Cycling in Holland

When my Dutch mate Daan was in Australia last we went for a moutain bike ride around Lysterfield in outer Melbourne. At the time, I said it would be cool to do the same next time I was in Holland so yesterday (Thursday 1 July) we travelled about half an hour from his home to a town called Bergen which sits beside the ocean and a forest of sand dunes.
We hired bikes from a local bike store and rode about 3kms to the dune trail. According to a friend of Daan, a good rider will do the 14km course in about one hour. We were a couple (32) minutes slower than that, but considering we stopped for a few breaks to take photos and video the time wasn't too bad.
We were also happy with the effort as the sand was extraordinary. Most of the first 8kms was riding in pure sand. It would have been nice if it had

rained beforehand because the sand was up to 10cm thick most of the way and soft so it was just like trying to ride a bike at the beach (very hard going). Supposedly Holland is cold, wet and flat, but the conditions were the complete opposite. The sand dunes may have been the only hills in the region, but they provided a decent challenge in 28 degree heat.
Before returning back to Beverwijk to meet up again with the kids and the ladies, we drove another half an hour to a windmill museum and even though it was hardly a major tourist attraction, we were impressed by the engineering accomplishment for something so old and made entire of wood.
When we returned back home, the ladies went out to a restaurant at a nearby beach with a few of Sofie's friends, while the boys were resigned to getting the kids off to bed and the tough task of trying more of the local brew until late at night.