IAMSTERDAM

I admit, it has nothing to do with riding bikes..But this picture was too good to ignore. Amsterdam has bathed in sunlight the last couple of days and with the temperatures close to 0 C and the ice rings in the city I couldn't resist. Happy people enjoying a few moments on the ice under perfect conditions.

I wish the world a pleasurable passage into the new year, health and happiness in the new year and lots of good riding.

More bikes

While my first mountainbike is in my cellar with a flat tire that simply will not stay inflated, while my race bike is still sitting in storage in its protective bag, I saw a cruiser bike that doesn't have my name on it yet, but which I adore....and its comfortable. I can put my feet down, without fear for my knee(s), I can look around with a straight back and it will ride through mud and sleat with its fat tires. I simply love it. The colour too!! hihihihi.

My first week in my new job was allright. I haven't seen a bike yet, at least not the ones I'm supposed to sell....I merely had to get to terms with the software.
With all this going on, I do pose myself the question that I should stay in touch with my trainers course and the ideas and knowledge obtained. I gotta find myself a few people, to write schedules for, in order to verify my diploma....Fair enough, it's winter, and who wants to be bothered with schedules when the weather is too miserable to ride anyway, but I'm looking and I've got a few ideas.
Have a great Christmas everybody and happy riding now and in 2009!

Back in Amsterdam

The last three months I haven't been able to write....these things happen. In accordance with my orthopedic surgeon in Saint Raphael, I decided to have knee surgery. My left knee this time, after having had the same operation on the other knee two years ago.
So, reconstructive surgery to have my anterior cruciform ligament replaced. It went well, very well. 8 Weeks after surgery I was back on my bike for a fantastic short therapeutic ride on the seaside front of Saint Raphael.
The sun was shining, a cold wind and fresh air, after weeks of physiotherapy and therapeutic pain. We took the swelling afterwards for granted....it had been worth it.

Tomorrow I start my new job at Specialized in a small town not far from Arnhem in Holland. It ain't the South of France, but it is Specialized!!
In the mean time I have found my new city bike....gotta safe some money first though.
See you soon!

Pret

Ready to roll; enfin, bref il faut dire quelque chose. 3 heures plus tard il pleuvait et j'était très triste d'avoir partie!

A blue dutchman on the Mont Ventoux

I was minding my own business at home yesterday, when I received an sms that I "could check such and such website to see pictures of the Mont Ventoux". It took me a few minutes to realise that it was my brother and after browsing through hundreds of pictures to find my brother's, I got him. I think his time was decent too.
And I was so proud of him, not only that he has conquered the beast, in hot conditions by the looks of it, but also that he did it in the colours of my club in Saint-Raphael, OCR. So I downloaded a picture.



We are a crazy family. Raised with judo and karate and other martial arts, but both more into riding two wheels. Don't get me wrong; I still love judo and I wish I was still able to practise it... Mountainbiking is judo on two wheels in a way. I have to struggle with the terrain and if I don't give way and move with it, in order to pass difficult passages, the mountain and the terrain will win. Very symbolic perhaps, but not less the truth.
I am still in Amsterdam; prepare the tons of theory concerning rules, regulations and measurements concerning bikes, competitions and organisations and I try to ride as much as I can. The weather is a big 'casse pied' It's grey, cold ,wet or windy. Honestly, I'm miserable on my bike. But things need to be done in order to be fit.
The week after the exams its time for........Le fameux Roc d'Azur! HA HA

Back home in Amsterdam

After a forced, yet pleasurable holiday in France, I came back to Amsterdam last week. The usual culture shock occured. The big city mentality that shocked me, the crowded streets and people taking the sidewalk for themselves; the defensiveness of the majority of people; survival mode......more and more I outgrow the city.

I go for rides, but get bored; the little technical hills to practise were vandalised by the local council....somebody complained that mountainbikers were having fun on these hills, and he/she didn't approve of it. Welcome back. It annoyed me.

Yesterday I cycled to Arnhem. Off I went in the morning and 4,5 hours later and 110km further I arrived. I was cold the whole way through. The weather forecast was slightly wrong and I carried only my team shirt....not enough when the system is comfortable at 30 C and all of a sudden its 10 degrees colder.

Don't think I'm not enjoying myself, although I sound grumpy. I am grumpy, mea culpa!!

My holidays were wonderful. Just have a look at the pictures. I witnessed nature renew itself when the cigale crouched out of its last shell; I visited the old village of Oppède le Vieux in le Luberon and was utterly amazed why people had chosen such a spot and height to build a church; my mum and I visited Cluny and were flabbergasted by the size and magnitude of the old abbey and what it has signified; we went out for dinner more often than financially sound, but had fun doing it; we got acquinted with lots of nice people whom I haven't said 'goodbye' to. All in all summer is doing its thing with and to me in a different way than usual and this is refreshing.

More later.

Cigale

Hij kwam uit z'n laatste huid kruipen

A Royal reward after a big hit

After a big hit during the raid, the guys looked at me, saw nothing and put me back on my bike. The big hit, however, was on my head, on my cheekbone to be more precise and when the group looked at me, afterwards, they must have seen a vague empty look. They did not see any suffering because I was in shock. I felt a crack.

The only woman of the pack, a difficult track and a wet and slippery surface.....I couldn't follow. I listened to some advice and I went on my face big time. I felt the concusion occur and I knew that I should not continue this madness. The guys however did not understand the severity.

I am mad, very mad. Because with a concussed head they made me continue and the next accident was bound to happen. Thinking in hindsight, I cannot think at all, it's a blur, it's been stupidity and most of all, it's absolute irresponsibility to leave someone alone to sort out her misery.

And so, with a concussed head and a cracked menisc I stepped into my car on Saturday morning and drove to Arnhem. We arrived in Arnhem at 22.00, went to bed, ready for the big Royal Reward ceremonie for my dad on sunday.

The icing on the cake after a disastrous week and the emotions of my dad were genuine. He was surprised, surrounded by family and friends and everybody was very, very happy.

Final preparations

Sunday afternoon; it's raining cats and dogs.....it's pissing down and it's not the first day. We've had rain like this for two consecutive weeks now and although I do not mind to much, it's giving me bad vibes for the 5-day Raid that I am about to embark on.

The last two weeks have been filled with preparations at Sospel. I was sleeping in my tent and luckily I put up the big one. Luckily, because that way I did not bring in the drab, the humidity of my shoes....I could take it off in the 'living-area' and sleep dry and warm, thanks to an excellent silk sheet and down sleeping bag.

We've had fun, held a bbq, yelled and cursed and kept on preparing our raid. Last week we've been busy mapping our routes. It is up to us to find appropriate roads, single-tracks and escape routes, to put it in a road book and to map the direction (compass) and mark each turn, twist and change of surface. Very good practise and I enjoyed it. It's part of the course, because as a guide you may have to map your own itinerary some day and spend 5 days with a group of people and lead them through the mountains and forests.

All said and done, I still fear this thing. For two weeks now I have a nagging feeling that something is going to happen and so I basically decided not to participate. This normally means failing the course, but I rather argue for my life as of why I don't want tot participate, than to break a leg, arm, shoulder or knee only to say afterwards: "didn't I tell you so". The internal battle is enormous. The pressure from my envrironment is hard to take, but this one is up to me. My decision to keep me safe and sound.

The weather forecast for next week, during the raid is bad....very bad. A third week of continuous rain is foreseen....so this means riding and cycling and slipping and getting wet and probably cold and nasty, every day, one hour after setting off in the morning. Is it wise? Is this the right thing to decide by the course leaders? Are they truly prepared to put suffering and misery before the educational benefits of a Raid like this?

Questions they have to answer!! I'm not convinced. Look at the picture of my bikes. My bikes? Yeah, they are there....underneath the sheet, to protect them the best I can againt the rain.

Preparations for a Raid

The course year is coming to an end. The first of 3 intense weeks has come and gone, the group is living under tension and it is gonna be hard for me to finish them.
We are preparing for a Raid; 5 days of tough riding, without support. The major goal is to start and finish as a group and, very important, in one piece. But 'the group' doesn't exist. A few of us are living in or near Nice and go home every night, one of us has a job to do and he has the permission to miss days and weeks....which I am starting to resent.
About 5 guys are staying in a little bungalow on a campsite, where I used to go, but I don't like the owner and I can no longer stay with these 5 guys....the tension is too big, the bullshit they're talking about too stupid and so I moved to another campground, where I'm happily living my life. Boy, it was so nice to be able to decompress at night. To make my own dinner at the time chosen by me and to get some studying and reading in as well. And then there are Antoine and Gaetan, who are sort of squatting on a parking lot, in one of those white converted vans.. They are the 'white van men' but I adore them and consider them my buddies.

We climbed the Turini last week; 24km. of climbing up to nearly 1800 mtr. A big one, my first, and it took me and them 2 hours. But, it will be the first mountain to climb when we start our raid on Monday the 26th. It's going to be tough, very tough, with a backpack on and the pressure of climbing this sucker of a mountain as one of three and the first 24 of 140 km of that day.
However, I did it and I did it in style and the guys were happy for me! Here they are on the Friday, before we can head back home for two days of well earned rest.

I must tell you about Collin and Joanna, an English couple whom I met in Sospel on Thursday. I recognised them as my neighbours on the campground. Because the spaces are big, 'neighbours' is slightly exegerated, but they were the closest by.
Anyway, Thursday night they invited me for dinner and a nice glas of wine. Excellent company.....good, honest meal and a few laughs. It was such a nice way to step out of the Sospel and the cycling circle that I wish to thank them through this entry. Thanks guys...and I do hope that we'll meet up again. Whether it's in Sospel or surroundings or in the UK. Even though the cycling circle will be my future, there is so much more and we tend to forget this, when we are encircled in the group-dynamics. "We" may not be the right thing.....I'd love to be slightly off the beaten track, even when the course dynamics demand total devotion. A lot of guys think, eat and sleep bike and stepping out of their environment is very, very neccessary for me. I believe that Antoine and Gaetan have similar attitudes...why we get along. So, the campground dinner with Collin and Joanna did just that. It allowed me to step out of the glas bowl and be me.....
In about 10 hours time I'll be back in Sospel for the second to none preparations. I'm tired.
I went for a ride last night and this morning. The new tire is enabling more grip and gives more stability down hill, but it's heavy uphill. This morning I went for another ride. Both were just one hour rides, but at 100%. The recovery was good enough this morning and that relieved me. My right leg is tight and tires quickly and I will have to manage this carefully.
See you later.

First bush fire of the year?

I was happily eating a bisquit in the kitchen, looking out of the window to look at the cat, when I noticed this vale yellow haze in the distance. Just behind the Malmont....I was wondering....when all of a sudden it daunted to me; A fire. A big one by the looks of it and not far. At first I thought it was La Motte, as usual, but no...it's closer. Figanieres perhaps.

Merde. With the wind blazing since a few days, it's obvious that this is a tough one to crack for the firefighters. The wind from the Mediteranean, gusty, and sometimes even nippy....up to 80km/h.
It is this yellowish, brown colour that I will recognize forever, after my bush fire experience in 2005, when I had to secure the campground where I was working, where a van caught fire and burned down, because there was no pressure on the waterhose and where we ran from spot to spot with our big extinguisers, because the pine cones exploded and flew tens of metres far away to immediately catch fire on the ground.
It's a haze of clouds that veils the light of the sun and the sky and that turns your environment into an evening of sickening colour; that weighs heavy and that makes you bow your head.

It's the first fire of 'the season'. Coincidence that it happens with this wind? Has somebody been negligent with his or her cigaret but? Somebody burning leaves in the garden....surely, you're carefull with 80km/h blazes around your house. Will we ever know what has caused it...?

It truly is a Mountainbike Paradise

After a weekend of tough riding, I decided to take it easy today. I'm in full training mode for the 5 day Raid which is coming up in two weeks time and I might even overdo it slightly. Next week is a rest week, while I will be in Sospel, for the first of 3 heavy weeks.

I stumbled upon a steep path uphill to the Malmont. It is a on the property of the Domaine du Dragon, one of the many wineyards around Draguignan. They knew I was up there....I had permission to have a look. They had warned me it was a steep climb, but with the smallest and lightest of gear I happily and slowly went up their hill. I cannot judge about their wine, but they sure have the best view and coolest area to grow and nourish their wine. Who does not want to work in a wineyard high up on the Malmont hill, with stunning views and no nuissance of nearby roads. The best thing yet; who would think that high up on the hill there is a treasure of good taste.....It was another wow experience.

They also have holiday homes for rent....Not bad. It's an old bastide, well done up, with a magnificent pool. If you bring your mountainbike along, I'll guide you aroung on the Malmont, on the best tracks of the area. Afterwards...the pool!! What a joy.

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.

Bionic woman

Hé, it speaks for itself

Le Mont Ventoux

While I looked on and enjoyed the sun with my broken hand, my colleagues turned and turned their kilometres on the velodrome (the track) of Cavaillon. At the end of the week one of us was ready to chunk his bike, however.....
There still was a mountain to conquer. They had thought it a good idea to ride the Mythic Mont Ventoux. 22 Kilometres of continuous climbing.....
And why not; we could see the beast from our 'hotel' the snow was white and beckoning and the weather to good to let the occasion pass.

Vive le BMX

After a first race in the regional BMX championships I felt satisfied.

When I had to put my helmet on for the second race, I felt I wasn't ready. I asked myself a 100 questions; my body was shaking and I felt tired. Tired while the adrenelin was supposed to give me the vibes. After the first strait line I was last. Undeterred I continued; less afraid of the big Dracenoise immediately after the first bend. All went well.

When I felt my speed was higher then before on the 'pro' my mountainbike instincts took over. Instead of jumping and pushing the bike forward to continue on the back wheel; I dove forward, ready for anything and all went black....I felt my helmet crash into the ground, I felt my chest being thumped and compressed and I started screaming to liberate my anger and to make sure my lungs and chest were not seriously injured.... Apparently I made quite an impression. I learned later that some people had been seriously afraid to approach me after my scream. Surprisingly enough I was back on my feet and BMX, after the medics had told me to relax.

However, As soon as I was back on my BMX I felt a sharp pain in my hand....I finished my race. Analysed my crash with my clubmate in the same race, took off my helmet with one hand and went to the medics.


Iwas rushed to the specialised hand-hospital in Toulon, with a broken hand and the terrifying news it needed surgery the same evening. I had had breakfast only and all of a sudden I couldn't eat nor drink anymore, while it was an exceptionnal 25 degrees outside.

Here I am 5 days later....X-rays, two casts later and a lot poorer from all the bills to pay upfront. Yes, my hand is broken, yes I can move, but not ride and yes it hurts. But no surgery is necessary, just a very close monitoring of the broken bones. It could have been worse! Much worse.

Blote benen!

Het is nog steeds februari....Na 3000 km in mijn autootje in 1 week tijd werd het zondagmiddag tijd voor een ritje. Met lange mouwen en een lange fietsbroek toog ik op weg na een stevige maaltijd....die viel wat zwaar....maar ja, het is tenslotte zondag en dan eten we goed.
Die lange mouwen vond ik wel lekker en die kunnen we altijd nog opstropen...maar die lange broek werd na een kwartier al erg warm.

Dus, UIT die Broek en lekker met blote benen verder. Dat zijn van die dingen die zo lekker zijn; de zon op je benen, ook al is het nog februari. Tja, als je dan een gemeen doorn takje niet ziet, omdat er nog geen blaadjes aan zitten en het takje niet opvalt tegen de achtergrond dan krijg je nare schrammen. Van die schrammen die zo heerlijk branden. Waarvan je je na 10 minuten afvraagt, of dat takje nou echt de oorzaak kan zijn? Als je dan even langs je been kijkt en je ziet wat bloed, dan weet je weer wat mountainbiken is met blote benen. De eerste schrammen van 2008. Haha.
Al met al een lekker ritje, maar er is nog wel veel werk te verrichten voor de eerste wedstrijd. En we weten inmiddels ook dat we weer op 11 maart in Cavaillon mogen aantreden voor de hervatting van de opleiding. We beginnen met BMX, de baan en wielrennen.
Oh ja, de Tour du Haut Var was ook nog in Draguignan. Veel spektakel, weinig sfeer! Sorry!

Amsterdam, it's cold and damp, like the old movies. It's nice to be home for a week though! Of course there is always too much to do and too many bills need to be paid, but it is also comfortable.

Tomorrow I will drive back down south for a number of weeks. In a few weeks time we have to re-present ourselves in Sospel. I'm looking forward to it, although the questions about my riding will be asked.....How much, how many hours, how technical....brrrrr.....I have to get some more riding in.

Last weekend I went for a ride around Arnhem. I used my old Trek bike which I brought along for my cousin. She can have it when she's a bit older and taller. Anyway, the old Trek did well. It's so much lighter and more nervous than the Specialized. It felt like a test ride.....It was for the first time in over a year that I really rode on technical bits on that bike. Even though the bike feels too short for me now....the maniability is better than the Specialized. It reacts quicker and that feels good. Weight plays a part there....

It was quite a revelation, I must say. It makes me think that a full suspension is not the best in all circumstances. It was an interesting experience!!

Back to France now.