Hello and welcome to my website. Glad you are here!
Let me quickly tell you a bit about me and why I’ve created ‘Cycling Holland and Beyond’. I will also tell you a bit about my cycling habits and equipment.
My name is Daniela, and I am 46 years old. I am originally from Germany but I live in The Netherlands for 16 years now (for a while I also lived in Spain).
I think I was about 14 years old when I started to ride a racing bike. I never joined a club though. I always cycled for pleasure and to clear my head while being on my own. I also like to explore new routes and places that way.
Although I do enjoy hilly terrain, I still cycle here in The Netherlands. However, it was a bit of an adjustment in the beginning. You are not fighting the ascents, but the wind. As it is mainly flat, you have to paddle constantly, there is no time for resting.
When the weather starts being a bit more inviting, my tours are usually anywhere between 70 and 140km. During the wintertime, the outdoor tours are mainly just like 30-60km, and I spend quite some time on my Tacx indoor trainer doing more specific training like interval sessions and mountain stages.
Apart from cycling I do enjoy good food and wine (and cooking), sports in general, animals, and travelling the world.
Enough about me, let me tell you why I started this website and what you can expect from it.
Why 'Holland' and not 'The Netherlands'?
You might ask, why does she use Holland and not The Netherlands for the name of the website? Yes, that’s a valid question.
Firstly, Holland is actually not really wrong for me.
The official explanation is the following; The country consists of 12 regions, of which two are North- and South-Holland. Those two are officially ‘Holland’. If you talk about the whole country, it is ‘The Netherlands’. However, as I live in South-Holland and often cycle in this region, I thought I can say Holland and beyond. While beyond for me means the other Dutch regions it is sometimes also even across the boarder, like Germany.
You can also read it on the official Netherlands Tourist website.
But still, Holland is widely used when talking about the whole country.
And secondly, to be honest, it’s just a shorter name for the website, right? 😉
Why 'Cycling Holland and Beyond' and what to expect?
You might also wonder why I even started this website and what you can expect from it when you visit me from time to time?
The reason is actually pretty simple – I want to provide what I was always looking for but did not to find. I thought that maybe I am not the only one looking for some practical tips along the way and more detailed information about the tour. When I looked at websites offering tours uploaded by various users, I always need to spend quite some time to figure out those things that I gave up and started planning from scratch. Furthermore, the amount and style of info varied from user to user.
I want people to not have to hassle with all the time-intensive planning so that you can just pick a tour, get all the relevant and practical information and enjoy your tour and surrounding.
My Equipment
In case you might be interested in knowing which equipment I am currently using, here you have it:
Bike: Merida Reacto
Gear: Shimano Di2, 52/36, 11-32
Tubes: Continental Grand Prix 5000, 25mm
Computer: Garmin Edge 830
Trainer: Tacx Flux 2
If you want to know more details, just drop me a line and I’ll let you know.