Sunday, 25-November-2007 - Veghel - It's my birthday today. I spent the day with Marij at a local flea market in Veghel. She had a table where she sold things she collected from here and there.
Sunday, 18-November-2007 -Veghel - I was a skatepiet (a Saint Nicholas black pete helper on skates) this year--one of eight volunteers from the Fun on Wheels skate club. What a great experience! There were 185 zwartepieten (black petes) this year. It took four boats to bring Sinterklaas and all of his helpers us all the way from Spain to the harbor in Veghel. The links explain the Dutch tradition. Thanks to Vicky for taking the pictures.
Sunday, 11-November-2007 - Alphen - It has been raining hard off and on for the past week. Hard winds and rain woke me up during the night. I had my alarm set for 0600. I was ready for my first official trail ride (I went with the Fun on Wheels group in January). I checked the weather radar. It looked like it was going to stop raining around 1000. Chris checked in. He wasn't looking forward to a lot of mud and rain, so he passed. I got Jurien, a Standard Aero colleague, on the phone. He was going to be there with at least one other rider. That was good enough for me. It took me about an hour to drive to the starting point. I started after the others, and was going to meet them at the resting point. I followed the 25 km route. Most of the others went for 45 km. I met Jerry and Gordon, two more Standard Aero colleagues, along the way. I had a hard time getting up the slippery hills during the first part of the trial, but after a while I got the hang of it. I made sure to eat and drink enough--it was hard work. The sky cleared up, and the sun showed itself which made the ride a lot nicer. I decided to cut the ride short and head back to the starting point in Alphen using the hardened bicycle path. I was satisfied to get a taste of riding under extreme conditions. I saw Jerry again at the bike washing spot before I headed back for home.
Saturday, 03-november-2007 - Erp - Ever since my first ride on a mountain bike with Chris this past January (see home page), getting my own mountain bike has been on my list. Well, today was the day. I went to Empella http://www.empella.nl/ in the nearby village of Erp to pick one out. When I got home, I took it out for a short ride. My neighbor, Johan, took a before shot, and his daughter, Vera, took the after pic. Chris came over a little later to check it out. His bike just got out of the shop. His frame broke, and he had to wait for more than two months to get a new one. Next Sunday, we're going to Alphen, North-Brabant for a ride through the woods.
