Bicycles everywhere! Hundreds of them around the train station. The streets are full of bicyclists. Mothers with their babies, gray-haired ladies, students going to school, commuters to work - all riding bicycles. Were we dreaming? No, we were in the Netherlands, a country the size of Maryland, but with three times as many people. Many use bicycles for their transportation, as we did the twenty-five days we were in Belgium and the Netherlands this summer.

We packed our bikes in boxes from local bike shops and checked them with our panniers at Washington National Airport for our flight to Brussels. Taking a flight with a connection at JFK wasn't such a good idea, but our bikes and panniers did make it to Belgium. We had two days to get over jet lag and explore the city of Ghent while waiting for Sabena Airlines to deliver our bikes to our bed and breakfast. The weather was cool, but Christina, the owner of the B&B, loaned us sweaters until our panniers arrived. Then we were off on our 725 mile bicycle ride, cycling along tree-lined canals and over medieval cobble-stoned streets.

The well-marked LF5 led us to Brugge. The LF routes (Landelijke Fietsroutes) are a network of over 6,000 km of signed long-distance bicycle routes. After sightseeing in Brugge we headed north on LF1, the North Sea Route.

As we pedaled along through the flat countryside, we thought, "this should be a breeze." It was more than a breeze, as headwinds from the North Sea gave us a good workout for three days of cycling. We enjoyed overnight stops at B&B's in Veere and Brielle before arriving in Haarlem.

Tourist information offices (called VVV for Vereniging Voor Vreemdelingenveerkeer) are centrally located in each town and made it easy for us to find lodging, either at B&B's or small hotels. The Netherlands were competing for the European Soccer Cup, and many streets and house were decorated with the team's orange colors.The people we stayed with rode bicycles and they showed us warm hospitality.

From Haarlem we headed east to Amsterdam, arriving in Vondel Park for the Fiets Feest, a festival of bicycles of all kinds. Having read that more than a hundred thousand bikes are stolen in Amsterdam each year, we searched until we found a hotel that had secure bike storage. Our friend Richt met us for dinner and a stop at an internet cafe. For four days we explored the canals and streets of Amsterdam.

In Amsterdam, we attended sessions of the Velo Mondial, the 2nd World Bicycle Conference. Over 700 delegates from more than 50 countries were talking about how to encourage more people to bicycle. The head of the Dutch Cyclists' Union said that their approach over the last decade was to urge governments to build more bicycle facilities. Other speakers agreed that it is imperative that bicycling advocates be involved in the political process, for only with better facilities will more people bicycle. Netherland's bike lanes and paths are full of ordinary people in their usual clothes (no special cycling clothes and helmets) riding ordinary bicycles (three-speed, coaster brakes, with chain covers instead of chainrings.) We were astonished at the number and diversity of people we saw on bicycles. They were on bicycles because bicycling can be a safe, easy, efficient, and convenient way to move about - when the facilities have been provided.

From Amsterdam we pedaled past windmills, though the picturesque cheese-market village of Edam, along the wind-blown shores of the Markermeer, through  Hoorn, to the fishing town of Enkhuizen.

Blue skies gave way to clouds and rain the next day for our ride across the 20-mile long Markerwaard dike separating the Markermeer from the Ijsselmeer. A bike path runs between the wide bike lanes on the draw bridges and locks at each end of the dike.

Once across the dike, we were on the Flevoland polder - land reclaimed from the sea. The towns and roads are just a few decades old, and almost every road has a bicycle path paralleling the road. We followed the signs on the bike trails to Biddinghuizen. There we found our friend Yt and visited her farm.

South of Biddinghuizen is the charming town of Elburg, where we had one of our best meals at Restaurant de Haas. As we continued south from Biddinghuizen, we found that not all fietspaden are wide paved bicycle paths. Finding our way was easy though, thanks to the ANWB, or Royal Dutch Touring Club, the equivalent of the American AAA. ANWB stands for Algemene Nederlandsche Wielrijders Bond, which translates General Dutch Cyclist's Association. The ANWB has provided signposts around the country, including the paddestoelen, or "mushrooms." The number on top of a mushroom matches the number on ANWB maps.

The Hoge Veluwe National Park is the largest park in the Netherlands, covering 22 square miles. Over 400 white bicycles are offered free to visitors at the park entrances for use on the 25 miles of trails.

Our journey continued south on LF3, the Maas Route, zig-zagging over the scenic Maas River on bridges and ferries, with overnight stops at Elst, Venlo, and Maastricht.  We were very impressed by the wide bike lanes on every bridge.

The Maas River led us into the Limburg region, where a network of several hundred kilometers of new fietspads crisscross colorful fields and connect towns. The route system is set up with a numbered points (knooppunts) at every route junction, with signposts showing a map and directions to nearby points. The paths took us through fields of roses, along canals, and by a stand selling fresh cherries and strawberries (kersen and aardbeien.)

We left the Maas River at the Belgium city of Liége and headed west through ancient Belgium towns rich in history and splendid architecture. First through Tongeren, Belgium's oldest town, to the abbey town of Sint Truiden. Then bike lanes took us to the university town of Leuven, home of Belgium's oldest and largest university.

In Belgium we rode on bike paths, rail-to-trail paths, and the roads. On Saturday we saw groups of club cyclists riding in packs, many wearing helmets.  The few helmets we saw in Belgium and the Netherlands were worn by young children or cyclists on racing bikes. Unable to find a place to stay in Leuven because of a rock concert on Saturday night, we followed a canal to Mechelen.

We stayed two nights in Mechelen, cycling on Sunday up to Antwerp for lunch. The trip was along canals and the River Scheldt, with stretches of road closed to traffic except for bicycles (uitgezonderd fietsen.) In Antwerp, as at outdoor cafes in other market squares, we enjoyed food and drink and watching people go by, especially those on bicycles.

On  Monday, after a stop beside a field of roses, we returned to Christina's B&B in Ghent.  Christina's brother-in-law Paul took us and our boxed-up bikes to the train station. We had one last stop in Brussels before flying back home.

Useful Links:

• Belgium: Overview
• Cycling in the Netherlands
• Fietsen in Amsterdam (in Dutch)
• Landelijke Fietsroutes (in Dutch)
• North Sea Cycle Route
• Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas/Before you go
• The Internet Guide to Amsterdam
• The Official Holland Site - Netherlands Board Of Tourism (N.B.T.)

On the bookself: