A Dutch bimble

[Wapping]

Whilst it is very easy to knock Holland, this (along with the parallel thread on Norfolk) does show that it’s possible to have a good time just about anywhere.

What it (and other places) is, is ‘different’. It’s not the Alps, that’s for sure but neither is Scotland or Cornwall.

 

[grantmac]

A few hundred years ago, the Dutch introduced a property tax. The tax threshold was based on the width of the property, so the locals started to build their houses much narrower and taller, which required steeper and narrower stairs. In a way, it was their version of the windows tax, here at home, which saw magnates bricking up windows.

One oddity to look out for is a tulip bulb, crowning some older properties. This harks back to the explosion in demand for tulip bulbs, which lead to fortunes being made and lost. Make a fortune? Then crown your property with a tulip bulb.

tell me about it; its still here and although the calculation now depends on the average value of the surrounding properties in a specific postcode neighbourhood. I pay EURO 1200 per year for a semi detached property of 250 Sq meters. Then you get all the other taxes, water management - yes this cost around 700 per year for the government basically to manage the dykes so half the country doesn't disappear under water....an then you have the ridiculous 52% income tax (staggered but still). Lovely place to live but you get taxed up the ying yang....

 

[grantmac]

Thanks for posting this Orinoco! Great write up from my neck of the woods and ask Wapping says its easy to knock Holland with all its speed bumps, cameras etc but there are still some lovely areas to visit provided you stay away from the ''Randstad'' or big urban areas of Amstersdam ,Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.
Heading East and South East are some great rides with quite a bit of recert (WW2) history. North (Friesland) and South Zeeland can be flat and a bit boring.

 

[Orinoco]

tell me about it; its still here and although the calculation now depends on the average value of the surrounding properties in a specific postcode neighbourhood. I pay EURO 1200 per year for a semi detached property of 250 Sq meters. Then you get all the other taxes, water management - yes this cost around 700 per year for the government basically to manage the dykes so half the country doesn't disappear under water....an then you have the ridiculous 52% income tax (staggered but still). Lovely place to live but you get taxed up the ying yang....

Also I understand the car tax, talking to Dutch friends about the cost of taxing a car, 140 euros a month for one, seems the UK car tax regime is a bargain

 

[Orinoco]

A bit behind on the posts now, but will pick up where I left off.

I walked into Rhenen in the afternoon, a beer in a cafe whilst people watching, always interesting. It's funny listening to Dutch conversations, some words I can easily pick out and understand the gist, also the overall delivery and rise and fall of speech is very familiar, I think English and Dutch language must be closely related, the intonations are the same, unlike listening to an Italian of French conversation. I walked back towards the hotel and realised that I hand't decided where to eat, my options now were the hotel, a steak house or another pancake house. I chose the pancake house close to the hotel, despite my misgivings of the previous evenings pancake. What a difference, so much better, I asked the waitress why and she explained that many places now use machine made pancakes, their's wa traditionally made and 100% better.



Next morning, first breakfast at the hotel, the usual continental buffet, all you can eat, a nice selection of stuff, including bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and mini pancakes, but no beans; who knew the Dutch could do a 'Full Dutch' as needed. I went for the healthyish options.

My Dutch friend Peter arrived at 10:30 or so, after a coffee off to explore the Park de Hoge Veluwe, north of Rhenen/Arnhem. After a few circular tours courtesy of his Tom Tom and passing the same lady on a bicycle 4 times we made it out into some beautiful countryside, first part of the journey not dissimilar to a trip around the Somerset levels, then into forest and heathland, again much like the New Forest heath. I'll post up the GPX tracks late so bods can follow. We stopped at Radio Kootwijk, weird name for a village, but a place which grew up around a one time radio station, well worth a visit Radio Kootwijkhierradiokootwijk.nlhttps://hierradiokootwijk.nl, there are also a number of sand and gravel roads, though it seems we had a right to use them Peter wasn't comfortable with riding them amongst the pedestrians and cyclists - much the same as using green lanes in the UK really.

​

The weather was hot and humid, 27/28 degrees, as the forecast had been mixed before I left the UK I'd opted to leave my Rallye jacket at home and bring something a bit more suited to a cooler UK summer, so sweltering was the order of the day. After a few more kilometres of heathland and forest we stopped at a lovely cafe for lunch, I let Peter order, but wasn't really prepared for whatever it was called, a plate of brown bread, three eggs, ham and cheese, it was very good, just more than I was expecting to eat and heavy on a hot afternoon. There was a local bike club at the cafe, 'Half Gas' on lovely Zundap KS50's, lots of nice two stroke smells as they made a slow and smoky exit!






Following lunch we followed more tree lined roads, before ending up at 'De Posbank' the highest point around here for a photos and then on into the centre of Arnhem, which was very busy, before exiting onto the dyke road back to Rhenen. By the time we arrived back the rest of the friends I'm meeting were here, so lots of catching up with people I've not seen for a few years from around Europe and America. More later

 

[The Other PaulG]

Really enjoying this, thanks for posting.

The Zundapp photo is just exceptional, I could have spent a very long time looking at that lot!

 

[Orinoco]

It's always nice to catch up with old friends, last night was no exception and fortunately all speak English to some degree. After breakfast we set off on a group ride on a circular tour westwards along the Lek from Rhenen towards Rotterdam/Dordrecht using mostly small roads running along the dykes again through some lovely little towns. The dyke wall roads were again single track with lots of twists and turns, finally after two short river ferry crossings stopping for lunch at circular Fort Vuren, part of the Dutch 'waterline' defences dating from the 1844 and also used in WW1 and WW2.














and of course more windmills...


and more lovely old towns...



It's been really hot and humid again today, despite the increased cloud cover, around 28 degrees. Lunch was a long and laid back, we didn't get going again a couple of hours later, then manage to lose more than half the group, which was probably a good thing as smaller groups on the dyke roads are a bit more discrete. Unfortunately along some 30km of the roads maintenance of the dykes was underway and lots of the roads closed, so lots of diversions from the chosen route, but interesting and fun all the same.

Towards the end of the route I peeled off as I had some shopping to do. Each year we meet we have a tradition which has built up known as the 'Grappa Tree', different nationalities bring drinks, generally spirits which are local to them, it started with our Italian contingent and their grappa. I'd bought Pimm's No.1 with me, complete with mint from our garden, I just needed lemonade, strawberries and cucumber to complete serving. We've had some interesting drinks and food over the years, including the Swedes bringing surströmming

Here's a typical dyke wall road, single track, but plenty of room.



Also lots of storks about, some in fields, some nesting and some flying, well they would do I suppose, but they are huge when flying.



The hotel were staying in is the Hotel ‘t Paviljoen, Grebbeweg 103-105, 3911 AV Rhenen, Nederland (http://www.paviljoen.nl/) which I can recommend, were on a half board basis for the stay, but the cost when I booked for an additional night was 54 euros, breakfast 17.50 euros. The rooms are a bit small, but air conditioned and all en-suite.

 

[Wapping]

Great report.

Thank you.

 

[Jockser]

Enjoying this, thanks

 

[Orinoco]

Yesterday was a bit of a lost day as it rained and I needed a break from riding, so no photos of interest from the day, just friends chatting, putting the world to rights, listening to other perspectives on Ukraine, cost of living, young people, Basecamp and comparing ailments and medicines taken... we're all of an age! However it gave me the chance to sort out some of the routes which I'll attach here as tracks, as far more useful, as always come with a caveat that these were fine when we rode them , however, as our American friends say, your mileage may vary. A circular route of the Velum National Park - sandy dunes, hills, forest and dyke wall roads and circular route along the Lek/Rhine and visit to Fort Vuren.

Sunday, lots of goodbyes for another year and I take off on the way home, initially motorway, yes the Himalayan can do motorway, I chose a steady 65mph. The first fun was looking out for petrol, on Saturday the Dutch government had withdrawn the tax cut they applied to fuel during the pandemic, there seems to have been an increase of somewhere between 14c/20c/litre, meaning that at some forecourts I saw 2.20 euro/litre, so a rental chug to the Belgium border were I filled up at 1.61 euro/litre, every little helps. At this point I'd done 220 miles, the reserve warning had come on 45 miles before, yet I only managed to squeeze 12.06 litres into the tank, the capacity is 15 litres, so still another 3 litres in reserve. The bike has been managing 94mpg (@ 2.5 litres/100km), so potentially another 100km/60 miles available if stuck, not bad, making it a 280 mile tank range

I stopped in Antwerpen to visit a friend, have coffee, lunch and catch up. Don't do that if visiting, Antwerpen is a pain, even on a Sunday morning, it's worse than hideous at other times and I always get lost when leaving. This time was no exception, I didn't find the Kennedy Tunnel on the way out, but did manage to find myself heading towards Brussels rather than towards, but not into Ghent. There are some lovely little towns to plot a route along, Denderronde, Aalst, Ninove, Zottergen and Schorisse, the latter towns are in the Flemish Ardenne and Pays du Collins (https://visitwallonia.com/en-gb/pro...-collines-nature-park/10017?cookie_lang=en-gb) worth a visit, very pretty and nice roads, lots of local bikers out today. Only one photo as an example...



I stopped in Ronse/Renaix - this is where the language border is, so towns usually appearing with both Flemish and French names, had a coffee and Sprite before pondering on what to do next. I'd booked a B&B through AirBnB in Menen, near Lille, it's not worth reporting on, it's a bit grim, but only 57 euro for the night, clean enough for a grubby biker. The owner has two project bikes he's reporting one an early 80's Honda CX500 custom, not my thing, though I like the later 650 plastic maggots. Dinner was very low key as the B&B isn't in Menen, it's in a small village outside with a couple of bars and a 'Le Frite D'Or' a chip shop to you and me, so that was dinner, bit of a change from my last few evenings! Thant's it for now, whilst I think about a route to the tunnel for tomorrow. Tootle Pip.





Before I go, worth mentioning that the speed enforcement cameras here are painted a shade of grey that's tricky to see and often near trees...

 

[andysdad]

Great RR

BTW Hold Alt key and press 2 - gives €.

A

 

[Orinoco]

Thanks Andysdad, for the € info, I've just spotted that it is there on the keyboard, € blindness, ha who knew, that's what comes of being a Brit I suppose!

The B&B wasn't the best, I'd assumed that B&B meant there would be a breakfast of some sorts, nope, they could offer it for an additional €12, or I could hoof along to the bakery in the morning... Fortunately my Antwerpen friend had packed the two croissants I'd not eaten for me, so I breakfast on an odd tasting coffee from their rather ropey looking Philips coffee machine, croissants and half a (small) jar of Nutella - ha, that'll show 'em! So, are my chocolate sugar fix I left Menen, I'd dithered about what route to take across to Calais, only 100 miles or so and do-able in short order via the motorways, but as my crossing was mid afternoon and I needed be there for check in by 14:50 I'd looked at small road routes on MRA, then decided to plan my own route, avoiding main towns and head south of Ypres and Poperinge heading to Boulonge-sur-Mer then swing north, following some of the Michelin 'green' scenic roads. For anyone staying in the area there are a couple of tourist guides showing a battle fields route and a 'bleu' scenic route available from the tourist office. I knew there were WW1 cemeteries, but I'd not appreciated how many until looking at my large scale Benelux map around Ypres.

The local guides...



How fortunate I was to have had spare croissants in the morning, one of the down sides of plotting a route avoiding larger towns was that in rural France cafes are in short supply outside of the tourist areas, every bar/cafe I came across was closed, so I missed out on a morning coffee and cake. I should have remembered this and gone via Ypres/Poperinge. The roads I used where a mixture of dual carriage way, coming out of Menen, then small back roads and D roads largely, lovely rolling countryside and small agricultural villages, like Wijtschate, with it's typical square and town hall.


Also, courtesy of an MRA route I came across the ruins of a German V1 launch site near Hazebrouck, quite surreal hidden away in some woods, just a short walk from the road. Funnier was the group of young people I came across there who were preparing for a game of paint ball! I love this sort of thing, in the UK the site would be fenced off with warning signs or someone charging for to visit.







The rolling hells here are high enough to warrant the term 'mont' to refer to some features and they also tunnels, which appears to be for an abandoned railway, who knew Dr Beeching's reach was so far on the railways.


I finally managed to find a cafe and a bakery, but not until Guines, just outside of Calais, I was determined to find somewhere before the wait for the tunnel. Guines was quite sweet, but clearly a little run down and had seen better days, but the square and town hall were lovely, apart from the roadworks, more of which in a moment. I also came across a plane parked in a builders merchant at Guines, not sure what that was about.


Guines town square and hall..



I was really early for my crossing, something which happens on the way out and the return, 'crossing anxiety', no matter how much I try I always find myself at the ferry or tunnel much too early. I was some two and half an hours early, but it gave me the chance to sit and watch the cars returning from the Le Mans Classic 100th year celebrations and from Spa's 24 hour race which were at the weekend, the owner of the Ford GT40 was obvious feeling the heat. The crossings were delayed as apparently the fumes and vibrations from so many classic cars kept setting off the smoke alarms according to the rail attendants. The whole car park was rammed full of interesting cars, though I'm not sure about the Bentley, but it did make me smile.


I also seemed to be sharing the crossing carriage with lots of Harley Davidson's complete with short, noisy pipes.

After the mornings ride across some rolling hills, it was interesting to compare to my return journey to Newhaven via Tenterden and across the weald. Kent and Sussex are beautiful, a handful of small charming towns and A and B roads rising and falling, twisting and turning through woods and farm land. It's great going abroad, but we really are blessed in the UK with such a variety of countryside. I took a detour through Woodchurch, as I spotted a brown information sign showing a church, alas, Woodchurch does not have a wood church, but I wish I'd spotted to take a photo of the church at Ruckinge which looked interesting, the B2067 from Lympne to Tenterden was wonderful. I'd also spotted the tribute to Rudyard Kipling as I passed through Burwash on way out so stopped to take a quick photo on the return.

I'll post that next as there appears to be a 12 photo limit...

 

[Orinoco]

Near Burwash, Mr Kipling - not famous for his cakes



And lastly whilst waiting for the lights to change in Hawkhurst, a pillar in the wrong place, maybe it's like a sausage roll?



That's all from me, nothing noteworthy on the last leg home to Dorset, looking forward to next year and the Alsace.

Tootle Pip

 

[The Other PaulG]

Thanks again, that was a really nice, gentle, Himmy-paced RR.

I wonder whether the V1 site was the same one Waps saw earlier in the year? Fascinating, I'd be really interested to find one of those.

 

[Wapping]

Thanks again, that was a really nice, gentle, Himmy-paced RR.

I wonder whether the V1 site was the same one Waps saw earlier in the year? Fascinating, I'd be really interested to find one of those.

Indeed a nice report. I have made a similar trip across the fen-like Belgian reclaimed land, with its little roads (sometimes under a car wide) with water filled canals or ditches, just feet away; ‘interesting’ if you are riding a 1600. The pace of the OP’s matches my own trundle around the Calais region on my Himalayan and confirms it will be ‘just right’ for my 25 bhp ride around the German Motorcycle Route, hopefully next year.

Nope, mine was well to the west of Calais, our intrepid traveller’s somewhere to the east northeast. There are many more V1 sites than I realised, which meant that the Allies were dependent on capturing them, rather than bombing. With the V2 (in their huge silo structures) bombing was more effective, which meant the Germans had to switch to the less effective method of mobiles sites. Even so, many hundreds were still fired.

 

[timeandtide]

Excellent RR, really enjoyed the gentle pace and humour . . . . might have to contemplate changing my “handle”!

 

[Mjhb]

Indeed a nice report. I have made a similar trip across the fen-like Belgian reclaimed land, with its little roads (sometimes under a car wide) with water filled canals or ditches, just feet away; ‘interesting’ if you are riding a 1600. The pace of the OP’s matches my own trundle around the Calais region on my Himalayan and confirms it will be ‘just right’ for my 25 bhp ride around the German Motorcycle Route, hopefully next year.

Nope, mine was well to the west of Calais, our intrepid traveller’s somewhere to the east northeast. There are many more V1 sites than I realised, which meant that the Allies were dependent on capturing them, rather than bombing. With the V2 (in their huge silo structures) bombing was more effective, which meant the Germans had to switch to the less effective method of mobiles sites. Even so, many hundreds were still fired.

This is a good read on the V2 subject. Harris certainly does his research on anything he writes.

V2: the Sunday Times bestselling World War II thriller https://amzn.eu/d/hgGZVg9


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