Day 9

Sleeping location: Green Donk campsite near 's-Hertogenbosch (yes really to both of those names)
Distance (km today/total): 127 / 905
Estimated climb (m today/toal): 300 / 7700
Number of waterfowl seen: ∞
Day in three words: Dutch stereotype generator

All the cliches are true: odd place names, pancake flat landscape, a constant 30kph wind, wonderful cycling infrastructure, loads of water, loads of ducks and geese, bitterballen. All enjoyed/tolerated in spades today.  The going was actually pretty tough due to the constant wind coming from the side, meaning that you either had a nagging headwind or a weak tailwind depending on the exact direction of travel.

Other things were better, mostly to do with the cycle lanes. Maybe 5% of today was spent on normal roads; the rest was all cycle lanes, mostly segregated. The Dutch do this so well and as a result EVERYONE cycles. It's great to see an old woman with her dog in the basket or a kid on his way to hockey practice, both cycling slowly and carefree without a helmet because there's no risk from cars. Sadly the chances of this happening in the UK are zero because of the daily mail. OH WELL.

Met up with my friend Lorenne in Dordrecht about halfway, which was nice. Ate lots of chips and bread. Saw some pleasant little towns. Other than that not much interesting, and now it's bedtime, and it turns out I didn't forget any camping stuff, result. Onto Germany tomorrow, lots of Kms to knock off as we're aiming for Mannheim (420km) in three days.

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