July 21, 2026
My wife and I arrived in Amsterdam and were very excited that our bikes had also, emerging on the oversized checked baggage conveyor belt (1). Assembling the bikes in a (relatively) quiet part of the airport (2), we soon hopped the train to Gouda (3). Some friends, another couple from Boston, arrived after renting bikes in Amsterdam.
Much of the western Netherlands is land claimed from the water in this low-lying region. These polder were begun with digging small channels to funnel the water, which is then pumped up to a holding basin next to the tidal rivers. At low tide, a gate is opened to drain the pumped-up water into the rivers.
A series of bike baths lead south through the polders past bucolic cow and sheep pasture. The paths were shared with occasional tractors. Riding up a dike to the Hollansche IJssel (3) river, we rolled southwest, descending to a polder path again towards Krimpen aan de Lek. The locals at Krimpen were curious about our trip, and helped with pronunciation of some Dutch towns. Riding up a dike again to the river Lek to catch the ferry, a short bike ride on the other side to a lovely B&B ended the day. About 19 miles cycling today after our overnight flight.
(1) Never having flown bikes before, we opted to do so when we checked the price of bike rentals. We also wanted comfortable fitting bikes I could repair if needed as we cycled town-to-town.
(2) A man with a bicycle who was flying out asked where we got the cardboard bicycle box (which can be purchased at the airport). He was quite pleased when I said we had just flown in and he was welcome to have mine (and the roll of packing tape): "You just saved me €20, thanks." Shelly was starting a month-long trip to Norway complete with camping gear.
(3) Pronounced "Howda" with a hard H. Rhymes with "Chowder," pronounced with a Boston accent.
(4) The IJ dipthong (with both letters capitalized at the beginning of a proper name) makes the long I sound as in "ice."
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