Netherlands Trip including Amsterdam Pride – 1st to 5th August

This long-anticipated weekend trip was finally there. A small group of 5 London Dykes on Bikes® met up in Folkestone on Thursday evening for some food and a good night sleep so we were all ready for a very early Shuttle to Calais the next morning and a full day in the saddle. Destination was a large house we rented in a tiny little place called Garderen, centrally located in the Netherlands.

After a quick shoot underneath the channel we were off! Before we knew it we left those flat fields of Northern France and Flanders

behind us and already hit the Dutch border. After a lovely lunch of Dutch treats (does somebody say kroketten and kip sate?) we made our way towards the Deltawerken in Zeeland. A piece of extremely impressive engineering put in place to protect the Lowlands from flooding. 

The views were magnificent, and the roads were smooth as a mirror with zero potholes (this is why the taxes are so high in NL people!) The weather was supposed to get really bad according to several weather apps but we managed to escape most downpours and only had to shelter once for 30 minutes. Our final blast via some motorways was quick and easy and tired but happy we checked into our cottage for the weekend. Time for sleep as tomorrow we have another big adventure – Amsterdam Pride!

Saturday was there and we were going to Amsterdam! Stolk had been in touch with several Amsterdam dykes and agreed on a suitable meeting point to park the bikes but first a quick pitstop at a petrol station at the edge of Amsterdam city centre to decorate our bikes with flags and rainbows. A quick ride later we were received by the amazing Janne and her partner Marian who were waiting for us at the Elandsgracht with a massive rainbow flag – we certainly got the royal treatment!Janne, you are a STAR! We parked up, took some snaps with the Amsterdam grrrlllsss and then Janne brought us to a friend’s house nearby where we could store our gear. After that we made our way to the Prinsengracht where is was already incredibly busy with spectators for the canal parade. Our vertically challenges dykes struggled to see the boats but managed to find some benches to stand on.

It was an intense day and we met so many new people and made good connections with the Amsterdam Dykes on Bikes® but we were knackered. Time to shoot off, grab some nice food on the way back home and enjoy some delightful Dutch countryside.

Sunday of course had another full program – several Dutch women bikers were meeting us at our cottage for a ride out.

After the obligatory koffie met een koekje, getting to know each other, photo shoot and the usual faffing, we were off. The route went through very nice rural areas and even crossed a bit of Germany.

 

 

We invaded Stolk’s parents place for koffie en cake and made our way back to our cottage. Saying goodbye to the great Dutch grrrlllss some of whom we hopefully will meet again on this side of the North Sea.

And then the end of our trip was already approaching. How did that happen? But we are not leaving the Netherlands without some amazing iconic riding along the Lekdijk – fields with cows and gorgeous houses on the left, the river and windmills on the right,

and the road meandered on and on in between and we were happy!

 

Kenric Talk – 30th August

Kenric, the longest existing lesbian organisation in the UK, invited our President, Petit Chou and Secretary, Pogs, to give a talk about DoB London, Solo Touring and Pogs first USA mega-tour.  The evening went extremely well, although the numbers were fewer than expected.  We are always very happy to come along and talk about our group, riding and touring so if you would like us to visit your group then do contact us and we can have a chat about it.