GoldWing in the bike parking at the office
It is always nice to read stories about people traveling to far away
places on their Gold Wing (or other bikes) but the nice think about
motorcycling is that even everyday trips like going to work can be
like a holiday.
I live in West-Brabant, in the South of the Netherlands and because of
a reorganisation, my job is moved to Woerden, a small city in the center
of the Netherlands, about seventy miles from home. Normaly I go by train
but in the holiday season when there are no traffic jams for most of the
way, I like to drive to work on the Gold Wing, specially when the
temperature rises above the 30 degrees Celcius.
I have a GL1200 Interstate from 1984 that has done more then 100.000 km
but is still going strong and I love to drive it as often as I can. When
I go to work by bike, I leave early and drive the freeway to Woerden so
I can leave early too, and take the long way home.
Woerden itself is a very nice little town, near Utrecht, in the hart of
Holland. It has some nice old buildings, like the castle that dates from
1410 and beautyfull houses on the riverbanks of the Oude "Rijn".
The old castle in Woerden
From the office in the industrial area of Woerden I leave Woerden en drive
under the freeway overpass to Lindschoten and then, following the "Hollandse
IJssel", a small river, I drive to Oudewater. Most of this winding road has
a speed limit of 80 km/h but unfortunately some parts are 60 km/h zone. The
bright side is that at 60 km/h you have plenty of time to enjoy the typical
Dutch scenery.
From Oudewater I follow the road to Haastrecht, another old village. If you
ever visit Holland, you should go here, it is a beautifull village with nice
old buildings in tyical Dutch surroundings.
A nice old building in Haastrecht.
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A church in Haastrecht.
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From Haastrecht I take the road to Schoonhoven. This is a very narrow 60 km/h
road (two cars can hardy pass eachother) with lots of people on bicycles but
the scenery is absolutely worth it. The road follows the border of a small
river, the "Vlist" and crosses a small village with the same name.
The road follows the border of a small river, the Vlist
In Vlist is a restaurant with a terrace but I don't want to stop yet so I
drive on, following the river.
Dutch scenery
After a few kilometers, I arrive in Schoonhoven. Schoonhoven is another very
old Dutch city. The first official document with Schoonhoven on it dates from
1247 and in 1280 it was mentioned as a real town.
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