I decided to go for a drive. I didn't want to go to Amsterdam, so I headed for Maastricht which is about 90 km south of Eindhoven. I didn't have any plans so here is what developed.
I thought I was taking a picture of some new houses in the middle of Dutch farmlands. When I checked the map I found that Lanaken is in Belgium. I think the field on the right side of the road is potatoes.
I didn't find the center of Maastricht, or at least nothing caught my attention so I got back on the freeway to return to Eindhoven. This next photo is at a rest stop along the way. Note the corn field in the background. It appears the major crop in this area is corn. There are also a lot of dairy cattle in the area.
Rather than take the freeway all the way back to Eindhoven, I decided to follow some smaller highways for the last 30 km. Sometimes these roads are numbered and marked, while at other times you have to check the signs for the route to the town you are looking for. The drive was pleasant and much of the way it ran next to a canal. There were several barges anchored along the canal, but I never saw any of them moving. For some reason I passed by the road I was planning to take to Eindhoven. A few kilometers later, I saw some signs which I thought would lead me back to it so I followed them. It turned out to be a longer route than I planned and I got pulled over by the police. Actually six cars ahead of me also got pulled over at the same time. It turned out they were closing the road for a bicycle race. The motorcycle officer told us to wait until we were told it was safe to continue. Here are some photos from the race starting with the lead vehicles which had just passed by.
The next shot I think is of the leading riders. They are a little blurry since I just pointed the camera and clicked.
Next came some support vehicles and for a while I thought the race was over.
A few more police motorcycles came along and I was beginning to think there were more police than cyclists. About two minutes later the rest of the pack came into view.
This time it was over. We waited for the rest of the support vehicles to pass and then a police officer told the first car in our group that we could continue. I was really glad I was the last car and could just follow since I would have had no idea what the officer was telling me.