The Preamble

Dimmes Doornheim; a lawyer who cycles almost 5000 km. per year. I had automatically presumed a young man or middle aged at the most. But then someone added wealth of merger and acquisition experience to the list of adjectives. I thought; at least one of these has to be wrong.

Well, I was wrong. All the above were true; I realised, when I entered the board room where I met him for the first time. After introductions were done; some work was discussed and I was about to leave; when I had to ask him. Do you really cycle that much in a year? "Yes, it is easy; even you can do it!!" was his prompt reply. A man in his mid 60s with super integrity and energy that was the conclusion I drew from that meeting.

I think that on that day destiny and stage was set for a trip and experience of a lifetime. We both met again at the brainstorming of session where my partners and me were consulting him for our startup. And the fine gentleman had hosted us at his holiday home in Nice, France. And in between sessions where he tore into our ideas, Dimmes and me dwelled on the subject of a cycling trip in Netherlands. It ended with him throwing in an open invitation and I jumping onto it. 

It wasn't until 2019 that the trip finally materialised. Well, we almost had it in 2018 but he met with an accident and broke his wrist. Around last week of April 2019 we started discussing about the possible dates for the cycling trip and finalised for July. A few times we (mostly me) went back and forth on the exact date and finally 17th July was marked as the date of my arrival for the trip.

"Do not buy anything from there; we will buy in Netherlands; better and more affordable" was his strict instruction when I sent him the price of cycle saddle and padded shorts. When I landed at Amsterdam airport he was waiting for me at the station. This was a very kind and generous gesture and also an indication of his confidence in me about losing my way to his place.

A 45 minute train journey and we arrived at 's-Hertogenbosch. A quick visit to his residence where I got to meet Willy. I was put up in a BnB located on Achter de Kan; a lovely place on a street running parallel to Dommel but did not have an active view of the Dommel. The rest of the day was invested in getting me a local number (in case I conveniently lose my way), getting the bicycle repaired and a tourist visit to the St. John's Cathedral. A magnificent gothic architecture which stands tall in the centre of the town. I did miss spotting the angel with the mobile phone.

The magnificent entrance to St. James Cathedral.

The roof of the Nave (204 ft. high)

 The Nave

The bicycle that Dimmes had chosen for me was a light body medium height cycle with 21 gears. We got the cycle out for adjustment of the seat height as well as a checkup of the wheels and tubes. Visit to the bicycle workshop was an experience in itself. We also went to pick up some cycling gear for me at Decathlon and ended the day with an early dinner at his place over a detailed chat for the plan for the coming days. 

The primary task for the next day (18th July 2019) was to check if I can ride the cycle and the cycle will be able to sustain my rusty cycling skills. It was also to be a test to check if I can match the speed and endurance of Dimmes in cycling over a short distance. We started at approximately 1030 in the morning towards Heusden which was 16 kms away. I was in a particularly touristy mood and hence it took close to an hour and a half. I clicked a few photos of open farmlands and Dimmes found this habit / need of mine particularly amusing. A few of the photos on this route were deleted when I captured lots of better photos of rivers and farmlands.

Vestingstad Heusden literally means fortified town. It stands on almost an island formation off Bergse Maas (a man-made canal originating from the river Maas constructed in 1904). It is literally a collection of parking lot for boats. 

One of the Parking Lots

Another view with Windmill in the backdrop

A cheese market

We polished off a delicious lunch. I made a blunder of ordering hot chocolate and was subject to a constant mocking grin from Dimmes through the entire course of time at the cafe. The return trip was over a longer route which circled back to 's-Hertogenbosch over 25 kms. The route ran parallel to a canal for close to 15 kms. The scenic route had an amazing canopy of tall leafy trees on the left and a flowing canal on the right. It was my worthy introduction to the amazing cycling infrastructure that Netherlands offers.

Bicycle routes fortified for bicycle only access

My cycling mentor

The second lap of the day's trip took the same time as lap 1 despite being almost double in length. We can attribute this to straight route with minimal touristy inclinations. 

The day was not over once we reached 's-Hertogenbosch. Dimmes had arranged for a boat ride through the Binnendieze of the historic town. It was a one of a kind experience for me. Built for defensive and transportation purposes the maze of canals runs through the city under the buildings and churches. I was the only person who did not understand Dutch and the tour lead was kind enough to use English wherever possible. The route was lined with flower decorated walls; passed below hotels and the town hall. There was a place where the bride could alight in secrecy before getting married. 

The best seat on the boat for the person who can't speak Dutch

The answer for a stupid question

Over the water but under the buildings

Reflections or Time warp in memory

The end of the boat tour marked out a visual for me which was to be repeated through the entire cycling trip. Dimmes at an ice-cream parlour. His voracious capacity for licking, gulping and guzzling down ice-cream was a skill that I was not made aware of till now. I got introduced to it at the most opportune moment and I latched on to it with full comradeship.

The key take away from the day was that I could cycle at a pace acceptable to Dimmes and he could tolerate me for 8 hours at a stretch. He went at great lengths to explain the plan for the next few days in detail and I was ready for an experience of a lifetime.