It’s been a strange week. No pedalling outside but lots of bike stuff
A rare Event
Last weekend I broke a rule of mine. I’ve been enjoying my gravel rides recently. The mixed terrain away from traffic and people has been quite fun plus I’m enjoying organising my Gravelton events too. I was on my phone last weekend and an event popped up in my FB feed. The North Wales Gravel Epic presented by Glorious Gravel. Now, I see these all the time on social media and I’ve dipped in and had a look occasionally as I did with this one but this event interested me because it takes you around Llyn Alwen and Llyn Brenig, a ride I did back in 2021 somewhere I’ve always wanted to go back and explore more.
A quick calendar check, I was free and Sally and I could go and see my parents for the weekend too. Seemed a no-brainer so I entered and spunked £46 on an entry (incl 10% off!) which is way over what I would ever consider paying to enter an event. In fact, I’ve very often not entered something on principal if I think it’s too much but for some reason I went rogue this time.
I’ve entered the long 110km route which comes with over 2300m of climbing so should be lengthy test and worth it I hope.
Going Dutch
I had to fly to the Netherlands this week last minute for work to see one of our distributors. A colleague was already booked on the only early flight that left the UK so I had to get on the same flight which meant a 90 min drive to Manchester Airport on Wednesday morning. Up at 2.45am, I left the house at 3.20am to get there for 5am.
The flight was over in the blink of an eye and after we touched down at Schiphol, we headed to Rotterdam. Public transport is done properly in Holland. The train station is under the airport. We only had to wait about 5 mins and it was a 25 min journey to Rotterdam Centraal and then another 10 min train to a local station. We got a bit confused because of the lack of ticket machines but it turns out it’s all pretty much ticketless now, you just wave your contactless card to go in and out and it automatically charges you. Genius and so easy.
We got picked up at Rotterdam Alexander station and enjoyed a 5 min drive to the office admiring the cycling infrastructure. All segregated, no body wears a helmet and you rarely see any lycra. Cycling is safe and a normal transport choice for many. How it should be.
We worked from lunchtime through till about 7.30pm and then got taken out for a fab steak in Rotterdam Harbour where the cruise ships dock and then we walked 25mins back to our Ibis hotel next to the canal with the CEO who gave us a Rotterdam history lesson along the way. I got to bed about 10pm UK time and had to be up to be collected at 7.30am UK time by the CEO again.
The next morning we were taken to the local Cube store in Vlaardingen. On a whim really by Lennard the CEO in his gull wing doored Tesla. Nice.
The store is the original, first Cube Store and although very big (2000 sqm ex Renault car showroom) and very cool, it’s getting a facelift later this Summer. During COVID it was selling 200+ bikes a week but now does about 80-100 a week. Good coffee too.
The biggest bike shop in Rotterdam is over 9000 sqm which I must see next time I go.
Eventually we got back to the office and worked for a few hours before we had to get the train back to the airport and fly home.
No liquid restrictions (100ml in a bag) at Schiphol, they have cool 3D scanners that can do it all.. We got there early because there were rumours of security staff shortages post-COVID but we flew through which gave me time to buy myself a duty-free treat. A nice bottle of single malt.
The flight was delayed about 45 mins but it meant the traffic home on the M6 was ok and I got home in about 80 mins, rolling in about 8.45pm. A long couple of days.
Gym Bunny
The other random thing I’ve done this week is join a gym. I never thought I’d say it. My neighbour invited me to a strength and conditioning class last week which, although it beat me up I actually enjoyed it. It’s called Cubed. 45 mins, 3 stations, cardio, strength and a bag and you do 3 mins at each station x 3 times. I literally have no upper body strength and as I’m now 50+ I need to do something to keep myself supple and protect my dodgy back too, so I decided to join with Sally on Saturday and do our inductions on Monday..
I’m feeling some benefit after just 3 classes and it will complement my cycling. I’ve told myself if I can go 2-3 times a week it’s worth the investment. So far so good.
It’s actually quite a nice gym too. Not overcrowded and no hulks or insta-models filming themselves and the owners are really friendly and encouraging.
Birthday Weekend
And on Monday it’s my birthday. Sally and I trained it to Worcester yesterday and enjoyed a walk around the Cathedral which was something to behold. I’ve lived in Worcestershire almost all my life and I’d never been. Glad I did. Staggering architecture and history.
Then we went for a couple of beers around town in a couple of bars. The first was a specialist Belgian beer bar and then a taproom. We trained it back home late PM and went for a meal and some more beer. It was lovely day out and we managed to avoid the rain too.
I’m off to ride up a virtual mountain now.
Adios