Day 40 – Sat 19 Jul 14, Breda to Rotterdam

Forecast: 20-32 deg C, Listed distance: 58km; Actual distance: 90km; Cumulative distance: 1696km; Av speed: 16.3 km/h; Max speed: 38.5 km/h; Breda: 22 deg C; Rotterdam: 34 deg C; Start time: 8:16am; Stop time: 3:45pm; Ride time: 5h24m

It was already 22 deg C when we woke up this morning so we knew we were in for a warm one.  Breakfast was way too expensive in this hotel (Euro14 ea) so we bought some stuff from the supermarket just up the road last night and stored it in the fridge.  This is one of the few rooms we've had with a fridge, which was nice.

It wasn't long before we were out of the city on an excellent bike path.  There are over 1 000 000km of bike paths in the Netherlands so it was not surprising that we found one here.  Breda is not that big therefore we were quickly clear of it and into the country.  The farms here had lots more small crops, such as veggies: cabbage, carrots, garlic and onions. There were also lots of animals, including deer and the cutest miniature goats we've ever seen.   The majority of the day was spent riding on very nice off-road cycle paths with a few on-road and a few roads.  There was enough variety in the scenery for it not to be boring, and a side trip to Noah's Ark in Dordrecht was a bonus.  The ark is an incredible sight at 137m (450ft) long all built by a Dutch carpenter who had a dream that the Netherlands was going to flood.  This cannot be considered an unusual dream when you consider that over half the population of the country live below sea level. 

We saw our first Dutch windmill (1856) for this trip not far out of Breda, and then many more in the area of Kinderdijk about 15km from Rotterdam.  The 19 windmills at Kinderdijk were built about 1740 to help control the water in that area.  They are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are one of the Netherland’s best known tourist attractions.   We also had a ride on the ferry to get from Kinderdijk to the other side of the Rotte River where Rotterdam is.  It was still 18km from there to the hotel though and by this stage Wendy had had enough riding for the day. Riding in 34 deg C is bad enough, but add 10kg of luggage and you're working a tad harder to get anywhere.  So, whilst the profile was very easy, with a tail wind in parts, the heat was a slower-upperer! We both gained a bit of colour today.

Having been to Amsterdam Wendy thought she was ready for the city cycling.  Well, they now allow scooters and quite large motorbikes to share the bike paths and this is a different thing altogether. Wendy came close to being run down on a couple of occasions so she is not sure how she will handle city cycling from here on.  It was therefore with much relief that we found the Hotel van Walsum hotel and checked in.  We were both so looking forward to a nice shower and an LLD in a nice cold room.  How disappointed we were to find this room had no aircon?!!! We cannot really print what Wendy said.  When making bookings Wendy has four criteria: must have aircon; must have free wifi; room must be bigger than 15m2; and breakfast must either be included in the room rate or a decent price. This hotel had all that in its description so Wendy booked.  Upon questioning the very arrogant (he wasn't arrogant with Greg) man at reception, Greg was told that we had booked a standard room and only the comfort rooms have aircon and there are no more comfort rooms for tonight. Oh well ... big sigh!!

We had dinner at a pizza and pasta place very close to the hotel and after returning, Greg suggested Wendy check Booking.com to see if there are any comfort rooms for tomorrow night, and there were. So Greg saw the man again and got an upgrade for tomorrow night.  That made Wendy a lot happier.  However, it's still very warm and we don't even have a fan.  We did ask but one could not be found???!
All in all it was a fascinating day where we saw some great sights, both man-made and natural.  Just to see first-hand the fantastic bicycle infrastructure in the Netherlands was a real pleasure.  It's not just about paths, but it includes the over/underpasses, the thousands of road crossings/intersections, the special bridges, bike ferries, separate bicycle traffic lights and last but certainly not least the signage to connect it all together.  We can only dream of something similar in Oz. 



Our first sighting of a tradiitional Dutch windmill
The more modern windmills
Noah's Ark at Dordrecht
Room 15 Hotel van Walsum

Bike path out of Breda
Noah's Ark at Dordrecht
Noah's Ark at Dordrecht
Canal scene
UNESCO windmills at Kinderdijk
Interesting architecture outside Rotterdam
Bike path into Rotterdam

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