Having taken the overnight ferry from North Shields we arrived in Ijmuiden and were on our bikes shortly after 9am heading west along the Nordzeekanaal towards Amsterdam. We cycled through Amsterdam passing behind the Centraal Station and onwards keeping the canal to our left until we reached Muiden where we had to stop for a few minutes whilst a canal bridge over the Vecht opened and closed. Immediately we set off we found a cafe near the Muizenfort and stopped for refreshments at about the 30 mile mark. We then had a slightly complicated few miles following the side of a motorway over the Hollandse Bridge, made more difficult by massive road/groundworks going on at the time. Once over the bridge we were on the Almere Polder and we hugged the south bank following the Gooimeer and into a fairly stiff headwind. We passed windsurfers, canoes and small boats all out enjoying the breeze on a nice sunny day but we were glad after 15 miles to reach the bridge over (and off) the Gooimeer to Nijkerk from where we skirted Barneveld across to Otterlo. We then tracked south through woodland and eventually reached Arnhem after 83 miles and an excellent Guesthouse with good bike storage and a very amenable host which was a nice half mile walk away from the town centre where we discovered some excellent bars and reatsurants.