It’s half past six in the morning, all the bike bags are packed, and I’m ready to go on one of the rides I’ve been looking forward to the most this year. My 10-year-old trusty carbon fiber road bike is loaded to the max, probably with too much stuff, but who knows what clothing I might need tonight at my destination, or what spare parts and tools I feel most comfortable carrying. The sun has just risen, and daylight is breaking. There’s no need to clip the lights to the handlebar and saddle. The outside temperature is a comfortable 19 degrees Celsius—perfect for starting in proper road bike clothing. A quick click on the bike computer, and off we go. The ride details page reveals the route and destination for today: 270 kilometers remaining to finally reach the seashore in the small town of Hoek van Holland on the Dutch coast.
Although it’s already bright, Solingen, the town where I live, feels almost asleep. As I cruise out of town, there are hardly any people on the road—no cars either. It takes about 20 minutes for that to change when I enter Düsseldorf and head toward the Rhine River. A parking lot that’s turned into a flea market today reminds me that this planet is home to more people than just me. A kilometer from the river, the sun climbs over the clouds and trees for the first time today. Today, I will be chasing the sun westward, hoping to reach the ocean before sunset.
The cycling paths along the Rhine feel as though there was some sort of zombie apocalypse the day before. I ride to the first bridge across the Rhine and eventually see a few people walking along the streets of Neuss. It’s not the nicest place to live or ride a bike, but I push past Neuss and enter the faster cycling network in the Niederrhein area. As a rule of thumb, the closer you get to the Netherlands, the better the cycling infrastructure.
My bike computer shows a mostly straight line on the map for the German section of the route, and some perfect, laser-straight lines for the longer stretch in the Netherlands. Solingen to Hoek van Holland is essentially a straight line; in fact, it substitutes for a trip to Oostende in Belgium that I’d wanted to take a long time ago when the starting point was Aachen, just with both start and destination pushed a little to the north.
The bike infrastructure remained excellent (by German standards) all the way to Kaldenkirchen, the last German town before crossing the border into the Dutch town of Venlo. The border is hardly noticeable anymore—the road, passing some logistics companies, narrows for just a few meters, and suddenly, we’re in the Netherlands. After a few minutes on some really great cycle paths, I reach a “fietssnelweg”, a highway exclusively for bikes, with a perfect surface and almost no interruptions, which takes me to the Dutch town of America at a speed of nearly 40 km/h in no time. Today, almost the entire tour will take place on these next-level fietssnelwegen, a bike network that’s years ahead of what we have in Germany. I immediately shift from “oh my god, a bike path. Dont be fooled and avoid at all costs if you don’t want to die!” to “A fietssnelweg! Great! Let’s go!”.
When riding long distances, there’s always a point where the known road ends. In my case, I’ve cycled to Venlo and America several times, but the road toward ‘s-Hertogenbosch was still unexplored. After a coffee stop in the lovely town of Griendtsveen (thanks to the very nice people for the great coffee!), I continue my route. The light headwind is compensated by the fantastic road surface and my position on the bike, which keeps my profile small.
After a few hours, I reach ’s-Hertogenbosch. I’ve already passed the halfway point, where the “trip” and “remaining” numbers on my bike computer were the same. The outskirts of the town are dominated by logistics companies, and I remember receiving many parcels from ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the mid-2000s when the IBM service center was located there. I constantly received IBM Deskstar hard drives—nicknamed “Deathstar”—from there. A few kilometers later, I reach the city center. I park my bike on a bench next to the Maas River and take a break. The town has a very enjoyable, relaxed vibe—people are having a good time by the river or even on it. A group of girls cross the river on a boat, chatting and enjoying the weather, so I do the same before finally heading onward toward Rotterdam.
After leaving ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the surroundings are dominated by greenery—fields, dams, rivers, tiny houses—alongside excellent cycle paths and great places to stop and spend the whole day. Unfortunately, I still have some distance to go, so beyond refueling my water bottles, I don’t pause much, even though the headwind becomes nothing short of brutal as I approach the coast.
A few hours later, after a left turn off a dam, I cross a bridge over the Rhine/Waal and finally enter Rotterdam. It’s been a while since I’ve been here, but the town looks very futuristic and impressive along the river, with typical cozy Dutch charm when you leave the river’s proximity. It’s just a few days before the Tour de France Femmes will have its Grand Départ here, so cycling fans are everywhere. When I stopped at a traffic light to do a track stand, a group of fans applauds and shouts “Mathieu! Mathieu! Mathieu!” I take it as a compliment.
After some kilometers through the outer suburbs of Rotterdam, I reach Schiedam, where a fietssnelweg along the railroad begins. This is the finale—just 20 km left before reaching my destination. The impressive structure of the Europort grows larger on the left bank of the river, and after a bit of pacing along the railroad, I reach Hoek van Holland. Made it!
After quickly checking into a cozy hotel in town, I ride the last few meters to the “end of the road”—the final stretch of tarmac before the beach begins. The race against the sun was successful—we’re still far from sunset. It’s always great to ride a bike in the Netherlands, but for today, let’s send a picture to my old road bike group, head back to the hotel, have some food, and celebrate.
What I took away or basically reconfirmed today is that there’s always something special about reaching the ocean after a long ride. Furthermore, riding long distances puts me back into the “here and now” very quickly, especially in a country with a next-generation bike infrastructure such as the Netherlands.
