Heading out of Leiden on a loop ride to the beach along the North Sea. The reddish pavement is a dedicated bike lane with signals for bikes at crossroads. Stay to the right in your lane. 60 euro fine for riding the wrong way on a divided path!

We made it out of Leiden without getting killed!! Not knowing all the rules of bike paths was a bit nerve-wracking. Once the traffic let up, we found a snack shop for a break with Diet Coke & and a toilette. Don’t laugh, they are not always available & the credit cards don’t work for less than $1 & we don’t carry local currency. So the trick is to buy something & add the 50 cents for using the toilette.

Our ride to the beach took us through an area of sand dunes. The day was sunny, temp reached low 60’s and a breeze kept us cool.

This is a two way road?? Bikes stay to the right on the red pavement. Scooters, wheelchairs & other wheeled conveyances stay to the right. On this stretch we were passed by a backhoe & many cars. The drivers are actually really patient.

We found some tulip fields on our bike rides. Unfortunately the season is nearing the end and many fields have been chopped and are being prepared for planting. The colors in the fields still blooming were brilliant!

The front of this bulb planting tractor prepares the rows with 20” horizontal slots. There’s a wooden crate of bulbs on the front that keeps the hopper full. This tractor can plant 8000 bulbs in 11 minutes! There were 61,000 acres planted in 2023.

There are many bike routes that are numbered with green signs and arrows. Finding the signs was challenging at times, not all were this obvious. Some were low to the ground, others on the opposite side of the road, and sometimes there were just distractions. We missed a few and did a bit of backtracking.

This is the route we followed to the beach! Those green circles are the bike route numbers we looked for. We did good until we missed a turn on 16 heading back to the starting point. Google maps worked well to get us back when we lost the route.

We came across these 3 golfers along the bike path. The course had a couple holes just off the path. Courses here welcome visitors, but some require you take an etiquette test & proof of a 24 or less handicap.

We continue to see a variety of folks sharing the bike paths! We weren’t quite sure how to pass the horses, just followed the bikers in front. The horses didn’t seem to notice us.

This is one of many cobblestone lanes that are shared by bikes, pedestrians and vehicles. Families are riding with kids in cargo bikes, kids sitting or standing on the back rack, top tube or kids riding their own bikes. All appeared to be riding safely.

This is a common sight. It’s the entrance to a bike parking garage. The train stations have the most spaces. Utrecht has space for 22,000 bikes. Truly bikes are everywhere.