One week of cycling

Bicycle:  213 km 
Riding time: 12:14 h
Total ascent: 503 m
Routes: Cycling paths around Leiden
Weather: Clouds some sun, windy to very windy, but always timed to the "no rain" window, about 7 C

I think this week was the first time since finishing my 2 months trip through Japan that I cycled every day. And weather actually wasn't that good. It rained every day, but thanks to an app called Buienradar, I was able to select a rain free moment each day. What I had no influence on was the wind, and yes, it was windy. Probably the worst day was Saturday.

Only the Sunday ride was a planned ride with a Garmin route and all. The other days during the week, I just set off in some direction out of the city, where I more or less remembered from last year, where to go. Not always did I actually remember where to go... but well, it's about cycling, not getting somewhere. I have the feeling that after last year's spring, I already have been everywhere around Leiden, and well, Dutch landscape only has a limited amount of permutation.

Monday
The Monday ride is already described here:
https://cycling-through-europe.blogspot.com/2019/03/time-between-2-meetings.html

Tuesday
On Tuesday I "needed" to go at lunch, because the rain forecast for the afternoon was definitely not promising. So I took a longer lunch break and a somewhat shorter ride.

A windy return to Leiden.

Wednesday
Although the wind wasn't as fierce as it was on some other days, it still blew quite steadily and specially along the channel towards Leidschendamm I noticed the effect dramatically. Outwards, I had to pedal strongly to get to maybe about 13 km/h, returning, 25 and more km/h were easy.

Thursday
After Wednesday where I already explored a similar region, I had decided for Thursday to ride towards Zoetermeer and do the big oval around the polder... but I started a bit too late and the sunset was coming upon me, so I cut the circle a little bit short and returned to Leiden. And yes, there was wind again.

Here a dramatic view of Den Haag in the sunset:

Friday
Already earlier in the week I did part of this ride out to Oud Ade, but on Friday I had more time prior to sunset, so I did the entire round around the Kaagerplassen.

As all week long, wind did accompany me, at least OUT of Leiden, back Westwards it was definitely against the wind, but then turning for Sassenheim, it got better again.

It is the time of the year where these trees get all, or nearly all cut. It looks a bit barbaric, to cut those poor trees down to their stem each year... but apparently they don't mind and in a few weeks they will be all green and have grown new branches. 

Saturday
So, I wanted to go to Wassenaar and make a round close to the airport and then come back. Similar to this one: https://cycling-through-europe.blogspot.com/2018/06/dune-ride.html But... I got lost already in Leiden...

There was a deviation due to some road works (which in the Netherlands gets an indicated alternative route also for the cyclists... but I didn't understand well where it ended... and so just thought that well, now this direction approximately should be right to get me onto Wassenaar. Well, as you can see, it did NOT get me close to Wassenaar. But well, I hadn't really anything special to do in Wassenaar, so once I found out where I actually was, I was already at the entrance to the cycling road alongside the rail track from Leiden to Den Haag. So I road a little bit there in direction of Den Haag. The wind was fierce, so fierce that at some point I needed to stop because I had the impression that I would get blown from the bicycle. But then I continued.

The speed difference between riding against the wind and with the wind was really huge. Against the wind I struggled to ride at a bit over 10 km/h, once turning, I was easily able to ride at about 23 km/h, and even peaks at over 30 km/h were not specially strenuous. Actually riding back at probably 25 km/h as an average was way more relaxing and easy on my legs than the 10 km/h it took me in direction of Den Haag. Does this now mean that the wind was blowing at 15 km/h? Or even more? Mysteries of mathematics.

On Saturday I didn't have that much time for a lunger ride, as at 15:00 I was signed up for a Japanese speaking meet-up in Leiden. Which was nice and of very high level, surprisingly. Only really one participant with whom I spoke couldn't really speak Japanese, the others were either Japanese, or very advanced learners of Japanese. One even lived in Japan 7 years, had studied Japanese in Leiden and was now preparing to become a translator.

Sunday

I finished the week with the longest ride, 65 km, from Leiden through Alphen to Gouda, and then back through Boskoop. The way out of Leiden I had the wind in the back which is always deceiving, because it seems like "oh, today it finally isn't very windy"... but actually if you are riding effortlessly at 25 km/h and don't feel the wind... this only means that it is actually very windy. I had planned out the route on Garmin a few days ago, and really followed it. As we are in the Netherlands, obviously everything was on bicycle paths, not all of them very nice though. I had probably left too much to Garmin, and it selects often not the nice cycling lanes across the countryside but rather the "cycling highways" along major roads. But I also discovered a new (to me) cycling road from outside of Leiden back in the city.

In Gouda I only stopped briefly to take a picture:

Time between 2 meetings

Bicycle: 21 km 
Riding time:  1:05 h
Total ascent: 38 m
Avg speed:  19.2 km/h
Max speed:  39.2 km/h
Route: Cycling paths around Leiden
Weather: Clouds some sun, windy, but no rain, 4 C

I had 1.5 hours between two afternoon meetings, and as yesterday (Sunday) the weather was only ideal for staying at home, I needed to move. So I changed quickly into my cycling clothes and hopped on the new brompton and just rode into a direction, where I knew I would be out of the city quite quickly and could just cycle around. Which, if you look at the map below, is exactly what I did. Cycling around without a clear goal. Well, actually the goal was to be home again before the 19:00 meeting. So at 18:10 I turned at Sassenheim (after surpassing an electrified cyclist!) and rode back... but the way back was too fast, also because the way to Sassenheim that I took was everything but straight, so on the way back I did the same, everything but straight. That's how this strange form came into being. And yeah, I was home again 20 min before the meeting, had even enough time for a quick shower, and could connect perfectly to my next TC. 

Shortly behind Sassenheim this field of daffodils... spring is coming!

I don't have a statistic, but it feels like one of my fastest rides, at least it must have been the fastest this year, I think. I had obviously some back wind, but also for a short stretch when going NW some headwind. 

WIND and more wind

Bicycle: 45 km 
Riding time:  2:57 h
Total ascent: 128 m
Avg speed:  15.1 km/h
Max speed:  29.5 km/h
Route: Leiden - Boskop - Alphen - Leiden
Weather: Very, very windy, and some rain at the very end, 8 C

After a long time not riding, today finally back on the bicycle. Riding out of Leiden was very nice, everything was so easy, just riding along... My initial plan was to ride to Alphen and catch there one of the LF routes and just follow that for a bit. However I hadn't realized why it was so nice and easy to ride out of Leiden: the WIND!

I realized this the moment I left the way from Leiden to Alphen and turned South, what a wind. Although it was mainly sideways, it was still extremely strong. So I decided to go to LF route #4 which seemed to run more in a West - East direction, i.e. with the wind. And I did make it to LF4 (close to Boskoop), but then looked at my weather app and saw that the rain was going to come. So I needed a return plan. Thus I turned back to Alphen with the idea to catch there the train. When I arrived at the train station the train to Leiden was just about to leave the next going to come in 30 min. Between that wait, and anyway, I was out there to ride my bicycle, not a train, I decided to ride back. 

Riding through Alphen city was okay, but once outside and along the Rhine, the wind hit strong and now straight on. Sometimes it was so strong that I needed to switch to the lowest gear and it was still feeling like climbing a mountain (well, a small mountain but still). At one point a sideway gust even nearly made me fall of the bicycle. I was just in time to get my feet down on the ground. But well, on I went. The wind was so strong that the Rhine had real waves on it, like the sea. 

Arriving in Leiden also rain started. Not for very long, but I got my raingear on (at least the jacket). 

At home the hot shower was extremly welcome, and my legs definitely know what they have done today. Although it was "only" 45 km, at least half of them need to count at least twice with all the effort that went into them.