines on the right, and the tall trees aren't quite so tall. I had never seen the Netherlands like this. I actually put this photo in to remind me to say that we had adopted the rule of stopping to drink water every 5 km. It was a nice way to mark the countdown till the end of the day, and it forced us to hydrate.

We entered the town of Otterlo, and it does seem that everyone here is doing very well. Big well kept houses on landscaped yards. When we made the final turn toward our hotel, we noticed the posters up on standards on both sides of the street. We Will Never Forget they all said, and had photos of men who had died freeing the Netherlands from the Nazis. Here you can see a Canadian flag above the photo.

a Canadian who had been involved in freeing the Netherlands

In the pic below, you can see all the way down the street these posters - all different. You can probably make out the Union Jack below.

We arrived and stowed our bikes in the best biking facility yet. Triggered by room key, auto locking with bike pumps inside and many electrical outlets for those pesky eBikes. We are really here to see the Kroller-Muller museum, and that will be the focus for tomorrow. There is also many trails through the national park adjacent to Otterlo. Oh. And there's a spa.....

Today's ride: 20 km (12 miles)
Total: 1,492 km (927 miles)

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Suzanne GibsonSo glad you are stopping at the Kroger-Müller Museum, very worthwhile. We loved it. We were there a couple of years ago on a bike trip from Amsterdam to Munich.
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