2014 - Zurich to Amsterdam by Bicycle

 Forecast: 18-25 deg C, sunny in the am, cloudy with possible rain in the pm, no riding today Wendy went to sleep last night in a wet singlet and a wet towel over her legs to cool down.  It worked and she soon had to kick the towel off and pull the sheet up.   After a leisurely breakfast we packed up our stuff for the hotel staff to move it to a new room with aircon when it was ready. Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe and one of the world’s busiest.  It started life as a Dam on the Rotte River and was settled in the first century.  The metro area has a population of around 1.2 million, and is called The Gateway to Europe because of its delta of the Rhine/Meuse/Scheldt Rivers giving shipping extensive access throughout.  It was bombed to oblivion in 1940 when the Dutch refused to surrender to the invading Nazis. The city was rebuilt between 1950 and 70 so it is quite modern.  They retained plenty of parks and gardens to the extent that it ...

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 t...