Day 1/2 Wednesday/Thursday, May 25/26, 2011
Ottawa to Toronto to Amsterdam to Rotterdam
Cycling: Trip 73.79 kms Time 5:40:07 Average 13.01 kph
I have a bit of time to spare before setting off for Brussels today, Friday, May 27, 2011, so I thought I would take the opportunity to start off my first report of how my trip is going so far.
My daughter dropped me off at Ottawa International Airport at 6:30 Wednesday, May 25. When I checked in at WestJet for my flight to Toronto, Jennifer, the WestJet agent, asked me how many bags I was checking. I said "3 bags and my bicycle". She then told me that the first bag was free and she would have to charge me $20 for the 2nd bag and $50 for the 3rd bag. She wasn't sure how much to charge for the bike. I mentioned AirTransat allowed 23kg for baggage and charged $30 for the bike. She then agreed to charge me $50 for the whole lot. Since I had only paid $79 plus taxes for my flight to TO I decided not to argue with her and paid the $50.
My bike and bags were waiting for me to be picked up when I deplaned in TO. I then had to wait 3.5 hours before I could check in at AirTransat for my flight to Amsterdam which departed at 18:20. Fortunately I was able to put my panniers and bike on a trolley which only cost $2.00 to rent.
Eventually when AirTransat ticket agents arrived I was 3rd in line waiting to check in. As expected I was charged $30 for shipping my bike from TO to Amsterdam. I then had to take my bike and panniers over to "oversize baggage" which was right next to the AirTransat checkin counter and put them on the oversize belt so they could be put through the x-ray machine for scanning. The security agent was a petite Philipinno lady and she asked me to do all the heavy lifting including having to go around the back of the x-ray machine to fetch one of my panniers as it hadn't properly registered on the machine.
There were a few empty seats on the Airbus A-300 and since I had pre-booked my seat at the rear of the plane where there were only two seats together I ended up sitting by myself. This allowed me to get a bit of sleep/rest before arriving in Amsterdam at 7:45 AM Thursday as I intended to cycled from Amsterdam to Rotterdam on arrival. The flight arrived 30 minutes early. After retrieving my panniers and bicycle, which all arrived in good shape, I cleared customs but not before being stopped by a customs officer who wanted to know where my bike came from. After telling him it came from Ottawa/Toronto he waved me on through.
It took me almost and hour to unwrap my bike, put the pedals back on and reset the handlebars and pump up the tires. I then changed into my cycling gear in a nearby washroom, programmed the GPS for Rotterdam (it took forever to calculate the route) and by 9:00 AM local time I was ready to set off.
Temperature was around 14 C but with the windchill factor it felt like 5 C. Man was it ever windy. Especially on one strectch of the route where I had to circle around a lake. I was almost blown off my bike several times. At times the head wind was so strong I could only pedal at about 12 kph. I had to stop several times to rest my legs which were becoming quite sore from the extra effort of having to constantly pedal against such a strong head wind. Add to that the fact that it would start raining for 10-15 minutes then clear up again. This happened several times. I eventually arrived in Rotterdam at 4 PM after a very strenuous cycling trip. Thank goodness it was all flat with well paved bicycle paths and quiet rural roads all the way. I must say though, that going through intersections and round-abouts was quite an ordeal, especially when making a left hand turn.
I cycled to a B&B which George Steeves had recommended but unfortunately it was fully booked. I then tried to find the local Youth Hostel but for some strange reason it was not to be found. GPS problem I think? On the way I had spotted a couple hotels so decided to go back and check them out. The first, The Bernier, was a 3 star hotel and they wanted 95 Euros for a single room with breakfast. I was able to negotiate the price down to 70 Euros without breakfast but still felt that was a bit to pricey. I then cycled to the next hotel which was a 2 star and only charged 50 Euros with breakfast for a single room. I decided that this was acceptable and checked in. The single room turned out to be up on the 4th floor with the elevator only going up to the 3rd floor. Negotiating the steep rather narrow stairs with all my baggage was to be my next challenge. I did managed to drag my sorry ass and my panniers up my room which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. It was so small you couldn't even swing a cat around in it. Even a monk's cell was larger than this sorry excuse for a single room. By this time I was so exhausted from the cycling and the stair climbing that I decided it would have to do and after all it was only for one night.
Well I'll have to sign off for now as I want to go back to the shop I found last night while I was out looking for a place to eat. I have to go back and see if I can get my European cellphone re-activated before setting off for Brussels.
I must apologize for any spelling errors, etc. I am using my daughter's NetBook which she has so kindly agreed to loan me for my trip, and it is proving to be quite a challenge. It keeps skipping back to a previous spot for some unexplicable reason. There it just did it again!!!!
Bye for now.
Ottawa to Toronto to Amsterdam to Rotterdam
Cycling: Trip 73.79 kms Time 5:40:07 Average 13.01 kph
I have a bit of time to spare before setting off for Brussels today, Friday, May 27, 2011, so I thought I would take the opportunity to start off my first report of how my trip is going so far.
My daughter dropped me off at Ottawa International Airport at 6:30 Wednesday, May 25. When I checked in at WestJet for my flight to Toronto, Jennifer, the WestJet agent, asked me how many bags I was checking. I said "3 bags and my bicycle". She then told me that the first bag was free and she would have to charge me $20 for the 2nd bag and $50 for the 3rd bag. She wasn't sure how much to charge for the bike. I mentioned AirTransat allowed 23kg for baggage and charged $30 for the bike. She then agreed to charge me $50 for the whole lot. Since I had only paid $79 plus taxes for my flight to TO I decided not to argue with her and paid the $50.
My bike and bags were waiting for me to be picked up when I deplaned in TO. I then had to wait 3.5 hours before I could check in at AirTransat for my flight to Amsterdam which departed at 18:20. Fortunately I was able to put my panniers and bike on a trolley which only cost $2.00 to rent.
Eventually when AirTransat ticket agents arrived I was 3rd in line waiting to check in. As expected I was charged $30 for shipping my bike from TO to Amsterdam. I then had to take my bike and panniers over to "oversize baggage" which was right next to the AirTransat checkin counter and put them on the oversize belt so they could be put through the x-ray machine for scanning. The security agent was a petite Philipinno lady and she asked me to do all the heavy lifting including having to go around the back of the x-ray machine to fetch one of my panniers as it hadn't properly registered on the machine.
There were a few empty seats on the Airbus A-300 and since I had pre-booked my seat at the rear of the plane where there were only two seats together I ended up sitting by myself. This allowed me to get a bit of sleep/rest before arriving in Amsterdam at 7:45 AM Thursday as I intended to cycled from Amsterdam to Rotterdam on arrival. The flight arrived 30 minutes early. After retrieving my panniers and bicycle, which all arrived in good shape, I cleared customs but not before being stopped by a customs officer who wanted to know where my bike came from. After telling him it came from Ottawa/Toronto he waved me on through.
It took me almost and hour to unwrap my bike, put the pedals back on and reset the handlebars and pump up the tires. I then changed into my cycling gear in a nearby washroom, programmed the GPS for Rotterdam (it took forever to calculate the route) and by 9:00 AM local time I was ready to set off.
Temperature was around 14 C but with the windchill factor it felt like 5 C. Man was it ever windy. Especially on one strectch of the route where I had to circle around a lake. I was almost blown off my bike several times. At times the head wind was so strong I could only pedal at about 12 kph. I had to stop several times to rest my legs which were becoming quite sore from the extra effort of having to constantly pedal against such a strong head wind. Add to that the fact that it would start raining for 10-15 minutes then clear up again. This happened several times. I eventually arrived in Rotterdam at 4 PM after a very strenuous cycling trip. Thank goodness it was all flat with well paved bicycle paths and quiet rural roads all the way. I must say though, that going through intersections and round-abouts was quite an ordeal, especially when making a left hand turn.
I cycled to a B&B which George Steeves had recommended but unfortunately it was fully booked. I then tried to find the local Youth Hostel but for some strange reason it was not to be found. GPS problem I think? On the way I had spotted a couple hotels so decided to go back and check them out. The first, The Bernier, was a 3 star hotel and they wanted 95 Euros for a single room with breakfast. I was able to negotiate the price down to 70 Euros without breakfast but still felt that was a bit to pricey. I then cycled to the next hotel which was a 2 star and only charged 50 Euros with breakfast for a single room. I decided that this was acceptable and checked in. The single room turned out to be up on the 4th floor with the elevator only going up to the 3rd floor. Negotiating the steep rather narrow stairs with all my baggage was to be my next challenge. I did managed to drag my sorry ass and my panniers up my room which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. It was so small you couldn't even swing a cat around in it. Even a monk's cell was larger than this sorry excuse for a single room. By this time I was so exhausted from the cycling and the stair climbing that I decided it would have to do and after all it was only for one night.
Well I'll have to sign off for now as I want to go back to the shop I found last night while I was out looking for a place to eat. I have to go back and see if I can get my European cellphone re-activated before setting off for Brussels.
I must apologize for any spelling errors, etc. I am using my daughter's NetBook which she has so kindly agreed to loan me for my trip, and it is proving to be quite a challenge. It keeps skipping back to a previous spot for some unexplicable reason. There it just did it again!!!!
Bye for now.
web page creation so for so good and design of web page perfect .........
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Glad you made it OK, Roly. Sounds like a very strenuous ride around the lake. I'll have a beer and a Swiss Melt for you tonight ;)
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