surprise - no brakes - long live the adventure

Don't you just love surprises....
In one month I have to participate in a 'Raid', part of my studies. We will be out on our own, by bike, during 5 days and without any outside support. 5 Days of riding by mountain- and road bike out on the trails of the Mercantour National Parc. Me and the 15 guys of the course and so it is in my best interest to be prepared.

So I prepare myself seriously by riding and practising. Although I am still a bit handicapped because of the pain in my hand/wrist, I can ride my roadbike for hours. Now here comes the surprise....
Here I am, happily turning the legs around on the roads and my speed increases and increases....I have always wondered whether my brakes worked well and the guys and mechanics have made fun of me that I didn't know how to ride a roadbike......Until last week, a car decided not to give me the right of way on a roundabout. I hit the brakes, hard....and nothing happens. The damned bike DOES NOT STOP. Well, that was it. That was my 3rd almost accident and I have had enough of it.
I don't hesitate, ride to the shop immediately, tell of my 'adventure' and finally, after 6 months of complaining that the brakes on the damn bike are useless, he believes me. He believes me....
Unfortunately, changing pads will not solve the problem, I'll have to change the brakes entirely and it's gonna cost me, 'cause the bikebrand has issued a frame that does not allow many deviation of the original parts.......To be continued this week!!

spring is in the air

Wind, rain, thunder and lightning....we've had it all this last week. For a couple of weeks the weather has not been what one expects. Although a bike ride is less fun, when the wind beats you from all sides, one still has to ride to remain in form and to improve our form. A three hours ride, feels much more than a beating in such conditions, than when the sun is shining and we stroll along to finish the 80km at hand.

Sure enough, we need the rain. The rivers are running low and we had already begun to water the plants and vegetable....in april. We do hope, however, that when this depression has passed, we will have some sun and nice temperatures to warm the body.

I went for a mountainbike ride yesterday. The first in 7 weeks. Man.....I simply cannot explain the joy and energy it gives me.....I took some precaution. My hand is more or less protected from the heavy shocks and of course I sometimes pay more attention to the pain than the rocks in front of me....ahum. It thrilled me. The legs are strong...it all feeeels good. Although my hand was strapped, I did ride my road bike. After a couple of weeks of sun I had two white lines across my fingers and after cutting-off my cast, my hand was all white and my thumb all tanned. Anyway, the cast is off, let the fun rebegin.

To show you that I do more than cycling, I would like to share with you the flowers in our garden. The colours and smells are amazing and this time of year remains the most beautiful. I could show you hundreds of photos like it, but it would just be much better to just come down here, see for yourself and enjoy the trails on your bike at the same time. I'm here to guide you along....of course.

While my colleagues are struggling to master steep descents, and while we are practising our teaching skills in Sospel, the big guys, the elite mountainbikers were in Saint Raphael for their first stage of the Coupe de France.

I could have been there....of course....well, I could have been in the starting line-up, just for the experience and to defend the club's colours. It was my club who organised the event, but I had to still watch from a distance. The hand, still the hand, but all is well, considering. The weather was gorgeous, the wind fierce, the dust hurt the eyes and the number of flat tires was immense, but the athmosphere was old-fashioned. Our french world-and olympic champion was there, of course, and after playing cat-and-mouse during the first 8-km lap, he quickly established his dominance. After almost two hours of race, he was the first to raise his arms. Mission accomplished....can I go home now to the missus, who is just 10 minutes away, cause you're riding in my back yard...kind a thing.

In Sospel, the sun was beating down; I even had a headache at the end of the day. Unable still to ride on a mountainbike, although on the road the pain was bearable, I watched from the sideline. Extremely frustrating!! I was not a happy camper that week. I fulfilled my contract, taught my two sessions to gain experience, was present during the 30 other sessions and mastered the orientation skills on foot, while my colleagues hunted down the marks by bike. I did well, I must admit. While the grand majority of my colleagues opted for 0 points, I had 10 and 8 at the end of the two exercises...On foot!!

What else do I want? I still have the slight impression that lots of my friends and colleagues think that I am on an extended holiday. The sun, a couple of training weeks and then a few weeks off, a broken hand, but heh, with a broken hand you don't have to work.....All sort of things must go through peoples minds.

Well, it's not a holiday! I work; I teach english and am a student teacher at the BMX club. There's two days filled for you. I study hard, another two days and am very pre-occupied to have my dutch diploma legalised in France. The last thing alone can fill my week....My weekends are always filled with some kind of cycling thing; just to gain more experience. True, I do not have to wake up to an alarm clock.....but that is as much holiday feeling I can thing of. Just to set the record straight a bit. No hard feelings.....Happiness is the biggest joy of all. Not the money that comes with working 5 days a week. I'm still one of the happiest people around, cause I can live my passion!!

See you next time.