Day 21 Nothing's going to stop us now

Following yesterday's brutality, our motivation was still high. Pushing hard to Rotterdam meant the following day's ride to the Hook of Holland where the Rhine empties into the North Sea would be a 20 mile victory cruise. Our minds were ready but our bodies were on empty and on Sundays most everything in Europe is shut, so our first goal was a MacDonalds an hours ride away. The Netherlands are definitely cycling centric and their cycling infrastructure is amazing with bike paths everywhere. And on a sunny Sunday morning, everyone was out. The club racers would fly past us regularly in packs, families were out riding to church, the elderly were enjoying their morning ebike rides. It was impressive to see so many out even on these rural roads. MacDonalds did the trick and we set our next goal as Schoonhoven. Riding atop the berm along the river we had a great vantage point of the river and idyllic little farms on the other side. The serenity of the views and the solemnity upon passing more vestiges of war provides an additional level of gratitude for just being here. Schoonhoven was a cute little canal town, the perfect spot to saunter around with an ice cream cone in hand. Even more impressive than it's biking infrastructure, is all the canals these people have going everywhere. Houses have canals around them. Fields have rows and rows of canals and the cities all have canal systems. They all beam with water fowl. Swans, storks, ducks are found around each corner. After a nice break in Schoonhoven it was time for our last big push to Rotterdam. Heat and headwinds be damned, we were gonna make it. Nearing the city we passed more waterways and inlets, some were developed into beaches where throngs of Dutch were burning their pale skin and having a great time doing so. We were tempted to stop and nap but determined to push on. Arriving in the city, we were excited to see it's modern architecture hovering over the old canals and ports that wind through the city. After showers we hopped back out enjoy this quirky place. We both loved the randomness of the city. The warm day had everyone thinking like us because the line at the ice cream spot was enough to make you question your love for ice cream. But now cream knows,, we really love it.
One more ride to go!

or I'll huff and I'll puff

carb loading

Boat, bike, walk or drive

Not sure why I posted this.  I would hate to be in a hot tub, lazily floating down the canals.  That's a hard life right there.

No this photo is not upside down