Cycling in the Netherlands and Belgium – Day 5 (Last Day!)

All good things come to an end.

Last day of the trip, from The Hague down to Hook of Holland and round to the P&O Ferry Terminal for the overnight sailing back to England.

Less cycling clips and more waffle on this one folks, as I discussed some of the things I’d enjoyed but also not enjoyed so much over the week.

Thanks to everyone who has followed these videos. Didn’t expect so much interest and positive feedback from such a modest trip. If you missed any of the earlier videos:

Day 1 – https://youtu.be/R59C5cG2PDw?si=lEOK8qZ7FrQsrXPr
Day 2 – https://youtu.be/gPnsYERe6eQ?si=ZCgLWX1cklSm-HC2
Day 3 – https://youtu.be/NkBWkh4e0uI?si=Ek1IQeKA89IeuqKc
Day 4 – https://youtu.be/5Abi6VRhkPU?si=UFl5tiXppDQ0H5ma

Happy cycling!

Well, good morning folks and welcome to day five and the last day. Just making our way out of the Hague back towards the coast and then down towards the hook of Holland just because we can and quite fancy seeing it for myself. And then we’re going to go inland, cross a few waterways and back round to uh the ferry terminal. So, my ferry leaves at half 8 tonight. Probably need to be there by about half 5 6 just to make sure it’s a stressfree uh check-in. And uh yeah, looks like I’ve got plenty of time. It’s an absolute scorcher today. Probably the hottest day of the week up to about 33 34°. So, going to take it easy. Lots of stops. And uh as ever, if we come across anything vaguely interesting or even things that aren’t vaguely interesting, I’ll get the GoPro out and uh yeah, come along for the ride. Here’s where we are. As I probably mentioned on every single video this week, the usual absolutely amazeballs cycle waves. How am I going to go back to the penines? I don’t know. [Music] [Music] No retirement plan. Don’t know if I’ll make it till then. Cuz I made a mess and I don’t have to my name. Don’t want to give up. Don’t know if I do enough to make this world better than when I came. Oh, heaven on earth. Heaven on earth. We could have heaven on earth if we wanted to. Well, folks, I cycle right past this and then stopped and looked at the map. So, just returning to show you the Hook of Holland. There’s a tram stop uh right here. So, there’s just tons of people pouring off the trams and the beach is literally 50 m away. Pretty cool. I don’t know if I’ll see the UVLA sign or where it is, but yeah. [Music] I think it’s the end of URL 15 or the start depending which way you’re doing it. And uh I’m actually just leaving. My ferry is just leaving. I think a stones for over that way, but I’ve got to go probably about 10 miles in land and then work my way back round. But uh first thing I’m going to do is get out of this sun. It’s an absolute bloody scorcher. I don’t think I’m going to stop around here. It’s a bit like the place yesterday on the beach. Not the greatest place to leave a bike. So, um going to go into I think there’s a sort of hookah Holland old town maybe a couple of miles down the road and then we’ll uh yeah, we’ll get a cold drink and uh spot luncher. Well, that little cafe stop came at just the right time and 40 minutes in the shade was such a relief and a nice club sandwich and a cold beer. That looks like the uh the Stenner Ferry on this side of the waterway. But uh we’ve got to track about six or seven miles kind of inland and then do a U-turn effectively across the waterway I think on a little ferry and then track back to the PO terminal. Not sure how much more I’m going to film here, but I will come back and share with you a few reflections on these last five days cycling and the good, the bad, and the ugly. But yeah, for now, 34° scorching and just uh tracking around to the end of the ride. Time flies. [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Well, Well, folks, you just picked up the weird dystopian wall thing behind me. And I remember that from uh day one, just leaving the ferry. And I guess that means we’re back on the same road that I cycled up away from the ferry on uh when was it? Tuesday. Tuesday morning. What now? Diversions. Yeah, just a few miles, I think. Uh, back down along the waterways. And what time is it? Nearly 4:00. So, just about the right time to check in and uh get on the ferry, find my cabin, and kind of decompress and cool down. It is absolutely baking hot. And uh if I’m being totally honest, that block headwind a few miles back there uh slightly broke me. Well, I got an absolute bastard block headwind here. Uh this is a soul destroying section. It’s just straight as an arrow. You can probably see the wind turbine. Might give you some indication of the headwind. It’s uh so hot as well. It’s just a fan oven in the face. I’m trying to console myself with the fact that it’s only I hope for about half an hour and then I’ll pick this up as a tailwind coming back on the other side there. Wow. A little uh sting in the tail the very last section. Oh man, it’s tough. Come on, legs. Come on, legs. And uh yeah, I’ve had enough sunshine for a lifetime this week. I really can’t complain. I shouldn’t complain, but yeah, looking forward to getting out of the sun and uh getting into the shade. But it’s been a fantastic week. What can I say? just some of the most relaxed, chilled cycling I think I’ve ever done on a tour. Uh, kept the mileage really sensible these five days. So, I think the longest day was that first day with the detour about 45 miles. And then all the other days have been like low 30s, which uh doesn’t sound like a lot, but you know, you’re on a touring bike, you’re carrying more weight, you’ve got the packing, unpacking, the checking in, the checking out, all the logistics. So, it’s surprising how the day just disappears even with relatively modest uh mileage. I mean, given the short days, I’ve been finishing really early, sort of mid-afternoon, and it’s been so nice to kind of get checked in, have a little doze. Yes, I do sound like an old man. No apologies. And then kind of enjoy mooching around, having a little walk, and finding a nice spot to to have a meal and a beer in the evening. So, yeah, really nice. And I, you know, I just wish wish I had more time. time I had more days to uh to spend over here, but fortunately it’s back to the grind on Monday and I’ll certainly be dreaming about uh coming back to the continent and doing some more touring cycling. The bike has been absolutely flawless as uh I was hoping as I was expecting. Uh hasn’t skipped a beat and hasn’t needed any maintenance or any adjustments whatsoever. Super comfortable. The Brook saddle is pretty much there, I think, in terms of it being broken in. I’ve had no discomfort whatsoever. And it’s been so nice just to wear normal hiking shorts and uh you know, trail running shoes and jump off the bike and walk around and and you’re not sort of then wearing the wrong gear to be to be mooching around walking around. So yeah, really really enjoyed being on the bike this week and uh it’s been great. There’s been some tough sections which I probably haven’t filmed that much but you know there’s certainly some some rough with a smooth I think and today was that bloody block headwind. I remember the the few miles getting into Antworp were pretty boring if I’m being honest. Not very interesting cycling. Again, headwind. Just head down and kind of get them done. Don’t think I filmed too much of that for obvious reasons. Uh getting into itself was I I think I arrived uh into the city through a pretty downtrodden, rough, slightly dodgy area. And my first impressions were pretty bad to be honest. But um as I got more into the center and obviously more then into the old town and uh got a bit of a a better sense of the whole city um it just went up and up and up in my estimation and I left that place uh really thinking it was it was a fantastic and beautiful city in Belgium. Uh but yeah, not all kind of rainbows and unicorns definitely and you know even though the mileage has been modest, you still got to do it. you still got to push the pedals and even though Holland’s flat. Uh it does mean the headwind is is pretty severe at times. Uh it hasn’t been too bad this week, but I’ve certainly experienced one or two sections where the headwind’s really been uh pushing against me. Uh it’s flat, but there are a few hills and certainly some of that coastal riding can be quite undulating and can kind of catch you out. Uh so you know it’s cycling sort of easy but day after day after day cycling is uh is quite quite difficult. Not difficult what can I say? you you need a certain amount of resilience and and comfort on the bike um and what’s the word conditioning I suppose to to not just have a suffer fest day after day. The other thing I’ve experienced this week which is really quite new to me is uh you know a couple of times feeling quite lonely and I’ll be honest it’s it’s kind of caught me out a little bit. It’s not something I was expecting at all. Um, of course I’ve been alone for the week, uh, you know, bar conversations here and there and all that sort of stuff, but I think there’s a difference between being alone and being lonely. And I I don’t get a lot of me time and I really cherish it and look forward to it and and really enjoy time that I spend on my own. For me, it’s a great chance to sort of reset. Uh, and I’ve never really on all the kind of solo bike tours that I’ve done in recent times, I’ve never felt like I was lonely or it’s never occurred to me, but you know, I’d say two or three times, particularly in the evenings, like sort of sitting on your own and having dinner with lots of people around you, chatting away and all the rest of it. It’s I had a few kind of pangs of feeling quite sorry for myself if I’m being honest. And I was sort of trying to think the other morning like I don’t get that because in in the UK I’ve been in that situation on on bike trips and never had the same feeling. But I think maybe it’s the language barrier and you know Holland if you speak English to anybody they reply in absolutely perfect uh English back to you. It’s it’s absolutely amazing. But that being said, you don’t hear uh well, you do hear bits of English around you, but you know, it’s not like sitting somewhere in in England where you might overhear a bit of a conversation and you might, you know, chip in and strike up a conversation with somebody and and away you go. So, there hasn’t really been any of that. And I I think that’s what’s done it. It’s the it’s the sort of language barrier that’s just heightened that feeling of aloneeness and I think for me it’s probably uh led to you know a couple of times feeling feeling quite lonely. So I probably need to give that a bit of thought and if I do a longer trip in Europe sort of figure out how I’m going to sort of mitigate that cuz I don’t want to go on a long trip and just feel sorry for myself. I want to I want to be enjoying it. And uh as I said, it’s uh it’s never happened to me before in the UK, but uh yeah, I’ll be honest, it’s uh it’s something that I’ve had to sort of deal with uh this week in in Holland and Belgium. Yeah. But while I’m in a slightly grumbly mode and thinking about the negatives of this trip, which overwhelm me has been absolutely awesome, by the way, uh the other slight downside has been I guess the cost. I mean, it’s uh if I factor in the train tickets, ferry tickets, hotel, eating like pretty well every night and not, you know, not thinking about the prices for where I stop or anything. So, you know, I’ve not been sticking to a budget or anything. But, I mean, that being said, it’s way way more expensive than if I’d have gone off bike packing in the UK. I mean, this week while camping would have been amazing. So, ground would have been really dry and, you know, the weather would have been great. So, I could have probably for I don’t know a tenth of the cost perhaps done a nice week out in the sticks in the UK and and uh not felt those pangs of loneliness that I’ve just been talking about either. So, yeah, last little negative I suppose is just factoring in the cost. And I really suspect the next time I come across to Europe, I’ll have the tent with me and I’ll be doing a longer trip on a bit of a tighter budget. But this has been great as a little uh a little test, you know, dipping a toe in the water, figuring out out the logistics. I’m really glad I took a train just to get that experience of uh continental uh international travel if you like on those uh Euro city direct trains which are fantastic and actually quite simple to use uh as a cyclist. So I think all the kind of pieces are in place now for trying to clear a bit bit more time and do something a little bit more ambitious and get into them their Alps down uh down Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy way. Uh I think that maybe be the next kind of trip I uh I consider over this over this way. Well, good morning. Good morning. And uh it was a bit of a fitful night’s sleep on the ferry. Just about to go down and grab some breakfast, but I wanted to come on for one last time and say thank you so much for following along. If you made it this far in the video, I really appreciate every single one of you um that uh follows along and supports the channel. Uh just stay stay safe out there. Take care of yourselves and happy cycling and I’ll see you out on the roads or the fairies very soon. Bye. [Music] [Music]