20 November 2014 - Day Trip from Lunteren to Apeldoorn

I was keen for a light day today. It was good to linger over breakfast, and once everyone had gone to start their conference for the day, I filled the coffee cup again and finished off the blog for yesterday and also lay out the map to see what I could do today.

It was getting on for 11am before I was dressed and rolling the bike away from the Hotel. I had decided to make it a shorter easier day, a ‘stroll’ through the surrounding forests and farms, with a view to a 40-60k day of easy riding. My ultimate goal was to get to the town of Apeldoorn, to the north west from Lunteren, just on the northern edge of the De Hoge Veluwe National Park.

It was a glorious ride. The bikeways are built alongside most roads in Holland, but are just as often singular bike paths that cut through forests and farms. I headed out to the first village of Otterlo, to the north east basically in a straight line to Apeldoorn.

The farms were just beautiful. The houses are all like mansions. Many of the rooves are tightly thatched, more impressively than anything I have seen in England. I passed through Otterlo, carefully taking notice of the bike path markings and arrows to adjoining towns and villages. There was no way I wanted to get lost today.

From Otterlo, which was a cute little country town, I headed for Apeldoorn. It was quite a hike. I was not feeling energetic, and actually found the 21k or so to Apeldoorn from Otterlo to be an effort. The scenery was delightful, the closer I got to Apeldoorn the more beautiful the surrounding forests became.

By the time I arrived at Apeldoorn, the GPS was up to 35k, meaning it would be a 70k day if I return the same way.

I stopped for lunch at a small café in the village ‘centrum’, enjoyed the coffee and decided that it was time to hit the road home again, thinking that I would be risking the curtain of darkness unless I kept moving.

Somehow I left Apeldoorn by a different way to that which brought me in. It wasn’t a problem because I wanted to see different scenery on the return trip. I was very careful though, to keep tracking with the small bikeway signs that kept me heading in the right direction.

After some 10k or so, I took a turn directly to the north to cut right across the national park way to the north of my ride to Apeldoorn earlier in the day. The forest was ablaze with colour. I just couldn’t get over the spectacular beauty of the forest. After many kilometers however, as I pushed westward, hoping to eventually link up with the village of Lunteren, which is several kilometers to the north of our Hotel.

Suddenly the forest came to an end. The baron moors opened up, the scrub was low, there was no more forest, in fact no more trees, just low lying scrub. It was such a contrast to the miles of beautiful forest through which I have been cycling all day. It became even more ironic. Suddenly the landscape turned into sand dunes! There was more sand than Cronulla beach! It was an amazing sight to behold. The closest beach would be more than 100k to the west. It was superb cycling, I must say. The bike went by itself, loving the wide rolling concrete path that went for several kilometers around and through these amazing sand hills that would have looked just as natural in the vast spaces behind the lovely beaches at Cronulla in Sydney.

I could only imagine that perhaps centuries if not millennia ago, the place where I was cycling was probably the edge of the sea, which has now been pushed back by the vast landfill and dykes that the Dutch have been building for many centuries.

Beyond the sand dunes the forest closed in again, and then opened out into beautiful vast, rich farmland. I knew I was closing back in on Lunteren, but also knew I was too far to the north and basically had no specific idea of where I was. I kept heading west in the hope that a sign would eventually help me, but now that the farmlands had returned, the maps and the lovely helpful little signs were sadly lacking.

I loved the farms, and especially the farmhouses. They were mansions, and magnificently built. It was tempting to take photos just of the houses. They were extremely attractive and impressive. School was also out. The bike paths were filled with happy kids on bikes returning home to their farms from school. It was a great sight. The kids ride very naturally, none of them seemingly looking where they are riding. They are so confident. It is part of the culture.

I had to stop someone to ask where I was. He couldn’t speak English. I simply said ‘Lunteren’. He understood that, and then gave me five minutes of complex directions hardly any of which I had any clue about. I just followed his hand and arm directions – that was enough for now.

I headed off, conscious that darkness was not far away. I had passed 70k for the day, and still riding strongly. There was a myriad of roads in and around the farms. I felt I was heading in the right direction, but still felt unsettled that I couldn’t confirm it.

I stopped with another woman who was studying a rare notice board with a map of the area. I could see I was too far north of Lunteren, but was at least heading in the right direction. Incredibly, the roads just don’t run straight, and once they change direction, it confuses my sense of direction.

I came to the town of Barneveld, which I could see later was well passed Lunteren to the north, and too far west. I had overshot! It was a busy town, with lots of kids on their bikes all speeding along the bikepath with me. I stopped another lady, who more or less pointed the right direction. I headed off, but had only gone 100mtrs when I saw the lovely little sign that said ‘Lunteren 7k’.

I would just beat the curtain of darkness. It had now passed 4pm. The temperature had sat on a sultry 6C all day. It wasn’t unpleasant, except starting again at lunch time.

I could now follow the signs. In the end, I missed seeing Lunteren because I chose a narrow country path that ran down through lovely farms and forests. It was a much more pleasant run, with occasional stretches of dirt and gravel track. With my 35C tyres, I could handle all of these surfaces with ease. Sadly, my bike needed another bath.

At least I knew where I was, and would soon be coming to a ‘T’ intersection with ‘Goorsteeg’, the road with our Hotel. About 1k before this, I passed a small paddock with three very curious, cute and cuddly deer. I stopped for a photo – they came over slowly but surely to say hello. It was a lovely end to a magnificent trip through some of Holland’s most spectacular countryside. My ride today totaled 78K.

Tomorrow I have to pack up the bike and say goodbye to Lunteren, and make my way to Amsterdam. I have a rough plan for this in my head. Tomorrow will be an interesting day. I have been grateful to my friend, the ‘General’ Andrew Taylor back home, who has given me his special GPS for his motor bike with maps of Europe downloaded. As yet I haven’t been desperate enough to use it. Perhaps tomorrow, in order to help me find my way through the maze of unfamiliar streets in the inner canal area of Amsterdam.

I have enjoyed my stay here immensely. Again, it will be sad to move on, but tomorrow and the weeks remaining are filled with unexpected pleasures also.

From the edge of one of the great National Parks of Europe, the ‘De Hoge Veluwe’, I send my love.