Coffee Ride: The Return

Boats have been making their way through the rapidly disappearing ice during the past week, and from the bike this morning I could see that in several places where we skated only a week ago, one would hardly think of winter any more. Not that it was warm, but it was well above freezing, with the standard, stiff Dutch southwesterly winds. This meant I had to work, cold on the bike on the way out of town, and I didn't reach the speed required (a modest 17 m/h) to get to Lage Vuursche in one hour until 2.5 miles into the ride. Not that it really matters--it's the Coffee Ride, after all. Plus, I still got to Maartensdijk in time to run into the Utrecht delegation, a first. Still, probably because of skating, the lower back started to act up a little after an hour (as it did on the commutes, the past week). Generally, it's amazing how little rides you'd hardly bother with in the summer start to become somewhat challenging at this point during the winter. We were welcomed back cheerfully at the Vuursche Boer, where the two ladies at the table next to us were missing in action. I think I saw one or two new protest signs in Polder Bethune against the planned flooding of the area, and near Breukelen the ride turned into a light (as they say in Cudahy) bike wash. It's supposed to be worse tomorrow, so this was an excellent outing--quite possibly the only one this weekend.