[Home]     Cycling Down the Rhine Friday 8th September 2017 Vlaardingen to Home We awoke at the Ibis hotel to find the run of good weather we had enjoyed this trip had ended. We looked out of our 5th floor window to a scene of wild wind and rain. Bleak indeed. Ah well, better on the last day than on the preceding 20 days, eh. After breaking our fast we packed up for the last time and donned our full weather-proof gear, long cycling tights, rain jacket, and those dreadful overshoes which were too small to go on without a herculean struggle. Anyway suitably togged up we set off into the cold, wind and rain. Wet, windy and miserable Full waterproofs for the final stretch Fortunately it wasn't so bad once we got going. The wind wasn't in completely the opposite direction and the rain stopped mostly, becoming just a series of blustery showers. Route finding wasn't too bad either and the final stretch along the North bank of the river (the Nieuwe Maas in name but still one of the final outflowings of the Rhine) was a beautifully smooth, traffic-free cycle-way taking us all the way to the ferry terminal. Arriving at the Hook of Holland Not that that was where we stopped. The guide to the Rhine Cycle Route (Eurovelo 15) ends with a note about a final extension... 'having cycled this far it would be a pity not to go all the way to the sea...'. There is a huge breakwater at the very pointed-most bit of the Hook of Holland, jutting out into the North Sea and topped with a cycleable concrete track extending 1 km into the sea. The book calls this breakwater a mole, and after nearly three weeks of cycling we couldn't finish without riding to the very end of the mole. At the end of the mole Looking back to Andermatt Andrew's journey's end Not ideal conditions with the wind whipping along and the rain making a comeback. We rode halfway and came to a sign warning it could be dangerous to continue in adverse circumstances, but on we went undaunted and finally got to the bit where you could cycle no further. Done it! Yippee! The End of the Rhine Ride A couple of photos then it was back to the ferry terminal, a cup of tea in the same greasy spoon we'd patronised on our previous Holland trip, then onto the ferry where I am now. UK in another four hours or so. Just 16 miles today making the total 885.07 miles. But then we rode about a mile after getting off the ferry to Morrison's car park where my wonderful wife, Trisha, was waiting to collect us - thanks, beloved! So let's call it 886 miles overall.