Yes, Tam, you beat me! But you don?t have to pay 5-fricking-euro per hour to get online.. 😛

Woke at 10min to 6am Monday morning. Showered. Pushed bike up the steepest, tightest stairs ever, in Hotel Aroza (should be ‘Aroma’, after the stench) and packed it. The included breakfast wasn?t included this morning because someone didn?t get the bread. I wasn?t gonna wait here any longer, so I left (around 8am) without even a coffee (my god, how DOES he do it?!). Visited the first bakery I saw on the way out of town and grabbed some goodies.

Surprisingly, I managed to head in the right direction and, even though I asked a dude for directions, I was heading the right way anyway. It’s amazing what looking at a map before you leave can do!

The weather was sweet, the ride was sweeter. Canals, birds, bridges, brilliant!

It felt so good to get out of Amsterdamned! I reckon two days for that place, max, and make sure they are spent in a hotel where people don?t smoke in bed!

Not to say I didn?t have fun.. but leaving it too long I could see myself becoming part of the furniture, until I was transferred outside to the Begging, Scamming and Thieving Department, that is.

6k out of Hilversum or 14k from Amersfoort I stumbled onto Kastel Groeneveld. I apologise to the owners for the damage and then explore the grounds surrounding the large, moderately impressive building. Riding here is so cool!

So, for four hours I was doing well, in control of my navigation for once, doing some bits fast and some slow as the scenery and my mood dictated.

About 4.5hrs though and I’m feeling pretty rooted. Luckily, a target, I mean roadie appeared ahead. Yay, if there’s anything that will let me ignore the pain and tiredness it’s a chase!

I caught him after a while and then he noticed me sucking his wheel and tried to drop me, by accelerating, down a hill? Duh! Drop this fat bastard down a hill with no corners? haha silly move dude! 🙂

He proceeded to pull a foot (from his LOOK copies) and spent a few minutes trying to clip in, much to my perverse delight. I left him be as I found a scooter to chase. That really left me cained, and I could only keep up with it because it had two people on-board, but I was in Apeldoorn now, so I didn?t care.

Walked into some building and asked where the VVV (tourist info) place was. A dude told me and then asked if I was a Kiwi. I said ‘Nah, Aussie’ and he was like ‘Downunder, yeah!’ and I congratulated him on being closer than almost everyone else when picking my accent – everyone else thinks I’m a yank.

Found the StayOkay, which was about 3k out of town

(sidenote: I fucking hate squealing kids, can someone please throw that fscking thing in a canal!!??).

Where was I? Um, yeah 23euro per night. Very nice surrounds bordering a national park or very close to one, at least.

Ride into town and buy some crap for dinner (‘gezoet’ or ‘sweet’ pancakes and Apple Stroop, Peanut MnMs and Sisi raspberry fruit drink).

Spend ages in the shower trying to wash out the stench from Amsterdam and then read a bit before flaking out in bed. Hey, the other guy in the 4-bed room was in bed when I arrived mid-afternoon!

Amsterdam to Apeldoorn Stats:

110k, 4.5hr?, 19.6kph