Travels with Claud

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Day 5

20160821

Anna Paulowna to Makkum



Arrived in Makkum in south west Friesland today. Tomorrow I’m cycling the 45km to Leeuwarden, and then plan on getting the train to Groningen. The ride to Groningen is 135km, and I’m happy to admit that’s just too far. Also, the outlook is heavy rain, pretty much the first I’ve had forecast in the daytime since arriving in Holland. I rode through a shower just outside Anna Paulowna this morning, but it only lasted five minutes, barely enough to get my longs wet!

After a huge breakfast brought to me in my private apartment, from which I was also encouraged to take lunch in a plastic ‘zip up’ bag provided, I set off for the Afsluidijk. It had been pouring with rain all through the night, and when I got up at 7.30 it still was. But, regular reviews of the weather forecast assured me that it would stop around 10.00. And as I flicked my way through the early chapters of the Ruby Wax book ‘Sane New World’, I noticed the showers becoming less frequent, and the glimpses of blue sky more so.

I decided to bite the bullet at 10.30. I packed my panniers, loaded them onto Claud, paid my bill and set off. The ride out to the Afsluidijk took about an hour and a half. It was a lovely ride through the polders in squally, blustery sunshine and showers, with the wind at my back. I appreciate that the ‘Bikenuts’ maps takes you along cycle tracks and minor roads, but being Sunday morning it was very, very quiet. I probably saw half a dozen cars between Anna Paulowna and the dijk, and about the same number of bikes and dog walkers.

If yesterday was a day of highlights, today could be a day to consider providence. The 32km Afsluidijk was always the centre piece of the trip. If the weather is not good I can imagine the ride across it being beyond awful. There’s nothing to see, but the the sea. Nowhere to stop that provides any shelter, and nowhere else to go. In a storm I can imagine stopping and curling up in a ball, and praying to whatever comforts you while it passes. Maybe a compassionate car driver would stop if they could see you, maybe not.

Fortunately I made the passage in perfect conditions; there’s that providence thing. The sun had come out, the wind was behind me, and I made the crossing in 55 minutes; which is somewhere on the good side of 30 km/hour. I had budgeted two hours, with a considerable dollop of apprehension thrown in. In fact this turned out to be a pretty perfect day. I saw five other bike riders, I over took two of them, the other three were battling the wind going the other way; so it’s not something people do all the time, even in good conditions!

Once over the dijk, feeling very satisfied, I made a very leisurely ride into Makkum. I stopped at an inhospitable looking service station called ‘Zurich’, where the first car driver I’ve come across in Holland, who didn’t give way to a bike, nearly flattened me! Luckily I recognise an ‘E’ class Mercedes driver when I see one, and took appropriate action! This incident and the location seemed well suited. I didn’t bother going into the services. I sat on a kerb in the car park and ate my ‘zip up’ lunch in the sun, contemplating my good fortune.

When I finally arrived in Makkum the weather was definitely on the change. It was more showers than sunshine. It’s a lovely place, and I rode around for a while watching boats navigate the canals, bridges and locks. But mostly I sat in shop doorways avoiding the rain. If you’re going to sit in shop doorways in Holland, of course providence say the best day is Sunday!

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