The Touring Pages

It was also before the rail strikes and on one hand Hull trains now refuse to take tandems (probably since the hassle of our tandem 3 years ago), and the RMT were threatening to strike on the same day that we needed to travel, so even if we opted for solos, we were still scuppered.

The only thing was to change our plans, take an extra day of cycling to and from the Hull port, splitting our journey with a UK stopover at the ironically named pub in Haxey (North Lincs) – The Loco!

Belgian coast where we managed an evening and morning swim in the North Sea in some balmy August warmth.

THE CLARKE FAMILY TOURING ON THE CONTINENT – STRAIGHT FROM THE DRIVEWAY

Some of you may remember our family ride 3 years ago, when myself, Jayne, Monty and Jenny headed off to Holland by train and ferry for a week-long tour. Well, after 2 years of Covid, we decided to give it another go, and back in February booked our P&O ferry from Hull to Hook of Holland. That was before P&O bosses did the dirty on their workers and replaced most of them with Philippine workers paid less than half (I read) of the UK minimum wage. Out of principle, I tried to get our money back, but we couldn’t so we had to travel or lose a lot of money.

So our trip became an 11 day adventure, sailing to the Hook, and then heading South down to Belgium as an alternative to our last trip North from the Hook. This tour would roughly copy the tour that Jayne and I did before the children came along, crossing the dams and bridges of the Zeeland coast and on to cross the Schelde estuary using the bike or pedestrian only Breskens Ferry.Our tour took in Burgh-Haamstede into a stiff southerly wind, sand blasting us off the North Sea beaches (or “like being stung by a billion ants” as Jenny described it). We crossed the Schelde where Jenny took umbridge at being called “a pedestrian” due to the tandem being seen as one bike. And off to Knokke-Heist on the

Then a short trip to Brugge for our rest day, staying in private rooms at the house of a lovely lady called Ingrid as part of the Vrienden op de Fiets (friends of the cyclists) network. Revitalised by the rest day, we headed north to Oost Kapelle for our next night (with another trip over the dunes for a dip in the sea), then Northeast to the lovely quayside village of Oude Tonge. Our final leg in Holland was back to the port of Hoek to collect our overnight ferry back to the UK, with an evening at the cinema before turning in at midnight.

And after a smooth crossing we were back to Hull, where despite their best efforts, the cycle paths are really appalling. Then with a stiff westerly wind to our final stay at The Loco at Haxey, with a lovely welcome and a veggie curry.

It really was a fabulous trip, we covered 350 miles in 10 days, rode in three countries and really made the most of the excellent cycle path networks in Holland and Belgium. The Philippino staff on the P&O ferry cannot be faulted, they were all lovely, welcoming people, despite the circumstance of the former P&O workers.

I’d strongly recommend anyone who wants to take a cycling tour to give Holland and Belgium a go. For sure it’s flat, but that doesn’t make it boring in the slightest. Sand dunes, beautiful canal side, seaside and quayside towns and villages, great beaches, cleanliness everywhere, and the smoothest cycle paths you could ask for.

Planning your route couldn’t be simpler, there are two types of cycle path signs; the more direct red signs which point you to the next village without taking a road, and then the more tourist friendly Fietsknoop green signs that are numbered junctions that you can string together either with a paper map, or using the website www.fietsknoop.nl, the phone app and the download to your GPS bike computer. It really worked perfectly for us.

Let’s hope the children grow up loving touring by bike as much as their parents do!