Cyclists Touring Club
Newark On Trent
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NEWARK NOTES from the Secretary
A Bridge too far.... I left you anticipating, or perhaps dreading, my account of our Bank Holiday trip to Sheringham. Well, wait no longer; after a shaky start, due again to the failure of the towing vehicle for the trailer, a convoy of white vans took us to Norfolk. Arriving ahead of schedule for a change, we reverted to form by heading for a tearoom for refreshments. For the afternoon we had a ride to Blakeney, paying a quick visit to the Beckhams - that's East and West, not any others you may be aware of - on the way. On Sunday we split up into smaller groups, the biggest going to Burnham Overy, five went to Happisburg, whilst I led a longer one to Horsey Windmill, taking in the delights of Hoveton Shopping World and Bacton Gas Terminal, both of which we admired from outside only. For Monday, we all headed out together until our progress was stopped by one of those pneumatic contingencies. We gathered in the drive of a large house while repairs were made, and were almost ready for the off when the lady of the house came out, not, as we expected, to tell us to go away, but with an offer of tea and biscuits, which, needless to say, was gratefully accepted.
Just over a month later, it was time for the annual overseas foray, which seems to get bigger each year. This year, the unlucky country was Holland, and we met up early on a rather grey morning for the ride to Hull to catch the overnight ferry. The journey went well enough, though some creative navigation at the end meant we only just made the ferry, and after a night's sleep on the boat we arrived in Europort on Friday 13th. We hoped it wasn't an omen. We met up with Nick and Adrian, who'd come over from Harwich, in the town or Brielle, just south of Europort but a world apart in character. After perhaps too long taken over refreshments, we were ready for another 70 mile ride to our accommodation at Ulicoten, just south of Breda. I was a little apprehensive about the accommodation; billed as a cabin to sleep 12, we'd thought it might have been a bit claustrophobic when full to capacity, and would have booked two had another been available - the rent was low enough. In the event, it was rather like booking an old-type simple Youth Hostel, and apart from rather restricted cooking facilities - 4 gas rings only - it suited us down to the ground. Needless to say, on Saturday, we took it easy, with a short ride to Breda for sightseeing, and then took a longer ride on Sunday, experiencing the only serious rain of the holiday, which meant we had to spend longer than planned in a bar while the storm passed over. I'm sure you'll understand we were gutted by this.
Early in the week, four of us, myself included, split off and rode to Arnhem, with a view to visiting the "Bridge too Far" and the military museum. After more creative navigating, we arrived in town to discover that they do have hills in Holland after all, quite big ones, and, guess what was at the top of one of them. Yes, it was the Youth Hostel, some things never seem to change. It has to be said it was worth the climb; very comfortable, and serving great food. Despite having to share it with two school parties, it didn't feel crowded, and one of the school parties made interesting company watching Holland vs Romania on TV in the Hostel bar (yes, hostel bar) on the second evening. The next day, we visited the Airborne Museum, situated in the building that became Major-General Urquhart's HQ during the ill-fated battle, finding it interesting and well presented. For the rest of the day we explored the forests to the north of the city, finding some delightful paths. On Wednesday, we returned to Ulicoten via the Velorama cycle museum in Nijmegen, well worth a visit if you're in the area, and despite better navigation, made almost the same mileage as our outward journey. The others had made some good rides in our absence, Dave and Steve doing 100 miles one day, and another ride going over the border to Antwerp, so Thursday was a quiet day before another long drag back to the ferry. Before long we were saying goodbye to Nick and Adrian before heading for the boat and a well earned night's rest. On Saturday, the party was definitely over. Grey skies turned to heavy drizzle that really dampened the spirits, though with hindsight it was better than the next day with its strong, gusty winds. We'd heard tales of Holland from others describing it as a sort of cyclists' Utopia, and by and large the stories were borne out by our experiences. Cycle paths seemed the norm on all but the smallest of roads, on which cyclists appeared to have priority. Although the usual cycle path gripes of taking the scenic route and disappearing signing applied to an extent, the situation was miles ahead of that in the UK. The most evident thing is that everybody cycles, so the motorists mostly see things from the cyclist's perspective. Accordingly, the infrastructure for cycling is much greater. It was obvious that the cycle facilities were planned in from the outset in most cases, not added on afterwards, or, at best, fitted in otherwise redundant land, as is usually the case over here. Bike shops were more like car dealerships, the plate glass windows showing off rows of Gazelle roadsters. We even saw an inner-tube vending machine, what an excellent "get-you-home" idea - every town should have one! There appear to be 2 types of bikes over there; the traditional utility roadster ridden by everyone, and not as slowly as might be imagined - several times we were overtaken by a little old lady on a "sit-up-and-beg", and road bikes, ridden mostly in organised groups for leisure. Our touring bikes stuck out like sore thumbs, which meant we were given a bit of extra tolerance when we got it wrong. A week later we gathered in the pub, compared photographs and exchanged stories, those who couldn't come wished they had, somebody proposed going again next year. That's for the future at the moment, certainly I had no desire to organise another trip when I got back, but you never know.......
Mike Graham Page updated 07/08/2008 |
