Hoorn to Enkhuizen: along the dike

April 25, 2012

WEATHER: sunny am, rain pm, mainly crosswind with occasional tailwind

Al's stomach felt better this morning and he was able to eat some breakfast. When we left the hotel, we passed the weekly market stalls that had been set up on the street outside. We cycled through the main square, and down to the scenic waterfront, with its forest of sailboat masts and well-kept houses. We walked our bikes around a sandy construction area where the brick paving had been taken up, but soon the pavement resumed, and we continued east along the coastal spur around the Hoornsche Hop and climbed up onto the Zuiderdijk to head north on the scenic dike road.

We rode on the dike all the way to the outskirts of Enkhuizen, with terrific views to both sides. On our right was the vast fresh-water lake Ijsselmeer, which had been the shallow salt-water Zuiderzee, until the 1930s, when the Afsluitdijk was built to control catastrophic flooding. This 32 km dike, connecting the north end of the province of Noord Holland with Friesland, blocks the North Sea from entering the former Zuiderzee.area. The change from saltwater to fresh water drastically altered the ecology and economy of the of the region, where most of the people had made their living directly or indirectly from North sea (saltwater) fishing. We looked forward to learning more about all this tomorrow in Enkhuizen at the very highly regarded outdoor Zuiderzeemuseum.

The road along the top of the dike north of Hoorn, with the Ijsselmeer on the left and wetlands with thousands of birds on the right (as you look at this photo).

There was very little traffic on the road along the top of the dike.

The ride along the dike was splendid, with mostly new paving and no traffic at all. Every few kilometres large machines were working on the road, and we had to walk our bikes short distances across torn-up pavement. We found out later that the dike was being raised, (climate change concerns) and the road had been completely closed to traffic, even bicycles, for almost two years. It had only just re-opened, and because of the work still going on, cars could not travel the length of it. We felt very lucky to be able to ride there and enjoy the views, not just of the flotillas of tall ships sailing on the Ijsselmeer, but of the farms and grassy polders on our left, teeming with bird life. In some places the noise of the birds was so loud that we would have covered our ears had we not been cycling. There were even a few tulip fields here and there. The forecast had been for a south wind, and we kept anticipating a tailwind, but most of the time it was a sharp crosswind from the east.

One of the many sailing ships far out on the Ijsselmeer.

We passed still more tulip fields lying below the dike.

In Enkhuizen's harbour, where the Dutch merchant fleet was sheltered in the 17th century, there is now a huge fleet of recreational vessels. We rode past thousands of sailboats moored at marinas, as we entered the town and stopped at the Stedemaagd Hotel cafe for lunch (recommended in LP). Al was feeling somewhat better by now, and had a cheese omelet, while Eva enjoyed a lamb burger and a piece of decadent chocolate cake.

After lunch, just as light rain started, we rode the few blocks to our B&B, Bij de Buren, which turned out to be one of the nicest (and most reasonably priced) places we stayed on the whole trip. Our room was upstairs with a real double bed, a fridge, tea and coffee facilities, and a sundeck overlooking picturesque church rooftops. A bonus was the underfloor heating in the bathroom, making the slate tile floor lovely and warm. Our bikes were whisked away to covered locked storage next door, and we luxuriated in our very comfortable digs for the rest of the rainy afternoon.

Harbour in Enkhuisen near the tourist office.

The pleasant room in the Bij de Buren B&B.

The street in Enkhuisen where the B&B is located.

The rain let up toward evening, and we ventured out to explore downtown Enkhuizen, which consisted of the same sort of shopping streets we'd seen everywhere else in the Netherlands. Tomorrow we'd walk through the older part of the city to the Zuiderzeemuseum. After perusing restaurant menus, we chose a small pleasant place called Eighteen, where we both had salade niçoise with nice pieces of grilled tuna (instead of canned) along with the usual boiled potatoes, green beans and tomatoes. After dinner we returned to the B&B for a good night's sleep.

Today's ride: 26 km (16 miles)
Total: 384 km (238 miles)

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