Today was a unique day. Today our guide said it was a first. The first time the entire group of cyclists had to be shuttled to the barge. But then, he corrected himself and said “except for Nate.” When seven riders left the route around 11am, the wind was 23 mph with gusts of 40 mph. The rest of us decided to move on because the lunch stop (on our own) at the North Sea beach area was only about 4 more miles. Nate skipped lunch and headed to Harlem. All of the riders who did not shuttle from the either the first snack stop, or from the Bulborum, were absolutely soaked when we reached the beach. Luckily a restaurant (the Zeezicht) was open and we had a warm lunch and waited to be shuttled to the barge - except for Nate. He rode the entire way to Haarlem on his own. He shared that the hail was coming at him sideways and the ground turned white. While we were eating lunch, there was a Severe Wind Warning with winds now at 31 mph and gusts of 50 mph. I ended up riding 17.6 miles of the potential 39 miles.
A little about the Hortus Bulborum. It is a garden museum dedicated to the preservation of rare and historic bulbs. There are tulip, daffodil, hyacinth and other flowers. We had a tour guide explaining the history, however the rain and wind sent us indoors for the remainder of his presentation.
Those of us shuttled, were going to arrive in Haarlem before the barge so VBT arranged for us to visit the only open museum: De Cruquius. The museum is the old Cruquius steam pumping station. The pump started work in 1850 and pumped Haarlem Lake dry in three years. It is part of the Netherlands history of reclaiming land through water management/pumping.
At the beach of the North Sea. The blowing sand reminded me of the movie Dune.
Our guide, Lia, navigated us out of the busy city of Alkmaar. This was the spot where we then continued on our own.
Gayle cycling in front of me through a park on a bike trail. Many a time I thought I was on a trail dedicated to bikes only to see a car coming my way.
Our snack stop today.
The North Sea in the distance.
Tulips named for Rembrandt even though he never painted any tulips.
The group of us that took refuge at the beach in a restaurant,
Inside the De Cruquius Museum.
My room.
One of our guides, Lia, telling us about the plans for tomorrow. Many of us 2018 Coasters say she reminds of us of our fellow Coaster, Rita.
In Haarlem, the view from the bow of our docked barge.
And the view from the stern. Where was that blue sky today?
Eleven of us decided to stay on the barge, stay warm, and ordered in pizza to the barge. It took a second set of pizzas made when the delivery person could not find the barge on the first try, but it all turned out good. The barge chef brought us each a glass of Limoncello to round out “Italian” night. The crew and guides are just the best.
