Total ascent: 165 m
Avg speed: 17.1 km/h; 14.5 km/h; 15.1 km/h
Route: Mainly to and from bicycle repair shop
Shortly after crossing the canal and starting my way back to the hotel, the bicycle became hard to steer... so I checked... and the front wheel was going flat. I tried pumping it up, but as soon as I removed the pump it went flat again within less than a minute. So nothing to be done. At this moment it was 8:30, so safe enough to call my husband to come and pick me up. (Alternatively I could have caught a bus and then a second bus... but well, husband wasn't too far away and it was time to get up anyway).
While waiting for him, I checked out brompton sellers at Maastricht and found two shops, one of them right in front of the train station. So it seemed that the solution to the problem was relatively easy. Boy was I wrong!
After breakfast we went by car to Maastricht, I handed over the poor (young) brompton to the bicycle repair man and we went off to some sightseeing and shopping in Maastricht. (While on this trip my bicycle broke, it was also the trip where on the first hike the hiking shoes of my husband broke... so definitely a trip with a lot of broken essentials). Anyway, we did our day in Maastricht and as the bike shop hadn't called (as promised) we went back again to the hotel and lounged in the large, park like garden all afternoon in the shadow of a huge oak.
On Friday (Day 4) morning, we had decided to do a day without hiking and cycling, visiting a castle, having ice cream in yet another castle and then driving back to Maastricht to pick up the bicycle which by now should have been repaired... although the bike shop never called. And there it was, with a new, fully inflated tire waiting for me. So all seemed good and the poor brompton went into the trunk and we back to the hotel.
As it was still early and I hadn't moved a lot during the day, I decided for a round of about 30 km around the hotel... but only after a km or so I noticed that steering was still very hard, and I made an enormous effort to even cycle. I found a quiet spot on a road and examined what was wrong with the bike. It definitely wasn't a flat. It was the breaks on the front wheel which now touched the wheel continuously... and obviously made cycling hard work.
So back it was to the bicycle repair shop. I still had hopes that this would be an easy fix, and luckily this bicycle repair shop only closes at 19:00 so I had enough time to fight my way back into the city against the wind and with the breaks half on.
Unfortunately it was not a quick fix, and I needed to leave the poor brompton in the shop again. For yet another night. And had to call again my husband to come and pick me up. I think he is simply relieved to hear when I call that it is the bicycle that has a problem and not me.
As they promised that the bicycle would be repaired first thing today (Day 5) in the morning, we went right after breakfast to pick it up again, and yes, there it was, with a front wheel full of air and rolling. I even did a test ride of about 1.5 km through the center of Maastricht to try it out, and all seemed well. So husband set off by car for his hike to the highest point in the Netherlands, and I started the ride that I wanted to do yesterday.
I had the entire day ahead of me, so decided to take it slow, do the same round I had planned yesterday afternoon and stop at each castle on the way and take a picture. I managed two...
... before the flat stroke again. Not even 8 km had it lasted (while the previous front tyre lasted for over 6,000 km!)
Luckily I was very close to a bus stop, the bus was there waiting and going straight to Maastricht station. So there I went again, to my not-preferred bicycle repair shop in Limburg. They took in the bicycle again to repair it once more. While I took a taxi back to the hotel, where I rejoined my husband who gave up on his hiking plans when hearing about my bromptons disadventure.
At this point, I was very much tempted to take a train back to Leiden and get my Specialized Roubaix... but it would have meant an entire day in the train, the hassle of reserving a spot for the bike on the train (due to Corona) and the hassle again on Tuesday to either try to fit the bike in the car, or to ride back alone by train again. Luckily my husband convinced me to do an alternative plan. Hiking!!! An activity I quite dislike, mainly because I find it strenuous and boring. But I got to select the hiking route and choose a short one, about 5 km, with fields and forest, no hills and a restaurant at the end. Which was actually quite nice.
En route we came by a castle with hotel and restaurant...
... later on through meadows with horses that choose to stay right in front of the exit gate (but didn't actually try to escape, just stood there, annoying the hikers) ...
... and finally along a small stream back to the restaurant where we had parked and then had a late lunch.
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