Day 2

Start:     Rotterdam (Holland)

Finish:   Liège (Belgium)

Distance:   95 miles cycled (196 miles total)

Weather:   Light showers

Despite it being a fresh clear morning as the POTY Bus left the port, as the team skirted around Rotterdam and across the Rhine to reach the start point, the grey sky suggested that they would be unable to shake off the rain completely. 

Getting ready to start in Holland

Setting off at 10h30, it was some time before the rain finally caught up with the bikes, although when it did it was certainly lighter and less persistent than the Day 1 downpours in the UK!  It was less than an hour before roads left treacherous by recent showers claimed their first victim, with Dan Smart’s leg (and pride) taking a battering. 

By the first checkpoint (near Eindhoven), it was clear that the slick roads, multiple punctures, and time consuming process of navigating the Dutch network of cycle tracks was preventing the team  from taking advantage of Holland’s famously flat countryside in order to bank some extra miles ahead of the alpine stages.

Crossing the Dutch/Belgian border

After a quick lunch stop there was better progress in the afternoon, with the POTY adventure crossing into Belgium at 17h00.  Three hours later, after  9.5 hrs on the go, the end point for the day was reached and the cyclists rejoined the van to complete the final 30 miles to the hotel .  

Today’s been a long and frustrating one, and everyone had just enough time to shower and change before some much needed carb-loading in the local pizzeria! 

Tomorrow will see us continue through Belgium and across Luxembourg, before making our first foray into Germany.  The team are hoping to have an earlier start and try to get well into the 300+ mile range by the end of tomorrow’s ride, so now it’s time for me to join everyone else and get my head down for the early start!



Arrival at the POTY Team Bus