Alkmaar to the North Sea
After arriving in Alkmaar the barge stayed here for 2 days. This gave everyone a chance to sight-see in the area or if you were really crazy go for a large loop bike ride to the North Sea. 2 people were a little saner and opted for sight-seeing. However 10 of us were a little crazier and headed off the the North Sea and the Sand Dunes of Holland in a cold, windy rainy morning. After a couple hours of cycling we started into a National Park complete with a sparse forest (which was our first sign of any forested lands) the start of the sand dunes and an actual change in elevation (hills to climb). After the National Park we came to the North Sea where the wind was really howling, thankfully our tour guide found a cafe where we could have a coffee and warm-up. The North Sea bike path is paved and very wide and it is made up from a dike which is sand/earth piled high and then very large cement blocks are interlocked to the ocean side to prevent erosion. From the coffee stop, where we were to the next town was over 5 km and the wind was right in our face. Our small group started off and we slowly lost riders, however a few hardy souls drafted off each other and we probably got about 3 km before turning back. The ride back with the wind at our back was fun, fast and no peddling was required. Overall it was a great day and we got to put our hand in the North Sea….. today was about 45 km.
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