I pedaled out of Rotterdam early on Sunday morning. It was the first time I’d seen the downtown area quiet. On the edge of town the bike paths suddenly filled up with two oddly paired groups of cyclists; Swarms of road bikers in full kits that hummed along on their carbon wheels, and families dressed for church pedaling an armada of cargo bikes, kid’s bikes, ebikes and classic Dutch bikes (with small children strapped aboard in varied configurations). I thought the mix of the two was comical and noted that I did not fit into either. 

It was very peaceful pedaling my way to Amsterdam. There’s no hills of any kind around here and the weather and cycle paths were perfect. My ride was on an assortment of smoothly paved red bike paths and small one lane farm roads that had bike lanes on both sides. It was easy to follow my route today because I had downloaded the gpx map onto my Garmin. I’ll go ahead and say it now, if you were interested in exploring some country by bicycle this is the one to do it in. You could easily skip to any location in the Netherlands on bike routes or loop the whole country. Even if you don’t normally ride longer distances the flat terrain makes it easy.

I rode 69 miles and was sad to see that doesn’t equal 420km (it’s 111km). I rolled into Amsterdam off some nice farm roads and the city was having a sleepy Sunday afternoon. Bart de Jong had invited me to BMX dirt jumping contest that was going on at BMX Amsterdam so I aimed my bike there. Things weren’t sleepy at the bike park. 

The BMX event was in full swing and the bike park was oozing positive energy and good times. Bart introduced me around and I learned about the facility. BMX Amsterdam has been around for 13 years as a place anyone can ride. They are constantly adding to the park. They currently have a wooden mini ramp and dirt jumps ranging from pro sized big jumps to tiny beginner rollers. There’s also a pump track and an indoor park. There’s even class rooms where they teach BMX, how to build dirt jumps, and coaching classes. Young riders not only get to ride fun jumps but they also learn how to build the jumps and put in work to keep the place going. For today’s event the bike park was filled with families and riders of all ages. It was so cool to see every level of rider mixed in together and all getting along so well. It was also refreshing to see such a diverse group of people that all love BMX working together to grow it in a positive direction.

During the contest I saw 8 year olds clearing the pro line and students cheering for their instructors who were in the comp. The pros shared the trails with young kids and parents beamed with pride as their children gave it their best. Watching the pro comp gave me that feeling that my run was going to be up next and I had to keep reminding myself that time has past for me. Very inspiring to see the good things they have built at BMX Amsterdam.