Much of North Holland would be underwater if it were not for all the many ways the sea is kept away. Not an easy feat of engineering given how much of the land itself is under sea level. On our bicycle ride today we got to see a combination of high and impenetrable dikes and a careful system of canals with water pumps at the ready.
As global sea levels rise, may this be what coastal cities will need to do?
That is a few years away but likely inevitable. But we were not thinking about imminent flooding as we enjoyed breakfast in the garden of our Bed and Breakfast, Opperbest, in the tiny town of Opperdoes. The B&B owners set up a table in their large garden in celebration of the arrival of a nice summer day. 
The canals are peaceful places on this August weekend. 
As we cycle along the dikes, there are placards aplenty reminding us of devaststing storms that breached theses defences several times in the last century. 
Even in beautiful scenery and nice weather, there is something ominous about cycling along the top of the dike with the sea on one side of you and on your other side homes and farms well below the sea. Hard to capture in a photograph but if you look closely out to sea, you can see a boat sailing on the sea at about the same level of the roof of the houses behind the dike. 
Here is another angle when the bike path goes along the side of the dike instead of on top of it. The bike path itself is well below the sea on the left, which you cannot see but imagine the sea on the other side above the level of Leisa’s head. 
When you do have to venture onto roads that need to be shared with cars, it is such a delight to note that they are designed first with the cyclist in mind requiring cars to make adjustments and not the other way around. This one is actually a two-way road but cars always need to yield to cyclists.
Lots of historic towns along the way. Here we enjoy lunch in Enkhuisen next to the Drommedaris tower gate built in 1573. 
And the port town of Hoorn with a collection of sailing vessels going back a few centuries.
Well, cyclists do have someone else to share the road with. 
And staying at a Bed and Breakfast sure does beat setting up a tent and crawling into a sleeping bag. 
And the 65km day comes to an end in Edam, yes, as in cheese, with a nice sunset along the many canals of this town. 
And this brings Leisa and me lots of this: 
We head first to the port town of Volendam, which used to be one of the most important fishing villages of Europe. And from here we ferry to Marken. Here is Volendam as seen from the ferry. 
In Marken, as we have seen all along the route, there are signs that remind visitors and residents alike what happened 100 years ago. 
And if you look closely to the right of the window on this house in Marken, you can see a mark showing how high the water rose in 1916. 
In a place with lots of canals, we get to cross lots of bridges. 
It’s a hot day requiring lots of water. Leisa has learned to drink without getting off the saddle. 
But there is a nice breeze for the modern day windmills and the tailwind we have enjoyed for three days continues. 
And finally we return to the Zandam train station where we started the trip three days and 180km earlier. This time the station and its surroundings are in full sunshine. 
And my new bicycle touring companion sits on the train back to The Hague dreaming of the next cycling vacation. 
