June 24, 2018
Day 90: Amsterdam to Cobble Hill
Yikes, it seems now like we only just made it through this trip by the skin of our teeth. Dodie's knees, a problem for us and focus even last year when we did Grampies Go On Their Knees, had been sort of manageable in the time since, thanks perhaps to shots of Cortizone and SynVisc. But starting from that walk up Mont St Michel, the right knee in particular has been getting worse and worse. Dodie somehow cycled right up to the last day, but now - she can only barely walk. Had the plan been to head off cycling now to Hamburg, or anywhwere, it would not have happened.
At the airport, the extent of the situation became clear as we had to search out some help to go from security to the gate. We were able to flag down an electric vehicle (ah, e assist) that gave us a lift. The gate was in an outlying part of the airport, since the plane was going to be boarded somewhere on the open tarmac. Busses would go from the gate to the plane.
It was here that we were glad to run into really helpful and considerate gate staff, not to mention Dutch efficiency. After just a moment of asking why we had not requested assistance in advance, they incorporated Dodie into their system for people with mobiity problems. This involved a very high tech looking transporter that gathered the passengers on the level and travelled to the plane. Then it raised itself up an allowed a level egress directly to the seating. Dodie and two other people were whisked smoothly into the plane, and all with a welcoming and friendly approach that frankly we had found lacking in customer service in Holland to this point.
This of course was not the best for the last day of the trip, but there some bright spots. One was that purely by coincidence, cycling friend Ken and Judy Nicholson were on the same flight. Ken and Judy had been in Austria and Germany, and were poised at Enkhuisen to get on this flight, having come along into Netherlands from Hamburg. Ken and Judy do not write a blog, but we had been able to loosely follow them through emails. The last time we had actually seen them was last May,
It was entertaining to see the Nicholson's famous chocolate brown Long Haul Truckers all cleaned up and getting ready to be bagged. And later, to be able to chat at the gate, though Dodie was not able to join in much, trying instead to meditate and deal with the pain.
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Another bright spot was to meet yet another cycling couple at the gate - Jenny and Jeff from Vancouver. Here there really was not the chance to chat, which is regrettable since Jenny and Jeff do have some blogsand I know that soon they will be media personalities to me. I will then regret that I only ever spoke to them for 2 minutes in person. Jenny and Jeff also were just coming off a long circuit, and though Jeff ran through it in those 2 minutes I think I would have to check their blog to review the details.
Last but not least in the bright spot list is Demet, the lady with the seat beside me in the plane. Having grown at least a little accustomed to the detached approach while in Holland, I was surprised, but pleased, that she said hello immediately on taking her seat. We were then able to ask each other the Usual Questions for seatmates on a plane.
I found that Demet had immigrated to Canada 18 years ago from Turkey and was returning now from a visit to family there. A real live person who even used to be from a country I know little about is a treasure to me, and I was able to vastly increased my knowledge and appreciation of the place in a reasonably short time. For this blog, I will just throw in two snippets of what I found out.
First snippet. Turkish immigration to western Europe has been great since the world war, as workers have been needed for rebuilding, and I expect, in agriculture. As often happens, the immigrants' presence pops up most visibly in ethnic restaurants. In Germany and France now, every town boasts one or many "doner" shops. In France in particular this is a big deal, because outside of a few scattered McDonalds, there is little alternative to the high quality, high price, slow service traditional French restaurant. (Ok, some places advertise "restauration rapide" but that is rather rare.) But as I have mentioned in past blogs, I have been confused by "doner" terminology. We see associated with such places the terms "doner", "schwarma", "giros", "kebap", and "shish kabob". How do these differ? Demet has the answer. Doner is meat broiled in a rotating cone. Chicken done the same way is not traditional, but is common now. Traditionally the broiling is by wood fire, but now of course it's electric. Giros is the Greek word for doner. Kabob is an alternative spelling in English of Kebap. In kebap you can indeed have sis kebap, but there is also tandir kebap, tokat kebap, adona kebap, and other. Kebap generally is is chunks of meat on a skewer, accompanied by various vegetables . Schwarma is not the meat at all, but the bread that the meat is served in. You will get the bread unless you get a doner plate.
Doner is legitimate traditional Turkish fast food, well remembered by Demet from her youth.
Second snippet: The Ataturk revolution (1923-38) established Turkey as a secular society, which included freedom of religion, use of the latin alphabet, and democracy. But this has been eroded and under Edogan has been severely degraded. This has caused great pain to the people of the secular, democratic generations, such as Demet's parents and grandparents. Demet's mother, in particular is an activist and teacher, who has published four books. Demet showed me the latest one, whose title might loosely be given as: "On Ataturk's Way: Touching Both Soap and Water (Speaking Up)"
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While I was talking to Demet, Dodie was actively suffering in her seat. Demet gave her two gifts. The first was a change purse she had picked up on her trip. Lovely and exotic! The second was a great gift. Demet left her aisle seat and talked her way into a centre one in the next row. This allowed Dodie to put her leg up, and made a huge difference.
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We always think of the wonderful people we meet as a big reason for travelling, especially by bike. Here on this plane we have Ken and Judy and Jenny and Jeff and Demet to support that idea.
Once landed in Vancouver, we again tapped the support staff and found them equal in attentiveness to those in Amsterdam. Dodie got a ride in an e-cart, with which two agents shepherded her through immigration and baggage too. The couple on the back of the cart are from Netherlands, here to visit the man's brother - in Cobble Hill! The lady's problem: bad knee!
Our plan to use the Skytrain to the bus to the ferry worked surprisingly well, though the Skytrain ticket machine liked neither my credit card nor my big spender $50 bank notes. I did finally find a card it liked in my wallet, and we were on our way.
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Even though we have quit pedalling for now, there is still more to come in this blog. Stay tuned for our take on the places we visited, and for critical trip statistics - like how muchof our kids' inheritance we actually blew on this outing.
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Steve, could you please post a link to the spec sheets of your bikes.
I was impressed by some of the daily distances that you achieved without stopping to recharge!
Mike
5 years ago
The other main thing about range is that we always use the absolute minimum assist level possible. That helps us to end days exhausted, because on minimum assist the heavy/loaded touring bike turns into the equivalent of a heavy unloaded regular bike. But even pedaling an unloaded regular bike all day can be tiring.
On the flat, without headwind, the bikes could deliver at least 120 km. What they did not like was lots of significant hills - the type we would have been pushing the bikes up in other years. Then the range could be just 60 -70 km.
You can see something like Dodie's bike at the first link below. Her model has the battery on the front of the seat tube, which was good, keeping the centre of gravity low. The second link has lots more on range - there are so many factors - like rider's weight, type of gearing, etc.
https://www.victoria-fahrrad.de/modell/victoria-e-trekking-7-5/
https://www.bosch-ebike.com/ca/service/range-assistant/
Stay tuned for a page I will add to this blog with more on what we found out about e-assist on this trip!
5 years ago
Sue and Jim
5 years ago