A Sunday cycle

Why I think the Dutch love to cycle:

1. It's flat.
2. There are cycle ways everywhere, and I do mean EVERYWHERE...
3. There is a cycle network across the entire country - all routes are numbered and maps are displayed throughout the network.
4. Cyclists have priority everywhere!! And when they don't, it's acceptable to take it!
5. It's flat.

So off we went for a Sunday cycle. Because the weather has been so good there were a lot of people out cycling. Young, old, families and their pets. People often cycle while they 'walk' their dogs, but the more spoilt / lazy puppies get their own little basket attached to their owner's bike. This also applies to kids who are too young to cycle on their own...you see them in seats at the front or the back, or even a kind of cart attached to the front or back of the mum or dad's bike. The Dutch do love to cycle.

The first place we headed to was a village called Nuenen to see a water mill made famous by a van Gogh painting. In 1884 he painted a series of watermills around Nuenen. He lived in this village from 1883 - 1885 so a chunk of his work is based around the area. We couldn't get right into the grounds of the mill because it is actually on someone's private property but there is a plaque with information at the front and an uninterrupted view of it.

Of course the Netherlands is more famous for its windmills and when you're out cycling in the countryside you come across quite a few...

As I mentioned before, there are cycle ways all over the country. You can find them at the sides of busy roads, small roads, canals, rivers, lanes...everywhere. Here are a couple of the ones I like...

We stopped at a couple of small, local cafes for some drinks on the way. I must admit...it was good to get off the bike for a while...my bum was so sore!! When we got home in the afternoon I could hardly sit down!! I just lay down on a matress and drank cordial for a while! I think I'll have to invest in a gel seat for my bike as I think I'll be cycling quite a bit here.