We partook in the fresh and tasty breakfast buffet and received the morning briefing. Finally set off around 10, and rode first to the Austerlitz Pyramid, a hill with an odelisk built by Napoleon’s men. The ride was primarily along lush and beautiful wooded bike paths, sometimes quite narrow with tall trees on both sides for many kms. The day was also overcast and about 20 degrees cooler than yesterday — yeah!!!
We arrived at the pyramid (which has bumper cars and a few other amusement park staples on the grounds) and were quite disappointed with its banality, but you got to see it all. Rode on through woods and some expansive farmland with many cows and sheep and tall trees to Wijk Bij Duurstede, where we had lunch. We dined (as did everyone) at De Engel, an outdoor cafe on the Market square. Had the Salad of the Week (gorgonzola) which we improved upon by adding chicken.
We rode to the castle at the end of the town and saw a wedding in the large gazebo. The castle was small and much of it had been taken to provide building material for the town, but it was still a nice sight with its drawbridge and moat. The afternoon ride was through pretty Dutch countryside, with a detour into a town or two to see the shops and scenes (neither of which was noteworthy).
We finished up the 53km for the day through the aforementioned bucolic bike paths as the sun began to come out and coasted into the hotel. Today was the first day that we were able to recapture the feelings of exhilaration that we had as children, aware of our new-found independence as we bicycled all over and away from our houses, especially on a summer’s evening!
Dinner was again at the hotel, and started with a shrimp appetizer and an asparagus salad, followed by a lamb entree and pasta primevera. Tasty, but the cheesecake dessert was the best! Some enjoyable conversation w/Charlotte and Michel and Bruce and Gail, then up to our room to allow B & G to continue their email correspondence with their son.