18 From Bloemendaal to Heiloo - Haarlem & Last Minute Accommodation

The weather gods were once again very kind to me, as after the rain in the night, the sun was shining again and dried my tent perfectly before I packed everything up.

The next intermediate destination, Haarlem, was only a few kilometers away, and I took some time to explore the cute little town. When I was ready to continue cycling, I was momentarily confused because the bike path was signposted in a direction that didn't actually have a bike path :D When a few other cyclists came along and lined up in a row, it dawned on me that I needed to take a ferry to the other side of the harbor - beginner's mistake :D

From there, I returned to the coast and to the beloved dune bike paths.

Based on the recommendation of my hosts from The Hague to turn off the coast and ride towards Hoorn to see the 'old Holland,' this would have been my last section on the coast. So I had no hurry and enjoyed the sometimes extremely loud bird chirping and lookout points in the nature reserve. Even the gentle headwind didn't bother me. I also passed by several 'little creatures' again in a swamp area, only this time at a more comfortable distance ;)

When the opportunity arose to get relatively close to the beach by bike, of course I took advantage of it and went for a swim in the waves.

Because it was such a beautiful day, I somehow completely forgot to pay attention to the weather, and looking at the forecast, I realized that there was going to be quite a lot of rain from evening to the next morning... Not ideal for camping, especially for dismantling the tent in the morning.

So, I tried my luck with Warmshowers as a last-minute option - and as usual, I was lucky and found someone. The town of Heiloo, where my last-minute host lived with his family, also fit well with my intended route towards the east.

When I arrived, the former professional road cyclist and his wife warmly welcomed me, and their two young sons were already in bed. But I was told right away that the 5-year-old was super excited when he heard that there was a visitor and didn't want to go to sleep. It reminded me directly of my au pair times ;) Especially because I basically got my own room in the attic and immediately felt at home in the newly built and very tastefully furnished house. The only thing that didn't fit the New Zealand picture was that the house had multiple floors and the stairs were super steep :D

After rinsing off the seawater, I joined my hosts in the open kitchen and had wonderful conversations with these two fascinating personalities :) He used the corona time to get more involved in bikepacking for the first time and get the lightest equipment on the market (I can only say titanium cooker weighing 25g^^). His first test run took him to the southern border to visit a relative - a whopping 220km on the way there and a direct 150km on the next day. Of course, he did it on his aerobike with less than 10kg of luggage, but still quite impressive!

The reason why he can no longer pursue professional cycling became clear to me quickly when it turned out that the two of them run about four different businesses, including two online shops and a large tent that they rent out via AirBnB. They are both also passionate about traveling and have jumped on the new 'mindfulness' wave, so again, many common topics for what felt like a too-short evening.

We also discussed my further route, and I felt a sense of relief when they suggested that I continue along the coast instead of heading towards Hoorn and then visit the islands. Apparently, I had already resisted leaving the coast internally, and this gave me another push to stick to my original plan and enjoy this beautiful region a little longer :)

Shortly before going to bed, things got a little philosophical, and when talking about headwind, we realized that the phrase 'where the wind takes you' can literally apply to cycling ;)

Then I had to promise that the next morning I would say hello to the boys before the oldest one had to go to school because he really wanted to meet me - such a heartwarming evening!