On my way to Vries again

Mar
6
Submitted by XL-Network on Sun, 2011-03-06 22:25

It was some time ago that I cycled with the Huneliggers, but today it was that time again. As always we gather at Café Vriezerbrug in Vries. I was running late so I engaged the bike's turbo to try to arrive on time. A few kilometers before my destination I saw something that looked like a recumbent rider with two dogs running along. I was wrong. Turn's out that it were two riders on one bike. Georg and Jolanda D. came on their recumbent tandem. Russel and Jack (the newest of the two dogs) also came along. First they were running, later they rode along in the bicycle bag. Once we arrived at the café rider number 4 was spotted, Peter H. And after the usual: "Hey Wilfred, nice of you to come!", came the "Ehhh, can I borrow hex key no. 5 from you?". He'd adjusted his seat and something wasn't quite how it should be. I'm not the meanest guy and I had the tools, so why not. After the cup of coffee or tea we left. Heading for Groningen was the plan, because I had to be there at 11:30 for rowing practice.

Despite that we were only a group of four, the speed wasn't that high. Add some narrow bike paths through the forest and you've got yourself a problem. After 30 minutes I suggested to go on by myself, at the current speed I wouldn't make it. A quick look at the map and the turbo could be engaged once more. Speed was around 30-35 km/h and some 10 minutes later than planned I arrived. The coach was waiting for us in the hallway. Yes, us... because I wasn't the only one who was late. Fortunately we could leave soon.

The training went well. Slightly less wind than the day before, a nice sunshine and a good mood. From the beginning I had the feeling that this could be a nice outing. Everyone was nice and relaxed in the boat. We started with the Tuscan exercise (which our coach 'invented'). After taking your oar out of the water you go to stop position 3, than back to position 1 and than glide forwards. The idea is to get the sync between the rowers and to go easy on the slidings. The exercise was a success, because afterward the rowing improved. On the first half of the outing I suddenly heard my name from a distance, but I thought: "Who would call me here and now?". And then I spotted Georg and Jolanda cycling past the water and waving. I'm sorry I didn't wave back, you see, that's not possible when you're rowing. I a sturdy tempo we got to the Meerwegbrug near Haren. After passing it we headed to De Witte Molen for a 3 kilometer stretch at competition tempo speed. We stopped at the next bridge and turned around. After some instructions from our coach we went back to the Meerwegbrug. From there to the Van Ketwich Verschuurbrug we got full power again. Another 3 kilometers of hard rowing. In short... a successful training.

When I arrived home I also tinkered with my chair. For a while I think it's not to comfortable. That's why I lowered the back a bit. This should give me two advantages. First, I'm sitting in a more reclined position which, hopefully, will solve my wooden ass problem. Secondly, I always thought I was positioned a bit high in the bike. By sitting lower the center of gravity is lower (which is better for corners) and you get less wind and rain in your face. A downside may be that you can't see what's right in front of the nose. That can easily be fixed bit sitting up straight if needed.