We detoured briefly to Delft on our way to the campground near Leiden. Denise wanted to see it, and although it was a holiday and the Delft porcelain factory was closed, she was expecting a quiet small town. It turned out to be a day of races with hordes of people. We parked not far from the center of town in a huge park by a lake and bicycled in. The wonderful Dutch bike trails soon delivered us into town and yes, Delft really does look like a post card, complete with a leaning tower and, of course, canals.

We found a quiet side street to park our bikes, being careful not to join the bikes already in the canal!

We then worked our way to the main square or “Markt” and found it blocked off with metal railings for the various races. We wandered a little, admiring the old buildings in the medieval trading center or “Waag.” There was the house with butter above it (for butter trading), one with cows’ heads (for meat), and fish etc. And of course the Town Hall.

We enjoyed watching the children’s race around the Markt,

The highlight of our morning was finding a wonderful waffle restaurant. Two cups of coffee, and two different styles of waffle (Brussels and Liegois) later, we were able to face the crowds celebrating Ascension Day.(https://wafelsenzoenen.nl/Menu/)

Fortified with coffee, we could enjoy a bit of whimsy in the local shops. (We have friends with dogs who would especially enjoy these images!)

We found a stand selling Bitterballen, which Fred really likes, and nibbled on some before heading back to the bikes to get back to the truck. Or trying to! We found our route back blocked with another race, adults this time. But we did eventually succeed.

We then made our way to the campground outside of Leiden, our base while we attempted to repair our bikes.

The next day, the ride into Leiden was delightful, with a beautiful section across the polder. We found the GoCycle dealer, but we were not able to see the technician who knew GoCycles until late in the afternoon as his cat was very ill. As cat lovers, we were very patient.

We set out to spend a pleasant day in Leiden, a beautiful town full of canals, canal side cafes and restaurants and wonderful ice-cream shops! For Americans, it has a special importance as many of the Pilgrims lived here before the famous voyage to Massachusetts. We started with a canal cruise which showed us even more of the traditional architecture and history of the town.

By the time we finally found the Pilgrim Museum, it was too full for us to get in. So we headed back to the GoCycle dealer.

The tech consulted with GoCycle headquarters in the UK, removed the mother board, and determined that it was corroded and would have to be replaced. Naturally, he had none in stock and, due to holiday weekends, he was unsure when he would receive it.

Our ride back to the campground was applauded by this feathered friend.

The following day we returned to town for the Saturday market. Denise was greatly in need of various food items as we had still not been able to find a supermarket. We had also noted that the Dutch prefer to be paid in cash whenever possible, which had not been the case in the UK or in France. Our route to the market passed through one of the old gates.

After the ride, we of course had to fortify ourselves with more pancakes and coffee, serenaded by a giant rolling music box, complete with animated figures.

We then explored the market and shopped till we dropped. Compared to the previous day, the place was heaving!

We had lunch at an Indonesian kiosk, giving Fred a chance to dust off his Bahasa Indonesia; some 50 years old. The young man running the “warung” was suitably impressed, even if he had been born in the Netherlands. Talk about feeling old!

It was then time to fit all our purchases into the bicycle bags and make it home. This was somewhat of a challenge but we packed everything in! On the way, Denise realized that her bike no longer had electric power so serious maintenance became even more critical.

The following day, we had planned to visit the windmills on a local bike route. Fred took the bike with no battery power and we set off. We had seen signs for a marathon race and knew it would not be a good day to go to Leiden, but we found the marathon was coming our way, anyway! We found a very pleasant coffee shop where we had coffee and bitterballen, and then split a huge chicken burger. Needless to say, no dinner was served that evening.

Then the first runners arrived – a half a dozen East African runners who were a full 30 minutes ahead of the next runners. So early that Fred could not get a picture in time. Amazing!

We have thoroughly enjoyed cycling along the polders (or drained fields). Always edged by canals, the polders are a great source of bird life and flowers. Daisies and other wild flowers abound, with a few poppies already out. We have seen nesting coots and geese, some with babies, and a beautiful heron drying his wings. And rabbits bounding across the fields.

Given the severity of the bike situation and the fact that the bicycle technician in Leiden was not very experienced with GoCycles, we decided to move on to Nijmegen, which we had wanted to visit and where there was a more experienced technician.