bicycle seat views

Last Day: Ossining to NYC

June 30, 2023 by bicycleseatviews

It never fails, the last kilometre (or in this case mile) feels the longest.

We left Ossining following our hosts directions to avoid the steepest hills. We weaved our way back to the trail past a certain former President’s golf course and followed it alternating between old rail trails and the side of a very busy highway. The rail trails hid the city from us and we didn’t really feel like we were out of suburbia until “mile 0” of the South County Trailway. Yesterday had an air quality advisory but we didn’t really notice being in the mountains but today, the air was pretty thick with smoke so we took it easy, only having around 60kms to go for the whole day.

Not long after we hit mile 0 we were in an urban park, a quick right to follow the Empire State Trail sign and we were literally looking at Broadway.

We followed the route through the city, across to the Hudson Greenway, along the Hudson, weaving around the freeway and parks.

On Zwift (the animated virtual cycle training program) there’s a NYC map we’ve ridden many times, it’s the Central Park loop but it adds some glass ramps and fictional features, we wanted to ride the real one so we went up West 96th St. to Central Park and rode for a bit. Just like on Zwift, there were a lot of people riding, some fast, some slow, some right in your way (in real life you have to avoid them).

We left Central Park on 7th Ave, past Times Square on our way to the Battery. There are some good bike lanes but between construction and people parking and stopping in them, it’s challenging. I had an interesting situation on 7th Ave when my shoe wouldn’t unclip from my pedal. I had to take my shoe off to detach from the bike and then take the pedal (along with the shoe) off of my bike in order to get the shoe to release. I guess one of the screws holding the cleat in broke and made it so when I twisted to release, the cleat would swivel on the other screw. I’ll be able to fix it but for the rest of the day, no clipping that foot in!

We decided to head towards the ferry terminal. We planned to meet Laura and Peter at the ferry terminal in New Jersey so we got the ferry (which was pretty easy) and met them on time as planned.

All told it was a great trip! The trail was better than I thought. The US is a good place to tour. The frequent restaurants and gas stations mean you’re never far from some food but often far from good food. It’s hard to compare prices then vs. now but I felt like France was easier and less expensive to tour in (of course you have the cost to get there!). We met lots of really nice people along the way who were happy to help. The tire patch we made at the transmission shop on the second day is still holding!

Sebastian Junger talks about why veterans miss war. It’s not the killing or threat of being killed but the idea of small groups of people taking care of each other and tackling difficult situations together. It’s a cool part of travelling this way to be able to experience that, especially with Harry!

66 KM logged for Day 8, Trip total: 983 KM

Harry’s Comments:
Best thing of the day: Accomplishing our goal, site-seeing in NYC
Worst thing of the day: when the bike lane just ended or when delivery trucks just park in the middle of the road.
Best food of the day: Dark Side of the Moo burgers

Just before I ended up briefly shoeless in Times Square

Weehawken, Dawn, Guns, Drawn…. Hamilton (the musical) reference.

Day 7: Kingston to Ossining

June 29, 2023 by bicycleseatviews

Last night, after writing the blog, I started looking at places to stay for tonight. It was supposed to be clear so we could camp but there are no campgrounds around. We could get a hotel again but I think we’ve left the decent hotel with free breakfast rural America behind in favour of expensive or not decent. I looked on Warm Showers (warmshowers.org)

Warm Showers is a site for bicycle tourists to host and be hosted while touring. I found one in Ossining and the host agreed. We are hosts at our home as well and have met lots of really great people as hosts and as guests. On this trip, there haven’t been hosts in places we’ve wanted to stay so this is the first time. Accommodation options range from a place to put your tent to a private room with meals and anything in between. Tonight we are camping in their backyard and that is exactly what we couldn’t find elsewhere!

After hearing back from our host this morning, we had to get ambitious about the 149km ride with over 700m of climbing! We left Kingston on a gravel trail towards New Paltz where the path went on the road and then joined a really nice paved trail leading to the Hudson River Walk. We stopped to look at a trail map sign and while almost stopped I lost my balance on some coarse stone and fell.

I cut my knee but otherwise no harm done. It makes me nervous touring because
one fall could end the trip and you’re far from
medical attention. Anyways, neither of those things were an issue today. I used an antiseptic wipe from our first aid kit and kept going. The sunscreen getting in the cut was the worst part which is pretty good!

We got to the Hudson River Walk which was amazing and safe! The other bridges over the Hudson so far have been a little sketchy for bikes but this one was only bikes and walking so stopping for a photo was no problem. Before this trip, I knew the Hudson was a big deal because it goes through New York City and had to be physically big because Sully Sullenberger landed an airliner in it, but it’s big! Like ocean ships big, like border crossing size bridge big.

After crossing the Hudson we started on a mountain railroad rail trail, lots of climbing but never super steep because the steel train wheels on steel tracks can only handle so much grade so they had to smooth out the climbs and descents. After a while, we got to a crest and then a sweet downhill for probably 20kms.

We stopped for first lunch which was bagels and peanut butter we brought from the hotel
Breakfast knowing it would be a while
before a town. At that time we were down to about 80km to go. It always seems like we’re making good time in the morning, then stops or repairs or whatever just seem to take the pace away in the afternoon.

After the bagel stop we passed Green Haven Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison. I don’t think you would see the side we saw from the road. We saw nothing extraordinary but huge concrete walls with guard towers, razor wire fence around the basketball court, just like the movies, we both agreed it was larger than we would have expected.

We continued mostly downhill until Brewster where we had a real lunch at 3pm and talked to some other bike tourers who were also on their way to “The City”, these folks from Troy (North of Albany). After lunch we kept riding, passing through a few towns but I was amazed for how close we are to such a huge city, how rural it feels. I think it’s because the mountains naturally limit sprawl.

We stopped at a grocery store to get supplies for supper and headed towards Ossining, which is home to another famous prison but we didn’t choose our route based on either!
Ossining is a nice town and our host has a very nice property on Beach Rd. His property actually has deeded access to the beach on the Hudson which is no longer there. There are four electrified train tracks where the beach once was. When we arrived , we had a great visit and shared stories about bike touring (he’s biked across America twice along with countless other trips).

We’re in our tent now and ready for tomorrow we finally get to NYC, 58kms to Central Park! Our host gave us some route advice and we’re looking forward to meeting Laura and Peter there.

149 KM logged for Day 7

Harry’s Comments:
Best thing of the day: the long descents
Worst thing of the day: the long climbs
Best food of the day: 2nd lunch burger

We try to leave the trail better than we found it… cleaning up after yesterday’s storm

I don’t know if you can see it, but it was an elect William Murray for a local government role on June 27th….like Groundhog Day all over again.

Matt and Harry: Cultural Learnings of America Bicycle Vacation For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Canada

Day 6: Rensselaer to Kingston

June 28, 2023 by bicycleseatviews

This morning started when our hotel breakfast did at 7:30. Trying to manage not camping in the rain and the frugal spirit of bike camping isn’t easy. This particular hotel helped us have some conversations about drugs and addiction.

We started a hilly first few kilometres through town and eventually found the Albany-Hudson Electric Rail Trail which was really nice and took us about half of our day.

We went through Kinderhook, the home of Martin Van Buren, and possibly the origin of the expression “ok” though it’s debated. Some historians believe there was an intentional misspelling of ‘all correct’ to ‘oll korrect’ (ok) much the same as we millennials wrote “kewl” as an intentional misspelling. Others believe that in Van Buren’s 1840 campaign he was nicknamed OK because he was from Old Kinderhook and he supporters organized OK clubs and noted the presidential hopeful was OK. I don’t know the answer, and that’s the history lesson of the day.

I’ve also found the number of Dutch place names in this area to be interesting. I know there are many but I haven’t researched them all. Living close to London, Ontario which has it’s own Thames River makes me wonder it it was a similar laziness in naming or whether there is a geographical significance.

Anyways… we rode until the end of the trail at Hudson. We had lunch at a very authentic Polish deli then followed the Empire State route out of town. We continued along in light rain for a while, then it got heavy. We were lucky enough to be close to a fruit farm and pulled under their stand. They said we could go wait out the storm in their shop so we bought some cherries and sat in there for an hour and a bit until it returned to light rain. We asked them for a route recommendation and headed out.

We passed orchards and field crops along the way to Red Hook where the rain picked up again. We found a pavilion at a church to wait it out and kept going to the Kingston Bridge. That is a huge bridge! We made it across, had a nice ride down the valley to the harbour at the base of Kingston’s Main Street. We got Mexican food for supper but oh the horror, they put lettuce on Harry’s quesadilla. I never knew there would be lettuce on a quesadilla. Would you have known someone might put lettuce on a quesadilla? We took off what we could and I got a nice side salad out of it! We biked to our hotel, had a swim and called it a night, hoping for a dry day to get a few more kms tomorrow.

117 KM logged for Day 6

Harry’s Comments:
Best thing of the day: Eating cherries at the farm
Worst: all the rain
Best Food: cherries

Maybe not the best photo but there is some really nice old example of higher density housing in these towns.

To Rip Van Winkle bridge. All I can think is rollin’ in the 5.0.

Day 5: Little Falls to Albany (Rensselaer)

June 27, 2023June 27, 2023 by bicycleseatviews

Well today went a little different than we expected!

Last night we planned to get an early start because it was supposed to rain hard in the afternoon. We planned to end our riding for the day in Amsterdam which would have been a 66km ride. We don’t book ahead usually because sometimes you don’t make it, sometimes you can go further. There were a couple of hotel options in Amsterdam including the Amsterdam Castle which was recommended to us by others who had done the Erie Canal Trail.

We heated up our leftover pizza for breakfast and left Little Falls early. Little Falls is a town with classic architecture and as the name might suggest, falls in the river that goes through town.

If anyone is thinking they want to do part of this route, the section from Ilion to Albany is the best (in our opinion). The route, if not paved, is well maintained gravel but 95% paved, good scenery etc.

We got to Amsterdam at around noon, checked out the castle and looked for a lunch spot. Many restaurants seemed to be closed Mondays and Tuesdays but we found Guge’s Dogs. Harry’s burger was on a “hard roll” which was really good and I tried the most popular loaded up hot dog. It was excellent, and good value!

We looked at the forecast and thought if the storms pass we could get more riding in after. So we started in light rain and made it until Pattersonville when the storm was coming. We waited at a gas station until the rain was light again then left.

We got to Schenectady just behind the rain and decided we could make it to Albany. Google Maps proposed a shortcut through the city, but in most cases, taking the longer trail is better than a busy road!

We followed the trail until the East-West trail we had been following ended at the North-South one we’d take to NYC. The route worked its way through suburbs of Albany then to the Albany waterfront. We thought if we’re this close we should check out the Capitol. Getting from the river to the Capitol building is a very steep hill but it’s a cool downtown. We had to cross the Hudson to get to our hotel. The normal path up to the bike lane on the Interstate Highway Bridge was closed and the detour wasn’t super clear but we figured it out and made it to our hotel.
Across the road was a sushi restaurant so we got cleaned up and went there for supper.

151 KM logged for Day 5

Harry’s Comments:
Best thing of the day: going 85km further than we planned
Worst thing of the day: trying to find the bridge detour
Best food of the day: the burger!

We passed some huge campuses, GE Research and a Nuclear Research

Day 4: Canastota to Little Falls

June 27, 2023 by bicycleseatviews

This morning we set our alarms for 5:30 am, got breakfast as soon as we could and got on the road at 6:45, we were trying to beat a round of afternoon storms and still get a full day in.

We got to Oneida, famous for the Oneida Community (cough… cult) that evolved into a dinnerware brand. They had just started on a construction project that took out the bike bridge and the road bridge we could have used and sent us on quite a detour almost as far back west as we’d started the day. Oh well, we had no choice but to take the detour.

We worked our way back to the trail. We started the day following an abandoned section of the Old Erie Canal, then meeting the new Canal at lock 21 where we met at least 4 groups of cyclists packing up their camp from the night before.

We didn’t really stop to eat except some dried sausages from a Dollar General… gotta get that protein!

In between Rome and Utica was surprisingly the worst trail we’ve encountered so far. Not well maintained, double track through the forest with long grass. It was a steep contrast to the end of the day which was definitely some of the best.

One sure thing about this trip is that Harry is definitely stronger than me now. I have been struggling with Achilles pain since the start of this trip. Most cycling is fine, I just have to watch how hard I push. Harry’s been carrying bags and leading into the headwinds, making sure I’m ok, even if it involves an “old man” jab here and there.

The weather called for storms to start at 2pm but when I checked at 1:30, the town we were headed for had a warning for high winds and heavy rain. By the time we got there the front had rolled through. We saw some trees down but we only got a few drops of rain before getting into our hotel.

I used the downtime to catch up on work and then we went to the grocery store to get fruit for tomorrow and a pizza from the place next to our hotel. They are calling for rain tomorrow so we’ll see how far we can go.

105 KM logged for Day 4

Harry’s comments:
Best thing of the day: Missing the storm

Worst thing of the day: Some of the worst trail conditions. Especially really close to cities.

Best food of the day: Pizza! The crust was decent but this was the first “meat lovers” we’ve had.

We stopped to watch the dredging for a
few minutes

Day 3: Macedon to Canastota

June 25, 2023June 26, 2023 by bicycleseatviews

Well nobody seemed to mind us camping at the lock. We didn’t get the best sleep because the lights from the lock area were on all night and a busy-ish road was not far away. Anyways it was proof of concept and maybe looking at the forecast, it could be the only night we camp.

I have done tours in the past where we camped no matter what, either there was no choice or I was being cheap but I really don’t like camping in the rain and putting a wet tent away so the wet forecast says we’ll likely be staying in hotels for a few days.

We left the lock and found a diner to have breakfast. We split a lumberjack breakfast which was really good. One great thing about touring is you can eat almost anything because you burn so many calories, but I can’t ride when I feel full so we usually have a few breaks during the day, no huge meals. Harry enjoyed the local atmosphere and accents with a couple of “good ol’ boy” patrons trying to take an online test, but having trouble getting past the part where he had to write his name, so that was our entertainment.

We alternated between the State Bicycle Route 5 and the Erie Canal Trail. We stopped in Palmyra to see where the first Book of Mormon (the actual one…) was published. We weren’t far from Joseph Smith’s farm either but we didn’t go there.

We worked our way along the canal then had to take Route 5 on a hilly route to Montezuma. We passed a beautiful section of farm land that looked like the Holland Marsh but they were growing corn, soybeans and potatoes.

Along the way we met Max and Kim from Springfield Missouri who were doing the canal trail from Buffalo to Albany, then a group of women from Denver on e-bikes doing the same thing. Later in the day we met a couple of guys from Woodstock, NY who were riding to Buffalo and a few locals caught up to us or stopped us to talk.

Lunch was pizza again in Jordan. It wasn’t as good as yesterday’s but it served the need. I’ve heard Planet Money podcast episodes about parts of rural America being food deserts. As a cyclist you notice that in places because there are lots of places where there is pizza or McDonald’s but no grocery store. If you can drive somewhere with more options it’s a little better, but for us, we have the options at hand or eat our snacks and wait.

We got to Syracuse, past the New York State Fairgrounds, up to a lookout over the city and Lake Onandaga, then down into the city and past what we’d seen from above. The lake smelled worse than it looks but the city looks to be in a renaissance with lots of cool older buildings and features being repurposed.

Riding out of Syracuse was a pain, they made these really nice bike lanes in the middle of a 4 lane road but we had to stop every time there was a traffic light and weave through left turning lanes but had to press a button to cross them. I’m probably not explaining it correctly but we were both really hot after doing that so we had a McDonalds drink break and regrouped. Looking at the weather, it looked like we might not get a full day tomorrow so we would try to go as far as we could today. We decided on Canastota, another 44kms from where we planned but hopefully a help to us in the future. This is not our longest day ever but I think our longest on touring bikes with bags.

We rode into the Old Erie Canal State Park which has the trail going along an abandoned section of trail, narrower than the current one that is in use today (mostly recreational, not commercial). It’s weird to imagine how important that canal would have been, you might wait for your new clothes to arrive on it, or the mail, and what you made at your job would find its way to market on the return voyage. Now it’s overgrown with brush and the stagnant water has plants and algae growing in it. The trail beside was quite nice with a lot of deer who are unafraid of humans.

We stayed on that trail until Canastota and then to our hotel as it’s supposed to thunderstorm tonight. Here’s hoping there will be a window of good weather to get somewhere new tomorrow.

153 KM logged for Day 3

Harry’s Comments:
Best thing about today: It didn’t rain
Worst thing: Trying to get out of Syracuse
Favourite food: lumberjack breakfast

Day 2: Lockport to Macedon

June 24, 2023June 25, 2023 by bicycleseatviews

We started this morning in Lockport, got our free hotel breakfast (you know the one, you can taste it when I say those words), and started riding past the locks and information centre. It was a nice town with a Saturday market / food truck downtown event getting set up.

We needed to stop to get a tube to replace the spare we used yesterday so we planned on a bike shop in Brockport, NY.

Ok, the town names get confusing, so many ports, but we’re biking along this canal that brought commerce to the area so the towns got built around ports and got named accordingly.

On our way to Brockport the trail turned from great pavement to chips and dust about the time it started raining. Chips and dust as a trail surface is fine and riding in the rain is ok but riding in the rain on chips and dust is bad, bad for morale, and bearings.

We decided to detour off the trail and back onto NY Bicycle Route 5 along Route 31. It was a little hilly compared to the trail but not bad and it’s nice to see the front side of farms and businesses instead of the back.

We got to Holley, NY when… we had another flat tire. No problem, just fix it and be on our way BUT… the second spare I had, brand new in the box was Schrader and not Presta (both of our bikes use Presta, might have been the hasty packing, anyways wasn’t going to work).
Luckily at A&M Transmissions in Holley, they had some tire/rubber cement for a car tire and we made a patch out of the other tube and glued it on to keep going. This is a cool thing about bike touring, being resourceful but also just meeting nice people who are happy to help.

We made it to Brockport which is a very nice town and got (correct) spare tubes at the bike shop.

Then, we had some very excellent pizza at Perri’s Pizzeria, Harry got the cup and char pepperoni and I got the bee sting, a honey, chicken, ricotta, barbecue awesomeness.

Our original goal was to get to or just past Rochester but we had no real plan of where to stay. It is sort of legal (I guess) to camp at the locks so we asked at lock 32 and he seemed to support this but we still had energy so we went another 24km to Macedon and set up our tent. We have not been visited by the police yet so I’m hoping it’s ok, I guess we’ll find out.

134 KM logged for Day 2

Harry’s comments:
Best Thing Today: Pizza
Worst Thing Today: Flat Tire
Best food of the day: Pizza

I’m Advil muscle and joint and Sm’Oreos years old

Should I even ride this trail if they aren’t using GreenTec?

The canal helped get the grain from this area to the East Coast. Doesn’t seem like a big deal now but before trucks and rail, this was it!

Trying to dry out out feet, socks and shoes…

Costco right beside the trail for supper!

Ontario to NYC 2023 – Day 1: Hamilton, ON to Lockport, NY

June 24, 2023June 25, 2023 by bicycleseatviews

Ok fine… enough people have asked for a blog we’ll write one. I hadn’t planned to write a blog, I hadn’t really planned this trip either. It was a goal to do this route sometime this summer with Harry, but to fit it in between farming and summer camps, we weren’t quite sure when.

So this past week was a great week on the farm, finally getting our cranberry beans planted and some fertilizer and herbicide applications before some welcome rain! I finished spraying at 9pm on Thursday, got our bikes ready, packed and got a ride to Hamilton with Laura who was going to Mississauga that day.

I like the idea of leaving from home but we had done from home to Hamilton before. So there … that’s why we started in Hamilton.

We got to Hamilton beach and I don’t think we were out of the car for 5 minutes before it started to drizzle… whatever at least it was warm.

We biked along the Lake Ontario shore until Vineland where we went inland towards Jordan. The orchards and vineyards in Niagara always impress me! We rode to St Catherines, where Harry had a flat tire, we had to fix on the side of the road, in the rain. Then up to, and under the Welland Canal. There’s a walkway in the tunnel but that was an experience! If anyone is looking for a great day trip biking, the Welland Canal is a great one, but not the tunnel.

Then we biked to Niagara Falls, all the way down Lundy’s Lane, down Clifton Hill and to the Rainbow Bridge.

A few people have asked about crossing the border on a bike… so I wasn’t sure whether to take the pedestrian walkway or the car lane, there’s no bike lane. We found ourselves in the car lane, then stopped because I wasn’t sure. I went to go back to the pedestrian lane but Harry pointed out a “Share the Road” sign with a picture of a bike so we just stayed in the car lane and crossed that way. The view of the falls from the bridge is really good.

At customs we gave our Nexus cards, had a brief conversation with the border guard and kept going.

For supper we got McDonalds in Niagara Fally NY and continued on to Lockport on NY Bicycle Route 5 which more or less follows a 4 lane road with a wide shoulder.

Lockport is the “official” start of the Erie Canal Trail and it was the right distance so stopped there.

108 KM logged for Day 1

Harry’s comments:
Best thing of the day: Easy crossing the border
Worst thing of the day: A tie between the flat tire in the rain and Google Maps
Best Food of the Day: Ice cream bars from Aldi.

The bike on the ground fixing the tire made a cool mark in the rain.

Watching ships go through lock 7 at Thorold

We didn’t trust our bikes outside long enough to eat inside at McDonald’s so we ate on the grass beside a pawn shop.

2,830km

July 17, 2019June 24, 2023 by bicycleseatviews

To read about our 2019 Europe trip from the beginning start here.

2,830kM

We’re sitting in Dublin airport, finished our (really good) full Irish breakfast and waiting for our flight to Toronto.

Looking back on this trip, it’s been what I expected and more…. and less but altogether great!

I thought we would spend more time in the cities and seeing known sights. We did lots but there’s always more. We could have done fewer kilometres and more sightseeing but I’m really happy with the way it turned out. Honestly without looking at pictures, I forget some of the sights we did see but I remember the interactions with people along the way.

I think cycling really lends itself to being immersed in the place you are cycling. You have lots of time to soak up the environment, burn lots of calories and need to eat what’s available. It’s relatively cheap per day (if you consider equipment a sunk cost and don’t destroy a bike). I also think being vulnerable is a good thing once in a while. Literally not knowing where you will sleep at night or when you will get food next makes us appreciate those things a little more. Doing it in Europe made it a little easier and I’d recommend cycling, especially in the Netherlands to anyone looking for a gateway to bike touring. Switzerland is a little tougher with less cycling infrastructure and more weather and elevation challenges but the mountains are amazing. Everywhere else was great and about what we expected.

When camping we had the chance to experience European camping and the differences between that and Canadian camping. Mostly, there are few campfires and many camper vehicles, especially those with trailers or “camping cars”. They make amazing smelling food all day and then sit outside with wine until dark. I saw no roasted hot dogs, but who am I to say what’s better. We found many people reached out to us, (especially Harry) and we enjoyed our conversations.

When we stayed with Warmshowers hosts, the hospitality was impressive! People dropped their regular schedule and went through the effort and expense of feeding us and offering us beds in their homes. We really loved being in actual homes with actual families. It’s a super authentic experience.

Our friends in France and family in the Netherlands went above and beyond to help us. Travelling with bikes (especially in boxes) is not easy and they did whatever they could to help us. Jeroen and Marjon even drove us to the airport at 6:30 this morning with two vehicles because we and our bikes wouldn’t fit in the same car. We could have taken a bus to the airport or got an airport hotel but they really made it work for us.

Harry enjoyed the trip. I think he was proud of the reactions people gave to the distances we were cycling! He really liked entering new countries and experiencing new things. I think the challenge helped him grow as a little more confident and resilient. American Academic, Angela Duckworth talks about building grit by finding something you’re passionate about, setting hard goals and sticking with them until you achieve them. I don’t know if we followed the textbook but I’m glad we were able to do this together.

I was thinking about how much I remember travelling with my mom and grandparents when I was Harry’s age and I hope we’ll keep these memories for a long time.

Thanks for reading our blog!
Matt and Harry

Final interview with Harry:
Best day of the trip: Getting to Basel (the first time) after a long, hard day, accomplishing our first goal (biking across France) and then taking the train into the mountains in Switzerland and eating schnitzel.
Worst day: He doesn’t have a worst day. There were trying times but he’s trying to plan the next tour already.
Best food: schnitzel in Andermatt (also the most expensive, probably the most deserved)
Worst food: European pizza in general, he’d take a Little Caesars hot n’ready right now!
Best campground experience: the full on soccer game with Spanish kids in Kembs France.
Worst campground experience: 2 foot tall grass and ants in Chaumont Sur Loire.
Best sightseeing: Top of the Oberalp Pass
Best cycling: Netherlands or going down the Oberalp Pass
What are you looking forward to at home?: screen time, burgers, seeing his mom and siblings!

Ootmarsum

July 16, 2019 by bicycleseatviews

Today was a little different than most of the days on our trip. Ria was so nice to take us on a tour of her area and to meet some of the family.

First we took the scenic route from Enschede to Ootmarsum. In Ootmarsum we saw the church, built in the 1200s. I remember seeing this when I was Harry’s age but, there is a cannon ball in the side of the church from 1597 when the Netherlands was at war with Spain. The parish dates back to 800 but the church was destroyed in the 1100s and rebuilt in the 1200s.

Ootmarsum was what my Opa would call his hometown when he was a child. The old buildings are typical of the region. Now it is a tourist town. Many of the old buildings are shops and there are many boutique hotels and campgrounds in the area.

From Ootmarsum, we went to Nutter to Ria’s brother Bert (also a cousin of my mom) and family on their farm. They are milking 80 cows on 26 hectares and they have a kampeer boerderij (camping farm) where they host large groups like schools, scouts, summer camps and sports teams. There are two large eating rooms, a commercial kitchen, hostel style dorms and lots of room on the grass for tents. I think they said they can sleep 60 inside and 150 outside. In November they are selling the farm and camping business to the provincial government and it will be returned to nature as part of a project in the area. They have found another farm that will let them expand in land and cows and provide some more opportunity for their son Jeroen as he takes over. It seems a bit bittersweet as they really take pride in the place they have. I hope everything works well for them.

It wasn’t far from Nutter to Springendal where my Opa grew up. The house where he grew up is still there but that farm has also been sold to the provincial government for naturalization. I really appreciate the opportunity to have seen it one last time before it is removed. There are some other buildings on the farm now but the original one had the living quarters in the barn but separated from the livestock. This design took advantage of the bedding and body heat of the animals to help heat the building in winter. Since there is a newer home on the property, the living quarters have been mostly removed and it’s vacant now.

I remember being there with my Opa when I was 10. He showed me where people stayed with the animals during world war 2. Ria said the farmers in that area were never wealthy but they always had food and in world war 2 many people didn’t and the farmers did what they could to help.

We went to a restaurant near an old water powered grain mill and bakery for lunch. Harry got one last European schnitzel and I had frikandel (a deep fried, breaded hot dog but not a pogo).

After lunch Ria took us to an outdoor museum (think pioneer village). Normally I don’t get too excited about collections of farm equipment where the eras don’t match (this place had that too….) but they did have a replica of the type of house where my Opa grew up in. There was also a bakhuis (baking house like a brick shed with a fired oven in it) typical of farms in the area and a potato shed built into the ground. We also saw a Los hoes, a farm building that was a predecessor to the type of house my Opa grew up in. This was a small barn with cubbies for humans to sleep in and stables for animals. There was a fire pit in the end of the house and no plumbing or indoor toilet.

Ria said this is a very typical Twentse building. She also noted how long the history dates back in this area because the ground is higher than in the rest of the Netherlands so it didn’t need to be drained in order to be farmed.

After the museum, it was time to head back to Alphen aan den Rijn and get packed up to go home tomorrow. We’re excited to see our family and sleep in our own beds!

Matt and Harry

Interview with Harry:
Best: Getting Bitterballen, Schnitzel and Frites one last time
Worst: Busy train
New word: fiets (bicycle)

Church in Ootmarsum from the 1200s
A bit of history
Cannonball from 1597
Ootmarsum today
Inside the dairy barn that will be removed
The house / barn where my Opa grew up
Willy and Ria
Livestock area in the museum house like my Opa’s childhood home
Stables
Dining room
“Bathroom”
Kitchen
Bedroom
Outside the replica.
Los hoes common area
Sleeping cubby
Outside the Los Hoes, note the bordered gardens

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