I had a fantastic couple of days with Maddy and Jack in Zwolle. I haven’t seen them for more than 15 years and the days were just full of talking and laughing. What lovely people, enjoying life in a very nice part of the world.
We rode to town and picked up a few things including some amazing cheese, some of which made its way onto today’s lunch – yum. We also rode to dinner, talked more, laughed more and generally caught up on the intervening years.
Today, they rode with me down to the ferry which took me across the IJssel and to Hattem. It was sad to say goodbye, but I’ll make sure it’s not another 15 years before I see them again.
The ride was interesting from the start. Hattem is a lovely old town and I sat and had a coffee while I had a call with Minou.
After that, it was into the Veluwe which consisted of forest and heather for the rest of the day. I’d asked Komoot for a gravel ride, and it served up some single and double track along with plenty of sand, and of course, paved bike paths in the middle of the forest. Nerd alert – the new Schwalbe Efficiency tyres simply ate up the sand and made it easy. I wish I’d had them in Poland. They were much better than the old ones (Schwalbe Allmotion), but let’s see how they go in the longer term.
As well as great trails, there were campgrounds, car parks and other things that seemed to appear out of nowhere in the middle of the forest.
I stopped in Vierhouten for an extra bit to eat. (The cheese and cucumber rolls were great thanks Maddy !). It was the only place open in the area. Apparently it’s quite a religious area, so Sundays are very quiet with most businesses closed.
The ride to the campground was along an embankment for many kms near Strand Nulde before following the water on the other side of the water, to the campground.
It’s a very relaxed place. So relaxed, that I couldn’t find reception. It was warm too, so I went to the restaurant / bar and had an alcohol free Heineken, which these days, is drinkable. There, I called the guy from the campground and he happened to be at the bar too.
His attitude was – go find a spot and come by in the morning and pay. I like it. It’s a beautiful spot by the river / water / canal – I have no idea what to call it.
