Fall in het Nederland

Love those fall days…..when you’ve got your fitness from the summer and all you want to do is ride. I woke this morning to the clocks turned back and this view out my window – that meant I had an extra hour to ride in these incredible conditions! Unfortunately I’m still trying to kick this flu bug that’s got me, so I decided to take it easy today – but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ride :o)

So I hit the road nice and early – 8:30 on a Sunday morning, and the town was still sleeping. So I had the roads all to myself. It was so perfect this morning. There was just enough chill in the air to keep things perky, the leaves were just dry enough to crumple under tire, and things were good. I popped on my iPod and started my spin.

On such a morning the destination is really not the point – it’s the journey. I didn’t know where my ride was going to take me and I didn’t care. All I knew was that I wanted to enjoy the ride and go as long as I could before I collapsed :o) So I started out by heading over to Germany, just a short 20km ride down the dyke et voila, I’m in the land of Krauts and brats and lederhosen (those funny shorts with suspenders that Germans made famous). It wasn’t an eventful ride at all – just a long steady jaunt, my first in over a week (out with the flu). My legs felt like lead and they had no power, so I just spun and spun and spun.

It wasn’t until I turned and started heading back toward home that I came across all the other riders taking advantage of this last glorious fall day. And not only were there riders, but also people on horseback, people on ponies, people hiking, people strolling, people with dogs, people with kids, people with parents, people, people, people. Wow – I was just glad I’d have my few hours to myself before it got too busy :o)

All in all a great day to be on a bike…..but then again, aren’t they all?