"There are no wrong ways, just different..." Jack, our bicycle guide, does not mean this as prophetic it's just his struggle with our language. I hear it as a global metaphor for most things in life... We've clocked 123 miles as of today. Tomorrow we finish with a 35 cycle from Bruges to the North Sea. We took one day off to recover from bicycling thru a tornado😃! And lost 35 miles for our total... Jack tells us we cannot get lost...you could veer off course but there is no wrong ways. This has been his response to most things. He's a diplomat. For 35 years he worked with troubled kids as a social worker so few things rattle him. Disagreeable tourists are easy compared to his former teenage clients. He rides from April to September for this Bike and Barge group. He's 62. He clocks nearly 200 miles a week. He works three weeks and takes one week off. When he's not riding his bike and entertaining cyclists on holiday, he is a professional voice over talent for the Netherlands. He is fluent in 6 languages. He reads "books on tape", does corporate videos and some television commercials. He is single. He prefers it. A gentle giant. It's been a fun week to be in his care... And it's not over yet! After all , there are no wrong ways, just different...to the North Sea!
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Tender tooshys, helmet hair and sore knees! We are all in this together. It's the human condition. When a human being sits for 126 miles their tooshys get tender. I have watched our group opt for the higher less comfortable chairs to avoid bending their knees. I've witnessed ladies using the one cheek method of sitting. This side saddle approach to sitting is common across the sexes and fitness levels. "Whoa nelly "... And other colorful language can be heard far and wide when first our seats meet our seats. Those who know me know I'm not a make up wearer...never have been. There seems to be a lot of concern about hair dryers too. I applaud my traveling women friends who "put their "faces on" before sweating it all off by mile 10. I'm also impressed by the hair drying and hair spraying before helmets. I am happy with the post ride shower and air dry look...but I admire those who kick the bicycling beauty regimen up a notch! I'm embracing Helmet Hair! Let the tangles and sunscreen prevail! Most of the cabins are below deck... They are rooms resembling a walk in closets with cots! Just enough for a bicycle trip thru the Nederland's... The short steep stairs down to the room become Mount Everest after 126 miles. Your mind goes to "if I walk side ways, it may hurt less", "do I really need my camera?", "on second thought, I may need another wine before considering a visit to the room". From atop the stairs...peering down, this is the conversation in my head motivated by my knees. Today we travel 28 miles ... I plan on cheating again. Bruges by mid day! We are in the land of old traditions. The hand made lace is choreographed bobbin work. A dying art. As technology and distraction infiltrate this country fewer and fewer young people invest the time in learning this art. It takes skill and focus. The results are lovely. Beer of many flavors and alcohol contents. The country of the original IPA. Travelers are warned to go easy on their brews! This is not a Budweiser or Coors kind of country! Chocolate is in all forms. I think the Belgians think they invented chocolate. They may have but I don't have Internet to check! But their candies are soft and easy albeit rich in flavor. Some delicacies combine chocolates with the usual suspects peanut butter, cherries and nuts. Then there are the others which offer asparagus, tobacco, and hemp for the adventurous choc-o-holic. I find it perplexing that we are given Snickers and Twix bars for lunch treats? C'mon...you invented chocolate! Ditch your pride and enjoy the ride!
96 miles in 4 days! The weather threatened hurricane force winds and driving rain. 35 miles from port to port. Rain gear a must! Mark volunteered to sweep. No, not the deck of the barge but the riders. His job was to pedal behind and keep track of the flock. He was the "border collie" of the trip. How could I not go? So many were opting for a canal cruise. Remembering the driving rain of 2 days earlier and the chill to the bone that even a hot shower could not suppress. I was tempted to stay behind and enjoy the other passengers...but how could I? My husband is the sweep! The morning of the trip, I saw Mark sitting at day break having coffee alone in the salon and as I sat I ran thru the litany of reasons we should opt to stay on the barge. He quietly looked up and just before he sipped his coffee he said..."do what you want, but we came here to ride..." The gauntlet was thrown! I recoiled to my room. Pulling on the wicking bike shorts and the multilayers of shirts, I wondered if I could do this. What's the worst that would happen? I'd spend the whole day being told by my husband to catch up... I needed an intervention. I went to Jack, our guide. I slipped him 20 Euros and rented an electric bike! Oh, how I struggled. Days earlier I judged the elderly Germans for their electric bikes...and here I was choosing this alternative. Cheater! 18 folks chose to ride. 6 chose electric bikes! I say ditch your pride and enjoy the ride. 14 people stayed on the barge... So I had to be given some credit for attempting the next wet and windy 35 miles regardless of the electric bike...right? First let me explain one thing. You still have to peddle. This is not a moped or scooter. I was told to keep it in economy mode by Jack. I hardly felt a difference. I was still peddling to keep up with my group but suddenly the hills were easier and the knees hurt less. So I still peddled those 35 miles but had an economic assist. The Wind! Oh the wind...I heard the music from the Wizard of Oz when the witch is caught in the tornado.... Trees were uprooted...debris all over the bike paths... Head down, hands clenched, legs in slow motion churning the peddles...I was determined not to let the wind win. One of the other women on an electric bike suggested I change the setting to standard. I pondered this. She said "it makes the riding so much easier..." I gave this thought and decided it was too early in this 8 hour day to waste the battery... I kept my bike in Econ until the wind started to push me back... "Standard" allowed me to push thru the wind. As I passed an Ausie rider I heard him say "cheater"... Briefly, I winced. Then I heard "set aside the pride and enjoy the ride" inside my head. The way I figure it, I'm a 56 year old woman, 100 pounds over weight and 3 weeks recovering from major surgery...its a blessing I'm on this bike...or any bike. Cheating, for me, would have been staying on the boat! In the final stretch to the boat, all 18 riders were windburned and wasted by the turbulent blowing of an angry Mother Nature. We turned each corner anticipating the boat just around the bend...it seemed out of reach. Jack told me to go full steam on High electricity to the boat to wear the battery down... Woot woot... This was music to my ears! The electric bikes who were in standard had run out of energy 8 miles from the boat...these are the toughest 8 miles out of 35... The Sweep, Mark said it was a tough day! He felt beat up. He gave me a high five and said "I'm proud of you." "Even if you cheated..." Old Friends, New friends Fast friends and blue friends... There are multi levels of athletic ability on this trip. I've found if I stay in the middle of the pack I am set with a pace and able to maintain. The trouble comes when we are traveling over highways and across busy streets as a group ... The vehicles move FAST and without concern. This is where we all get bunched up and my position in the pack can be usurped. The folks at the back get discouraged. Mostly because they feel they are holding the pack back...sometimes because they just can't see themselves conquering that next "Dutch Mountain", but mostly because there is no rest for the back of the pack... By the time the slower catch up, the faster group has had a great long rest and as soon as they catch up we are on our way. An unintended punishment for the slower in the saddle. This trip is all about the biking. There is country side to see but not a lot of touring! The spring flowers are in bloom...we pass hedgerows of lilacs, privet and a fragrant bush I don't know the name of...the intoxicating scent is balanced by the fields of cows, sheep and goat dung. Life is about balance. Over All...my dear friends Marcy and Linda are making the trip a blast! Mark and I are singing our way thru the miles. We are happily butchering the classics and every song James Taylor ever wrote. Our serenading seems to amuse most but probably annoys a few... I was once told if you can sing or speak while peddling...then your not dead yet! Singing on! Today 35 miles from Antwerp to Ghent! |
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