Today was a beautiful October day, and I needed somewhere new to ride, so I set out for The Netherlands.
There’s something fascinating about crossing the border into a different country, especially with the bike or on foot. It’s not as though everything suddenly changes, though you do notice immediate differences: signs in a different language, different street names, or the sudden appearance of a bike lane.
It’s more than the obvious differences though. It feels exotic knowing you’ve crossed into a different country and the next person you talk to is probably going to be Dutch (which he was).
Once outside of Düsseldorf there are many bike paths and small farm roads. These are great to ride on, but they have a couple of drawbacks. You can be riding on a nice paved road then suddenly find yourself on a dirt trail going through the woods. On a road bike, that can be a bit treacherous.
The other problem is that on a nice Sunday afternoon many other people have the same idea about going for a ride or a walk.
One of the many farm roads.
I found a nice farm road, smooth and without many other people. Many of these routes are marked as bike routes. I spotted a sign for Swalmen (NL). Sure enough, after a while I found myself going through a nature preserve on an acorn-covered dirt path. That was manageable.
Then the groups of walkers and people on bikes started to appear. Lots of them. Most people have these little bells on their bikes, and they will angrily “ching, ching, ching” them to get people to move out of the way. Since I have no bell on my racing bike, I will freewheel when coming up to someone, and they usually hear the clicking sound. If not, I will politely say “Entschuldigung” (excuse me).
This was not working today, so I was riding along dodging people and bikes, with my wheels shooting acorns to both sides and hitting people. Honestly I can’t understand how walkers and casual cyclists find this sort of situation enjoyable.
I found my way out of the woods and onto a path along the main road that took me into The Netherlands. I turned to cross to the other side of the road, and waited for traffic. I heard an angry “ching, ching, ching” from a couple coming down the path, since part of my back wheel was on the bike path.
Now, they had more than enough room to pass, and I really could go nowhere except into traffic. But they insisted on riding side-by-side on the path. The guy clipped my back wheel with the large pack on his bike and almost fell. Then turned to look at me as though it was my fault. I had no choice but to give him the universal signal of disrespect (this is how I know I feel somewhat at home here).
I rode for a while in the Netherlands, passing through some nice little villages with interesting houses and landscaping. On the way back, I traded people for cars, and took a more direct route, getting lost only once and making just a short detour through the woods. I felt as though I had earned my late afternoon coffee and Kuchen.
Bikes stopped at the cafe.
Cute little house in the Swalmen.
4 comments:
That's a good story. Today and yesterday were both beautiful, if not a little chilly, October days in NE Ohio as well.
Is there nothing special at country border crossings? ie, customs checks, that sort of thing? Do you carry your passport with you?
We all know anyone with a bell on their bike is a 'Fred'. "Universal sign of disrespect" - great euphemism there, mate.
Sounds like an enjoyable afternoon nonetheless. Just so you know, things are pretty much the same here for us "roadies". Despite light traffic and riding on a metro park road, motorists insist on passing as close as they can without slowing down a bit. Som'bitches!
It was still a great ride today - up N on Riverview, Valley View, Tinker's Creek and up the Gorge Pkwy. Great fall colors illuminated by bright sunshine on a cloudless clear-blue-sky day.
Can't ask for more than that. Well, the high was only 50°F, but I'm not complaining. Got in 3 hours ... Hey, I'm hungry :-).
There's no real border control on the small roads like that. Just a sign that says "Niederland" (I think that's how they spell it). Which makes it doubly interesing.
On the highways, you slow down a little but that's it. It seems there is a pull off for customs, if you need to stop and declare something.
Contrast that to the hassle with crossing the bridge to Canada to go to an afternoon race!
As for the cars, surprisingly I've not been harassed really. The people on bikes are far worse!
I too have had the fine pleasure of riding across borders in Europe. It is quite enjoyable. I did have one rather not so enjoyable experience in a car crossing once though...I was travelling with my brother and father (I was only 14 at the time), anyhow they were in the car behind me when we came to the border into Austria from Germany, my dad had my passport with him at the time. Oops! Within seconds there were about three border patrol officers surrounding the car with machine guns. It only took a few minutes for the mess to be explained by the German gentlemen that I was riding with and for them to inspect my passport and allow us on our way but man what an exciting few minutes it was!!!!!! Nothing like have three machine guns pointed at you!!!!! Glad to hear you are having less problems at the border.
I think machine guns is a better story though ... provided they don't go off. I think since the formation of the European Union things are so much different now.
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