What they say

Curb edge in the snow

Yesterday evening we had a course at our rowingclub to become a referee. You will help the race run smoothly. Someone takes care that all the boats are aligned at the start, another starts the clock, someone else takes care of any obstacles and bridges to see if everything is safe and by the rules and another is at the finish. A lot of responibilities. That's why we have a course, with in two weeks a exam.

After a succesful night I went home through lots of snow with Ocho, my velomobile. Boy o boy, it's pretty tough cycling over a snow covered sidewalk. I'd better get out and walk a bit towards the corner of the street. Once back in my bike I realize after 15 meters that I have a flat right tire. Earlier that night I took the corner to sharp when trying to get up on the curb and that wheel hit it pretty hard. The rowingclub is about 100 meters away and the snow on the sidewalk made me not notice it. Until I wanted to get home.

Shopping with 7 ladies

Lots of weeks ago I made a 'deal' with the ladies from the rowing team Dolies. In exchange for my steering capabilities a few of them would join me to do some shopping (men don't like to, women do). Last Saturday it was time. But I didn't think there would be seven of them coming along. Two or three was doable, but seven...!

Operation successful

I picked up my bike again yesterday after it went in for surgery last Wednesday. Unfortunately it cost around three hours to resolve the problem. The left rear LED light was defect and there was a break in the wire in front which caused both lights shine very dim. The indicator buzzer was attached a bit better and the original bike computer was put back in place. Why? Well, because I ordered a new bike and I put the old one up for sale.

Not again / suicidal

Saturday morning last week I was on my way to our rowing club (as usual). At the intersection (see two clips below) it's always good to pay attention. The car could just get though and I didn't have to brake a lot. Yesterday morning was a different story. This guy didn't look at all and on top of that his side windows are all fogged up which impairs his vision.

The guy below was curious if I wanted to kill myself, because I was riding in on the main road instead of the cycle path (I presume).

What a ROAM weekend!

Sunshine, rain, wind, kilometers, discomfort, accidents, wetness and more of those kind of things. That sums about up the weekend. Okay, a number of those things were unplanned, but it was still a weekend full of happenings. But I'll start at the beginning.

Turbulent day

In many way's this was a day that I won't forget. First Velox Incendia (my velomobile) turned 1. Secondly the wind was blowing fiercely and this was the first time for me to ride in a storm. According to the weather it was about 5-6 bft (about 50 km/h) with gusts up to 80 km/h. And lastly, I was surprised in a very unpleasant way, but more on that later.

Slow, fast and pulled over

This morning I left on my bike to do some erg (read: indoor rowing) on our rowing club. There is still ice in the water so you have to do something to keep in shape. And I got enough training on the way there. The new bike path between Zuidhorn and Groningen wasn't very nicely cleared of snow and ice. They had swept it bit that was a few days ago. Now all the snow and ice was frozen again and the tracks of other bikes were frozen into it, making the speed drop some 10 to 15 km/h. A good workout.

It's getting colder

Usually I would be sitting in the boat by 11 hours, but because there is ice that wouldn't happen. Instead I did some ergo, less fun...but you have to keep up your condition somehow. The first 5 to 10 minutes was warming up en then we did three series of 3 minutes V+15, 2 minutes V+10 and 1 minute V+5. The V is the average 500 meter time of a test I did some 2 weeks ago (I had a time of 2:03.8 per 500 meter). The +15 for instance is 15 above the V time.