ACME goes Dutch

[psyclist]

I've got a gate pass for the Dutch weekend - and now ferry tickets.

Are there plans of where we are staying on the Saturday night?

Jan

Excellent news, it'll be great to have you join our expanding peloton.

I'm aiming to have the route finalised this week, or Sunday at the very latest. This will then dictate the vicinity of where we'll need to stay, although there might be a bit of the reverse occurring with the availability of cheap overnight accommodation dictating the route. Will aim to provide options as to where to stay.

[psyclist]

Thanks to Jason's vast knowledge base, we have identified a rather good overnight accommodation deal for Saturday 16th Sept, on the outskirts of Gouda. This is optimally placed for ending a 200km ride, and for arranging a split point for OD and Oaky to get back in plenty of time for the ferry.

I've booked 4 rooms at the following location ... https://www.campanile.com/en/hotels/campanile-gouda

Price I paid was £56 per twin room. I'm assuming the tandem will take one room, Jason will take one room. Jan and Huggy, I need to know your preferences re sharing or not. I'm happy sharing or staying solitary.

I took a bit of a risk by not paying the flexible rate, so there is no cancellation option. Saves £40 though.

If anybody else is joining us on the Saturday night, I'm happy to extend the booking, or you can book directly.

I will circulate the proposed routes on Sunday. Once agreed, we will do a group mandatory route 200km for those staying over on the Saturday night, and a leisurely-ish ride on the Sunday.

[huggy]

I'm happy to share or go solo.
This all sounds like a plan is all falling together too easily nicely 

[bhoot]

Thanks Psyclist, that sounds great. We will certainly occupy one room whether or not we are with tandem (it's still not back in one piece, though hopefully will be sorted this week). Let us know how we can pay you for the room.

We are staying on until either Monday evening or Tuesday midday (haven't decided yet, have ferry booked for Tues afternoon but can probably swap if necessary) so we will most likely join you for part of Sunday's leisurely ride but then divert off to wherever we decide to stay the night. Looking forward to our "going Dutch" fix as we haven't been over this year yet.

[huggy]

To those that have experience of such things in the Netherlands, any suggestions as to how much cash in Euro to take is a good number?

[Ivo]

To those that have experience of such things in the Netherlands, any suggestions as to how much cash in Euro to take is a good number?

In a lot of places you can pay by card, so you don't need everything in cash.

[Snotty Gilbert]

On my previous trips to Holland I had issues with paying by card. The supermarkets and lots of places only accepted maestro which we can't get in the UK. That was a few years back so not sure if it is still the same now

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[Snotty Gilbert]

Thanks for booking this.  I'm happy to share.

Jan

Thanks to Jason's vast knowledge base, we have identified a rather good overnight accommodation deal for Saturday 16th Sept, on the outskirts of Gouda. This is optimally placed for ending a 200km ride, and for arranging a split point for OD and Oaky to get back in plenty of time for the ferry.

I've booked 4 rooms at the following location ... https://www.campanile.com/en/hotels/campanile-gouda

Price I paid was £56 per twin room. I'm assuming the tandem will take one room, Jason will take one room. Jan and Huggy, I need to know your preferences re sharing or not. I'm happy sharing or staying solitary.

I took a bit of a risk by not paying the flexible rate, so there is no cancellation option. Saves £40 though.

If anybody else is joining us on the Saturday night, I'm happy to extend the booking, or you can book directly.

I will circulate the proposed routes on Sunday. Once agreed, we will do a group mandatory route 200km for those staying over on the Saturday night, and a leisurely-ish ride on the Sunday.

[jiberjaber]

I can strongly recommend a Caxton FX currency card, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmartin put me on to them a few years ago.. 

I have zero problems paying abroad with it, just don't use it for any sort of guarantee like car rental or when a hotel asks for your card as you check in to cover minibar etc else you can run the risk of it being blocked for a few weeks...

Works exactly the same as a bank card would and there is an app to allow you to load it with money whilst out and about - couldn't be easier! They make their money on the exchange rate being slightly lower so if you have a bank account with free transactions in foreign money then probably not worth the hassle, if you do have to pay fees, then depending on how much you use your bank card abroad, it can be worthwhile..

https://www.caxtonfx.com/currency-cards/

Not sure if there is enough time to get a card between now and the trip, but there might be...

[jiberjaber]

Anyone received their EHIC renewal yet?

[huggy]

Anyone received their EHIC renewal yet?

Yep, got it back within a couple of days 

[jiberjaber]

Getting closer... 

[Vince]

To those that have experience of such things in the Netherlands, any suggestions as to how much cash in Euro to take is a good number?

In a lot of places you can pay by card, so you don't need everything in cash.
[/quote
UK debit cards use credit card technology for card payments. Very few Dutch shops and services will take credit cards. Dutch debit cards use a different system.
You will be able to get cash out of ATMs with a UK debit card though.
A lot of services are card only including a lot of ticket machines in rail stations - Schiphol was one of the few places where the ticket machines work with UK cards.

[Oscar's dad]

^^^ Really?  The Dutch have a card system which is completely out of step with the rest of the world?  I've been to Amsterdam a few times and paid for stuff with a credit card without any bother. 

[Oscar's dad]

Getting closer... 

And by the way, a pretty image is all well and good but where is the chuffin' route?

[psyclist]

And by the way, a pretty image is all well and good but where is the chuffin' route?

Proposal will be posted here this evening. Still some minor tweaking needed by jibers/myself, but it'll give you an idea of the plan.

[huggy]

And by the way, a pretty image is all well and good but where is the chuffin' route?

Proposal will be posted here this evening. Still some minor tweaking needed by jibers/myself, but it'll give you an idea of the plan.

and the weather? you have put in the order for weather??

[Oaky]

And by the way, a pretty image is all well and good but where is the chuffin' route?

Proposal will be posted here this evening. Still some minor tweaking needed by jibers/myself, but it'll give you an idea of the plan.

and the weather? you have put in the order for weather??

There will be weather.

[huggy]

And by the way, a pretty image is all well and good but where is the chuffin' route?

Proposal will be posted here this evening. Still some minor tweaking needed by jibers/myself, but it'll give you an idea of the plan.

and the weather? you have put in the order for weather??

There will be weather.

That's what I was counting on

[Vince]

^^^ Really?  The Dutch have a card system which is completely out of step with the rest of the world?  I've been to Amsterdam a few times and paid for stuff with a credit card without any bother.

Until a couple of years ago they had a Mondex type system for paying parking charges and vending machines.

[Oscar's dad]

^^^ Really?  The Dutch have a card system which is completely out of step with the rest of the world?  I've been to Amsterdam a few times and paid for stuff with a credit card without any bother.

So, on the basis that my web research reveals that the Netherlands is indeed out of step with the rest of the world I have just followed jibers' advice.  My card should be with me in 5 days...

I can strongly recommend a Caxton FX currency card, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmartin put me on to them a few years ago.. 

I have zero problems paying abroad with it, just don't use it for any sort of guarantee like car rental or when a hotel asks for your card as you check in to cover minibar etc else you can run the risk of it being blocked for a few weeks...

Works exactly the same as a bank card would and there is an app to allow you to load it with money whilst out and about - couldn't be easier! They make their money on the exchange rate being slightly lower so if you have a bank account with free transactions in foreign money then probably not worth the hassle, if you do have to pay fees, then depending on how much you use your bank card abroad, it can be worthwhile..

https://www.caxtonfx.com/currency-cards/

Not sure if there is enough time to get a card between now and the trip, but there might be...

 

[roffa]

Hello all

So can I get a quick overview of starting times?

Also, I'll have a look at the revised route and see if I can come up with coffee/cake/beer places. In my original routes I avoided going through cities, frankly because it can be a bore. Also my ferries were dropped? I tried to include the maximum number. And they're reliable over here, so they're not a liability on the route.

I'll post an amended amended route 2B with POIs

cheers.

[roffa]

playlist:

In the Dutch mountains (Nits)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_hHzd5Uo1o

Jimmy (strength of the lonely cyclist) Boudewijn de Groot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY7JwcKo-LQ

Back to the Coast (Sjoukje Spijker)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESndyFvyTUQ

[roffa]

Done one last tweak to the amended amended amended route, and that's the getting to Leiden: instead of going through a rather boring stretch, we're now on the bike path to the back of the Aldegeest Estate, which is much nicer IMO.

here

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/25030213

[psyclist]

Hi Roffa ... long time no hear.

I'm not sure if you have seen the progress in the thread, but we have a 2 riders from the UK doing just a single day, and 6 riding 2 days. We've therefore been looking at a slightly amended route that enables a shorter route for those returning to the ferry, with a split after approx 2/3 of the ride for the remainder to continue to complete a 200km and stay overnight in Gouda.

I'm busy right now, but I'll take a look later this evening at your revised route, and see how it compares against the route jiberjaber has been kindly working on.

In terms of start time, our ferry docks at about 8am from memory, so we should be leaving the terminal by 8:30am if not earlier. I'll confirm this later.