Sunday Ride on Quiet Fall Day

Dry, mild, overcast, and little wind. Only after a day like yesterday can these be somewhat disappointing circumstances for a Sunday ride in October. Three layers, with long sleeves on top, and knee warmers felt just right when I got on my way to meet the rest of the group in Vreeland. My first day in the Whisper Power kit ("smart energy solutions"). We followed the Vecht river further than I ever had, through Maarssen and Oud-Zuilen. Along the edge of the Utrecht neighborhood of Overvecht, alongside the Karl Marx Drive (it's really there--not that there's anything wrong with that), Fort Blauwkapel, a little bikepath through a recreational area, and de Bilt/Bilthoven, where we did a lot of expert twisting and turning and eventually found the straight-and-narrow to our regular coffee spot in Lage Vuursche. This inspired us to make a bit of a sprint of it for the "city" limit sign. We happened on an old friend there-- actually, he found us--who was on his own Sunday ride. He and I have known each other since elementary school, but I had not seen him for years, maybe fifteen. We twisted and turned our way home by way, mostly, of roads and bikepaths tracing the A-1 interstate and were able to open it up a little here and there. Fifty-one miles for me, with about a 19 average--all this on the Klein, the winter bike, which I pulled out last week thinking we were done with nice weather. Shows how much I know.