Bruges to Amsterdam - what to wear and bring along?

[esoterrica]

I'll be spending the second week of August riding from Bruges to Amsterdam with my mom and sister. We are going with a barge-and-boat company so we sleep on the boat, and meet it after riding to a new location every day (with a guide, along flat canal paths). Our longest day is 35 miles, the shortest is 12 miles, and I suspect we will stop often to be enthusiastic tourists. It's going to be fun! However, I am still thinking through what to bring along and wear and could use some advice.

I know what I need to be happy for big organized rides (50-200 miles/day) and commuting (8 miles roundtrip), and I have also ridden one supported tour but it was similar to a series of event rides (Ride Idaho, 400 miles, 6 days), but this is a new sort of ride for me and requires a different approach! I am perfectly happy wearing head to toe lycra if I'm in a pack of similarly dressed cyclists, but that will not be the case on this ride. For commuting I wear whatever bottoms I am going to wear at work or generic fitness capris, and a high-viz quick-drying shirt/jacket.

The tour company provides a bike with flat pedals and panniers. I know I need a saddle with a cutout so I will bring a spare along. I am also going to pick up some sturdy Keen shoes to wear for cycling and walking. I am leaning towards wearing cycling shorts/knickers with a chamois, and bringing along a couple of packable skirts as cover-ups for sight-seeing breaks. I also have cycling capris with liner shorts (Pearl Izumi Impact). For the shortest days I could just wear running capris. I'm a bit of an amazon (5'11", Terry shorts size XXL, shoe size men's 10.5 or women's 11-12ww) so shopping is always a challenge! Skorts don't work for me due to my amazingly curvaceous rear but I can sew and am thinking of putting together a custom-sized wrapper or a-line miniskirt to wear on the bike in case I feel awkward in cycling shorts. I sunburn very easily so I will bring sunsleeves or maybe a bolero (haven't tried a bolero yet but I hear good things).

Has anyone done this sort of tour before? Any gear or clothing you found especially helpful? Any words of wisdom regarding lessons learned or perils to avoid? This corner of the forum is geared toward more intense trips but I thought I'd check anyway...I'm happy to delete and repost if there's a better place!

[BikeDutchess]

What a fun trip that wil be! Hope you'll have a few extra days for sightseeing on both ends, so much to see!

Clothing like those Pearl Izumi Impact capris will be perfect. You won't see much Lycra or high-viz being worn in Belgium and the Netherlands. Even for trips like this many people just bike in street clothes. Stores like REI carry a lot of casual cycling clothes these days - not Lycra but looking more like regular street clothes with a comfortable cut designed for casual cycling. Sometimes with chamois. That kind of stuff will blend right in and be comfy to ride in. Don't forget to pack some rain gear.

[AppleTree]

esoteric what a great tour that will be, that is close to our dream trip of cycling in the Netherlands...never would have thought of bringing my own saddle, but that is a great idea. Seems like you have all your bases covered really. Sounds like you won't be packing your own belongings, the tour company will do that for you?? That will make it so much easier. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Crankin]

We always pack our own saddles and pedals for tours.
A different bike is bad enough!

[esoterrica]

All of our gear stays on the boat and it moves with us so we don't even have to pack up in the morning!

[withm]

All of our gear stays on the boat and it moves with us so we don't even have to pack up in the morning!

I did a bike and barge trip from Brugges to Amsterdam a few years ago in late Sept/early Oct with VBT. It was fabulous.

We had our choice of bikes - road bikes or hybrids, and we chose road bikes since that is what we all used at home. We took our own pedals and seats however. Fortunately our guides were smarter than we were - yes they brought 3 road bikes for us in the appropriate sizes, but they also brought hybrids for us as well. Knowing the terrain, some of the areas we were riding had cobblestones, a couple unpaved paths. We used the hybrids but we did use our pedals. The 3 of us all used Frogs, so we were able to clip in, and still walk around for the sightseeing parts.

THe cycling was really nice, and you'll be there at a time when there will be more gardens to view. I have just moved to a new house, and if I could find my notes/itinerary I'd give you some of the highlights, but you may be enroute before that happens.

The UNESCO National Heritage Site where all the windmills are is especially beautiful, I forget the name right now. The ride into Ghent was good. The actual ride into Amsterdam was a little hectic - crowds, traffic, confusing but we made it.

There was one instance where the boat was not able to meet us at the appointed location - was not able to "lock-through" in time with the tide so we had a detour that day. The sag wagon would take you if you were too tired to ride.

One thing you might want to think about - our cue sheets were all in kilometers, and the bikes did not have computers. They are cheap enough that at least one in your group ought to bring a wireless computer set to km to help you navigate. We got lost a few times and had to ask for help more than once. When the cue sheet says go 7km and turn left at the trashcan on to an unmarked street you can see the potential for getting lost when you have no idea if you are at 6 or 8km. Your tour group may provide computers - ask.

The food was great, especially in Belgium. I wish I was going with you. Have fun!