Invasion of Holland Day 4, 5 & 6

Day 4, Friday morning sees me at Jan van Dam's to get the head bearings sorted. Jan wheels the Pan into the workshop and we get the top yoke off, bearings regreased and finally re-adjusted after about 35 minutes - job done.

"What do I owe you Jan?" says I

"No charge" says Jan, "happy to help out, enjoy your trip"

What a gesture from a genuinely nice guy - bottle of whisky on the way!!


Heading to Amsterdam today, and the bike won't turn a wheel until Sunday.

Usual drinking frenzy with brother in Amsterdam Friday - Local bar Cafe de Zuid, then up town to a few brown cafes we can't remember, into the Jordan and De Twee Prinsen, Cafe Thijssen, bar I can't remember, then a good session in Molly Malones where we met big Chris amongst others! I can only just remember leaving and dragging a staggering bro home. This lead to a subdued and steady Saturday which involved a lie in to 11:00am, a gentle session for a few hours watching the football in Cocos off the Rembrandts Plein, back to Kens via a couple in De Groene Olifant followed by pizza and a few more beers at home watching a weird cartoon on DVD - Free Jimmy.


Left Kens in Amsterdam Sunday morning at 08:30 heading for the Channel tunnel, arriving 12:45 and get the train leaving at 13:20, getting back to Lincoln for 16:30.


Overall a really good week, and approx 1200 miles done on the old Pan which, apart from the head bearings, was faultless and now comfy again following the fitting of bar risers to get the posture more upright. Not bad for a 15 year old bike.

Invasion of Holland Day 3

Arnhem today, and first off its to one of the drop zones - DZY - at Ginkelse Heide about 7 miles from the bridge!!! A large expanse of sandy heath with an Airborne memorial at the entrance to a parking area. This is where 4th Para Brigade under Brigadier Hackett landed.

As you can see, a beautiful day - sun, blue skies and me sweating in my bike gear big time, so its down to t shirts again and jacket vents open, and off we go to the airborne museum at the Hartenstein. This was really good and very informative with walk through dioramas of the street fighting as well as exhibits of equipment, uniforms etc. Well worth the entrance fee and time.

Amazing to see the pictures of this place when it was the heart of the battle of Oosterbeek - graphic pictures of slit trenches and mortar pits in the grounds.

Next on to the bridge itself - parked up next to what was signposted as the Jacob Groenewoud Park in the shadow of the bridge. This had a gun, a propellor, and various other artifacts, none more entertaining than an old chap called Samuel Rubens who took me around all the exhibits and talked about them and the battle claiming he had witnessed it all as a ten year old as his house was one of those at the bottom of the bridge ramp! He had a maroon jacket with all the badges and red para beret on and looked the part. This I took with pinch of salt, and even mentioned that I thought his name was Jewish sounding. He said it was because he is a jew, and his family had to claim to be italian when the Germans occupied Arnhem. Very interesting and entertaining and all done without a claim for any money as he is an official guide. I've since googled him and it seems he's 'kosher'! The people you meet eh.

Only 65 miles in total today - I do more on my round trip to work! My excuse is alot of time off the bike today, plus an early finish at 15:30.

The Pan's head bearings have loosened and are knocking and giving that low speed wobble when you take your hand off the bar, so thats a bit disconcerting. I blame those crappy Belgian roads. If I had the tools, then in 45 minutes I could have them tightened up. So popped into Beno scooter dealers to see if they could help out - the lads in there said they were scooter mechanics and didn't know about bikes, but one lad asked if I knew how to do it then I could show them what to do and get it done later that day. The two of them then lapsed into dutch and then said there was a bike dealer around the corner, try him and if no luck then come back as a last resort no problem - hows that for helping someone off the street at the drop of a hat?

Round to the bike dealers and its not a problem to do but he's all very apologetic that he can't do it that minute as theres a bit of a workload. This bike shop is quite a swanky independant - Jan van Dam. The guy I talked to was Jan himself and he was a bit miffed not to help asap. I said its not a problem, I can bring it in tomorrow morning as I'm staying in Elst. His faced beamed, and he said "o.k, 6 o'clock - joking, have a lie in, leasurely breakfast and bring it in at ten and we'll do it while you wait". Can't ask for more I guess.

Invasion of Holland Day 2

Get to breakfast at the Formule1 just in time as the coach loads of east european students decend like locusts, nabbing everything in site from the buffet for later. Ah well, kids - but the adults in charge didn't bat an eyelid. Must be getting a miserable old git to let things like that piss me off - after all its not my food they're having.

After a bit of research last night for todays route, I'm going near a German WW2 cemetery at Lommel - this one has 40,000 German soldiers in it, two per cross - astounding. Set in woods, very quite & peaceful (aren't they all?) and I'm the only one there.

On to Joes Bridge - the start of the Garden bit of 'Market Garden'. A 5km trip west along the canal from the modern dual carriage way.

This is where Michael Caine started from in the Bridge Too Far film - single track road, straight, between wooded areas filled with Germans and their guns! Through Valkensward, and around Eindhoven to the site of the Son bridge (in the film blown up just before Elliot Gould got there). Had a right palaver getting there as alot of road works and changes around Eindhoven meant the sat nav was useless and had to rely on intuition and following diversions. Onto and over the Veghel bridge, and onto Grave Bridge.

This is the 504th PIR memorial on the south side of the crossing and the bridge was renamed the John S Thompson Bridge after the American lieutenant who commanded the unit that captured it. Turn right just after the bridge and you come across this monument of rusting parachutes marking a landing zone in the fields on the way to Groesbeek.

There was a couple of workmen doing some work on the memorial site entrance, so said good day to them to be sociable and got a right ignorant grunt from one of them. His mate seemed embarrased about whatever he said and went onto explain about the monument whilst the other twat turned his back and mumbled away in dutch - wanker. If things had turned out different we could all have been speaking German I was tempted to say. Strange to get such a reaction especially at a memorial, unless 'good day' in dutch means I think you're a c**t. You can sense it pissed me off.

After riding through Groesbeek, its into Nijmegen and the rush hour for the last bridge of the day - the biggest and most impressive looking so far.

Total of 185 miles for the day and Elst is only 15 minutes away. I'm staying at the Wapen van Elst for the next two nights which is very nice indeed. When I asked where I could park the bike, the guy on reception took me to the back door and said leave it here, theres a canopy to stop it getting wet and its just beneath your room window - sorted.

Invasion of Holland Day 1

First day of the invasion of Holland 2010 (via France & Belgium). Left Lincoln at 06:15 for the 10:20 Tunnel train and managed to get to Folkestone for 09:30. Text waiting on the phone and its Mrs G with a panic on because the downstairs loo cistern valve has noticed I'm not there and decides to pack up and overflow all the time. No.2 son sorts out shutting the water off & No.1 son organises a mate who is a plumber who sorts it all out for £30 - panic over.
Arrive in France at 11:50 french time (1 hour ahead), and it's on to the A16 and A25 heading for Ypres. Get there and park right by the old cloth hall in the centre and have a walk around. Over to the Menin Gate - 50000 names on it from British & Commonwealth countries for those with no known grave. Very sobering. This area deserves a trip of its own, as I passed no end of signs for war cemeteries on the way.
Talking of war cemeteries, I've just finished a book about the battle of Passchendaele so decide to visit the village and area to see what the area looked like, and whilst there visit Tyn Cot, the largest British War cemetery with nearly 12000 graves. What struck me was that most of the headstones have 'unknown soldier' whereas I always thought most of the headstones had names. Alot of those names are 18,19, 20 year olds and as you walk into Tyn Cot you hear a recording of a young womans voice reading there names and ages out from the list of burials - very moving as it happens. Around the wall are plaques containing a further 35000 continuing the list on the Menin Gate.
Onward to Brussels and winding back a few hundred years and Waterloo, which I get to just as the visitor centre is closing so I dont get to go up the Butte de Lion, a 140 foot mound with a big cast iron lion on top.

Heading for the digs tonight, a Formule 1 hotel in Brussels. Exciting experience getting around Brussels in the rush hour, filtering etc, but I must say the drivers are very aware of bikes. However the hotel is crap - what a dump, stinks of fags, full of eastern europeans on there way to the airport? and in the middle of a souless business park. - won't bother with them again. Its a bit hit and miss when you book stuff on the internet. Anyway, the Ibis acros the way has a bar and restaurant so its a few beers and a pizza and an early night as I'm knackered from just finishing nights. Overall the weathers been good, Belgian roads appalling and done about 390 miles all in. Tomorrow, start at Joes Bridge and then along the 'Corridor' to Nijmegen.