Leiden to Haarlem: first rain while cycling

April 21, 2012

WEATHER: cloudy, some rain, cool (~7C)

Our ride today just happened to follow the route of the annual Bloemencorso, or Flower Parade, which just happened to be taking place today. Once a year, a spectacular floral parade leaves Noordwijk in the morning and follows a 40km route via Sassenheim, Lisse, Hillegom, Bennebroek and Heemstede to arrive in Haarlem in the evening. Roadside viewers can admire flower-bedecked floats, some of them impressively elaborate.

We left Leiden about 10:00 after another good breakfast and criss-crossed the route the bus had taken us yesterday, so we got to see more of the countryside, and we would still cycle right past Keukenhof. The small village of Sassenheim was full of residents in a festive mood waiting for the parade to appear. Children with flowers in their hair were riding flower-bedecked bicycles. The centre of town was so thronged with people that we had to walk our bikes for several blocks.

Fields of flowers along the route north of Leiden.

We rode on between fields of saturated colour--tulips, hyacinths and narcissus. We continued past Lisse, the closest town to Keukenhof, and found ourselves circling the garden outside the fence. We had ridden through light showers for awhile, but now it began to rain seriously, so we stopped to put on our wet-weather booties. At a gap in the fence we noticed a sea of umbrellas moving slowly along the Keukenhof footpaths. The sight made us chuckle, and we congratulated ourselves again on our good luck with the weather yesterday.

A sea of umbrellas in the garden at Keukenof, while we were merely cycling through the downpour.

After Keukenhof we passed more fields of spring bulbs and rode through a few small towns. It continued to rain hard and also felt quite chilly as we began to think about lunch. Open cafes or restaurants seemed to be few and far between, and we were relieved to find the welcoming sign for the Pannenkoekenhuis De Konijnenberg just outside of Heemstede. Not only was the restaurant open, but there were at least 20 racing bicycles parked out front. A jovial group of lycra-clad cyclists were drying out at a large table, and we happily sat down and took off our wet rain jackets and helmets in the warm pleasant room. These were our first pannenkoeks, and Eva was very impressed with her delicious pizza-size crepe with back bacon, leeks and brie cheese baked into it. Al's pancake was folded around veal stew and it was good as well. We had several cafe macchiatos, and Al finished off with a piece of apple cake. The racing cyclists were different ages (only one woman) and wearing matching jerseys with a company logo, perhaps a group ride to promote bonding in the workplace. The waitresses brought out a fruit parfait with a blazing sparkler and presented it to a woman sitting with her partner and two children. It must have been her birthday, and everyone in the restaurant launched into a Happy Birthday song (in Dutch of course) with a tune totally unfamiliar to us. It was a very pleasant lunch break, and the rain even stopped while we were there.

At about this point we were becoming more interested in a spot for lunch than another field of flowers.

After lunch we went through a park with some woods and gates to open and close to keep livestock under control. The sun had come out, and after a bit we jogged south to cross a canal, and then rode north along the east side of a river towards the centre of Haarlem. We had had trouble booking a place for just one weekend night in Haarlem, maybe because of the flower parade or because Haarlem is a short train ride from Amsterdam, and visitors often stay here instead of in the big city.

We were pleased to have found the B&B Hout, located about two kilometres south of the centre of Haarlem, on a quiet street in an area called the Haarlem woods. Our host told us that the Bloemencorso was scheduled to pass by a block away at 8:00, so we ate a quick dinner at a very crowded cafe and were in position on the street at 8:00 sharp. We had been following the parade route all day, but hadn't actually seen it yet, so we were curious. We waited and waited, and got colder and colder. Went back to the B&B to warm up for a few minutes, then back to our vantage point. Finally at 9:00, just as the light was fading, the first vehicles appeared decorated with a few flowers and advertising local businesses, followed by a couple of marching bands right out of the 1950s. Eventually some floats came along, but by then it was almost too dark to see them. We returned to our B&B shaking our heads.

People waiting patiently for the parade.

Finally, as darkness encroached, the floats began to appear.

Today's ride: 42 km (26 miles)
Total: 238 km (148 miles)

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