FNRttC The (not the) Fridays Tour of the Low Countries 2015

[frank9755]

Miffy.
I forgot Miffy...

 

[frank9755]

Titus and I having a beer in the sun in a bar by a canal in Amsterdam.
Life is good!

 

[velovoice]

Titus and I having a beer in the sun in a bar by a canal in Amsterdam.
Life is good!

Ditto for most of the rest of us, albeit in Zaandam.

 

[frank9755]

Re Miffy/Nijntje.

Nijntje is a shortening of the konijntje, "little rabbit".

What is miffy short for...?

 

[Flying Dodo]

Yesterday was yet another glorious day, and we were all thinking it was just about perfect. Basically just mile after mile of little lanes or along canal paths.

Every town we go through has been so photogenic. If Carlsberg did cycle tours they wouldn't be as good as this. Martin & Gordon really have done an excellent job in scouting the destinations & lunch stops. Even the little "off-piste" diversions have been entertaining.

Over the week, we've had a couple of punctures, but yesterday there was a bigger problem. Unfortunately Nas discovered shortly before we arrived in our destination in Zaandam that he'd broken a spoke. Although he managed to buy a replacement which we fitted, a slightly bigger problem was found in that there were 14 cracks in the rim on the drive side. Today will bring decisions about either trying to get a replacement wheel, or getting the train.

Edit: A new wheel - Nas rides again!

 

[frank9755]

Chilling out in Zandfoort with @AKA Bob watching the cyclists beating along the coast into the cold headwind, waiting for it to start raining when @mmmmartin and Co arrive in a couple of hours' time.

Had a lovely run through Haarlem this morning; breakfast in the market square and a quick tour round the empty saturday-morning streets.

Followed by a brisk ride through the dunes (hills - ugh!) to Zandfoort, famous for its '70s beach cafes, and beach-yachting, which Titus and I might try shortly when we have done all the cafes on the strip.

 

[Flying Dodo]

And we're all back in Blighty which seems so grey & dull after a brilliant week or so touring on the continent.

 

[srw]

Don't forget your bags!

 

[theclaud]

As an avid follower of our adventures via social media, @srw will no doubt have spotted a yellow jacket boarding and will be winding up whatever current nonsense he's posting in the Labour leadership thread and casting an eye around for the car keys...

 

[srw]

As an avid follower of our adventures via social media, @srw will no doubt have spotted a yellow jacket boarding and will be winding up whatever current nonsense he's posting in the Labour leadership thread and casting an eye around for the car keys...

Nah.

It's an hour to Liverpool Street and another hour to Chalfont. I've got a couple of hours to remove the evidence of debauchery and mayhem.

 

[User482]

Nah.

It's an hour to Liverpool Street and another hour to Chalfont. I've got a couple of hours to remove the evidence of debauchery and mayhem.

I assume that there is an empty tin of confit de canard to recycle.

 

[StuAff]

I assume that there is an empty tin of confit de canard to recycle.

They could try ducking the issue.

 

[srw]

"The kitchen's a bit untidy but that's alright"
"It's a lot tidier than it was this morning..."

(I'd washed up, emptied and reloaded the dishwasher, put the last batch of hedgerow fruit gin away to mature, and begun tidying up the papers. I had then left pipe lagging on the floor from my new dynamo wheel.)

I gather that a very good time was had - even if FYP followed by €10 bottles of vino might not have been the best prelude to a 4:30 mistaken alarm call on the ferry.

 

[mmmmartin]

What a great bunch you are. Many thanks for everything, you were all marvellous and certainly deserved your medals. That was certainly among the very best cycling I've done anywhere.
This sort of trip is possible only with a club like The Fridays: it's teamwork an' stuff (eg steep stairs off bridges, waymarking, All-Upping, etc etc). Knowing each other very well before the trip tends to make it more of a group experience, rather than separate individuals who happen to be thrown together for a week (as would be the case on a CTC tour, for instance.).
Although I still think it's not so much a cycle tour, more an eight-day sitcom along the lines of "Last of the Summer Wine" only with bicycles.
Thanks for everything, not least the magnificent saddle, I've always wanted one but baulked at the cost. It'll go on my expedition bike, and every time I get a saddle sore I'll think of @User

 

[StuAff]

What a great bunch you are. Many thanks for everything, you were all marvellous and certainly deserved your medals. That was certainly among the very best cycling I've done anywhere.
This sort of trip is possible only with a club like The Fridays: it's teamwork an' stuff (eg steep stairs off bridges, waymarking, All-Upping, etc etc). Knowing each other very well before the trip tends to make it more of a group experience, rather than separate individuals who happen to be thrown together for a week (as would be the case on a CTC tour, for instance.).
Although I still think it's not so much a cycle tour, more an eight-day sitcom along the lines of "Last of the Summer Wine" only with bicycles.
Thanks for everything, not least the magnificent saddle, I've always wanted one but baulked at the cost. It'll go on my expedition bike, and every time I get a saddle sore I'll think of @User

With added Hinge and Bracket, of course.....

Was the saddle a Brooks perchance?