So arriving in Holland on Saturday morning 21 May, I'll begin with a quick visit to Beverwijk just the other side of the river from the ferry landing.
This is to buy a Dutch pay as you go SIM card (can't have huge data bills while abroad) and also to buy a rail ticket from the nearby Inter City station for a journey one week later on Saturday 28 May (more about that below).
Then the tour is underway with an approximate first day distance of just 50 miles along the western coast of Holland heading North to the last town of Den Helder.
From there, I hop onto the Texel (pronounced Tessel) ferry for a short journey to my first island. A night in the largest village on the island awaits in Den Burg. I've pre-booked something to eat and a bed in the village.
Sunday is a day of island touring, cycling around the perimeter of Texel and visiting the six villages on the island. If you want to know more about Texel, including their world famous Texel Sheep, its all here.... https://www.texel.net/en/
A second night on Texel and then an early start as I make my way back to the mainland and around the north side to Den Oever where one of the World's greatest feat of 1920s engineering awaits my focus... the 20 mile long Afsluijt dyke, a roadway built across the sea, keeping the North Sea out and forming a large stretch of inland water known as the Isselmeer, a venue for sailing boats of all types.
I have crossed this before from North to South in a force 9 gales returning from Denmark to Amsterdam some three years ago and it is an endurance test in bad weather. I'm hoping for calm south westerlies if anything to ease my way across to Harlingen to catch the 15:00 ferry to Terschelling to spend 24 hours on this beautiful serene place.
Food and lodgings are booked. Following onto Terschelling, I catch another afternoon ferry heading south west again towards and landing on Vlieland, a traffic free island with a tiny population.
After a late arrival, probably not much time but to eat and prepare for a quick morning tour of Vlieland and a 12 noon ferry back to the mainland and arriving again in the bustling seaside town of Harlingen.
Cycling onwards toward Holwerd, another ferry awaits to take me over to an island I have visited a few years ago. Its another Dutch gem, Ameland with its beautiful lighthouse, dunes and traffic free cycle ways.
This will mark my half way point of my adventure and that means of course four bags full of sweaty cycle kit which dictates that the evening will be spent in the laundry room of my accommodation getting everything fresh again for the second half of the journey.
Only five towns here on Ameland, so Thursday is spent exploring these and as many coffee shops as I can fit in!
Leaving Ameland early Friday hopefully with lovely clean and dry kit, I would like to catch the 07:30 ferry (the service is only every three hours) so back on the mainland for around 08:30 where I'll make my way to Lauwersoog to catch a ferry to the fifth and final island of my tour visiting Schiermonnikoog.
Its another virtually traffic free island of small population and the widest beach in Europe. (that's widest, not wildest !)
After an afternoon touring Schiermonnikoog and an evening in a converted stately home, its back to the ferry port for a Saturday morning short ride to a small Dutch village of Winsum about 15 miles north of Groningen.
I had planned cycling into the city but I always, just always, get lost in big cities. So I'm catching a little local train to take me into Groningen.
From there it's an InterCity day off the bike resting up with Dutch rail taking me from the very North East of Holland to tonight's destination University city of Leiden in the South west.
I haven't booked the rail ticket yet as it says on the Dutch rail website that there are works planned that weekend and if there is bus replacements then I'm a bit stuffed really.
It is also Champions League Final night that evening between the two Madrid teams competing in Milan for the trophy, so a Dutch Grolsch "bier" and a steak followed by football sounds the perfect way to conclude with just a short western coast seaside ride along from Leiden via Katwijk, Noordwijk, Zandvoort and Bloemendaal and into IJmuiden for the Sunday teatime ferry back to Newcastle.
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