Though not an Ontario bike trail destination, this one certainly has to be on your list. If you ever have the chance to cycle in Holland, you will love it! I can’t rave about it enough. It’s truly the best country in the world for cycling.

And the way my wife and I did it made it even more unique: we took a Bike & Barge tour of Southern Holland during the last week of May 2022.

The concept is you ride your bicycle during the day and meet up with your barge (riverboat) in the evening to have dinner and sleep on it. In the morning you have breakfast and ride off, while the boat sails to the next evening’s destination. If it rains or you are feeling tired, you can stay on the boat for the day’s ride, but we actually never sailed on it the whole week, odd as that seems.

Instead, the boat was our floating hotel and travelling restaurant. Pretty cool, eh?

Our “barge” was a very long riverboat (so long I could hardly get a photo of it) at 91 m and it had 52 cabins.

Holland, like most of Europe, has what I call a compressed landscape: the scenery is compact and forever changing. By the end of the week, I could not remember it all. (Glad I took plenty of pictures and videos.) And the history of Europe, of course, goes way back. We passed homes built in the 1600s. Old enough?

We averaged 50 km a day, which anyone can do at a leisurely pace in the Netherlands. The bike paths are wide and smooth, with no potholes or cracks worth mentioning. A pure joy to ride, car-free and carefree.

Our five days of cycling took us along established bike paths 90% of the time, with only a few detours onto quiet country roads. It was a well-thought-out mixture of scenic countryside routes that passed by quaint, well-kept cottages and farms and through small historic towns.

Modern Rotterdam skyline — Modern Rotterdam

Our Dutch Loop

The trip began and ended in Rotterdam, and each night we slept in a different place. We passed through Kinderdijk, where we admired the famous windmills; Dordrecht, where we took in a steam engine festival; through the wetlands of a national park on the way to Gorinchem, then up to Utrecht. After that, we headed to Schoonhoven, which turned out to be one of our favourite areas, with patios to stop at for a cup of java or beer. The next day, we biked to Gouda, known for its cheese and market square, before making our way back to Rotterdam.

On the final day, there was an optional sixth 40 – 70 km ride out to Scheveningen on the coast and back, but we opted to walk the city instead.

Two things you will not see much in Dutch photos: wires—most are buried underground—and fences. Fields and homes are outlined by canals, rivers and watery ditches. They make the best fences (as long as you do not ride into one).

Part of our Dutch adventure was taking ferries and riding over countless bridges and locks to get across the water. Riding on top of dikes gives you grand views of the flat surroundings. Much of the landscape is farm fields with livestock and trees lining the roads.

The weather seems to change almost hourly. And when the North Sea is a-blowin’, you will know it. A relentless headwind on the fifth day made me wish I had an eBike.

One day we spent hours visiting the beautiful De Haar Castle outside of Utrecht. That made us late getting back to the boat, and we did hit some rain. But it wasn’t an issue since we knew there would be a hot shower and meal ready when we got there.

One of the most remarkable and pleasant revelations was how easily an English-speaking tourist can get around in Europe. English is the common language over there. Aren’t we lucky!?

In Amsterdam, I saw more signs in English than in Dutch. How great for tourism (Quebec, take note!). A server can give you an English menu if you ask. Anyone under 40 has likely learned some English in school and can help you out. Amazing! And the people are so friendly…can you tell I love this place?.

The Bike & Barge Experience

Our journey was with SE Tours on the MS Normandie. There were about 60 passengers and nearly all used eBikes every day, my wife included, which gave me a chance to test one. (More on eBikes later, now my wife wants one.)

What I found nice to see is that these new eBikes enable many seniors to extend their life-long love of cycling just a little more. And for those who may not have cycled in decades, an eBike gets them back out on the pathways, without fear of not being able to finish the day’s ride. (I heard a 78-year-old on our tour was still using regular pedal power. Wow!)

The rental bikes supplied (we didn’t bring our own) were almost new pedal power or eBikes and ran very well. They were upright cruisers with a typical Dutch-style design, and heavy, with only a few gears. But in Holland, one does not change gears often—it’s so flat—so this wasn’t a problem.

All the rental bikes came with a rear waterproof side bag and an optional handlebar bag. We packed a raincoat, pants, and vest in case it got cool, which it did at times, even in late May.

Dan & Teresa lov'n the ride — Dan & Teresa lov’n the ride

SE Tours gave us route map booklets and GPS tracks we could load on our phones. Every morning in the onboard lounge, a staff ride leader would host a slideshow and chat about what to expect (or what to avoid) on the route for that day. While we appreciated this, Holland has such marvellous paths, signs and directions it was almost overkill. If you pay attention, you just can’t get lost. Our tour leader rode the route, but we did not have to follow him.

We found the onboard food tasty and varied, almost as good as on the big cruise ships. And the beer selection was all fine German brands⁠—no American lite draft, thank you. Breakfast was buffet style where you packed a lunch for later on your day ride.

Staff were helpful and friendly, and our room was made up every day. In the evenings, we could wander into town for a walk, and some nights there was musical entertainment in the large lounge.

As it happened, on our week most of the other cyclists were from Germany and Austria, and all were older, retired folks. There was a little bit of a language issue, but we managed just fine with smiles and small talk. If you prefer to hang with your own age group or nationality, inquire before booking.

If you wish to plan a Bike & Barge trip of your own, there are many tour operators and resellers, see what is possible. Of course, there are plenty of other countries to explore on a bike (with or without a boat). I did a memorable tour of the Loire Valley in France years ago that I should write about. It’s a great way to travel in comfort, without needing a fully loaded bicycle. Start dreaming…

To learn more and book a bike tour of your own, visit SE Tours
One of the largest tour operators in Europe, specializing in the bike & barge concept.

If you book with SE Tours, mention OBT in the comments and add the promo code – ontariobike5
They may compensate me a wee bit, and help fund my next bike trip if you do.

And if you want to know more about the cycling ways of Holland, read my other article –
Cycling in Holland & Denmark is the Best

July 13, 2022Dan Roitner 2 CommentsBike Routes, Tales from the Trails

Submit Your Cycling Stories

Submit Your Bike Trail Adventure Articles:

After a few riders sent me emails mentioning their experiences on recent summer cycling trips, I got thinking…perhaps you too may have an interesting story to share with other cyclists on this site.

So I am inviting those of you who have been riding around Ontario to consider submitting a short article to guest post on OBT. Have a few good photos as well? Even better.

Did you encounter any unique sights, enjoyable adventures, perform heroic feats or have a humorous misadventure worth sharing?

This could be a great way to practice and share your writing skills with thousands of monthly readers visiting this site. We will also post it on our Facebook page.

Your articles will be proofread and your photos will be resized by us. You retain the copyright of the pictures and text.

Send me any cycling story ideas that you wish to write about or ask questions. I will let you know if it’s a worthy tale to tell.

Tales from the Trails – Submission Guidelines:

Write your story, you can be as creative as you want to be, make it an interesting read
Ontario is our focus but we welcome story ideas from around the world. The ride does not have to be exclusively on bike trails but it should have some and not be only road riding.
Perhaps add humour or riding tips or mention interesting places in your copy
Aim for about a 1000 words, more if it needs it, but keep it tight, focused and not wordy
We need lots of photos to pick from (min. 6), pictures of you (on your bike), riding friends, the trail with cyclists, interesting landmarks, scenic views and so forth.
Do you have a map of the route?
Include a Bio – where you are from, your cycling history, what kind of riding you do, where, bikes you own, and links to your blog or social media pages that are relevant.

Remember, your audience is reading bike trail articles not just to get informed but to be entertained as well.

You can reach me here to get started!

And even if you do not have the time to write an 800 word story, consider adding a comment at the bottom of any Trail review page.

March 20, 2022Dan Roitner 4 CommentsOBT Trail News, Tales from the Trails

Surprise Attack in Squamish

Tales from the Trails is a new section on OBT were our readers can guest post their bike riding adventures. We welcome cyclists to submit story ideas and a few photos to share your tales from the trails of Ontario or the world.

Paul was out mountain biking the trails in Squamish, Britsh Columbia with his trusty dog Chester. Suddenly a wild animal was attacking his dog…so what happened next? – editor Dan R.

By Paul Johnson

I had been living in Vancouver, British Columbia for about a decade. When I started to ride in the Pacific Northwest, even as an experienced mountain biker (from Hamilton), the learning curve was about as steep (and dangerous) as the mountain trails themselves. I had gradually become more comfortable and skilled at riding the legendary North Shore trails in North Vancouver.

My constant riding companion was (and still is) my best friend and fantastic dog Chester, an 8 year old Australian Shepherd. He loves being on the trails, and being a herding dog is very attuned to the motion and speed of running with a mountain bike. I guess he’s what you’d call an “Alpha” dog and very early on decided he would run in front and lead us on all our rides.

He gets very upset when I pass him, and if he ever takes the wrong path at a fork on the trail, he will come racing back, loudly barking and complaining until he passes me and resumes his rightful place in front. I don’t mind as this allows me to see him at all times while we’re on the trails.

Climbing is usually uneventful as most trail rides in B.C. start out as a prolonged ascent, during which Chester trots along in front, sniffing, exploring, and chasing the odd squirrel. I often get passed by other riders, who Chester instinctively adopts and tries to keep “with the herd” until I whistle for him to wait, which he unfailingly obeys.

Although able to ride almost year-round in Vancouver, by April of that year, as the warmer, sunnier days of spring were arriving, I was motivated to get back out on the trails. I had only recently begun to venture further from Vancouver to more distant trails and had been making some trips up Highway 99 to Squamish and Whistler, where there are even longer, steeper, more technical rides.

Squamish is a hidden gem whose rugged, quality trails are a mountain bikers dream to ride.

They have become some of my favourite trails in the world, superseding even Whistler with their famous ski resort. (Whistler resort now makes more money from their mountain bike park in the summer, than they do from skiing.)

One has to be seriously cautious, especially riding solo, which I often do out of necessity due to my erratic shift-work. As an ER Nurse in North Vancouver’s Lions Gate Hospital, I have seen and treated more than my fair share of badly injured mountain bikers who come in from Whistler, Pemberton, Squamish and North Vancouver with serious fractures, head injuries and sometimes worse.

Of course you’ll always hear that “mountain biking is an inherently dangerous sport”, but nowhere is this more true than in British Columbia. There are possible dangers in these woods, the worst being black bears or the occasional cougar that one hopes desperately not to encounter.

Squamish, BC trail map — Squamish MTB trail map

So on a beautiful, clear autumn day in April 2014, I decided to make the short trek up to Squamish with my dog to explore some of the trails in the Garibaldi Highlands. I parked near one of the trail entrances at the end of Perth Drive.

After taking my bike off the rear rack and donning helmet and gloves, I let Chester out of my van and he began excitedly barking, jumping up and pushing me with both paws to go. He sprinted ahead and led the way through the entrance gate where a sharp gravel climb rises up and into a dirt access road called Mashiter. This trail is a long, gentle rise up and into the Garibaldi Highlands trail system that is just south of Alice Lake.

Not knowing the area very well, this ride was intended as a mellow cruise to get to know the trails. After about 20 minutes of gentle climbing, the trail levelled out and we picked up speed cruising a flat, easy, wide single track access trail.

I took the opportunity to catch my breath before embarking on what I knew to be lengthy, steeper climbs ahead. My mind started wandering as I considered what I knew of the trails and where we wanted to explore. Chester was happily trotting in front…

A sudden explosion of fur and claws cannoned into my dog from behind a log on the side of the trail.

The predator was so well-concealed that neither I nor Chester had seen him hiding, and just as we passed, he launched himself violently onto the back of my dog, striking at the back of his neck. His momentum carried both tumbling off the side of the trail where both animals quickly gained their footing and squared-off.

The two adversaries now stood face to face in front of me. My 60 pound dog assumed a defensive posture against the equally large, wild feline (whose paws were as big as my hand). Its hackles were raised visibly, its eyes scheming, searching for an opening to resume its attack. Quickly stopping my bike, I instinctively jumped off and positioned myself in front of the Bobcat, holding my bike up as a shield, with Chester behind me.

Now directly in front of me, the wildcat, which I quickly understood could do some serious damage to us both, (if not kill my dog) was not in the least perturbed by my presence and was not backing off. My dog, though behind me and initially stunned, seemed quite annoyed at the interruption wanting either retaliation, play or to protect me.

I wasn’t clear which. The cat, however, was very clear in his intention to get past me to Chester. As I stood my ground, bike held in front of me blocking the cat, it continued trying to side-step, dodge and find a way past my bike-shield.

Frustrated by my improvised defence, the cat turned his attention towards me and made a sudden lunge right at me. Shocked by this new strategy, I instinctively yelled “HEY!” and blocked his attack with my mountain bike. He quickly decided that I was too big or too challenging to get at, and resumed his attempts to attack my dog.

After several minutes of this three-way standoff, I noticed someone approaching, walking a large black dog. I called out to the owner, “Be careful, I’ve got a wild cat trying to get at us.” She continued cautiously walking closer along the trail.

The cat slowly turned towards the newcomers, then turned back and shot an accusing look of disgust, seemingly blaming me for the arrival of these intruders who were thwarting its attack. The Bobcat then slowly skulked away into the brush. About 30m away he turned, sat down and stared at us menacingly.

I quickly explained to the young woman with the Bernese mountain dog what had happened and we agreed to vacate the area together, her dog still oblivious to the danger and I pushing my bike. As I had not brought a leash, I had to hold Chester by the collar and lead him away. He remained vigilant, repeatedly looking back at the cat, which was still visibly tracking our movements.

It was a testament to the cat’s camouflage and stillness that the woman and her Bernese mountain dog never actually saw the cat. Keeping my eyes on the ever-watchful Bobcat, we slowly made our way down the trail all the while keeping vigilant for his stealthy approach. After about 10 minutes, we reached the trailhead and the safety of my van. It was only then that I realized Chester had been luckily completely unharmed by the attack; with not a mark on him.

Over the next few days, recounting this incredible encounter to mountain-biking friends, I was told it was an incredibly rare thing to even see a Bobcat, let alone get attacked by one. I found out that this particular cat, however, had been in the news for having attacked 14 dogs (one of which died) on this very accessible, highly-traveled trail. Nonetheless, it was an incredible thing to see and experience an attack by a wild cat.

It had happened so quickly there was no time to think, or plan, or even fear.

There was only an instinctive reaction on the part of both my dog and me.

Interestingly, although I was initially concerned that the encounter might have a traumatizing effect on my dog, he still has a strange fascination and desire to befriend felines. Unfortunately, he’s never met a cat that liked him back. Not even domestic cats.

Somehow they still hold a certain fascination for both of us. As we continue to ride the trails of the Pacific Northwest, I hope the odds are in our favour that we never encounter any more wildcats…of any kind.

Author – Paul Johnson is an Emergency Department RN originally from Hamilton, Ontario who has worked and ridden in many of the great mountain biking destinations around the world over the course of a 30 year career. While living in the spectacular Lower mainland of Vancouver, Canada for the past 15 years, he and his 8 year old Australian Shepherd, Chester have been regularly hitting the fantastic, technical trails of the Pacific Northwest, mostly on the famous, North Shore trails of North Vancouver. (Trail Forks app is an excellent resource for navigating these trails.)

Paul rides a Trek Fuel EX 29’er which is perfect for the steep and technical conditions of the region.

A comprehensive list of places I’ve had the great good fortune and pleasure to ride include:
Squamish, Whistler Bike Park, Pemberton, Mission BC, Coast Gravity MTB park-Sechelt BC, Kelowna, Canada Retallack Lodge (Helicopter drop) Portland Oregon, Bend Oregon, Moab Utah, Asheville, NC, U.S.A; Nice France; Cape town, South Africa; Chiang Mai, Thailand.

November 1, 2019Dan Roitner 2 CommentsTales from the Trails

The Third Time’s a Charm

Kathy was out cycling the Uxbridge Rail Trail east of Toronto, while on the spur line trail to Sunderland she encountered a few mishaps but it all worked out in the end. – editor Dan R.

By Kathy Carter

“Did you hear a gun shot?” the woman said to me anxiously as I wheeled my bike sheepishly past her. “It spooked my dog – I think he’s in the bushes up there. Did you see him?”

“Uh…yes…he’s just up the trail a bit,” I replied, debating on whether or not to come clean. She did look frightened, so I decided honesty was the best policy. “But it wasn’t a gun shot. My bike tire just blew – sorry about that.” I don’t know why I thought I owed her an apology, but said it anyways.

“Oh, thank God!” she exclaimed as her dog appeared out of the bushes and made his way towards us. “Wow that was loud, though!”

“Tell me about it! It scared the heck out of me, too!”

And so I began my long trek down the rail trail and back to the parking lot, my enthusiastic plans for the afternoon dashed in an instant.

30 minutes earlier…

It had taken me a few years to work up the nerve to ride the Cannington to Sunderland rail trail by myself. My husband wasn’t big on the idea, so I finally decided to load up the bike and go it alone. From the map, it looked to be around 12km long at the very most. I’d park in the quaint town of Cannington and treat myself to lunch in Sunderland. What could possibly happen on a flat ride between two very safe rural towns?

I parked, took my bike off the rack and started pedalling. The day was perfect; a comfortable temperature to ride and not a cloud in the sky. I glided happily along – the trail was hard packed, making for a smooth ride, and it was reassuring to see a couple of bikers ahead of me. Birds flew out from the bushes as I whizzed past them. I recognized flickers, red-winged blackbirds, and cedar waxwings, to name a few. I even saw a couple of foxes in the distance.

I was finally doing this! My thoughts wandered as I relaxed, enjoying the solitude and the rhythm of the ride. That is, until the unthinkable happened.

“BOOM!!”

The tire exploded in one deafening blow. It sounded exactly like a gun had gone off, and for a few moments, I actually thought that was what I’d heard. In all my years of riding, I had never had this happen and cursed that I was so unprepared. On top of not having a spare tube or an air pump, I had never even changed a bike tire before.

I turned around and rode as long as I could on the flat, then realized I’d probably done irreparable damage to the rims in doing something so stupid. I’d keep that one to myself, if my husband ever asked. It was a good 5km back to the parking area, so I plodded on, disheartened that my little journey had so swiftly turned into a misadventure.

Author - Kathy Carter — Author – Kathy Carter

24 hours later

It was time to try this again. After a few trips to Canadian Tire and ultimately learning the difference between a Schrader and Presta bike valve the hard way, I was ready to be on my way. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Another perfect day had dawned and hopefully this time, the ride would be perfect as well. To be safe, my husband had changed both tubes and tires – after all, they were old. Very old. I’m actually embarrassed to say that 25 years comes to mind as a rough estimate.

Arriving in Sunderland, I found a cute little café serving coffee and lunch. Perfect. I reached into my pouch for my wallet only to find that it wasn’t there. Panicking, I searched again, removing everything, and hoping in vain that I’d have a couple of toonies stowed inside. Nothing.

Undeterred, I saw a bank I have an account with on the main street. Even though I didn’t have my bank card with me, I was a customer and perhaps they’d allow me to withdraw a paltry $10. It was a long shot, but I was so hungry at this point, anything was worth a try. After some persuasive negotiation with the teller and correctly answering several security questions, I had my $10.

After a piping hot mug of coffee and a bagel, I was refreshed and ready to ride back to Cannington. Hoping the journey back would go smoothly, I thanked my waitress and hopped back onto my bike.

A few foxes and hundreds of birds later, I smugly loaded my bike onto the rack and made my way back home, happy to see my wallet still in the back seat of the car.

I rode the trail again uneventfully that fall. Apparently, the third time was the charm!

Author Kathy Carter – I’ve been riding bikes for as long as I can remember! My current bike is a hybrid – an old teal- coloured Raleigh, which has served me well for many years. I usually enjoy riding the country roads around my home, north of the town of Keswick, Ontario, but also enjoy riding rail trails. One of my favourite rides is from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Niagara Falls and I try to do this one at least once a year. I hope to ride the Le P’Tit Train du Nord, north of Montreal, sometime in the future. When I’m not riding, I’m busy working at my home-based pet care business or training for a running race.

October 27, 2019Dan Roitner 1 CommentTales from the Trails

Tales from the Trails