A Wild Start

I'm in Utrecht. I never planned on being in Utrecht. Here is how it happened...


After a short layover in Iceland, I arrived in Holland. The bicycle was assembled in front of the terminal and I biked into Amsterdam. This kind of cold was a bit of a novelty considering I had been on the beach in a t-shirt a week earlier.








I will not dwell on my time in that city but I have to say that I have rarely been so impressed with a city. The layout of the streets, canals and bike paths was like something out of a dream. Following Anita (who along with Cyriel was kind enough to host me) that night as she bicycled through the city with a Cello strapped to her back to play Mahler was a wonderful introduction to Amsterdam.

Leaving the city on the first cycling day of my trip was much more exciting than I would have liked. About 20 km out of the city, a majr storm blew in. What had been a green and brown landscape the day before quickly went white. I was on small backroads, the signs were covered in snow and the heavy snow was falling just about horizontal due to the wind, stinging my eyes and leaving visibility at around 50 feet. This, combined with Holland's confusing coding for bike route signs, resulted in me getting completely lost. I figure I made about 40km toward Rotterdam (my destination) and another 20 or 30 km the absolute wrong direction. Of thse kilometers, many had to be walked at the ice and snow became too much to bike on. After half a dozen falls, in the half foot of new snow, I called it quits and made for the nearest town for shelter.

Initally I thought things were perfect (considering the situation): the town was on the train line to Rotterdam. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that all trains to Rotterdam had been canceled due to the weather. Absolutely numb, I made my way into the public library to defrost. After several hours of going back and forth between the station and the library, I met a very interesting girl named Mika who was on her to Utrecht by train. She invited me to come with her and she said she would try to arrange a couch for me there. Several trains passed to Utrecht, but unfortunately they were packed to the doors with those who had been stranded in Amsterdam and there was no way in hell I could get a bicycle on. After several hours of waiting with me in the snow on the platform, she finally hopped on one of the trains and gave me instructions of how to find her. Ready to sleep in the snow on the platform (it was 9:00 at night) finally a train passed that had (barely) enough room to fit me on. As I loaded my bike on, the cabin went hysterical with laughter. One woman was even crying. I supposed then I understood how ridiculous I looked. "Not a good day for a bike ride eh?" It took a surprising long time for everyone to stop laughing.

In Utrecht I arrived at the "Critical Mass" event that Mika had invited me to. After an hour of chatting about social change and snacking (how I was still standing I don't know), Mika took me to the apartment of this really kind Buddhist couple she knew. I arrived for the end of Napoleon Dynamite. Today we passed most of the day without saying a word as part of a silent meditation retreat. Hence the free time to catch up on my writing.


For those curious about the conditions, check out this little video I made.



Peace,
James