Den Bosch Ride

Friday... a beautiful day for cycling.  Made a plan over breakfast: stay the morning in Den Bosch, ride some miles in the country to the south of town on part of the LF7 route, then take a train in late afternoon on to Breda.

Glad I did.  The countryside outside of Den Bosch was beautiful.  My bike is very quiet, and I spent much of the morning listening to the birds singing as I rode.  Stopped sometimes just to listen closer.

LF7... stands for "Long Bike Route 7"... is one of a couple dozen routes that cover the country.  The name makes them sound like bike highways, and sometimes in town they can be busy.  But they aren't Highway 280 or Route 101 for bikes!  Sections of the LF7 I rode today were single lane dirt paths, and you could stop and maybe see another cyclist every few minutes.




After seeing so many churches I was struck by the cathedral-arch these trees made over the path. Then just after that arch of trees, I found a little roadside sanctuary.  So maybe the cathedral-arch wasn't accidental?  Added a yellow flower and rode on.

 Sunny, and shirt-sleeve temperatures too!

New Lock

I once studied cryptography.  In good crypto, management of keys is crucial to strength of system.

Same with bikes.  Key management is everything.  I discovered the absolute most secure approach is simple:  just leave your key in another city and nobody, including yourself, can open the lock!

Luckily, my lock was only securing my cable to the seat of my bike, so I could still ride.  But I couldn't remove the cable from the seat, so I couldn't use it or the lock to secure my bike.  So what to do?  Hack the system ;-)

Good hackers have good tools.  And fortunately I packed the equivalent of a bicycle repair shop.

I dis-assembled the frame of the bike seat. Slid the lock & attached cable off.  Purchased a new lock.  So now I have a perfectly useable cable, with a perfectly useable new lock, plus the old lock still attached... consider it a piece of decorative jewelry, useless but it does make the bike now appear to have two locks, so maybe it's an even better system now.

Process took about an hour.  Unlikely that any bike thief would bother, even if they had the right tools in their pocket.

Now have three keys to the new lock.  One in the lock... one with my travel docs... one in my wash kit.  Triple redundancy in my key management system!  Publishing the location of keys is a technical security breach, but a minor one since I'm physically difficult to locate.  And it is a huge convenience to me, in case I forget where I put them!

Den Bosch

Wow, do I like Den Bosch!  The people who live here live in a great little city.  In my first few hours here, some things that rubbed me right...

The name.  City is really named s'-Hertegenbosch.  But apparently that is a tongue twister even for the Dutch, so everyone calls it Den Bosch.  Even the people at the train station.  It's Den Bosch.  I like that.

The train station.  You walk out, and the station square makes sense.  You know where you are.  That is really nice.  Confusing train stations and confusing urban areas outside them are for the birds.

My hosts.  Good people.  Cyclists, who are leaving this weekend for a sunny holiday cycling in Mallorca.  Traded stories -- they had a great tour in USA recently, and have a friend who is publishing a book this month about his coast-to-coast cycling odyssey across America.  They were intrigued with my bike, and amazed at how light I packed (to me, it's heavy and I'm looking for things that can be eliminated).  Plus, my apartment has a bathtub.  Don't ever underestimate exactly how nice a hot bath can be after three weeks on the road!

A great dinner.  Pizza at Stefano's.  Local place, not fancy, families with kids playing cards at the tables.  Good place to have a meal in comfortable surroundings.  I think this is what the Dutch call gezellig: "... belonging, time spent with loved ones, the fact of seeing a friend after a long absence, or general togetherness that gives a warm feeling."

Relaxed evening strolling through medieval streets and huge civic plaza, enough people to feel alive without any sense of crowding.

A terrific art supply store right down the street.  

Only wish Katie were here, I think she would like Den Bosch a lot.

Eindhoven / Labors of Hercules / Good Sense Prevails

In Eindhoven, home of Philips ("a Dutch diversified technology company").  Eindhoven motto:  "City of Lights".  Philips launched here in 1892 as a manufacturer of carbon filament lamps, and by 2012 was the largest producer of lighting in the world.  If anyone updates The 12 Labors of Hercules story for the 21st century, here's my suggestion for one modern challenge:  "Hercules, find me a General Electric 60 watt bulb in Eindhoven."

Came in by train, and leaving by train.  It's rainy weather, with big squall lines passing through, and supposed to get worse as the day progresses.  Forecast was for a few hours of just cloudy this morning, and I thought about getting up at 6:00, getting on the bike, riding 30 miles to Den Bosch with my fingers crossed that rain would hold off.  Then I considered the alternative -- coffee, quiet morning walking the downtown area between showers, leisurely pack up then take the train.  It's 9:30 now and I'm not on the bike, so good sense prevailed.

Had a nice conversation on the train yesterday with a woman who was free-lancing doing translations for a window treatments company and who asked to borrow my pen.  Helped translate such concepts as "semi-obscure rolling window shade".  Fun way to pass some time!  Left her my pen from the Anna Antal (with nifty "met de Boot" logo).  She needed it more than I, plus she had a head cold... so my pen is off on its own adventure.

Got together with friends last night, had a quiet evening and enjoyed talking with them.

Distance running total...

Embarking on the 3rd half of this trip tomorrow.

First half was cycling with Katie and group of fellow enthusiasts on the Anna Antal.

Second half was day touring and cycling with Katie, out of Alphen aan den Rijn home base.

Third half is t.b.d., but it is with a very small group in any case... a cast of one.

Distance is best measured by experience, but raw mileage is interesting too.  Right now, about 300 miles.

Anna Antal trip was ~180 cycling miles.

Alphen was ~ 113 cycling miles (plus lots of day train and foot trips).

Remembrance Day / Liberation Day

Yesterday was Remembrance Day in the Netherlands. Flags at half mast.  Remembrance of past disasters may be the only way for us all to prevent the same type of events in the future.  Here in Alphen it was quiet, with memorials in the evening.  Nationwide, a moment of silence.  Was surprised to hear town and church bells pealing at a seemingly random time.  When I checked the clock... it was 19:45 hours.

Today is Liberation Day.  Rock and roll music in the square.  Life goes on!

Katie and I rode 23 miles in the country yesterday.  Beautiful day, great ride, some huge head winds to tire us out.  Got lost from our intended route, but found ourselves again and got home safe.

Katie left today.  Sad, but we had a wonderful time and per Katie she wouldn't have done anything differently while she was here... and that is terrific.

Packing up now for 10 days of solo cycling.  I'm going to have to do the navigation myself instead of relying on a partner, so all bets are off! Will I get home, or will I wander endlessly along the bike paths of the Netherlands?

A heart shaped scar from a lost branch on a tree.  A swan, with her egg.  And a stork, symbol of life... you can just picture her carrying baby in a sling.

Utrecht

Sunday weather wasn't as nice as Saturday, so glad we decided to ride on Saturday then go to Utrecht by train on Sunday.

Utrecht is an ancient city with a rich history, home of the Netherland's largest university, center of both major churches, etc.  But frankly, I just didn't like it as much as some other towns.  It's a big, busy, modern city.  Plus it was raining, and modern downtowns are never at their best on rainy days.

Visited the Museum Catharijneconvent, a museum focused on "...the Dutch Christian experience with master paintings & modern artifacts."  A pretty serious kind of museum. But among the celebration of ecclesiastical excess (excess is in the eye of the beholder, so my perception of the show may not necessarily be universal) where some very beautiful things and some moments of levity.

After the museum we found a current conceptual art project, one evolving over time:  a poem, begun in 2000 and being laid in cobblestone pavement one letter at a time with a new letter laid every Saturday.  Collaborative effort, and the ending is unknown.  This was a beautiful rainy day experience!

Talked with a homeless guy and his pet rat at the railroad station.  Good guy, mildly crazy for certain but friendly, and the rat was healthy and happy so who's to judge? 

Alphen Southern Loop... 23 miles, 68 degrees

Saturday was a glorious day for cycling.  Sunny all day.  Warm, with a high of 20C / 68F.  After last few days, 68F is shirtsleeve cycling weather!  We made the most of it, did a 23 mile loop south of Alphen through the countryside and a couple of small towns.  Easy ride, with the exception that the area around knooppunt 5 was a bit confused -- signage being changed?  12 year olds messing with signage to goof with riders?  signage guys had just shared a fat one on the day they posted the signs?  Who knows.  It was unusual in the knooppunt network, you couldn't get lost but you could get confused for a bit.

So what was neat about the ride other than simply terrific cycling on great cycle paths through a beautiful countryside with small restaurants spaced just far enough apart?  (++ on the coffee with apple pie in Boskoop.)

Katie and this pony, bonding over a couple of carrots...

Coots paddling like crazy to bring food back to the just-hatched brood...









Project to drain the land, create more farmland from bog... they say you should buy real-estate because nobody is making more of it, but that's not completely true here...

Sleepy swan wakes up from Saturday afternoon nap, pops head up to have a look around...







"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." -- fom an ancient Greek work of Herodotus describing the Persian system of mounted postal carriers c. 500 B.C.E.  Still true, here's a Dutch post-woman on her bike...

A classic American style turkey strutting in full Mummer's Parade array...







And the historic mill in Alphen!  Old.  Moved here in late 1800s, now run as a volunteer operation by local people.  This is history at its finest... practical kinetic sculpture lovingly maintained. In operation on the weekends, and this was Saturday, our good luck.  Stopped in... thought they were closing up because there were basically no tourists around... then realized that this is simply an unknown gem in quiet Alphen.  A really nice guy showed us around, described the volunteer effort and the operation of the mill.  My best guess is he's retired from Philips, as he knew Silicon Valley and the 101 corridor pretty darn well!  We emerged not covered but generously splashed with flour.  Had a great piece of bread fresh from their oven, left a contribution, and rode the last stretch home.  About as nice a day of cycling as a person could ever ask for.

Delft

Thought about cycling Friday but... weather still not so nice, cold and cloudy... so took the train to Delft.  The Dutch train system is clear, simple, reliable, easy to use and we still missed the Delft station.  Lot's of comic discussion with a couple local riders, then we got off the train and caught the next one back.  Will keep us humble.

We visited the Prinsenhoff museum.  Nice history of Delftware pottery.  

Those of you who know Katie well know she is kind of an anatomy geek.  And this museum has something of a famous anatomy painting: Anatomy Lessons of dr. Willem van der Meer.  Katie stepped right in, looks completely at home hanging with 16th century anatomy students!  Partly it's a common interest in anatomy.  Partly it's that Katie and the other students are all dressed alike, suitable for indoors in the Netherlands -- neck scarves, under-coats, outer-coats, wrist-warmers -- it's the layered look across the centuries.

Home, nice dinner, nice evening walk.  But at a crossroads.  I looked at the weather in Rome and Seville.  Their lows... are higher than Netherlands highs.  And no rain in sight there.  Went to bed early, got up late to stay warm.  Weather needs to shape up some, please. 

Den Haag, 2 great shows

Thursday, day trip to Den Haag by train. First photo shows why we chose not to bike. Katie saw this photo, reaction was "impressionist view, train station in the rain".


Yes it was rainy, cold to boot, but the weather did improve a lot as day went on.  At least, it stopped raining, even if it didn't warm up much.  I'm starting to become obsessed with temperature as I'm slowly freezing to death.  The Dutch are a hardy race.

So anyway, our main purpose in visiting Den Haag (other than just to see the place... and I was prepared for some reason to not like it, but it really is a nice city) is the Mauritshuis museum.  Great paintings!  In addition to being a hardy race, the Dutch can really paint.  Interiors, landscapes, portraits.  Good stuff.  These guys could probably knock my socks off with their fingerpaintings.

The one downside to the Mauritshuis venue.  It's crowded.  We arrived at opening time and it was already getting busy.  I could whinge about school children, geriatrics, tourists, Japanese tour groups but I won't since I'll qualify for at least 3 of the 4 at some point in my life.  Just advise you to get there early.

Then, a special bonus for children of the 60s: a show of M.C.Escher's work at Het Paleis, the old royal home.  Very cool.  Don't know if he could paint but boy could he draw.  Even impossible things.  Maybe especially impossible things. As someone who can barely draw a stick figure, I'm pretty impressed by a guy who can draw water running uphill.