Day 6 - Appelscha
Today starts with a scientific experiment. I rode 5 miles into a headwind and noted my average speed. I then turned around and rode 5 miles with a tailwind back to where I started, again noting my average speed. With a 15mph wind the difference on my average speed in each direction was 6mph.
Today I blindly followed my satnav and did an extra 10 miles.
Which of the two statements above is more likely to be correct? In any event it provided me with a 100km day.
Before I started my science experiment I rode through Appelscha old town to get pictures with blue skies though a stubborn single cloud wasn't playing my game.
I pause ready to do my extra 10 miles. When the barrier dropped I was off and nothing, not even common sense, was going to stop me.
My extra 10 miles provided a clear view of the flat expanse that is part of the Netherlands. Back on track it was a different story with winding back lanes and even windier paths through forests.
The route does three sides of a square. Resisting the temptation to take the obvious shortcut I follow the route to be rewarded with another windmill.
Having re-enforced the windmill view of the Netherlands I am now trying to dispel the image people have of the Netherlands as being flat and featureless so here are some typical photos from today.
Here someone has provided a nesting site and a pair of storks are feeding their two chicks.
Tonight's accommodation is just what I was ready for. My no-nonsense host greeted me as I rolled up, showed me the seperate guest annexe, agreed to an 8am breakfast and left me to my evening. Bliss.
I tried bitterballen for a lunchtime snack. I knew they were a Dutch classic by name only and had assumed them to be a sweet donut ball type foodstuff. They are in fact a shredded beef ball-shaped croquet; very soft on the inside and crispy breadcrumbs on the exterior with a tangy mustard dressing to cut through the slight greasyiness.
