New records

Third bike ride to work in one week (most so for in one week). It's been nice weather and so I've taken advantage. It could have been four rides to work in one week.

Day before yesterday, on the way home, I thought "well that is 5 rides (3 to work including last week Friday, and two going home) where I've had NO punctures. My luck must be improving.". Guess what. Went to hop on the bike yesterday morning and it had a puncture! So this tube now has three patches on it.

Trying to get some puncture tape to insert into the tyre. If that doesn't work will have to import some puncture proof tyres from overseas. Too much glass around in the suburbs - too many punctures.

This afternoon on the way home the chain fell off. Greasy fingers and 5 minutes of tugging to get it unjammed - but I managed to cycle up the hill after that.

Pros and cons

Today I ?celebrate? my first near miss. Some stupid fat Samoan type woman cut me off by turning into the Porirua Council area on Prosser Street. I came to a screeching halt about 20cm from the car. The passenger in the back seat certainly saw and heard that I was upset. You get a real fright and I couldn't help but swear. Ringing my bell to warn her of impending doom had absolutely no effect.

On the positive side; last week Friday I had a really good run up the first hill from work, and then a brave fast run down the on the other side. The rattling shook loose the icecream container full of office compost and it fell on the centre line. A nice lady stopped her car and waited for me to find a lamp post to balance my bike against, and retreive said compost (still in container). Meanwhile about 8 cars had backed up behind her. I said thank you at the time, but would like to thank this lady again for being a considerate and defensive driver.

Cycling in New Zealand 19 November 2010

There have been a lot of cycle deaths in New Zealand in the last week. This page has some interesting discussion on how to improve things for cyclists.

How to make cycling safer? New Zealand Herald readers speak up

Cycling in New Zealand 16 October 2010

OK so I can't resist to add another episode.

I've now cycled to work and back about 10 times and once to McDonalds and back. Cycling to work isn't too bad. It is down hill from home to Titahi Bay Road, and I love cycling along Porirua Harbour and looking at all the birds using the mudflats. The hill up to work is manageable and the last bit is down hill again.

Going home isn't too bad for the first half, although the bit along Titahi Bay Road along the harbour isn't as much fun because you can't really see too much of the mud flats. Then the road gets steeper. It has taken me 10 trips to finally manage to cycle the whole way up without stopping once - and that might have been because I came via a different slightly flatter route having gone to look at the beach first.

The last two trips have resulted in a slow leak of the rear tyre - found a very small sharp bit this second time. Probably a small fragment of glass - there is heaps of broken glass along the route, especially on Mondays after the recycling has been picked up. It's been tricky getting new inner tubes for the tyres - our German made bicycles have larger wheels than most NZ bicycles have. Trying to source some kevlar tyres or some plastic inserts to reduce the puncture rate. At least I've now learned to patch inner tubes and I can do it all by myself after George has taught me all his tricks :-)

It is quite different to cycling in the Netherlands. You have to be very conscious of the traffic because they don't really take much notice of people on bicycles. Helmets are compulsory and I am wearing a fluoro orange jacket to increase visibility. The grills that cover the storm-water drains at the side of the road vary between tyre catching parallel slots and slightly friendlier right angle to the road slots. There is one completely missing along the route at the moment leaving a hole easily big enough to suck up a wheel. Wellington is also notoriously windy and is has been difficult to cycle in a straight line some days.

Still I'm going to persevere, and keep cycling, want to stay fit and get fitter.

Arabian nights - the final tale - September 4 to 7

The craftmanship on some of the jewelry is absolutely amazing


Today we took a taxi and visited the large gold Souk, and parts of the rice and spice Souks, on the other side of the creek. We could smell the fish Souk but decided not to check that out. Part of the gold souk is a another 4 story mall filled top to bottom with shops selling gold and jewelry. The maze of streets behind this mall contains dozens and dozens more shops selling gold, silver and jewelry. Honestly you get gold fever walking around. We wanted to buy some gold to take home, but with current gold prices we can't even afford a small item. Some of the jewelry we saw was awe inspiring, so delicate, so much detail, so beautifully crafted.

This is part of the old gold souk. All the shops both sides sell gold, silver and jewelry. This is one of many streets.


Just one of the window displays - they pretty much all look like this. Can you blame me for getting gold fever?



We certainly stood out as tourists, where ever we went stall holders would rush out saying copy Rolex?, t-shirts?, hand bags?, you need perfume? Stand still too long before a shop and the shopkeeper would come out to encourage you to enter and buy something. We bought some mixed nuts from one shop and tried negotiating on the price, to no avail. Upon completion of the transaction the shop keeper offered saffron (probably the single most expensive item in the shop) or did we want high quality viagra?

The historic house that was open to the public was very interesting to see, and offered a glimpse into Arabian customs and habitats. Surprisingly, it didn't cost a thing. Everything else in Dubai has been quite expensive, so no entry fee came as quite a surprise.


There are two 'public' rooms at the front of the house where the men discuss the issues of the day

House from inside courtyard











A glimpse of the womens chamber - men are not allowed in here unless they are less than 10 years old

Kids playing in the courtyard


We took a taxi to another mall, Dubai Mall, which according to the tourist map boasted an aquarium. Entirely true - a three story aquarium filled with a wide variety of fish, including medium sized sharks and rays. It is reportedly one of the largest tanks in the world at 51m x 20m x 11m and featuring the world’s largest viewing panel at 32.8m wide and 8.3m high, which holds the Guinness World Record for the largest acrylic aquarium panel in the world. Dubai Aquarium has more than 33,000 living animals, representing more than 85 species including over 400 sharks and rays combined. It also has a viewing tunnel passing beneath the aquarium. Two floors up is the water zoo, featuring all sorts of unusual, common, rare and sometimes on the brink of extinction species. We must have spend an hour or so exploring all of this (after paying an entry fee). The sheer size of the aquarium is astonishing.



Guinness World record viewing pane



The variety of fish is amazing







Shark!!! passing overhead


Deflated puffer fish and friends







George looking up through an underwater dome at scorpion fish








The Zoo hosts two types of penguin as well as all the other species

This mall also features an ice skating rink, a three story waterfall, and three levels of Sega games. It is not quite as big as the Mall of the Emirates with only 1200 shops. The mall is divided into different sections, including a fashion arcade and another gold souk. The Gold souk is a bit of a maze, and once you penetrate deeper into the maze most shops are empty. That is something we noticed quite a lot actually; the number of buildings that are empty or up for sale. Many of the sky scrapers didn't show any, or only very few, lights after sunset - indicating that they are probably empty.

Fountains and large areas of open water are a sign of wealth in the desert. This is a 4 story waterfall


Part of Dubai Mall - only 1200 shops - so a bit smaller than the Mall of the Emirates










Icerink in Dubai Mall


Even the sweet shop is huge. Those coloured pillars are full of sweets!





The star atrium in the Dubai Mall

With dusk approaching the number of people in the mall increased, including the number of women wearing burkas. Not all burka's are solid black, some have beautiful embroidery around the sleeves and neckline. From the glimpses we caught, the women wearing the burka's also wear designer jeans, expensive hand bags, high heels and big gold Rolex watches and shop in the most exclusive of the stores.

Not all burkas are solid black. These are quite pretty







An image straight out of an Arabian fairy tale - but it is all real!








These magic carpets would come around every half hour or so. Bit expensive to take a ride though

We hoped to have tickets to be allowed to climb to the top of the Burj Khalifa - the tallest building in the world. Unfortunately there were no slots available. So we took photos from the outside instead. The whole place is heavily guarded and we accidentally strayed within a forbidden zone (no signs to indicate this, although I did wonder why the decorative post beside the paths started talking Arabian to me), and were encouraged to leave by a polite security guard. Amazing building, but probably more amazing is the amount of open water and number of fountains surrounding this building. In these temperatures water evaporates quickly, so open water and fountains are a sign of affluence, because it constantly needs to be replenished.

A huge open pool near the Burj Khalifa. Not sure how much water needs to be pumped in everyday to maintain the water level


The Burj Khalifa











The Burj Khalifa reflected in a huge pool of open water

The Burj Khalifa at sunset


Early start the next day to get to the airport for the final leg home. We were awake for about 25 hours and it felt like a long trip. In Auckland we checked the bikes were OK and then took everything through customs. We made sure to declare the bikes and the fact that we'd visited a dairy farm and been through a forest. Other than an X-ray of all the bags customs didn't check the bikes at all. I had to go and stand on a pad of disinfectant with my shoes because I might have worn those on a farm (George's shoes were stuffed and he bought some new ones in Frankfurt) but once they heard that the bikes were road bikes they didn't even want us to open the bags. We were quite frankly a bit disappointed by that. The oafs loading (or unloading) stuff onto the Pacific Blue flight to Wellington dragged our bikes and have caused some damage, which is rather annoying, but not fatal for the bikes. George is putting the bikes back together at the moment. Hope that the damage won't affect the performance too much.

This is the last entry for this blog. Sitting here on the couch at home it all feels rather like I am suspended between one reality and another. We had a great time in Europe and in Dubai. Wish it could continue, but have to go back to work to start saving for the next holiday. Hope you enjoyed our travels.

A big Souk 3 September

After a last cuppa on Kaiserstrasse, we checked out of our Frankfurt hostel and took a taxi to the airport. Those bike bags were just not getting any lighter, and carrying two of them to the railway station, plus all the other stuff, just seemed like very hard work. Hence we got to the airport about 10 hours before our flight. We loaded all the stuff onto one trolley, it is quite a pile, and George can only just see over the top. We now look just like the other people with too much baggage; we usually chuckle at their overload.


The airport official spotted us lurking near the Emirates check-in counter, which was open and seemed miraculously devoid of other passengers, and directed us to the end of the que..... some 100m down the concourse! Can't que straight out of the Emirates counter as this would block traffic. Half an hour later we got to the front of the que and were told that check-in for the evening flight would commence in about 7 hours. The nice man was able to confirm that bikes were OK, and that the baggage allowance per person was 30kg in the hold and 7kg hand luggage.

We found a bulky goods scale and asked if we could weigh our luggage. My bike turned out to be 22kg, and George's 23kg! Much heavier than we thought. After some pondering we realised that the bicycles we'd been covetting on the internet were 17kg, but we'd ended up buying a completely different brand. Add the weight of the bike bags, the paniers, cardboard packaging, and tools, and no wonder those bags felt so heavy. Luckily the total of all hold luggage is still less than 60kg combined.

Trolley scooters at Frankfurt airport
How to while away 7 hours. A cuppa and some Apfelkucken (apple cake) sprung to mind, so we took the large glass elevator (capabable of holding moderate sized airport vehicles) one level up. We were encouraged to go by the waiter after lingering an hour or so and not ordering anything additional. Further upward progress seemed stymied by escalaters so back to the ground floor for a spot of reading and marveling at the chaps with the remote control airport scooters rounding all the trolleys up. They can string together a line of 50m or more of trolleys which they steer by pushing the front most trolley around while the controlling the scooter at the back to provide the grunt to push the whole lot along. Quite an art, especially around corners!
Our trolley in pole position


We claimed seats near the front of the Emirates check-in counter two hours before time and defended this spot from all interlopers. Thus we managed to get our trolley in pole position when a German Frau arrived to organise the next que. She asked everybody lurking in the vicinity which Emirates counter they were waiting for and then placed them just so in the appropriate que (wheels lined up with a crack in the pavement). Even passengers that didn't want to que just yet were efficiently organised and sent with their trolley to the end of the line. It was funny watching people's faces when the German Frau honed in on hopeful passengers eyeing the empty Emirates check-in lines and pointed to the end of the real que 100m or more away. We must have looked just like that earlier too.

Six hours of flying has brought us to Dubai. It took 20 min to taxi from the runway to the assigned berth. Another 20 min to be brought to the terminal by bus, and about 15 min to get through passport control. Once around the baggage carouselle rounded up all our stuff. We've left the bikes at the airport left luggage depo to save us from lugging them into town and back. Our hotel overlooks the Port Rashid dry docks which holds ships easily the size of the Wellington - Picton ferries. We popped into the New Gold Souk (Souk = market) just behind the hotel (only 500m) to see what was on offer. A four story airconditioned building, the size of one or our city blocks, with lots of little stalls selling jewerly and gold. Three-quarters were vacant and the rest wouldn't open until 10 am.

Dubai skyline seen from the motorway
All I can say about Dubai is that it is vast. A twelve lane highway (six lanes each way) runs through the middle of the city with skyscrapers clustered around. Each skyscraper or block of buildings is more ornate than the next. We wanted to go to a Dubai Mall, not realising that there are heaps of them. We picked the Mall of the Emirates as it was near Ski Dubai and the Burj Al Arab (that very expensive hotel that looks like a sail). This Mall is 4 levels of hugeness, it is fully possible to get completely lost, the whole thing is airconditioned and top to toe fitted out in every colour of marble imaginable. You can easily walk a marathon and only visit each shop once. All the big expensive brands are there, as well as a range of shops sporting more traditional goods such as burka's, silk carpets and those amazing lights we saw in Frankfurt.
The Mall of the Emirates



The Mall of the Emirates








My new best friends - what else can I take on as hand luggage?



The Ski field can be viewed from one end of the Mall. Not a very large ski field but impressive non-the-less given that it is more than +40 C outside and -3 C inside. We were wanting to walk from the Mall to the Burj Al Arab, but were stymied by the distance, and the number of roads sporting armco between us and the target. The taxi also had to take a spiraling route to get there. By the way, taxis in both Frankfurt and here in Dubai are beige. In Frankfurt they were mostly BMWs and Mercedes, here they are Toyotas and Hyundais.
Ski field inside the Mall of the Emirates



This is as close as you are allowed to get to the Burj Al Arab without a reservation

It is Ramadan at the moment - so that means that you are not allowed to consume food, drink or smoke between 4 am and sunset (7:30 pm). It is also Friday which is another holy day. As a result the shops in the Mall were only open from 10 am to 1 pm (yes only 3 hours), very few people are about, and none of the cafes or restaurants, including McDonalds, are open until 7:30 tonight! The Dubai metro, which snakes above the main road, will only run from 14:25 to about 17:00 today, but as a special treat Wild Wadi (a Dubai style hydro park) will open from 12:00 to 17:00 on Fridays and Saturdays only during the Ramadan; people were queing up. Us naive, and rather hungry tourists, bought food from the supermarket (which is nearly the size of the Porirua shopping mall) to take back to the hotel, where we are eating it in private. It still seems ironic that you can buy food but you are not allowed to eat it during the day.

Main aisle of the supermarket in the Mall of the Emirates

We went for a walk this afternoon, in search of the Dubai Creek and the old fort. On the little tourists maps it doesn't look that far. However, it turns out that the maps show neighbourhood blocks and not city blocks. An hour and a half after we set off we finally tracked the creek down. Temperatures must be up around 43 C, and about 37 C in the shade, so were rather glowing after our little walk. Although all the shops in the shopping malls are shut, many of actual malls are open and there are quite a few people sitting around inside. We think that locals hang out in the malls because the airconditioning is on.
It might be around 42C but that doesn't stop Indian workers from playing cricket



One of the many boats on the Dubai Creek

The calls to payer, from the many mosques, are rather beautiful and we've heard a couple now, but didn't see a rush to the temple. Guess people are praying at home. Caught a Taxi back to the hotel, which was wonderful because all cars are aircondintioned here. We've just had a lovely curry dinner and tested the temperature outside again. Instant and solid fogging up of my spectacles, still warm then!

Magical disappearing bikes

Yesterday we took our bikes for a last spin around the town, and came back via the green belt that runs through Frankfurt- which was a very nice route to cycle (and lots of pigeons to chase). After that we spent most of the day washing the bikes and packing them up. This required four brushes, an entire bottle of washing detergent, several rags and a bucket. Newly bought toilet brushes are great for cleaning between the spokes and in tricky areas. Hope that New Zealand customs is happy with our efforts. We'd bought some Tardis bike bags from Ground Effects in New Zealand and left those here locked up in a dog cage while cycling around Europe. Bit of a panic when we got back because they'd rearanged the furniture and moved the cages. Couldn't find our bag initially.
A new statue has gone up since last month - there are additional spots for future Euro countries


That red blob is our fourth red squirrel




One of the many fountains in the green belt

Anyway, George dismantled my bike (which is smaller and therefore more likely to fit in a bike bag) and we snuck it upstairs in the lift. Packed it in the bag (layed out on the bed), with cardboard between layers, and it only just seemed to fit. Bit of a worry as the bike frame of George's bike is 10cm larger! So after dismantling George's bike and washing it, we snuck that upstairs too and packed the frame in upside down - which was a much better fit! So we've repacked my bike upside down too. The filled bike bags weight about 17kg, no wheels, so going to be a heavy carry to the railway station tomorrow. Luckily it is only about 200m down the road, but we might still need wheels to get there.
George's bike dismantled and washed


George's bike half packed




Two packed bicycles


Today we just moseyed around the centre. Had a good look in the amazing glass shopping centre - it has a funnel going through the middle of it and an escalator that does 5 stories in one swoop. One entire floor is dedicated to an electronics shop and all the other floors have at least one cellphone shop each. Lunch consited of cake and coffee/tea. Then back to the hostel to see if the dryer had finished with our washing. George daringly got his hair cut by a Turkish hairdresser in the red light district tonight. Bit hard to converse with somebody that only speaks German with a Turkish accent. I was tempted but the hairstyles all seemed to run to short, layered military cuts. It looks good on George, but I wasn't so sure if it would suit me. George says that he enjoyed the experience, especially the hairwash, scent, hairspray and quick neck massage!
Five story escalator



Part of the glass funnel



Waves of glass

Another day of waiting tomorrow as the plane doesn't leave until 10pm. Will be interesting to see Dubai. Wonder if the temperature has dropped below 40C yet?

Amazing light fittings at our restaurant tonight



The waiter told me it would cost me 5 Euro for each light I took photos of.

Clueless in an industrial estate - again! 30 August

The rains in Mainz fell mainly in the morning so we had a leasurly breakfast. Didn't eat as much as normal since we hadn't used up yesterdays carbs yet. Eventually got going sometime after 9am, by which time the sun was shining again. Just followed our nose to the Rhein and then followed that upstream. We probably should have crossed the river Rhein one bridge earlier, but never mind.

We came past/through an Opel car factory the size of a small town. In the carpark 99.9% of the cars were Opels (and the puddles were big enough to swallow several cars in one go). Factory staff must get some sort of discount to buy an Opel we reckon. Some cars may have been lease cars as they all had consequetive licence plate numbers and were close to a rental car building. Not long after we had to cross a busy highway using a pedestrian crossing that never turned green. The only possible way to go after this was through a partially built industrial estate, all the roads stopped abruptly, unfinished, and not a cycling sign to be seen. We aimed for a church spire in the distance - hopefully civilisation again. We never got there as it was on the other side of the River Main, and a series of locks to maintain sufficient water for cargo boats. So we cycled along the southern back of the River Main towards Frankfurt.

Coffee shops that sold cake were conspicuous by their absence. Had coffee/tea in one place and bought cake from a nearby bakery. A slow trip for some reason today. Not cycling as hard as usual I guess, plus a lot of the time the surface was compacted sand or gravel and slow going. The rain never quite happened, but a coat was necessary because the weather has turned autumnal, cool even at midday.

On the trip out I fell of my bike, it must have been at about the 12km mark. Guess what. I managed to fall off my bike again 12km from Frankfurt. Was too close behind George and braked too quickly when he stopped. Managed to land in a puddle. Nothing damaged, just my pride (again) and wet shoes and one sleeve. Those panniers are good and waterproof. (Score Astrid 3, George Nil!!!)

We are back at the 5 elements hostel in Frankfurt, three floors higher than last time, but the lifts are back in action so no problem. We have just been to the cycleshop to thank Herr Urllich who sold us the bikes, buy a tool to get the pedals off, and grab some cardboard boxes to help protect the bikes. Fun cycling through Frankfurt hanging onto a box each in light rain and moderate breeze! Tomorrow we start the job of cleaning the bikes so that NZ customs doesn't get too grumpy, and packing them into the bikebags we purchased in NZ. We'll have three nights here before boarding our plane to Dubai.


Regional cake rating

The bakery in the Waddinxveen Passage was the best! We could have stayed there for days to sample all the goodies. The cherry flan in Friesland and the fruit flans provided by Liesbeth in Einhoven and the flans in Limburg also rate highly. Tompoezen (custard slices) for breakfast in Alkmaar were a great way to start the day. We compared standard shop-bought stroopwafles with proper Goudse stroopwafels, and the Goudse were much nicer (more syrup, thicker and tastier). We didn't really get stuck in to the cakes in Belgium, but my waffle with warm cherries and icecream, and George's pancake are worthy of a big tick. Warmed up Maastricht waffles were too chewy to be nice. The doughy cakes in the Ruhr area were not really to our liking (looked nice but hard going). The giant pretzels (Brezels) here in Frankfurt are not worth worrying about - slightly salty doughy stuff, and a hard chew. Next time I'm going to sample all the different types of chocolate!! :-)

Off to Mainz

Boat four passing the Lorelei Castle

Started counting how many boats we passed today. Gave up after the fourth boat. For one, it didn't seem fair on the boats because passing them was easy. The other reason was that we stopped to take a photo and a boat passed us again - so do you count it again (i.e. number 5) when you catch up or not (i.e. was the fourth boat, so stays the fourth boat)? Bingen was a very pretty town with lots of cafes and restaurants along the Rhein. Unfortunately at 9am they are all still setting up and not open for business. So we carried on.

Castle ruin with big hole. Cannon shot?

The cycle track on this side of the Rhein is much better than on the other side. On the true right there wasn't always a cycle track, here there is. The road is also further away from the river bank in most places. Apparently this was the road that the Romans pushed through and which was later altered and widened by the French to allow for greater troop movement. In the narrow gorge part of the Rhein the river can rise several metres and flood the lower-lying houses. Most recent big flood seems to have been about 2005.

Sometime soon after Bingen the signage was non-existant and we just picked a likely direction. This eventually led to the town of Ingelheim, where we followed some equally lost German cyclists until we eventually found the Rhein again. Then it was easy to Mainz - just follow the signs. We got here about 1pm, and only 60km since we started. It really doesn't feel like a full days cycling, but not much point going on Frankfurt is only about 40km on and we have accomodation booked for the 31st and September 1 - so that gives us two days to get there.

Salvadore Dali crucifix in Dom Treasuary


Dom tower with amazing scaffolding


Fantastic statue/fountain - wasn't working unfortunately




Just some notes for that Nice Mr John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand, about cycleways.



Having now cycled over 1500km in three countries we'd like to contribute to the debate. Yep we think cycleways in New Zealand are a great idea, but there are some things to keep in mind.

Track surface - best surfaces are smooth tarseal or concrete, as you get the most speed for effort and least bum numbness. Broken seal (e.g. tree roots), cracked or uneven concrete and smooth paving stones induce a certain degree of bum numbness, and the lumps slow you down. Uneven paving can be very uncomforable and cobble stones shake your fillings loose, induce saddle sores, and are not recommended. A hard packed sandy or gravel surface is very tiring and slow going. Loose sand and gravel are just about impossible on a bike, so please avoid. Mud is also hard going, with the added option of the bike sliding out from beneath you. It at all possible, have nice easy gradients to prevent that burning thigh syndrome.

Traffic management - we felt safest where the cycleway was well away from road traffic, such as separated by a berm of at least 2 metres. Armco barriers also provide a certain amount of reassurance. A painted line on the road, to separate cyclists from motorists, especially on busy roads, is downright scary and requires that the other road users are sympathetic towards cyclists - which is unlikely to happen in NZ. The worst of all options is having to cycle on the road without any bike facilities at all. In Nederland everybody cycles and the road rules state that if a cyclist is hit it is the fault of the motorist regardless (guilty until proven innocent). Will be hard to instil this sort of sympathy in the New Zealand psychy so will need to tackle it by making sure that the cycle way has under or over passes for busy roads, or specific signage or traffic lights to give priority to bicycles. In Nederland they have traffic light pressure pads that pick up on cyclists and can change the lights on approach. It does take quite a bit of energy to get a bicycle back up to speed again - so provision for continuous cycling is preferred.

Signage - make the signs bigger rather than smaller - we've missed quite a few on this trip, especially in Germany and Belgium. A4 should be the smallest size, and preferably bigger. Green on white is sometimes hard to spot, red on white is much better. Put the signs at cyclist eye height and on every turn and all junctions. Distance to next place is very useful, and include the next major town in that general direction. Allow advertising by industries that support the cycleway such as bike friendly hostels and hotels, cafes and restaurants and bicycle repair shops.


Routing - It is particularly nice following landscape features such as a river. Tracks through the forest were also nice provided the track surface was of a high standard. Interpretative signage is a nice touch but has to be big enough to capture the eye of a cyclist in the Zone. You're past small interpretation signs before they've registered. Once a few cycleways have been developed ensure that the GPS track can be downloaded for free to help cyclist plan their route. Oh, and make sure there are plenty of coffee shops selling cake along the way! Maybe even include these as downloadable GPS points:-) Adopting the European outdoor cafe style would allow anxious cyclists to keep a watchful eye on their bikes, plus it is fun to drink coffee while sitting in the sun (or shade) outside.

Hazards - In NZ the storm water drain covers have slots that run parallel to the road. They are great for getting your bicycle tyres stuck in them. Here the slots are either at right angles to the road or 45 degrees, so even if you are forced into the gutter you can just cycle over the top of them. Make sure the tracks are kept clear of overhanging vegetation, especially nettles (visitors probably won't appreciate ongaonga stinging for a week or more) and things like blackberry. Puddles can be a hazard if they are deep and have hidden ruts. They are mostly just messy and get your shoes wet.

If we were to mark the countries out of ten, we'd score them as follows:

Holland - 10. The absolute best country in the world to cycle and cycle tour. An example to follow. Lots of cycleways, well sign posted, and priority for cyclists. Plus being mostly flat and having heaps of coffee shops selling cake is a bonus too.

Germany - 7. Good effort, especially along the Rhein. Signage can be improved to keep riders on track. Additional cycleways are warranted to other interesting places such as the Nurburgring, and more coffee shops that open early in the morning.

Belgium - 5. Tries, especially around cities but touring in the countryside is downright dangerous. A lack of places to have a mid morning coffee in the countryside too.

New Zealand - 1. Not recommended anywhere except maybe the rail-trails on mountain bikes. Touring on State Highways is practically suicidal. And as for coffee shops, likely to die of thirst and hunger before you get to the next one.