North Cape Cycling Adventure – Training and Planning

It’s been almost a month since I picked up my bike. It’s such a joy to be on the road. The cycling network in Flanders and the Netherlands is fantastic. I really do live in a bike-crazy country and that makes it incredibly easy to train and try out different training loops every time.

Anyone who’s interested in cycling holidays in the Low Countries should definitely check out this website! It’s in Dutch, but you should be able to figure out how it works. All those roads are quiet country roads and lead through gorgeous countryside, along tree-lined canals and past little villages, which by the way all have some kind of highlight. Whether it’s an old windmill, church, abbey or brewery, there’s always something to see or some place to take a rest.
I will use this great network of bicycle paths to make my way to Frisia in northern Holland. There I will hop onto the quite new, but very promising EuroVelo network.

As last Sunday afternoon was beautifully sunny after a night of snow, I went for a ride and brought my camera along to shoot some pictures…

Just wanted to give you guys an idea of where I live. As you can see it’s smack-bang in the middle of the Flemish countryside. It’s peaceful and quiet and I love it!

I’m leaving for the States on Monday, so I won’t need my bike for a couple of weeks. Therefore I’m taking it back to the shop one of the following days to have it checked up. Every time I’m on slightly rougher roads there’s this rattling noise coming from the rear fender. It’s a little annoying and I want to have that fixed as well.

All in all, everything is going really great.

I mean: I’ve got only four more days left at my job, I’m going to the USA next week, I will be somewhere south and warm during spring break and after that I’ll be exploring Scandinavia by bicycle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRMUIW0uvOA

Could my life be more exciting?

All my posts about cycling to the North Cape are listed here.