Today the weather I predicted earlier came in force.
After a small shuttle to the east of Rotterdam, it was out into the elements riding past some Dutch classic windmills. The Kinderdijk area is a World Heritage Site and quite beautiful.
The old wind mills are now not used but historically lifted water out of the lowlands.
Rain and wind, a wonderful combo but it did not stop our group.
A water gauge shows a little reality. Sea level is about mid pole about eye height and the highest water level is the red tab on the top.
The Dutch postcard shot.
I was shooting today with the iPhone to keep the big camera dry.
Our entire group rode by this pump station and never noticed but the water engineer in me required that I stop and look. These are modern Arcemeides Screws and the way they pump large volumes of water now.
More bike paths.
More rain.
This is a Dutch Double Track.
The town of Gouda of which you may have heard and are probably pronouncing it wrong. Its pronounced Gowda not Gooda…. I was not aware of that.
A little known fact that the founder of Albertsons was a descendent of Albert Heijn who was a grocer in The Netherlands. Albert Heijn is a big grocery store chain here.
Canals and paths.
Later in the afternoon things cleared up and it was time to ride. Nadien and Larry hammer out some narrow roads. Later in the day, Team Michigan takes the stage.
After a goodly amount of time, Den Haag in the distance. In English it is known as The Hague of which you have heard, it is home to the world international court.
Amazing roads through the forest into Den Haag.
I have been heading down to the local bar after the day’s ride and watching the Tour de France at the end of the day. This may effect future blog post timing…… Notice that these locals are into the Tour supplementing tv coverage with internet data and having intense discussions in Dutch.
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