We’ve been watching lots of videos on YouTube about the Netherlands, including ones about how the bike path system works and how the system came into being. It tied in well with this being “Bike to Work” week here in Flagstaff. In previous years I’ve had to skip biking to work during this event because dry storm fronts came through with strong winds out of the west that were just too much of a headwind to fight on the way to work. This year the forecast was much better.
Monday morning was pretty good. It’s about 6 miles to work, and the hospital is on a hill so the end of the ride is always tough, but it seemed to be okay. I made it in 45 minutes as planned, but I really felt like I was out of shape. The afternoon ride was a different story – even though the forecast called for 0% chance of rain, I left work in a rain shower. Fortunately, the rain let up and I was able to “ride between the drops”, but there was a brief shower about half-way home that included sloppy snow mixed with rain. Still, not too bad, until I got to the traffic signal a couple of blocks from home. As I sat waiting for the light it started to rain hard, and then change to sloppy snow. I got wetter within 2 minutes of home than I had in the previous half hour.
Tuesday was better, at least weather wise. It was clear, sunny, and I had a good tailwind coming home. Still, I felt really out of shape and felt like I was working far too hard. My tires looked fine, but a check of air pressure showed that I had 55 pounds instead of the maximum 75 pounds. That could explain a lot!
Wednesday was like night and day compared to the first two. I sailed to work, got further up a big hill before I had to walk, used higher gears, and got home in record time. What a difference proper air pressure makes!
So I figure that by bicycling that many miles, in such varied weather, and being inspired by the videos, I had a pretty good warm-up for bicycling in the Netherlands. Maybe I’ll be able to keep it up and ride once or twice a week this summer.
On one of my lunch-time walks, I saw that the orange poppies are beginning to bloom. I always think of the Netherlands when I see these flowers.
I think I’ll continue working on my conditioning by enjoying one of my last bottles of Hertog Jan this weekend. I’ve been rationing myself since I can’t get it here in the U.S. When they are gone, it’s time to go back, so maybe I should drink them sooner rather than later?!
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