July 17, 2009
Schoorl - Bakkum
Today is a short day in terms of kilometers, but we have enough sights and wind to compensate. For the first time on the trip, we are confronted with rain when packing up our tent. It's a light rain and by the time we are ready to leave, around ten, it has stopped.
We have a fair amount of traffic when we set out but soon we discover signs for a bicycle route to Alkmaar which take us on quiet paths between the fields. Perfect until we hit the construction site. We manoeuver our way around a barricade but the remainder of the bike path has been torn up. Following the advice of a passer-by we get onto the not-so-scenic cycle path next to the motorway and are in Alkmaar in no time.
Today is a case of the right place at the wrong time. We ride into the town and can barely walk our bikes through the crowded streets. We are entirely preoccupied with the hustle and bustle and hardly get a chance to look at the town itself. What we didn't know was that the traditional Alkmaar Cheese Market, an extremely popular tourist attraction, is held on Fridays between 10 and 12:30. We only catch the tail end of the market but we do get the full impact of the tourists.
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After a few rain showers and a pizza, we're on our way. On another day, I'm sure we would have liked Alkmaar better. As we head west to Egmond aan Zee, the wind is cruel. On the bike path going south from Egmond we have lovely coastal heath and dunes.
We check in at a large camping ground, De Kennemer Duincamping, in a sand dune reserve, about 1500 metres from the ocean. Unfortunately, the limited area set aside for cyclists and hikers is inferior to the rest of the grounds and at 22€ not cheap, either. However, there is a nice little fish eatery on the grounds which reconciles us somewhat. After setting up our tent we cycle to the wide beach of white sand. It is far too windy and cool to go for a dip.
Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 1,716 km (1,066 miles)
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