Oliebollenride 2010

This time in the far-away Tilbug, but that isn't much of a problem. For me this was the first time, seeing I only own a velomobile since this February this year. I'd reserved a couple of day's for cycling to and from Tilburg. The first day before the ride I went to IJsselstein where I could stay at Maarten S. his place for the night. The alarm clock would go off at 6 AM and 1,5 hour later I was in the bike. The day's before the ride I worried a bit about the amount of snow I'd encounter on the way there and if the bike paths would be clean enough, but generally speaking it wasn't to bad. In the North of The Netherlands the roads were almost completely clean, but the further South there was more snow.

In Emmeloord I was riding and all seemed well and the bike paths were clean. But at the first corner the bike went sideways though the corner. Fortunately that wasn't a problem, my bike has three wheels, but it still was exiting. After crossing the Ketelbrug I set course though the polder. Because I already passed Swifterband and I didn't want to cycle to the first available city so I decided to go towards Biddinghuizen. There I ate a big plate of kebab and went on my way. My original route would take me over the Vogelweg, but due to the unplanned stop I decided to follow N305... big mistake. The road next to it wasn't cleaned and tractors have been riding on it so it was very bumpy. At every side road I hesitated if I should follow it and rejoin my original route. But at a certain point the bumpy road turned into a clean cycle path. I decided to follow it. But the joy of riding soon ended. At the viaduct they decided to stop cleaning the path and I had to figure out how to get to the other side. For me that meant getting out and pushing my bike. Eventually I reached IJsselstein and after a good meal, some chatting with the other 3 recumbent riders who were staying there we went to bed. After 214 km that wasn't to big of a problem.

Again the alarm clock sounded at 6 AM and we'd decided to head for Tilburg, a 70 ride, at 7 AM. I wasn't picking up speed because the day before I had stressed my knees to much, riding though the snow and such. It turned out that in both tires there wasn't as much air as was desirable. After adding some air the speed went up and I could easily maintain 30 km/h. Later the speed dropped again and I replaced the left inner tube. On arrival at the starting place I inspected the right tire and decided to replace the inner and outer tube. The outer tube had a cut in it and I wanted to be ahead of a new puncture.

The oliebollenride itself went though snow filled countrysides and other winterly scenery. We crossed the Meuse with a ferry. It was a tight fit, but we could all pass on one go. In Heusden we had our coffee break, but not before we made a group photo. The coffee and cake were all included in the sign up money (well done). On the way back we crossed some larger cities and with such a big number of velomobiles (around 55 to 60) it causes some problems. Some drivers were impatient and dangerously overtook us to run in to a another driver from the other site some 20 meters further down the road. Another driver did a very good job. He positioned his car across the roundabout so we could all pass in one go. At some point we all had to cross the road and while I was doing that I heard "crack!" followed by a "no, shit!". Someone hadn't seen that we were going to stop and ran in the the bike in front of him. The nose of the bike was a bit damaged but he could still drive. After returning to the starting point we got a bowl of pea soup (a Dutch tradition) and some oliebollen, a very good treat after some 60 km of biking.

On the way back we rode with a small group of 6 riders. Half way home 3 went back to IJsselstein and I went on with Rob H. and Kees van M. At the ferry near Schoonhoven we had a snack at the snack bar on the other side. Rob and I would stay the night at Marjolein van D. in Mijdrecht. I had a appointmeant the next day in Amstelveen and this way I could easily combine both activities. Eventually this ride turned out to be 95 km.

Yesterday it was time to head home. My knees weren't all pain-free but I had to get home... so around 7 AM I started with the last 'few' kilometres. First out of Mijdrecht and then to Weesp. There I stopped at a gas station for a sanitary stop and some tea. They have a good service there, the tea was free! After the last sip I got back in the bike towards Muiderberg. Just before Muiden I almost got driven off the road by a driver who hadn't cleaned his windshield of ice. As I entered Almere I had the choice to go directly to the 'coast' or to follow the signs for Lelystad. The first option had a lot of snow so I took the second one. At first it seemed a good choice (the road was pretty much snow-free and straight into the city), but as I got to the center of Almere they obviously ran out of Lelystad signs. After a lot of looking at my GPS, driving the wrong way and riding on a 'no access for cyclists' road I came to a gas station where I stopped to unfreeze my toes and eat something. And there I spotted a frikandel sandwich with my name on it. It was the very best I've ever had. Once on the way along the coast I set course to Lelystad. You just have to love such a long and straight way, that way you can cover some distance. The rest of the bay back wasn't that adventurous. The road before Swifterband was closed and in Friesland it was 'straight ahead'. The counter stopped at 205 km when I got home.

This morning I slept in and reflected on the past days. A total of 4 days of cycling and 680 km covered. As a result of this trip, some sore muscles and painful knees. I know I have to take in easy with the knees, but after a few days of rest I should be riding again. Also I have to fix 3 inner tubes. During the ride I replaced 2 of them and when I took a look at my lift tire it was empty again. Maybe a more thorough exam will reveal a problem.

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