New 40 km record thanks to getting lost

Bicycle: 45 km 
Riding time: 2:32 h
Total ascent: 67 m
Avg speed: 17.8 km/h
Max speed: 30.2 km/h

Route: Leiden - circle around Brassemermeer and back to Leiden

Weather: Sunny and warm, 20 C

After several days not on my bike today, I finally managed to escape from work early enough to get into the saddle. I decided to do a bit of a longer ride in a direction that I already knew, but this time riding once around the Brassemermeer. I had looked on the knooppunt map and thought that one could ride around pretty close to the shore... This did not count with the fact that one bridge, wasn't a bridge, but probably a small ferry. No idea if it didn't ride any more in the evening, or if simply as I expected a bridge, I hadn't even looked for it. Well, that first error was responsible for the extra km between km 15 and 21. Easily visible on the map below in the big square on  the upper end of the lake. But it was a nice ride, and no hills ;-) I even very briefly made it to North Holland!

At about km 22 I took this picture, of one of the typical (nowadays oversized) Dutch brick churches. Thinking that this would be more or less half the way and now back home.

Well, I didn't count for an other routing error between km's 33 and 38 on the map below. No idea what has happened there, but at a certain point, the road was simply going in the wrong direction. But well, again no hills ;-) Only more km's for my legs. But the weather was really nice. Initially a bit warm, but later on getting fresher. But never even close to cold.

The ride in itself was really nice, with most of the bicycle lanes nicely asphalted, normally far away from major traffic and through, well, nice Dutch landscape riding home in the sunset.

As I didn't stop a lot on route (the first third approximately I already knew), then I wanted to just cycle on and on the return I thought I knew my way... but apparently didn't even managed to achieve a all-time personal record of the fastest 40 km.

Getting lost and bumping around - near Leiden

Bicycle: 22 km 
Riding time: 1:23 h
Total ascent: 22 m
Avg speed: 15.8 km/h
Max speed: 25.2 km/h

Route: Leiden - Oegstgeest - Rijnsburg - nearly Voorhout and back to Leiden

Weather: Cloudy and humidly warm, 20 C

Earlier in the day it was a bit raining, but now in the afternoon the chance of rain per my new weather app (Buienradar) was minimal so I set out to a ride. My plan was more or less to ride to Oegstgeest - Noordwijk - Sassenheim and back to Leiden, but already at Oegstgeest I lost my way (well, I didn't really "have" a way, but I still lost it. I wanted to ride along from one knooppunt to the next... but well, didn't see the turn and turned in a completely wrong direction.)

This in itself would not really have been a problem, as I did not have any special objective for this late afternoon ride, but I ended up riding quite a lot of the time through small cities. And unfortunately quite often in towns the bicycle paths are not asphalted but rather paved with stones... which simply doesn't make for a smooth ride.

I know I am complaining here on a high level. In Japan I would have been thrilled to have such nice cycle lanes... but getting spoiled is very easy.

I continued on and at about km 10 refound my way and also a bicycle path through the countryside that was better to ride... and where I stopped to take this picture of animals standing around in the landscape:

An activity to which a lot of Dutch animals are very prone. 

But I am not a Dutch animal so I cycled on and then at around km 15 returned back home to Leiden, along a cycle path that was better to ride (asphalted) but not so nice, as it was just alongside a mid-size road.

Well, not the best rides possible around Leiden, but still, a ride. 

End May, but summerly hot - ride around Leiden to Braassemermeer

Bicycle: 40 km 
Ferry: 100 m (?)
Riding time: 2:32 h
Total ascent: 48 m
Avg speed: 15.8 km/h
Max speed: 33.1 km/h

Route: Leiden - Kagerplassen - Braassemermeer and back to Leiden

Weather: Sunny and quite warm, 25 C

Today the weather was really sunny and summerly warm. As always I got a quite late start from home. I actually got up quite early in the morning (before 9:00) as the cleaning lady was coming... but until I finally made it out of the house it was nearly 16:00 in the afternoon. I am really not good at getting started... once I am started however I really enjoy riding. So a big advantage of just being on a tour is that hotel rooms have a check out time... so at some moment I just NEED to leave... but being at home, there are so many other things, that in retrospect aren't really so interesting / urgent / necessary that just keep me there in my inertia. 

However this Saturday I added to my list of excuses the heat. Actually when I finally left home, it was still quite warm, too warm for me to to make a long ride. So I first rode out just in the general direction of Kagerplasen, where I had seen in mid-May a nice area to have a picnic. And that's what I did, with my picnic  blanket brought along together with some nice cherries I had bought on Leiden market earlier in the day, and also my Japanese book 1Q84. I had bought that book about 2 years ago, in my attempts to get reading Japanese. And while I remember reading the first chapter and understanding it quite well, I remember reading the second (about Tengo, the second main character) and not understanding anything. So I directly skipped the 2nd chapter and went to the third (again being of Aomame, the character of the 1st chapter) and again it was quite comprehensible. Well I only managed to read 4 pages... as I am very slow reading Japanese, but still. So it seems I understand better female assassins than male would-be-writer. What does this tell about myself, I wonder.

But most time on my blanket I spent surfing the internet, simply because I cannot concentrate long enough on reading a Japanese novel. 

This was the view from my blanket in the grass while reading facing North... 

and facing South: 

Once it got cooler I finally set off to my cycling. And cycled following the knooppunt to the Braassemermeer. This is actually a very nice cycling way, with small cycling roads, all quite well asphalted and through the country side. Definitely something to repeat or extend on. 
In Rijpwetering, a small village along the road I came by for the second time the De Vergulde Vos a restaurant that seems to be very inviting with its garden... but I did not stop there. That will need to wait for a future occasion but continued on knooppunt to knooppunt to the Braassermermeer. 

I didn't really take any pictures, but it was actually quite a nice ride, and I think I will be repeating at least parts of it some day. Hopefully then also stopping at the Golden Fox. 
Only a very small part of this ride is along a major (well, semi-major) road. Most parts are really through the countryside. 

Oh yes, and I actually had a small ferry ride. I actually took the wrong street to get to my initial destination, ending up in an area, where there was no more any bridge to cross the water, but there was a very convenient ferry for cyclists. 

First ride around Kagerplassen

Bicycle: 38 km 

Riding time:  2:15 h

Total ascent: 48 m

Avg speed:  16.7 km/h

Max speed:  34.2 km/h

Route: Leiden - Kagerplassen - Leiden

Weather: Sunny, 17 C

After a first short ride yesterday evening, kind of the first this year. Not really, but kind of. Today I did NOT forget to bring a bottle of water. I was so used to the ubiquitous vending machines in Japan, that I totally forgot to bring something to drink. And riding without drinking isn't really good. So today,  armed with a bottle of water I set out in the same general direction as yesterday exploring the Kagerplassen. 

I first rode out straight to the lake itself on a very nice small road running along the water, until I came to a dead end. Well dead end yes, but at least there was ice cream on sale:

After a very nice stop on this kind of terrace on the lake, I rode a little bit back. I tried a first road to the left, but after a few meters was stopped by breeding birds, which seem to be able to breed only in solitude:

So even a bit further back, but then found a road that would lead me up. There were quite a lot of racing cyclists around on that path, and I have to admit it is a really nice ride around the lake, at least until about km 25. After that the cycling road is alongside a major highway. Well separated from it, we are in the Netherlands after all, but still no longer in the idyllic countryside. 

This concluded my first longer ride in the Netherlands this year! Looking forward to many more. 

First ride - forgot the water

Bicycle: 13 km 
Riding time:  0:54 h
Total ascent: 38 m
Avg speed:  14.5 km/h
Max speed:  25.2 km/h
Route: Leiden - Warmond - Leiden
Weather: Sunny, 14 C

Long time, no ride... But today I set out to have a ride out of the city, exploring for nearly a first time the surroundings of Leiden by bicycle.

And well, as with all first experiences there were a lot of things that could be improved:

• forgot to bring something to drink! Really an error of a rookie, but I am just WAY too used to the vending machine paradise of Japan  
• Also forgot to charge the Garmin device. Probably hadn't charged it since my last day in Fukuoka back in November. 
• Forgot Strava login details, so needed to record the second part of the ride with MapMyRide app. Does work, but is inconvenient as one needs to manually import it into Strava. 

Essentially the water problem did cut this first ride quite short. I didn't really have a specific objective, which is probably very clear by looking at the below map which seems to be erratic at best, but this was simply because I decided to follow a sign for a scenic ride (I think something about boats), which is a bit erratic. When I came to Warmond I realized more and more that something to drink was missing. But no vending machines. No conbini. So I checked Google maps and found a supermarket not too far... but alas, it was 5 after 20:00... and it had closed at 20:00. So nothing to drink in the water desert of the Netherlands. So well... I rode back home. 

But still, good "re"learning and more rides to follow shortly. Then with appropriate supplies.