Le Grand Tour Advent Calendar: Day 24 – The Hook Of Holland, The Netherlands

By Andrew on December 24, 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

It was almost precisely midday when I set off along the 5,500km loop that, if all went to plan, would see me return to The Hook of Holland in two months. I was fully expecting to retrace my route back to the small ferry at Maassluis where I planned to cross – again – the waterweg to Rozenburg on the southern side of the estuary. It would be a 15km cycle through familiar territory and, as Wanda’s robust touring tyres rolled over the rough concrete of the wide path beside the water, I began to contemplate what was to come over the next few weeks. The known knowns, the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns.

Bearing in mind it was a nice Saturday afternoon in very early September, the Hook of Holland was not a busy place. There were a good number of lean, Lycra-clad cyclists racing past me and a handful of much slower cyclists sauntering gently beside the river but there was no more congestion on the cycle path than there had been on that Sunday morning in early July. For much of the time it was just Wanda and me. Then, as I knew it would, the route turned slightly left, down a short bank beside a food kiosk and took up position next to the water itself. Past the Atlantic Wall Museum on my right and that final sign – 1,031km since the bridge at Konstanz – we rolled over the concrete slabs weaving very occasionally to avoid the couples out for a walk. They knew nothing of my journey that was about to reach its climax. The scrubland to my right had now been replaced with sand, some of which had blown across the concrete, exactly how as I remembered at the start of the epic loop around the continent. Then, there it was. Memorably as wonky as it had been 62 days earlier, the sign telling me that I was 8,934km from Shanghai, 1,831km from St. Petersburg and just 26km from Rotterdam. I had somehow managed to stretch that to 39km but I was past caring. What I was here to see were the words emblazoned in large blue letters on each of the four sides of the square post:

HOEK VAN HOLLAND

My journey was complete.

Le Grand Tour on a Bike Called Wanda recounts Andrew P. Sykes’ journey around France, into the Alps and down the Rhine in the summer of 2022. It is available as a paperback and as and eBook from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com (and other international Amazon sites). The paperback is also available from Waterstones or Foyles and the eBook from Apple iBooks. If you would like to gift a signed copy of the book, please complete the form below:

Le Grand Tour on a Bike Called Wanda (signed copy)

£15.00

LATEST CYCLING EUROPE POSTS:

Subscribe to the Cycling Europe YouTube Channel

Since 2009, CyclingEurope.org has established itself as a valued, FREE cycle touring resource. There’s now even a podcast, The Cycling Europe Podcast. If you enjoy the website and the podcast, please consider supporting the work of CyclingEurope.org with a donation. More information here.

Catch up with The Cycling Europe Podcast: