The goal of this 14-day trip is to explore charming smaller towns, countryside and national parks by public transport and bicycle. I travel solo with a 35L backpack, about 7 kg, so am quite mobile.
I will arrive at AMS in mid-September and will begin with 4 nights in Utrecht. I've spent time in the "west" so for the next 10 days I'd like to head east (and north and south), staying perhaps 2-3 nights in each locale, renting a bike and exploring. My current geographically irrational list includes Amersfoort, Geithoorn, Zwolle, Apeldoorn, Nijmegen, and eventually exiting the Netherlands at Maastricht as I head toward Luxembourg. Obviously this won't work but it gives an idea of the areas that I am considering.
But then, oh the other hand, I could head even further east toward, say, Winterswijk, which looks lovely ...
Most of the resources I've found focus either on the western "tourist trail" cities, or multi-day bicycle touring trips, neither of which fits the ticket. I am looking at the "cycle routes" on the nederlandfietsland.nl website but then: do I pick a place for a nice-sounding day bicycie ride, or do I pick an interesting/nice town and then look for suggested rides in the area? Chicken or egg?
So I would like to ask of those who know the Netherlands well:
1) what locales in the east would you suggest for a "bicycle day-trip centric" visit to the east and south?
2) to find B&Bs and smaller hotels "off the beaten tourist track" what resources do you use? i can search on booking.com and then contact the property directly, but perhaps there is a better way?
Sorry that this is vague, but if I get suggestions here then I will be able to delve into my research without flailing.