Last night's stopover was as quiet and untrammeled as hoped for and, as a bonus, the trail cam picked up a badger.
I'd been quite jealous of Emma's spin out on the awesome NL cycle network yesterday, so straight after breakfast took a leaf out of her book and did the same.
I've banged on before about just how truly amazing and - to a Brit - counterintuitive it is to have access to such a fantastically constructed and maintained facility; and, furthermore, how it's also the case that the default culture here is that pedestrians and cyclists are afforded an unconditional right to exist. It's actually really difficult to compute given our homegrown just-ram-them-off-the-road mentality, but it really is the way of things. Indeed, at many intersections where cycleways cross roads, your average sit-up-and-beg Dutch commuter doesn't even bother to check for approaching motor vehicles, so secure in the knowledge are they that motor vehicles will just yield. It all just works.
In order to make the very most of the awesome infrastructure opportunities / not to be out-exercised, Emma did yet another ride at today's lunch stop and - and I'm sure quite this was purely by chance - did ten minutes more than I'd done. I have no clue how she can muster the will or energy to consistently grind herself into such a fine paste.
Post lunch we made the trog to Rotterdam's Europort (I remembered the correct port this year), but instead of following the expressway system to the port we took the back roads through the vast industrial complexes that make up this part of Holland. It turned out to be a much less stressful experience and also paid dividends in as much as we witnessed an amazing maritime and engineering spectacle.
As we approached a lift bridge over one of the huge and sprawling port's seaways the lights went on and the barriers closed. The enormous bridge then fully raised its massive central section, complete with four lanes of carriageway, two railway lines, and a pedestrian / cycleway route to allow a huge ship through. The ship was unladen and had a massive air draft. It was also guided through the structure by two tugs, one fore, one aft. The whole operation took about a quarter of an hour and was quite some spectacle. I've said it before, the Dutch can simply do engineering.
Once the bridge had been reinstated we pottered off to the relevant terminal and submitted to the formalities of beginning to repatriate ourselves. That all went smoothly enough and here we now are aboard the ship and due to cast off.
And, that's about it. By the time we get the truck back on the drive tomorrow morning we'll have covered ~3,750 miles. The trip's been highly enjoyable and, at times, quite an adventure.
The truck, once again, has been an extraordinarily loyal and reliable companion, and done absolutely everything asked of it with no grumbles. Three things will need my attention when we get turned around and these are: 1) make a permanent repair to the cab-top seat press stud that came adrift, 2) replace a Really Useful Box that an over-exuberant Ukrainian border control guard broke whilst rummaging, and 3) fit two new MPK roof vents. The original vents have been in situ since 2011 and have basically become fragile and friable with age. I think that if we were to persist with them they'd very soon just crumble away completely and leave 2 x 280x280mm holes in the roof. Not good.
Thanks for reading!
Post composed at 22:30 on Tuesday 26th August from MV CashCow @ N 51.94455°, E 04.13076° / http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:51.94455%2C04.13076