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  • Karen Fig
  • Karen Fig

holland-belgium-france

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  • Trip start
    June 1, 2018
  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Cycling paradise

    June 2, 2018 in the Netherlands ⋅ 🌧 57 °F

    For once, i wasn't the only person assembling a bike at the airport! There were SIX other people traveling with their bikes!

    Naturally, it poured rain on me and i got lost in the 20 miles between the airport and my campground. But! It didn't matter, because there was a bike lane the entire way from the terminal to my tent.

    "amsterdam" sign - bicycle (barely) visible for scale between the E and the R    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Camping Zeeburg

    June 3, 2018 in the Netherlands ⋅ 🌙 57 °F

    "Wow! A campground in Amsterdam for $12 a night, wifi, super clean showers, good security, and on-site bar, restaurant, and bike shop? What a deal!" I thought, along with the rest of Europe....

    (This place really was top-notch though)Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Cafe De Eland

    June 3, 2018 in the Netherlands ⋅ 🌙 59 °F

    If you search for a "coffee shop" in amsterdam, you will actually find yourself in a weed lounge. If you search for a "cafe," you'll find yourself in a bar. I gave up looking for coffee...

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    I tried to go to the VanGogh museum. It was sold out, but this park might have been just as good

    Last evening

    June 3, 2018 in the Netherlands ⋅ 🌙 57 °F

    Tomorrow I wanted an early start, so I only planned to stay out until it got dark enough to see the canals at night. Well...the sun sets at 10pm. Whoops.

    I got about 40 miles in total in just over a day here. I feel like I could ride around Amsterdam forever and not get tired of it. Especially the canals - beautiful and lively during the day, dark and peaceful at night. I'm sad to leave it.Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    GOAT

    June 3, 2018 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    I arrived to my campsite at night when i couldn't see much, and due to jet leg and beer... I was pretty out of it in the morning. I woke up in my tent two days in a row, thinking, "wow, those birds out there really sound like goats....."Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    Lunch. A feast fit for a queen of cyclingThe Netherlands is the largest cheese exporter in the world!

    First forty miles

    June 3, 2018 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    Well, my "early start" turned into not leaving until almost noon. Luckily the first 20 miles were easy, flat, and smooth - a paved trail with the gorgeous River Vecht to the left and cows and sheep to the right. 40 in (on bike roads the entire way) with 40 to go, and I should be making tracks but I couldn't resist stopping for a delicious blueberry-earl grey popsicle.Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    "Ohhhh...."

    June 3, 2018 in the Netherlands ⋅ 🌙 61 °F

    I was riding my bike through the charming and quiet Dutch town of Passantenhaven when I had the following interaction.
    Small child: "(something in dutch)?"
    Me: *smiles and nods*
    "Something else in dutch?"
    *smiles and nods*
    He turned to the gaggle of kids ahead of me. "(yells excitedly in dutch)!!!!"

    Then they all threw water balloons at me.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    I was only halfway through my day, so I had to take it easy
    "Proost!"I came for the beer but honestly stayed for the trappist cheese and super spicy mustardA beautiful latte - I don't know how I ever did any bike trips before i drank coffee

    Cafe Trappisten

    June 4, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    There are only 11 Trappist breweries in the world and after 45 miles today I'm at one of them! Trappists are a particular order of monks that live a pretty strict monastic life, but (because it's Europe) they brew beer and make cheese in order to fund their charitable projects and lifestyle. For some of the most famous beer in the world, the most expensive beer you could get still only cost $4.40 (US)!

    Oh. And I'm in Belgium now. Honestly i have no idea when that happened.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    I rode a lot of empty trails and roads today.
    I've only been in Brussels 4 hours and already miss the solitudeCampsite #2. Not bad for a panicked google search when I realized I wasn't going to make it 80 miles

    Brussels, finally

    June 5, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    Well: yesterday, because I started so late, I only made it 55 miles instead of 80. Which means that I had to make those miles up today. I rode 95 miles to get to Brussels, Belgium. Holy crap.

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    not-french fries

    June 6, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ 🌙 57 °F

    Belgium is REALLY into fries and beer. I saw a guy with a belgian fries tattoo today. Usually they come in a cone, but this was the "small." They gave me two forks....I ate them by myself.

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    The Delirium Bar was really cool and in a super old building though!Not one of the food groups but I have to eat ice cream every day

    Things I ate and didn't eat in Bruxelles

    June 6, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ 🌙 57 °F

    The five basic food groups of brussels are: waffles, beer, fries, chocolate, and mussels. It's a weird combination, to be honest. Well, this unpopular opinion penguin is here to say:
    1. I don't like chocolate, so I didn't bother
    2. Waffles in the US are better. They're too sweet here. Even just the plain ones have sugar carmelized on them and powdered sugar on top of that. Gross. Gimme chicken and waffles anyday.
    3. Delirium Tremens (see photo) was voted the Best Beer in the World in 2008 in the World Beer Championships in Chicago. I think it's fine.
    4. I'm allergic to mussels, brussels
    PROVE ME WRONG    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    Some see beauty in this. I only see hillsI think Flemish mosquitos are paying google to lead me, a succulent American snack, to their lair

    Thank god for soccer

    June 6, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    Rode 60 shitty miles.

    The first 20 were EXTREMELY hot and in the sun (and my face is already peeling and burnt from day 1 - its very attractive)

    The next 25 were under construction, unimaginably hilly detours around the interstate (which googlemaps kept trying to put me on), or gravel/dirt/poorly maintained.

    The last 15, mercifully, were through a beautiful and cool forest, which smelled amazing (like forest-scented air freshener), but entirely uphill

    So I didn't make it to my destination, but I made it to some random small town in southern Belgium near it, where it's 9:25 pm on a Wednesday, but, to my surprise, everything is still open because there's a Belgium-Egypt soccer match tonight. Enjoying a Jupiter beer and Belgium is 2-0! Even the hard days end up alright.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Campsite #3

    June 7, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ 🌧 70 °F

    Where I endured one of the strongest thunderstorms I've ever seen on a bike trip.

    I was woken up around 1am by rain pounding on my tent, thunder and lightning. This "campsite" was not technically at a "campground" - I just pitched my tent on the side of the trail - and I didn't know it was supposed to rain, so I hadn't secured my rainfly very well.

    I woke up again at 3am. The lightning and wind had picked up and I had lost a stake. After listening to the trees getting blown around and feeling my tent almost move with me in it, I decided to abandon ship and find real shelter in case a branch fell on me. I put my raingear on and headed out. Naturally, about 15 minutes later, things calmed down.

    Didn't get much sleep and coffeeshops don't open until noon around here (apparently). This morning is a struggle.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    Madame Marie Lescargot decided to stay home when she heard what was happeningOthers remain unaffected by the news and are continuing their day as normal

    Gastropods of Belgium Under Attack

    June 7, 2018 in Belgium ⋅ 🌧 68 °F

    The snails and slugs of the Rance Regional Forest in southern Belgium woke up to a grisly scene Thursday morning. An American cyclist rode 18 miles through rush hour traffic, injuring dozens. Some, like Monsieur Jean-Baptiste Lelimace (pictured) narrowly missed death by bicycle, but many remain unaccounted for or in critical condition. Paramedic crews are, very very slowly, on their way to the scene.Read more

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