After a two week break due to a conference (DISCOTEC in Oslo) and a visit to see my brother, his wife and their new baby Mia in Germany, I finally got out on the bike for a ride with Dennis.
We again did the same route, but needed to deal with a little cold this time. Fortunately, my stomach was sufficiently devoid of sandwiches and the two week hiatus had done its work on my muscles; I was fighting fit.
The first 30km were quite quick, at above 30km/h (though I forget to reset my cycle computer until after the first 5km). Nothing much of interest happened, though I managed to stick with Dennis over the 3rd hill (hills 1, 2 and 4 were different stories). Unfortunately, I missed a turn in Amerongen and we lost each other. After waiting for a while, I continued onwards. A cold headwind pushed impeded my progress along the dyke, but that soon stopped as I headed away from the river.
I decided to add some extra kilometres to my ride, so I turned towards Maarn for some hills and forest. As I was riding through the forest on a single track, it started to get darker and began to rain. I had in my mind to avoid a particularly nasty bump in the middle of the single track. That was all I was thinking about as a wove through the trees. Then I turned a corner close to the end of the track, at the 88km mark, and I changed gears. At that moment, with one hand on the handlebars, I hit that bump, and the bike took a sharp turn to the left. I quickly grabbed the brakes, but the bushes were too quickly approaching. As stinging nettles pieced my thighs and blackberry thorns scratched my skins, a log sprung in front of me and I flew over the handlebars, landing on my back. In true Tour de France form, I quickly jumped back on my bike, deciding to check for injuries as I rode along. Nothing serious, apart from raised white bumps from the nettles, all over both legs. Fortunately, the hail that came moments after quelled any pain....
After the hail stopped, the ride ended uneventfully. I managed to maintain a decent speed, indicating that any injuries were not serious.
The uitslag: Distance 100.11km (recorded), time 3h41m42s, average 27km/h, max 50.1km/h.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
3rd 100km
Keeping up the tradition of hard cycling (relative), Dennis and I did the so-called ledig erf fietsclub route (the green one on this map). On top of that, I rode the 14km to Dennis' house both to pick him up and drop him off. Dennis rode like a man possessed, as the expression goes, and I rode like a man with a hangover and an undigested sandwich in my belly. I performed terribly on the hills. Nonetheless, with the help of Dennis, I improved my time since last episode:
* 100.35km (I actually did 106km, but I stopped the clock early), total time 3h37min29sec, average speed 27.6km/h, and a maximum speed of 47.1km/h (mainly because I used the downhills to rest).
* 100.35km (I actually did 106km, but I stopped the clock early), total time 3h37min29sec, average speed 27.6km/h, and a maximum speed of 47.1km/h (mainly because I used the downhills to rest).
Sunday, May 25, 2008
2nd 100km of the season
100km in 3h44m49s at 26.7km/h with max 50.8km/h. Lots of dijk and lots of wind.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Goals (cycling related)
It's good to have goals, I've heard. Here are my cycling goals for 2008:
* Ride ten 100km rides.
* Ride one 100km ride at 30km/h or better.
* Ride 150kms.
The second one will be the toughest. The others are a matter of just sitting on the bike and peddling for long enough.
* Ride ten 100km rides.
* Ride one 100km ride at 30km/h or better.
* Ride 150kms.
The second one will be the toughest. The others are a matter of just sitting on the bike and peddling for long enough.
First 100km of the season
Somehow we Netherlanders managed to have a 6-day long weekend. It was brilliant. And for the most part the weather was fantastic. Somehow the weekend snuck up on me, so I had nothing planned. This too was brilliant, as it meant that the whole weekend could be dedicated to cycling (and to reducing my humongous belly).
Wednesday started with the stock 50km standard through Maarn and Doorn. Then Dennis tortured me with an 80km ride, through wind, over hills, and just plain faster than my little legs could go. Dennis introduced me to the hill to end all Dutch hills (at least in this area). The next day I managed only 10km, partly because of rain, but mostly because I was just plain trashed. Then came a 75km ride, where I tried out the hill again. Then a much slower, much flatter 65km. I woke up this morning feeling totally wasted, so didn't expect to do very much. But I knew in my heart that a wee 120km would give me 400km for the weekend (my heart is good at maths too, I must say). With such an unreachable goal dragging me forward, I knew (again in my heart) that stopping short at 100km would hardly be a source of shame. (Though, I do wonder what the Belgians would think.) I chose one of the simpler routes: the Lekdijk, into the wind; the hill and the two hills required to get to it, twice, and then a few of the smaller hills to round off the tour.
The result: 100.57km, 4h 7mins in the saddle, average speed, a respectable 24.3km/h, with a maximum of 55.7km/h.
Total for the 6-day weekend: 380km, unless my summin' ain't good.
BTW. I got a job in Belgium and will be moving there towards the end of the summer.
Wednesday started with the stock 50km standard through Maarn and Doorn. Then Dennis tortured me with an 80km ride, through wind, over hills, and just plain faster than my little legs could go. Dennis introduced me to the hill to end all Dutch hills (at least in this area). The next day I managed only 10km, partly because of rain, but mostly because I was just plain trashed. Then came a 75km ride, where I tried out the hill again. Then a much slower, much flatter 65km. I woke up this morning feeling totally wasted, so didn't expect to do very much. But I knew in my heart that a wee 120km would give me 400km for the weekend (my heart is good at maths too, I must say). With such an unreachable goal dragging me forward, I knew (again in my heart) that stopping short at 100km would hardly be a source of shame. (Though, I do wonder what the Belgians would think.) I chose one of the simpler routes: the Lekdijk, into the wind; the hill and the two hills required to get to it, twice, and then a few of the smaller hills to round off the tour.
The result: 100.57km, 4h 7mins in the saddle, average speed, a respectable 24.3km/h, with a maximum of 55.7km/h.
Total for the 6-day weekend: 380km, unless my summin' ain't good.
BTW. I got a job in Belgium and will be moving there towards the end of the summer.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Cobweb-Clearing Ride
The weather is terrific here, relatively, so I got my first chance of the year to go for a ride. After spending two hours in the morning fixing up my bike and degreasing the chain and getting all the grit off from last year, we (little e and I) went for a cobweb-clearing ride. No records were broken, but it's damn nice to be on the bike again. Hopefully, weekends like this will come more frequently so that I can get my fitness up quickly. I need to be extra fit to ride with Dennis: he bought a new bike last year.
Now I have to write a talk for Tuesday. I'm glad that I did manage to get outside, even though there's work to do on the weekend.
Now I have to write a talk for Tuesday. I'm glad that I did manage to get outside, even though there's work to do on the weekend.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Trip to Australia (and new Camera)
I went home to Australia for the first few weeks of January, with a small stopover in Tokyo on the way there and in Hong Kong on the way back. Little e joined me for the journey. I bought a new camera on the way out of The Netherlands. Just look at the stunning tricks it can perform at the mere press of a button.
Australia was great. The weather was super. My sister got married at a wonderful and modest ceremony. My sister-in-law had gone and got herself pregnant. She was virtually splitting at the sides. My folks were in good shape. Mum even went for a little tumble down a mountain, worthy of Jackass, without a scratch, I might add. Having little e with me meant that I acted as a tour guide and saw a lot more of the country (and a lot less of the cricket) than I normally would. Check out my flickr photo stream for an account of these adventures.
Australia was great. The weather was super. My sister got married at a wonderful and modest ceremony. My sister-in-law had gone and got herself pregnant. She was virtually splitting at the sides. My folks were in good shape. Mum even went for a little tumble down a mountain, worthy of Jackass, without a scratch, I might add. Having little e with me meant that I acted as a tour guide and saw a lot more of the country (and a lot less of the cricket) than I normally would. Check out my flickr photo stream for an account of these adventures.
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