Just followed my dreams and Garmin
I have been off my bike for more than two weeks. Using that time to recover, to do all kind of social things and finish the last weeks of work, before the summer holiday felt in. During this recovery I was thinking about dreams and things I really enjoy doing and realised I almost lost the pleasure of riding my bike. It has been in my head for a while to cycle from my second home-town to my current living place and I decided to just go for it. Here the summary of the "Leipzig nach Amersfoort Tour". A lot of pictures, not too much text. And for those wondering when I will start racing again? Hopefully in September. For now just enjoy riding my bike.
Perhaps I don't say it really often, but I am so happy with my wife. Me having all those crazy ideas and her just saying "Okay, just go for it." And this time also: "Of course I will come with you to Leipzig, have a short holiday there and will guide you the first stage." So Bouman-Wammes and Wammes-Bouman went to Leipzig and had a few easy days over there.
First day | Leipzig to Hainrode | 173 km
The first day I was lucky to have Esther in the car behind me with a lot of extra food and drinks. I also did not carry my own luggage yet and so I made this the longest stage with 172 kilometers, partly flat, partly hilly and definitely not the shortest route, but a nice one. It had cobble stones, smooth asphalt and due to road work, a lot of deviations. It also had a really long, but beautiful climb to a TV tower, which we have seen so often from the highway traveling between Leipzig and the Netherlands. So cool to finally ride there by bike.
Our hotel was (I can say now) on the best spot of all six days and we really enjoyed our stay.
Second day | Hainrode to Welsungen | 130 km
First day with my big saddlebag. On the flat roads, it went smoothly, but I underestimated the influence of this extra weight on the climbs. But like always: just keep on peddling and you will get to the top. Also went it is over 15% ascent.
Welsungen turned out to be a really idyllic little town and the hotel had the most friendly people I have met during this trip. I combined having dinner and drying my laundry at the terras actually for smokers, but luckily no smokers were there.
Third day | Melsungen to Winterberg | 111 km
Really bad weather was predicted in Winterberg with storm, rain and thunder. I decided to leave as early as possible and hoping to be in Winterberg before all this bad weather.
Although I did ride really easy and relaxed, it somehow felt like a time trail and not so relaxed. In the end, the weather in Winterberg was just fine and I could have done it differently, but that is just afterwards. It was also nice to be in Winterberg early and have some time to drink coffee and eat 'Apfelstrüdel'. I had a really relaxed stay and it felt like a recovery day, although I did 111 km with more than 2000 meter of climbing.
Every day I had the same routine after the 'finish': checking in, taking a shower, doing the laundry and hoping for a good way of drying my cloths. Also in Winterberg it was the same, see the pictures below.
Fourth day | Winterberg to Werl | 133 km
The shortest way was about 80 km, but I decided to enjoy Sauerland a bit longer and took some extra climbs on my way to Werl and visit a lake.
It was a really nice day with good climbing, stunning views, friendly people and cooling down with ice. One crazy thing: the Germans tried to convince my that Soest was only 11 km away, but I new for sure I had 270 km to go...
Werl... well I found a good Italian restaurant and hd a lovely dinner... but no recommendation of going to this city from my side.
Fifth day | Werl to Haldern | 132 km
Finally a flat day. It was really the first day that I did not really needed the breaks (only for drinks it was necessary), that the hotel came actually a bit early, but that was also a nice feeling. I had to redraw the route a bit, because of the hot weather. I really wanted to know up forehand that there were gasstations or supermarkets to get some drinks. Therefore the route was for some parts not so nice as the other days, but also today I had some beautiful roads and amazing views. It was also strange to observe the differences in surroundings comparing to earlier days and it looks more to Holland every km I came closer to the border. Today was also the first time I saw Arnhem on the road signs. That felt special for some reason.
I arrived two hours earlier at the hotel then planned, but again really friendly people and I could already check in. I closed the day with a nice ice-cream to celebrate the last evening on the way home.
Sixt day | Haldern to Amersfoort | 121 km
Final day! Crossing the border without seeing any signs. Just suddenly Dutch cars, Dutch road signs and driving on the Grensweg (Dutch for Borderstreet). I felt disappointed. Being on the road for so long, well I expected crossing the border would feel special, but now I almost missed it. The rest of the day was okay and I never have been so happy to arrive in Amersfoort. That did feel different than normal.
It was a really nice adventure, I am happy I followed this dream. It will also not be my last trip, because it made great fun.
On important side-note: although I don't mind being alone, it is nice to share things with somebody. Of course I posted pictures on Instagram, put the rides on Strava, and people liked that of gave Kudos, but it is not the same as standing on top of a mountain, real-live sharing the experience of climbing and the view. So next time: Esther, you have to join me on the bike :-).
