Noord-Holland

Four Days in Noord-Holland

24th - 27th May 2018

A sketch map of my route through Noord-Holland

To Alkmaar - Thursday 24th May

I cycled North from the hotel in Amsterdam following the Hemhaven cycle route to the ferry to cross the Nordzeekanaal, the ship canal that cuts across the country and links Amsterdam to the North Sea. Then I continued cycling North through the Province of Noord-Holland following cycle paths alongside canals and occasionally by the side of a road. The only place I could find for a mid-morning coffee was at an Ijssalon, I decided it was too early for an ice cream, but Lucy was delighted when my coffee came with a complementary glass of ice cream that was just her size. 

I continued to Alkmaar and found a room in what had once been a Catholic College built in 1927, it had been renovated sympathetically and many of the Art Deco features had been kept.

Some of Art Deco features in the old college where I stayed

To Den Helder - Friday 25th May

The cheese market at Alkmaar 

There has been a cheese market in Alkmaar for about 400 years. Traditionally farmers took their cheese to the Waagplein (weighing square) where porters from the cheese guilds carried them and laid them out in the square. The cheese was then weighed, tasted and a price agreed. This still takes place every Friday morning during the Summer, so as it was Friday I lingered to watch and take some photos.

It was a beautiful day when I left Alkmaar, to continue  cycling North by the side of canals, and through fields full of wild flowers. But  it was still into a head wind. 

The last 20 miles were  along the coast, and through sand dunes. I was pleased that I am slowly getting fitter and made good time. This was my longest day yet (about 40 miles) and stopping to see the cheese market meant I was late leaving.

I stopped for the night at the port of Den Helder, on the North East tip of Noord-Holland where I joined some women cyclists that I had met earlier for a meal. We sat on a terrace overlooking the sea, watched the Texel ferry going too and fro, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. 

A day on Texel - Saturday 26th May

Texel, pronounced Tes-sel, is the largest island in the Wadden Sea, approximately 15 miles long and 2 miles wide. The weather was really good so I caught the ferry across to spend a day on the island. As it was a weekend they had put on some extra ferries and I joined about 100 other people with bikes in the queue to get on board. There was still a strong wind blowing, so I planned a ride that would take me out into the wind, to give a wind-assisted ride in the evening when I cycked back to the ferry. 

I headed towards De Koog and made a detour to one of the sandy beaches where I parked my bike with all the other bikes and went for a walk and something to eat in a beach restaurant. The Island has its own breed of sheep, so on the way Lucy stopped to say hello to some of these Texel sheep.

I spent the afternoon meandering along the cycle paths, visited Den Burg the principal town and stopped to look at the boats in the fishing village Oudeschild.

It was a glorious sunny evening, but very windy, so I was glad I had it on my back as I cycled to get the ferry, which was packed with cyclists returning to the main land. I gave up counting them, but I estimated that there were over 300 bikes on board. I had difficulty finding mine again when we docked in Den Helder. 

 Den Oever - Sunday 27th May

A fairly short ride to Den Oever, so I sat chatting to people after breakfast and set out just after lunch. I had booked a small room in a B&B in Den Oever but they upgraded me to an apartment/annex. 

My living room, Lucy loved it as she found lots of games and a big box of Lego and sat up all night playing. 

It was great to have so much space to spread out, as I had two bedrooms, a sitting room, kitchen,  a fridge full of beer and my own garden.

My garden for the night

So I was able to do my own food and relax in the evening sunshine drinking a Tessel beer and writing something for this blog. 

Tomorrow I will cycle over the Afsluitdijk which starts in Den Oever and goes across to Friesland.