Summer cycles

It's been another week of mixed blessings. Firstly, although my work is winding down (a big blessing), I still seem to be very busy finalising courses, urging students to do that bit more work to get them through their exams, and marking significant numbers of assignments (a lesser blessing). Still, the end is in sight. I've completely finished one course and with my stint as a speaking examiner over, the pressure is definitely easing.

As a result, I've been able to enjoy the scenery a bit more on both my bikes: the pedalled and the motorised, both of which are great fun. The only downside is that the weather's now more changeable (mixed blessings, as I mentioned). The two photos below show some dramatic and stormy skies we’ve seen, but also the brilliant sunshine that's punctuated the rainy spells.

I've been trying to build up my cycling fitness a bit too, so my rides have been between 12 and 15 kilometres; Hardly a marathon, you might think, and you'd be right, but it's ages since I've done more than two or three Kms at a time, and that's mostly been to work, to the shops and the ship. Functional and furious, but not exactly fulfilling my fitness needs (I do love a bit of alliteration). Right now, 15kms on an old 3-speed bike is quite enough for my rear end. I think I need to build up some protective muscle on my nether regions before I go much further, but I'm not quite sure how successful I'll be at that in the short term, so I'm using a padded seat cover to help. Even so, I spend quite a bit of time hovering precariously above my saddle to save myself from soreness (sorry).

Posterior pain apart, I've had some lovely rides, and cycling along the canal is always a joy, especially when the weather's as fine as it was in the snaps I took below.

For anyone who's curious, the above photo is of a Belgian border marker, of which there are at least 1843 indicating the Dutch/Belgian boundary. I know because they’re all numbered and I've seen a photo of that one, but what the total is I cannot yet find out. Anyway, there are dozens of them near us and we often come across them in unexpected places, almost as if they’re clues in some huge treasure hunt. I was standing on the Belgian side of this one, but fortunately, the borders had been opened so I wasn't making an illegal crossing; not that anyone would have noticed, since behind me there was a high fence preventing access to an industrial site, and hence any further wanderings.

And across the road from the border post, I found this sign. It tells the reader there used to be a fortress here, evidence of which can still be seen in the field behind it. It's a shame that my photo didn't really show anything, but apparently it was one of a number of fortresses protecting the Dutch border from the Flemish neighbours, a probable product of Dutch possessiveness over its sea port at Terneuzen. What's odd is that we've often been to this spot, but never seen the sign, so I think it must be a new one. It also says the fortress extended over land now sacrificed to the canal, which has been widened three times since it was first dug in the middle ages. This region has a very interesting history which I'd like to research more one of these days. It's amazing what we can see when cycling around, isn't it?

Meanwhile, Koos is going great guns with preparing the Hennie H’s engine, when the weather permits.  I’ve also been beavering away on the Vereeniging each time I’ve been in Rotterdam, but it’s all piecemeal work until I can spare some extended time for it. 

Well, that’s it for this week, allemaal. Enjoy the rest of yours! Take care and keep well.