The day doesn't begin well. We await Chris Y at the agreed meeting point while he goes to his boutique bike shop to fix his flat. Hydraulic bike lifts, coffee while you wait, discounts, stickers & personal service. It's a different matter at the rendezvous: Nigel uses his space-age pump to super inflate his tyre & it springs a leak, triggering a tube change. This seems to take forever, with broken tyre levers & the like. The main delay comes from the incredible number of strokes required by THAT pump to reach 100psi. 3 of us take it in turns, with two others variously holding wheel & valve. I am feeling smug when something similar happens to my bike after pumping up the front tyre. Thankfully my inner tube change (and tyre inflation) is mercifully brisk, it only takes some 10', and we finally set off at 10am.
Of course, the delays have piled on the pressure a bit. We have a date with destiny (well, the IBC photographers) at 3pm in Amsterdam, so Adrian is setting a fierce pace. No early breaks today. 20 miles have to be completed before the first coffee-stop, where Appelgebak isn't even served, so ice cream has to serve as a substitute. The ride at this point has been along a canal (no change there then), but this is a particularly beautiful one, lined with spectacular houses. Similarly breathtaking prices no doubt. We pass a palatial residence only to realise it's actually a prison - as picturesque as its surroundings.
On the way we have travelled through Utrecht, where we join the morning ride to work. I have never been in a bike traffic jam before. They are everywhere and the locals keep splitting up the party. We see forests of bikes parked in the Centrum, although it's not all modern - a good, old-fashioned windmill suddenly appears from between the office buildings. Adrian's GPS takes us past some houseboats on the way out of the city. I remark on a tanned, statuesque woman in a bikini having a smoke outside one of them. After I spot three more, the penny drops - we are passing through a rather quaint red-light district. At 11am and in the bright sunshine, it all makes for a dramatic contrast with Amsterdam by night. Maybe this is still going through my mind when I have the first of my near misses during the day - I VERY nearly pitch headlong into a canal as the narrow cycle track takes a sudden left. The thought of the merciless ribbing I would have got leaves me chastened for the next few miles.
As we press on for lunch we are on some pretty small roads. Single-track, we'd call them in the UK. Frequent shouts of "Car Up!" (as in "up yer backside") and "Car Down!" go up and down the column. I am following the leading three at some speed through the winding roads when the shout goes up and the lead (Gabriel) brakes to avoid the Range Rover that refuses to yield. We narrowly miss both a pile up and injury, but only just. Near miss number two. My third fright was boringly simple. I just nearly rode straight into an oncoming car on one of these lanes. It did however prove my theory that dark green cars are actually invisible and should be banned (you try it and see).
It starts to rain. We come to a sudden stop several times as Adrian's GPS database fails to keep up with the lastest Dutch roadworks. We are quite weary when we finally stop for lunch at 30 miles. The restaurant is very smart. We are not. We are therefore tucked away out of sight of the rest of the clientele in the workmen's cabin at the back. At least that's how it feels. Upon seeing the fantastic menu, Chris Yanda is appalled to find that Rhys will only allow him a main course and no starter as time is tight. They resolve to pass back this way on their return ride (yes, some of them are riding all the way back).
After lunch, the pace remains brisk. I think Adrian and the leaders have get-home-itis, whizzing ahead of the rest of us, past the sign marking the Amsterdam city limits and on to the RAI exhibition centre. Just outside, we all put on our official tour polo shirts. Now we look like a team. At the RAI we stop, slightly dazed, for handshakes & team photos in the sunshine. It all seems to be over so quickly.