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| My room-mate for my final night. |
Of course it transpires that the barman plays guitar, we chatted about music, guitars and then it happened, the inevitable the "these guys are great but have you ever heard of a guitarist called Django?" Suddenly we were in familiar territory and the rest of a great evening was spent talking, a bit of playing, a bit of listening and so on until closing time at the bar. That was it, my adventure was almost over.
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| One of my barman's guitars, not working unfortunately. |
In the morning I somewhat reluctantly packed my few belongings onto the Dahon and checked out although not until after partaking once again of an excellent breakfast and probably more coffee than was really necessary but there you go. I hadn't left myself enough time to cycle back to Schiphol so headed to Haarlem station to catch a train to Schiphol, stopping to take a few last bike infrastructure pictures on the way and this picture below to serve as a reminder to me to stop and look occasionally when people give you directions.
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| Open your eyes and look, I mean really LOOK |
The train from Haarlem to Schiphol requires a change at Sloterdijk, no big deal except I had folded the Dahon and bagged it at Haarlem not anticipating having to leave the Sloterdijk building and carry it 150m across a concourse to the two platforms for Schiphol trains, DOH! Eventually I arrive at Schiphol and after a bit of messing around trying to find the baggage area, I left the bike at the "unusual or oddly shaped baggage" area and now the realisation hit me that it was all over and I was heading to... No, I'll resist the obvious and not post a picture of our wonderful, award-winning bicycle infrastructure with a suitably sarcastic caption. That's it, the end, 'til the next time :)
Encore
Well actually more like an evaluation. What did I learn about bikepacking this time around? Well for a start what I did wasn't bikepacking in its strictest sense, but since I carried all my belongings by bicycle, I think I'm just going to claim it anyway. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I do wish I had thought to purchase a paper map in advance the way I have done any number of times in the UK, this would have saved me a lot of time and stress on my first few hours after arrival. I guess the flipside to that last sentence is if you're going to rely on GPS then make sure the device that hosts it is up to the job. If like me you're using a mobile phone make sure you a) have it fully charged before setting off and b) turn apps running in the background GPS makes big demands on the battery life of your device and for me now it's back to being "nice to have" but I'll stick to a traditional paper map and compass wherever possible.
The other thing I learned, and boy is this a sore one, if you're flying, ignore any platitudes the airlines tell you about packing your bike. Assume it will be treated with utter contempt and pack well around sensitive parts like derailleurs and brakes, I had read the blurb on my carriers' website about how a bike box would not be necessary on the small aircraft I would be flying on due to space considerations in the hold. This is quite probably true but no matter, when you unpack your bike at the start of a journey to find the front brake caliper broken, well you start to realise that that particular line may have the smell of BS about it. Then when you get home and unpack after the return journey and notice your chain slipping between two particular gears which were fine while you were away... On inspection at my LBS, who incidentally have been absolutely excellent in getting me sorted, it was found that the derailleur hanger was very slightly bent, but the killer was the rear wheel had buckled due to probable bad handling, eithyer throwing it onboard or by something heavy being thrown against it.
I had chosen to fly not simply because of the "convenience" of leaving from an airport close to home but also in no small part because of the nightmare of getting relatively inexpensive train tickets at shortish notice. Yes, I know "inexpensive" and "train tickets" in the same sentence, in the UK. By the time this had been fixed it occurred to me that I might have been as well paying the extra and taking the Newcastle ferry, definitely next time.
In terms of the experience while I was away the only thing I might do differently next time would be to take a few more pieces of lightweight clothing, it wasn't as if I was travelling great distances each day, carrying everything with me. Also I didn't carry much in terms of actual biking gear, the usual small set of tools I take with me on my commute and, unless I take a road bike next time, I won't be carrying padded shorts or technical tops blah, blah, actually you know what, I probably will still take them, you never know I might even get drop bars fitted to the Dahon :)
A folding bike is so versatile for a trip like this, with its luggage rack the Dahon* is more than up to the job. It was so convenient to just fold and stick on the train, and for that matter in my room at night. It would be remiss of me to write up any kind of assessment of my trip without mentioning yet again the fantastic approach Dutch authorities and planners have towards sustainable transport. The thing is this, having spoken to people whilst out and about what struck me was the way that getting around by bicycle is so effortless that no-one I spoke to thought of it. *other folding bike brands are available
Well, that's it then, if anyone's stuck with this little adventure since the start then I hope you were entertained, and so until next time, here's a picture of a canal...old stereotypes die hard sometimes. Oh yes, and if anyone's interested allow me to recommend "However" by Jasper van't Hof by way of introduction to some slightly "out there" 70's Euro jazz. You're welcome!
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| The End |
