DAY 1: I arrived in Den Haag at 13.27 and it took me forever to find Kringloop where they sell second hand bikes. I finally found it and Ruth was very helpful. I bought a Koga Miyata as I 'liked the feel of it'. Here it is outside an excellent bike shop just outside Den Haag. I fitted a front rack and bought a handlebar bag. Was this bike going to carry me and 26 kilos of stuff all the way to Esbjerg in Denmark?

After buying the bike and fixing it up, I pedalled out to the Dutch coast to meet up with my old juggling partner (Captain) Mickey and his wife Sylvie. Mickey and Sylvie looked after me for two nights, letting him sit in their warm van (it was 1.7 degrees outside!). After a beer (or was it two) I cycled up the coast to Wassenaar, to a campsite attached to a theme park.

Here we see my bivouac. Very light, just 1.3 kilos, but also very small and not exactly waterproof. I also took a max/min thermometer with me to see what the temperature was inside and outside the bivouac. When it was time for bed, around midnight it was 1.7 degrees outside. But inside the tent it was, er, 1.7 degrees. Fortunately, I have a good sleeping bag. Unfortunately, it rained during the night...

Day 2: Dutch cycle lanes were amazing and I should have raced along them. Unfortunately Mickey 'fixed' my bike which left the front brake on all the time. I averaged about 8km per hour and old ladies raced past him. Was I really going to get to Esbjerg at this speed?

It was on day two that I saw my first bulb fields. They are an amazing site and I took loads of pictures. This one was near Nordwijk and gave me a good excuse to stop and take a picture - and have a rest from cycling. I covered a miserable 30km on day two making a grand total of just 45km. At this rate it would take two months to get to Esbjerg. Something would have to change...

Day 3: With his brakes fixed, I said auf Wiedersehen to Mickey and Sylvie and set off at 25km p/h - and promptly got lost in the dunes North of Zandvoort. Finally back on the right road - or rather cycle path - he set off through great countryside, trees blossoming on either side of the path, birds singing and plenty of sunshine. What more could a man ask for?

Through the lovely town of Bergen, I continued northwards towards Den Oever. This picture was taken on a straight road with an amazing tunnel of branches. As you can see, the sun was still up, throwing long shadows across the beautiful countryside, full of bulbfields, windmills and canals.

Bowing trees? The strength of the south-westerly winds can be clearly in this picture. Which way would the wind be blowing when I set off to cross the Afsluitdijk, 32 kilometres of very straight - and very flat cycle path?

Many people think of Holland as a featureless landscape. While there are no real hills, there are still plenty of amazing views. Thousands of canals criss-cross the country, a haven to thousands of wild birds and animals. To enlarge the picture (and all the others in the series) simply double click on the image.