Adventuring Abroad: The Netherlands: Flower Fields & Pouring Rain

Our second full day in Holland, we decided to rent bikes to ride around some of the flower fields in the area between Noordwijk and Keukenhof. We had checked the weather forecast, and saw that there was a 40% chance of rain at 11 am and again at 1 pm. We were planning to bike from 10-noon or so, and figured we would risk getting briefly rained on to enjoy a ride.

It didn't go to plan.

We walked into Noordwijk and rented our bikes for the day, with Charlotte's seat outfitted to the back of my bike. I had biked with her previously on Sea Island, Georgia, and felt comfortable with having her back there. Armed with a trusty map of the bike trails in the area, we set off under grey skies.

We loved the first part of the ride! I had selected a route that was recommended for touring the flower fields, which was stated to be around 29 kilometers. Not being much of a biker, I figured that the roughly 20 miles would tire us out, but not be horrible. To follow the route, we would glance at the map, which directed us to "33...42...8..." and the signs for "33" would point you toward that destination, at which point you would head to "42," etc. The bike paths in Holland are amazing -- we even saw a bike roundabout while driving around on a different day!

We found a huge field of daffodils after riding for about 20 minutes and stopped for a picture. As we climbed off our bikes, it started to drizzle... as we climbed back on our bikes, the skies opened up!! It poured. And poured. And poured. We laughed it off, but it gradually became less funny as the rain continued for the next 2 and a half hours. We stopped briefly under an overpass to attempt to let the showers pass us, but to no avail, so we continued on to near the town of Lisse (where Keukenhof is located) and stopped at a train station that had been converted into a coffee shop.

Looking like drowned rats, with a freezing cold child (at least Paul and I had been moving, poor Charlotte was just sitting back there with rain dripping off her helmet onto her face), we went into the blessedly warm coffee shop for about a half hour for cups of hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream and a piece of apple cake. We climbed back on our bikes, and I found that my (very out-of-shape) legs had stiffened up while we were resting and I really struggled for the rest of the ride. We still had 10 miles to go, and we had just turned into the wind to return home. Woof. Paul rode along behind me, trying to go slowly too.

Then... for the last 1.5 miles, the sun came out! We got a couple of pictures of the flower fields in the sun (it had been raining too hard to remove our cameras from their waterproof areas the rest of the ride) and limped the rest of the way home. There was a beautiful rainbow behind our apartment when we arrived. We toweled off, ate a late lunch, took hot showers (even Charlotte), and lay down. Charlotte napped for 3 hours!!

So -- for next time, self: Thou shalt not plan a bike ride more than 10 miles on vacation. Or ask one of your 24892745 friends who bike regularly, "Is 29 km too far for a fun family ride?" Ahh, hindsight!