Day Two

I left my campsite in Elberg about 10:30, and found the home of Erik and Saskia Wannee about 5 hours later. Much of the trip was along Kanalweg. Even with my atlas, I was frequently lost. I always managed to reach my destination however. Following Kanalweg towards Apeldoorn I saw this interesting paddleboat.

Erik and Saskia were not at home when I arrived, so I hung out in the park which adjoins and serves their community. It was a beautiful area with bikepaths, and bridges, places to run your dog, even a basketball court and skatebooard area out back. I met alot of people who were interested in the Versatile. People here speak English a whole lot better than I do Dutch. None the less, communication was often challenging. I met a group of kids in the park who had the patience to TRY to communicate for a while. I had brought Kazoos from the factory in my hometown of Eden, and passed them out to the kids. I was later rewarded with a boondoggle keychain that I still use for the Versatile keys. ( over there it is called skoebidoe- pronounced like the dog)

On my way out of Elberg that morning I was helped by four cyclists who were enjoying breakfast outside a cafee. The tallest of them all managed to cram himself into the Versatile, getting out was a little tougher. Later that afternoon in the park I met a couple nice ladies who spoke some English, but not enough to direct me to a store to get some cola, so they went home and brought me 2 ice cold cans, a1.5 litre bottle for later, and even some appelbotter cookies. The cookies didn't impress me much at first, but when you get hungry they really hit the spot, and before my trip was over I bought more of them.

I spent the afternoon and evening in the park, making regular trips back to Erik's house, but once it started getting cooler and darker, decided to seek lodging for the night. I found a Bed and Breakfast not far away at Deventerstraat33. It was Euro24 for the night with a marvelous breakfast in the morning. Fresh baked croissants with home made marmelaide, soft boiled egg, toast, cheese,tea, coffee, milk, even cereal available. Very good stuff. I ate with a dutch couple who were in the middle of a bike trip themselves. They don't even own a car. I parked my Versatile in the garden in back of the B&B where it would be safe for the night.

This is the front of the Bed and Breakfast. Beautiful biulding. After breakfast I headed back to the Wannee residence. I tried the bell a time or two, and was just slipping a note in the mailslot when the door opened. Erik's wife Saskia invited me in, and made me feel very much at home. She gave me a cell phone to use, a key to their home and some iced tea. Then she lead me into town to get minutes for the phone, some more maps, and some postcards. Then Saskia went to work with the pet ambulance company, and I went for a ride sans luggage. I passed a really cool amusement park with an animated dinosaurs, and at least one pedal powered ride.

That evening I finally got to meet Erik in person. He spent a long time setting me up with an itinerary for traveling the country, and arranged places for me to stay along the way with other velomobilists. We planned a ride that would take me over remote wooded bike routes, and across the two largest dykes with nothing but ocean on either side for miles and miles. Erik and Saskia have a back to back recumbent tandem that's really cool. He is planning out ideas for a velomobile with front and rear wheel steering which would maximize the effects of the wind to the rider's advantage. The Wannees are very smart, kind, and helpful people.

day one continued....

Here's the Allight version of the Alleweder. I just completed biulding a Flevobike Alleweder from a kit purchased from VelomobileUSA. The blog on it's construction can be found at :http://velomobile1.blogspot.com .









The yellow limit was also referred to as the Alleweder "C" model. There was much to look at in the shop as I waited for the Versatile to be completed. I also took the time to pack everything from my suitcase into the trailer or the velomobile. I had a tent, thermarest pad and sleeping bag, as well as clothes , soap, deoderant washcloth &pak towel etc. Enough stuff for my two week stay. There was a campground not far away in the town of Elberg. The nice people at Tempelman gave me directions to get me onto a bike route on my atlas, and I was on my way. They were also kind enough to let me leave my suitcase there, to be picked up at the end of my journey.

Here I am with the trailer and velomobile packed, ready to leave for Elberg. This was in the late afternoon on Saturday, about 30 hours after leaving, since I got six hours bonus time travelling accross the ocean.

This was my first campsite, in Elberg. I didn't sleep much that night because I had the worst headache I had ever experienced. When I looked in the mirror the next morning one of my eyes was bright red. Tylenol. I needed it bad. I tried to get some the night before, but only succeeded in getting hopelessly lost. A man who couldn't speak enough English to tell me the way to go had me follow him out to the main road in his car, or I might still be there. When I checked out, they told me I could get Paracetamol (tylenol) at the camp store.

This is the view from in front of the camp store. The next place to go was to Apeldoorn, the home of Erik Wannee. Erik kept money for the Versatile, trailer, accessories, shipping, and my needs while there in an account for me. I had wired the money over months previously to minimize the loss due to the falling value of the dollar relative to the Euro. On the way to Apeldoorn, I was regularly passed by people in their 70's on heavy old upright bikes. I read an article that wondered why European's health was so much better than americans. It seems pretty simple to me. They RIDE their bikes, instead of using them to clutter up the garage.

The trip (DayOne)

At the end of August,2005, I traveled from my home near Buffalo New York, to Amsterdam in The Netherlands to pick up my first velomobile, Versatile#24. It was designed by the Flevobike Company in Dronten, about 50 miles away. Flevobike makes many of the parts which are peculiar to the versatile, and the velomobile is assembled by Ligfietshop Tempelman, also in Dronten. The manufacturer of the Quest and Mango ( Velomobiel.nl) and Allight, which makes a version of the Alleweder are also located in Dronten, just around the corner from Ligfietshop Tempelman, and right next door to each other.

I arrived at Schipol, the airport in Amsterdam, at the crack of dawn, and dragged my suitcase downstairs to the train station. I used my ATM card to get 250Euro, and also to purchase train tickets to Central Station in the heart of the city. I got change at Centraal Station, and locked my luggage up in a locker. after having it x-rayed on the way in.

The first thing I saw upon exiting the biulding was this huge bicycle parking ramp. It sent chills down my spine. Bikes everywhere. I wandered around the city looking for a coffeeshop so I could get supplies for my stay. I had neglected to bring the address of the particular coffeeshop I wished to visit, which specialized in the music of Frank Zappa, so I wandered into the first place I found open. 25Euro for 5 grams of very good quality smoke. Now I KNEW I was in heaven. I sat at the bar, and did a few bongs, had a can of pop. and found my way back to Centraal Station.I neeeded to take the train to Lelystaadt, where I would use a bus to get to Dronten. What a wonderful place. You get off the train, and the bus station is right there. I had time to go across the street to the VVV (like our AAA) and purchase an Atlas of all the major bike routes throughout The Netherlands (NL) . I had to do a transfer on the bus, then got dropped off right across the street from Ligfietshop Tempelman, where I was to pick up my velomobile, and the trailer I would use to transport my luggage and camping equipment.

When I arrived, they were still working on it. It seems a faulty connector for one of the headlights had caused some delays. The shop is beautiful. They have hardwood floors, a wide selection of all the coolest recumbent bikes, trikes, and even an Allight Alleweder.

Here you can see the headlight problem being corrected. As you can see it's rather a tight spot to get into. The next bunch of pictures didn't upload, so I'll continue later........