Author: anidiotbroadabroad

I wish I had a more professional reason to explain my delayed blogging, but really I was immersed in all things Delft and couldn’t find the time. 

Being back in Delft was so lovely. Delft is so lovely. Of course, it is different to return and not be surrounded by the people who made it such a memorable place to live – but it was fun to explore it again after two years and to show my new friend a few things!

Here are a few of my favourite (Delft) things:

Canals everywhere!

E. du Perronlaan (aka the world’s ugliest building)

TU Delft 

TU Delft, of course. I went on Friday and was surprised to make it when the cafeteria was open. I thought it would be shut because it’s summer break (except for exam resits) and they have very specific hours they are open or else you are out of luck. I couldn’t ignore the universe telling me to get the classic Dutch lunch of croquette with mustard. Exceptional culinary innovation. 

I spent some time in the library taking care of trip planning and other work. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the campus.

Leo’s Deli

Haring dangle at the Market

No trip to the Delft market is complete without dangling a Haring in your mouth. And watching elderly Dutch people dangling Haring into their mouths. I don’t use the term “dangle” lightly here. They really do dangle it, tilting their head fully back, coating the Haring with onion, and dipping it vertically into their mouths. It is quite a thing to witness. 

Stroopwafel consumption

Delft Chamber Music Festival

Nature n’ stuff

Bob

Weird Dutch people 

DOTD

The ride from Tilburg to Delft was my longest yet, at 114 km, but didn’t seem too bad because Holland is as flat as a dead man’s heart rate – much like the flat lining of my blog lately. I’ve been busy having fun in the land of the Dutch!

For the most part the weather was cooperating, with a light breeze whistling through the trees and the clouds casting shadows racing along the ground. There was a brief spell of complete downpour. I hid under a tree and it cleared within ten minutes. 

I stopped for a coffee in Oosterhout. I road along a dike next to a national park. I had a Mexican standoff with a sheep. 

Excitement was building as I approached Delft via Rotterdam. In Rotterdam I stopped at an old favourite, Felix Food Factory, and had a drink and admired all the food. I ended up just eating my stolen hotel sandwich because nothing was speaking to me enough to pay for it. People were lounging in the Dutch sun next to the water. 

Only 20 km from Rotterdam to Delft and I was ready to get there! I entered Delft from the south and rode through the TU Delft campus. It was cool to see some of the construction completed that was ongoing when I lived there. 

My hostel, ‘Hostel Delft’ (there’s that famous Dutch creativity for you), was right in the centre of the old town. How wonderful to be back! 

As it was Thursday, and unfortunately no one I knew was around Delft, I had to recruit a new friend from the hostel to join me for karaoke at the Koperen Kat. Luckily, she was keen and didn’t seem too worried that I was going to take her into an abandoned warehouse and murder her in the industrial area where this karaoke bar is. 

Karaoke was, of course, fantastic. The beer is still great and cheap. Dutch people are still terrible at carrying a tune but give it their all. A fun first night it Delft, indeed. 

I planned to stay three nights in Delft to make sure I could fit in all of my favourite things!

POTD

You may be wondering about the asterisk in my blog title…

I don’t know if I had some sort of episode or stroke while booking my hotel for tonight, but I landed slightly short of target. I am in Hilvarenbeek*, an inconsequential little Dutch town, 9 km south of Tilburg. 

The ride was long so in the end I wasn’t terribly upset to stop 9 km earlier than expected. 

Nothing very eventful occurred on the road today other than me going in and out of complaining about the length of the ride and then mentally kicking myself for complaining, remembering how lucky I am and how beautiful the surroundings are. This inner dialogue sort of went on ad nauseam. 

I saw many animals today. A horse that looked like a zebra, a horse in a zebra coat, llamas with dreadlocks, ponies with a fringe (bangs) just like mine! And, of course, cows. There was one leg of the journey that truly smelled like fried cheese. It was magical.  

Once I finally stopped for a real break, probably 60 km in, I was reminded once again I need to take more breaks. It’s far more enjoyable. I had chocolate milk in a CAN! What!?

There were dark clouds looming later in the afternoon and it did rain once or twice. Thankfully, rain in the Netherlands lasts about five minutes and – as I was cycling – I got out of the rain patches quickly. 

Part of the reason I hastily booked this hotel last night was because it was a great deal. When I cycled up to the place I understood why. It’s decent enough but there is a general sense of filth. 

When I entered my room, so looking forward to bathing after the long ride, I couldn’t locate a shower of any kind. Nor a toilet. The room is the size of a closet with a cot bed. Fine enough, I’m no princess (I can feel you rolling your eyes, reader), but I wouldn’t mind some personal plumbing! 

I scampered down the hall to the shower and then immediately readied myself to take the 28 minute bus ride into Tilburg to look around and to get dinner. 

Tilburg has left me a little underwhelmed as well. It’s fine enough as far as Dutch cities go, but it lacked a certain charm and warmth. I had dinner at a quiet little place outside the centre and then headed to the main station to bus back. 

So, I am back in my closet of a room and will soon be lying like a limp noodle in my single cot bed. I will dream of pickled herring and stroopwafels as tomorrow I am off to Delft – just in time for the Thursday market (and Karaoke night)!

Tilburg to Delft is a long journey so there may be a bit of train thrown in the mix. Time will tell.

DOTD

I have failed to produce a dog photograph today, despite several cuties spotted. How about a Zebra Horse?

I have made it to the land of bicycles and tall people!

‘Twas a short jaunt today from Germany to the Netherlands. Just over 40 km from Aachen to Maastricht – and that wasn’t even taking a direct route. It’s awesome how close all these countries are!

Excitement levels are at an all time high now that I have reached the Netherlands! As I said, I haven’t been here since I was on exchange at TU Delft over two years ago. I felt a wave of joy spread over me as I cycled into the Dutch countryside.

Some differences became evident immediately upon crossing from Germany to the Netherlands. The cycling infrastructure went from great to fantastic, people seemed a degree or two more jolly and several inches taller, and there were way more motorized wheelchairs.

I took a detour to stop in Heerlen for a coffee. It is possible that this could be the world capital for motorized scooters and wheelchairs. I had to get off my bike and wade through the electric powered crowds to find a cafe.

Of course, like any good Dutch town, Herleen had a market going on. Nothing too extravagant, but I lingered by the cheese stall and admired the flower stall. Unfortunately, no stroopwafel was found.

I always forget the translations for “male” and “female” in Dutch. “Dames” or “heren” are the options. I know it seems intuitive that it would be dames for female, but I can never say for sure. Either way it is a toss up whenever I use the washroom. I make a mental note to look it up, but once the stress of a potential washroom mix-up is over I forget to do so.

As one might expect, the ride was quite easy. Though, there was one surprisingly hefty hill. It could have been nearly 1%! Kidding aside, there was one big hill. I passed a man pushing his bike up the side.

I was riding through towns and such, but everywhere in the Netherlands has excellent bike lanes or paths, generally always separated from cars. It is a dream to cycle here.

Maastricht is quite lovely and has that characteristic Dutch feel about it. It is a decently large city bisected by the Maas river. The weather was perfect today. Sunny, not too hot, a light breeze. Many people were out enjoying drinks and snacks al fresco.

In the afternoon I wandered around with not much of an agenda. I found a bookstore that was inside of an old church. It had a decent English literature section so I spent a long time there. I went to find some of the Maastricht University buildings. I saw the trendy Wyck neighbourhood.

I had forgotten how good most of the Dutch are at English. The laziness in me really appreciates it…

On my walk home this evening I spotted a big floofy DOTD and also saw a woman on a motorized wheelchair circling and terrorizing a pigeon.

I am off to Tilburg tomorrow, which is quite a long way. Time for some beauty rest!

DOTD

Waking this morning was like day and night from yesterday’s dreary scene in Aachen.

I did quite a bit of walking around to check out the sights and also went to look around the university here, RTWH. Apparently, it is a very well renowned uni in the area.

It was a beautiful day with dense blue sky. The heat is back. The sun unrelenting. But, there was a calm breeze weaving through the leaves.

I like Aachen. It is a happening little city with beautiful old buildings, yet still lush with greenery. It was originally a spa town where the Romans stopped to bathe… or something. There are thermal baths you can visit here, but I am sweating just thinking about entering a thermal bath. Also, Charlemagne was buried here. nbd.

Germany, particularly the south – at least, the little that I have seen of it – creates an unique feeling in me. Sort of a feeling of comfort, but elevated.

The juxtaposition of such old things – buildings, ruins, cobblestone streets – as a backdrop for cutting edge modernity and innovation is pretty cool. Walking through the university I especially felt this. The same when I was in Munich and visited the technical school there.

Maybe, I am just a massive nerd who gets excited by structures dedicated to academia.

Anyways…

Returning from my walk, I spotted a hair salon and decided to make an appointment. I have been toying with the idea of getting bangs for a long time and I figured this is the best time to try. If it turns out like a bowl cut, I won’t have to confront anyone who knows me anyway.

I went for a short run this afternoon but it was certainly more of a walk-run. I used the excuse of “checking directions” to stop quite a bit.

My hairdresser spoke English quite well. Her first language is German, she knows French fluently, and also English. There I was with my one and only language, English. I have to admit I feel rather pathetic being unable to speak another language. This trip has me really thinking I would like to become fluent in a second language – likely French.

After the cut I had a drink and dinner and made my way back to my hostel. I am taking it easy tonight before heading off to Maastricht tomorrow.

I am so excited to get to the Netherlands! I haven’t been there since I left Delft two years ago.

DOTD

I apologize in advance for the lack of photographic documentation of Day 30. It was raining all day and I barely stopped cycling to eat and relieve myself, let alone take photos.

There’s not much else to say. It was grey and raining when I awoke in Bütgenbach. I checked the forecast and saw that it was going to last pretty much all day, maybe tapering off around 4 pm.

Well, I couldn’t really just loiter around in the small town of Bütgenbach until then. And, even if I did, there was no guarantee it would even stop raining.

So, off I rode into the cold, damp yonder. The fact that it is now cooler is really nice. The fact that my bike shoes turned into little bath tubs – not so nice.

I managed to temporarily solve the pannier issue by using the waterproof garden hose tape. I secured the rack to the frame with nearly the whole roll of tape and it actually worked really, really well. The bags were secure the full ride.

I followed the same cycling route along the old railway tracks I had taken two days before when coming into Bütgenback. This route is called the Vennbahnweg and took me all the way to Aachen. It was nice to be away from roads and cars on such a wet day.

I stopped only once at a place called “Waffle Stop.” How could I ignore such an exclamation? I attempted to dry off (read: become less wet) while eating a waffle and drinking a cappuccino in an old train car that had been converted into a cafe. The cappuccino was what seemed to be lukewarm watered down instant coffee with whip cream on top… interesting culinary interpretation.

The horror that unfolded when I arrived at my hostel in Aachen was unbelievable. I am referring to the coating of dirt, mud, sweat, tears, and rain on me and all of my things. It must have taken me at least an hour to wash and / or dry all the items that needed it.

After all this, I decided to take a look around Aachen and find some dinner. It was an empty sort of Sunday evening, the rain keeping people cooped up at home. I found a neat old family restaurant for dinner and chatted with a couple from the US for a while.

It was nice knowing that I had a rest day in Aachen the next day so I could see it in a more lively light!

I had survived my first complete downpour riding day. I fear there are more ahead of me… soon I will be in the Netherlands…

DOTD

Today I did my first Sprint Triathlon. In Belgium. And I had little to no idea what was going on the majority of the time.

The weather was accommodating for a triathlon today. It was considerably cooler than it has been, but humid, foggy, and sprinkling lightly most of the day.

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My notes from before and after the race:

People start rolling up in Ironman swag. I am sitting soaking wet on a bench out of the way. No one appears to be heading over to the race package pickup area with their bike. I have all my gear here already. I guess I’ll just lock it up and then walk over. Starting to get mildly concerned whether or not this is an event I should have signed up for.

I have purchased a flimsy little plastic tub from Carrefour because when I finally decided to translate the instructions this morning they said plastic containers only (no bags) for the transition area.

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Well I have checked in, gotten my race package, and had 2017 written in sharpie down my arm. I’ve changed into my spandex and am back by my bike. I have no idea where to go or what to do.

No one seems to be moving toward the “transition zone” aka no one really has their bikes out and such. There are many people by their cars with bikes strapped to the back and all their gear in their trunks. Are we meant to just go home and chill for an hour or something before we go set up? I’m so confused.

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Before the start other people were going into the lake and testing the water / swimming.

I did and swam a bit. Glad I did that to warm up. I think the shock would have been too much had I not.

The swim was hard.

I am not used to open water swimming in race situations. I haven’t been training. I am in decent enough shape from a cardio standpoint, but experience and mileage in the water I just do not have.

Honestly, after I was only part way done the first lap I didn’t think I could do it. I would sporadically head off in the wrong direction (how come I can’t swim straight?), I popped my head up to realign myself now and then but gasped a bit of water and was sputtering for a while so it took me time to control my breathing again. I went in and out of a sort of huffed thrashing and that is certainly the last thing you want when you are in the water.

By the time I made it to shore and had to get out and run around a post – how thankful I was to be on land again – I was questioning whether I should continue for the second lap. But I did. My goggles got inundated on the last leg of the first lap so I had to deal with that, and I just took it slow getting back in the water.

The second lap was arguably much better. I was calm, cool and collected and better at directing myself. Additionally, I knew I wasn’t last out of the women and that buoyed my confidence a bit. Isn’t it a horrible aspect of human nature that we take joy in the fact that there are others who are worse at something than we are?

I got slightly concerned when I saw the men’s heat approaching hard and fast from behind. I was mildly worried I was going to get swum on top of. At least I got the true triathlon experience. Limbs flying everywhere and thrashing. It was kind of awesome.

Holy shit, I had made the swim. I was so proud of myself for doing it, the rest of the race didn’t even matter. My transition was slow because I got called out for not wearing the same thing for the swim as for the rest. I only got a warning, thank goodness. The “I only speak English,” card is helping me out.

The cycle was tough but I think I made up a lot of time there. I thought it was 21.8 km and I figured I had maybe missed part of it at the end because according to my Swatch watch it appeared I had done it pretty fast (it was actually 18.7 km).

The run was fine and actually quite fun / not what I expected. Part was in the forest on a little one-track path. The rest on the bike route. I felt neither here nor there about it, really. I wasn’t pushing too hard because I didn’t want to burn out.

At a certain point, I was like kayyyyy, where do we turn around already. Then, the finish. Dear god, of all the evil plans in the world this finish line takes it. They had an uphill winding snake of gates to get to the finish. So, you came off the trail thinking you were essentially done but really had to wind up and down and up again for a couple hundred meters. Pure. Evil. Needless to say, I don’t think it made for a very good photo finish of me.

And then I crossed the finish line and I didn’t vomit when I stopped! Not even any dry heaves. This might mean I wasn’t pressing hard enough on the run, but also, not having to spew after a race is nice too.

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After the race, I loitered around the tennis hall where they held the awards ceremony and served food and drink. The Belgian waffles were an amazing post-race snack!

Tomorrow I am off to Aachen, Germany. I am hoping that all of my gear will be dry by then.

DOTD

Big boy celebrating with his humans after the triathlon!

My plan for taking the train to Bütgenbach today was not to be. Upon inspection, the Belgian train network does not extend far enough east to do me much good at this juncture. However, I analyzed the possible combinations, like any good engineer (read: total nerd), and calculated that if I took the train from Pepinster to Eupen, and then either took the bus or rode my bike from Eupen, it would be the shortest length with least elevation gain.

So, I crammed myself, my bike, and my bags onto the train in Pepinster. Because I am me, I arrived at the station about 40 minutes early. I watched several other trains pull in and out and observed that most had specifically marked bike carriages. But, when my train pulled in I couldn’t locate such a carriage. I walked along the endlessly long train trying to find the correct door. Soon I worried the train would leave without me so I just picked a door in a 2^nd class carriage and tried to pack myself in.

I noticed the train employee watching me from down the platform and then heard her whistle agitatedly. I poked my head back out, as I was half in and half out of the train, thinking she was likely going to tell me to move to the proper carriage, but she angrily gestured at me to get my ass on the train immediately. I felt like an infant being birthed through a train door as I jammed myself in.

The rest of the ride was a nervous waiting game to see if I would come face to face with her. I did near the end and she asked me to get out of her way in German. She didn’t ask for my ticket and didn’t get mad at me for putting my bike in the wrong car. Crisis averted.

After the train, the next hurdle was the big question mark regarding Belgian buses. No one I spoke to seemed to have any idea if they can take bikes and suggested I just ask the bus driver when the time comes. However, looking at the bus schedule I realized there wouldn’t be one leaving to Bütgenbach for a good four hours. Cycling it is!

I forgot to mention an important piece of information that came to light as I was leaving my hotel in Pepinster this morning: the pannier rack troubles persist. I don’t know how it is possible, but the OTHER side of my rack has come unhinged via a missing screw. At least this time the screw didn’t shear off leaving half still in the frame. No sign of the previous screw remained. How does this keep happening?!

I had no option to go to a bike store simply because there were none around. I loaded up the right pannier to redistribute the weight and delicately strapped both on. Riding like this wasn’t terrible, and there were no structural issues impeding bike function, so I had no choice really but to go with it.

Anyways, back to Eupen. Taking the bus was out. Cycling it was. When I had researched last night, I found a nice cycling route through the nature reserve / forest out of Eupen. Unfortunately, my cellular data is now expired, I couldn’t reach the internet, and I hadn’t the foresight to download the map before leaving wifi. I circled around town and eventually just ended up on a long, straight road through the forest. It wasn’t busy with traffic though so it was still an enjoyable ride.

I happened upon a nice place for a coffee in the middle of said nature reserve and took a break. There I made friends with today’s dog of the day and had a cappuccino.

Once I was through the forest, and in Germany, I linked up with a great bike route that was nicely paved and ran along an old railway track.

Back in Belgium, a little while along, I noticed a shift in the weather. The breeze was starting to pick up, the sky was greying mildly, and I felt a blanket of humidity surround me. I figured it wouldn’t be long before the weather forecast would deliver.

I made it to Bütgenbach around 2:30 pm and my bowels rumbled nervously as I caught my first glimpse of the lake where tomorrow’s sprint triathlon will take place.

I decided to detour into town to pick up a few things (i.e. Imodium) at the supermarket before checking into my hotel. Moments before I exited with my shopping it had started to downpour. I, and several other shoppers, stood under the awning outside watching and laughing at the rain bouncing off the road. We only had to wait about 15 minutes for it to calm down nearly to a full stop.

This downpour occurred precisely at the time the triathlon would have been in full swing. Let’s see what happens tomorrow (with the same, if not worse, weather forecast).

I strapped on my shopping bag and found my hotel again.

As I drink my post-ride / pre-race carbo load beer on the patio of the hotel, the sky looks and sounds like a grey whale (what does a grey whale sound like? I am assuming thunder for the purposes of this story). Thunder is rumbling in the distance and another lashing of rain could hit any moment. Oh wait, it just did. Everyone is running inside.

Going to take the night easy and get a good rest before the tri tomorrow at 1 pm. It will consist of 750 m swim, 20 km bike, and 5 km run.

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Anecdote from the last few days: There are groups of scouts everywhere out adventuring in the Belgian summer. The other day a big group of boy scouts waved at me and gave me the thumbs up as I ripped down the hill into Spa. I half expected to see mom in the group with her bucket hat headed to the boy scout jamboree.

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DOTD

You may be wondering if there is any rhyme or reason to my cycling route lately. I am not following any Eurovelo bike route and I am not hitting any tourist hot spots. On a whim a few weeks ago, I signed up to do a Sprint Triathlon in Bütgenbach, Belgium this coming Saturday (27 July) so I have been making my way there.

I am excited and a little nervous for the triathlon. Obviously, I am not horribly concerned about the cycling portion. But, I haven’t gone for a run or a proper swim in a while. Ah well, surely, I won’t drown. Right?

After yesterday’s exhausting ride I was kind of regretting my previous planning decision to take a ride out of the way today to Pepinster, then to have to backtrack tomorrow to Bütgenbach. I even considered trying to cancel and just head straight to Bütgenbach today so I could rest tomorrow before the race, but there was nowhere to stay in town.

I also considered changing plans because it is pretty warm here at the moment. Like rubber melting, old people dying, heat stroke warm. On the plus side, I have a killer bike glove tan.

The ride was pretty hilly again today and started off with a big climb out of St Vith. Eventually I found my way onto a nice bike path and coasted along that for quite a while. Mostly it was paved, but rough gravel in some areas. My bike was making a mildly concerning squeal but nothing appeared to be wrong upon inspection.

I passed through some big tunnels that were kind of dark and creepy but also so cold I didn’t care that I couldn’t see the light at the other end.

As I was riding along in peace on the cycle path in the woods I began to hear loud motor noises. I figured there was perhaps a go-karting place or a motocross area just off the path. The noise grew louder and I thought the track must be so close that something might fly off the road and crash into me at any moment. Finally, a gap in the vegetation revealed it was a car racing track and it looked hopping. I stopped to watch for a moment and then cycled on to try to get to an exit to the road to go see what was going on.

Turns out this was the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps where the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix is going to be held at the end of August! Right now there is a four day event going on, Total 24 Hours of Spa. I was very tempted to buy a 30 euro ticket and spend the afternoon watching the racing.

After an existential debate I decided I should carry on as I was only halfway to my destination and it was no doubt going to get much hotter as the afternoon went on. I likely wouldn’t want to haul my ass up more hills for another 30 km after an afternoon at the races.

So, I carried on. Mildly busy roads accompanied by a massive climb uphill and an even more epic downhill. I didn’t check the speed on my Ride with GPS app, but I think I was going alarmingly fast down the 8% slope. All I could think about as I was flying down was, that which goes down must come up. I was nervous about what lay ahead of me.

At the bottom of the hill I arrived in Spa. It was a nice town with cool buildings. I happened upon a bike store and stopped in to have my tires checked. The guy working there touched my tires and said, “they are so hot.” Oh yeah, I hadn’t really considered how close my tires probably were to exploding coming down that hill…

Luckily, there was no more climbing after Spa and it wasn’t too far to Pepinster from there. I don’t know why I chose to stay in Pepinster, really. I think I had just randomly picked a location about 60 km from St Vith, and landed on Verviers. However, there was nowhere available to stay there so I just found a town close to it. Ergo, I am now in the little Belgian town (street) of Pepinster.

Sure, there isn’t a lot going on here but I obtained a chocolate milk at Carrefour supermarket and my hotel has air conditioning. Really, that is all I need right now.

I was just about to head out into the afternoon heat, try not to melt, and walk the short length to the train station to inquire about taking my bike on the train tomorrow to get to, or at least part of the way to, Bütgenbach, when the rain started. Shortly after I heard the thunder. Then I googled the weather for the next couple of days… not looking too great as far as triathlon weather goes.

DOTD

No dogs as per definition, but I was pretty dogged after today.

I was relieved that breakfast was buffet style after the previous evening’s ridiculous and lengthy dinner service. It was fabulous and I snuck many a sandwich into my bag.

I was ready to check out by 8:15 am. I made my way to the lobby to pay and leave but found the front desk was closed. I was confused. I thought I had to be out by 8:30 am as per my instructions. I tried speaking with the cleaning woman but it was difficult for both of us. For me because of the early hour, for her because I am me.

I was just about to leave my key on the counter and depart when the matron arrived in a fluster. She said something about our 8:30 am check-out discussion and I still didn’t really understand, I paid, and then I was on the road.

It was nice to leave early because the morning air was still cool and almost damp. The sun hadn’t risen over the forested hills and I was basking in the shade.

I decided again to follow the larger roads, rather than any silly Google Maps recommendations. For the most part it was fine, however I was alongside some heavy vehicles for a while. That was delightful.

The ride was by no means flat. Rather, it was quite hilly. I guess I assumed that since Belgium is directly under the Netherlands it would be pretty flat as well. Not so. But, it is beautiful in any case. Many farms and cows, surrounded by greenery.

I stopped for a long coffee break in Lamy and was grateful to cool off in the shade. Nothing terribly exciting occurred on the ride – which, was fine with me after the events of yesterday.

Saint Vith is a quaint little town in the province of Liege, a German speaking region of Belgium. It was a hotly contested item during the Battle of the Bulge and few of it’s original buildings remained after the war. This makes it mildly underwhelming as far as architecture goes.

After a wee afternoon nap I rode my bike to the Biermusem. Of course I had to go check that out. Again, the ride through the country to get there was quite gruelling but it was all worth it when I sipped my first beer Belgian beer.

I had dinner at a little restaurant back in Saint Vith and an ice cream cone on the way home. I took it easy in the evening and prepared to ride to Pepinster the next day.

DOTD