2012 Hayling Cycle Ride

Welcome to the 27th Hayling Charity Cycle Ride! The success of moving the Ride away from Paris several years back, first of all via the Loire Valley and then Le Mans, led us into the idea of being even more innovative - moving the ride to another country!

'Canals & castles, windmills & woodland, beaches & bulb fields'

Holland is made for cycling and is well equipped with cycle paths and the network reaches all parts of the country. The cycling surface quality is good and it is possible (if wanted) to cycle at speed for considerable distances. Many cycle teams will come flying past - can you keep up with them?! The cycle ways come with their own sets of rules and systems - including traffic signals/lights, tunnels and lanes.

As with last year, the rider will have the choice of longer and shorter routes on some of the days. We leave Hayling Island by coach during the afternoon of Sunday 8th of July, with our bikes securely stored in a lorry, arriving in Harwich, where we pick up our bikes for storage on the overnight, comfortable, Stena ferry. We arrive in Holland on Monday morning, 9th July, with five days of fascinating, fully supported, cycling ahead of us.

The ride starts at Hook (Hoek van Holland) and then goes up the coast to Haarlem. The next days are to Amsterdam, Amersfoort, Dordrecht and back to Hook, with the last day being the fancy dress day as usual, although this time perhaps with a bit of a hangover from the party in Dordrecht!