day 16

Last day of cycling, from Edam (pr. a-dam, with a long first a) to Schagen.  For the observant (and the non observant) the audio of Edam's bells is now up on yesterdays post, here is the promised picture.

Edam had been an odd place as it is the only place where there have been tourists who aren't Dutch.  At breakfast this morning you could hear German and French as well as English.  It must be a bit depressing for the French guests that the only they can communicate with the staff is in English

We pottered round the shops and couldn't come away without some cheese so there will be a cheese tasting at ours soon, including the local honey mustard..  Who knew there were so many different types?  We have 6 for you to try.

It was quite late by the time we left Edam, gone midday and today was the longest planned route.  The clouds were starting to gather and look dark and menacing.  We had been so lucky with the weather so far it seemed very likely it wasn't going to hold out and indeed after 15 miles we started saying it will only be a brief shower, the clouds are going the other way and all the other thing you use to convince yourself.  It worked for nearly another 10 miles and then when we saw lightening we stopped to put the waterproofs on and a few extra layers as the temperature had plummeted.  It was at this point that on the horizon appeared this

A spinning windmill of the old variety.  The route didn't take us past it exactly, but Ed decided that didn't matter and off he headed with me chuntering on the back about being cold and wet.  It turned out to be the best bit of the ride today.  It is a completely restored windmill, still functional but no longer required as the job is now done by electric pumps.  It is one of a chain of 3 remaining out of 11 original and they have turned it into a working museum.

 I'll let Ed fill in the technical stuff.  Whilst we were there they connected the sail mechanism to the water moving mechanism (an Archimedian screw) so we did get to see it working.

(Couldn't get a decent picture of the water gushing through as it's bit dark inside, but at full speed it moves 60,000 litres of water per minute by driving a screw like this one

Ed was then pounced on by a Dutch inventor who had a great idea that he was desperate to explain to anybody who would listen whether they spoke the same language or not.  His English was better than Ed (or my) Dutch. but not good enough to put across complex points of hydroelectric generation and use of air pressure as applied to it.  (He wants to use water flow to create compressed air to generate electricity, but why not just use the flow to generate it directly? I can't go on public transport on my own without attracting the loony-on-the-bus, seems that I may have the same trouble in windmills...) This was a close as we came to understanding his great scheme that no one will give him the money to build a prototype of.

And, as it's our last day, have another wotd

By the time we left the museum the weather had cleared up and although still cold it was now sunny.  It felt a bit like a long slog back, especially as the last part of the ride was the same as the route we left Schagen by nearly a week ago. As we came into the town centre the church bells started to ring out, which we thought was a nice gesture...