April 3, 2025

 Start at Houtplaats, Rheden/Posbank, around 10:30. Blacksmith. Green inner tube peeking through the surface of the tubular, flat after a few hundred meters, on the Heuvenseweg climb. The woods were still barren and fairly quiet, the open areas showed some yellow leaves on scattered bushes, apparently gorse (gaspeldoorn), not forsythia. A little lizard crossed the road right in front of us in the noonday sun. Cars were allowed on the ridge, but it really wasn't bad. Up and down and around sections such as Zijpenseberg, Lange Juffer, Rozenbos. A little cool at the start, but it warmed up quickly--summer already before 12. Tariffs all over the news. By all means, let's keep breaking lives, let's satisfy that need to throw our weight around. It's the only way we can begin to feel remotely secure. 

April 1, 2025

 Left around 9:15. Nikor. Chilly morning, winds out of the northeast. Could have used full gloves on the way up. Straatweg to Loenen. Bridge open (the pleasure boats are coming back), so west side of the Vecht. Vreeland bridge open too, so outside route back to the Vecht. Nigtevecht, Gein, Gaasp, Diem, ARK. Javaplein with the paper. Op-ed by a student arguing that if the government is going to encourage her generation to consider serving in the military, there has to be some quid pro quo--in effect, what about the priorities of our generation? It's the kind of thing too many potential Democratic voters said last year, before sitting out. Look where their priorities are now. It's not illegitimate to advocate for your own causes, far from it, but this is a big picture issue, or one of taking things in the right order. There are imperfect outcomes and then there are catastrophic ones. On to BG2. Then quiet side of the Amstel to Ouderkerk (scooter), to west side Ronde Hoep. My Ouderkerk knowledge has become very rusty. Ronde Hoep never disappoints with its spectacular vistas. Also some baby geese in the water. New white-grey mansion on its hill sticking out like a sore thumb of obnoxious ostentatiousness. Botshol, Donkereind, Portengensebrug, Haarzuilens, Gele Brug. Temperatures rose, but it never really warmed up.

March 30, 2025

 Left a little after 10 (daylight savings time). Blacksmith. City was a cool, dry place. Stiff northwesterly breeze. No place to go but home. Merwedekanaal, Plofsluis, Lekdijk. Saw three riders, they all left me behind. Authoritative sun through the clouds on the Lek multiple times. Lek refreshingly empty. Zuwe, Goyerbrug, Sterkenburg, Traaij. Magnolias and forsythias well on their way everywhere. Huis ter Heide, Bilthoven, Blauwkapelseweg, Buys Ballotstraat. Møs with yesterday's paper. Some encouraging signs of European follow-through against the autocrats in East and West: can't trust either one. Paper also playing catch-up to the demolition works in the U.S. right now (who isn't); it brought to mind the fellow on the Newshour the other night: his new Peruvian wife had been caught up in the deportation dragnet, and in his worst case scenario he'd move to Peru with her. This is someone who gave his vote to the current head of state, but he does not regret his vote. Still trying to get my head around that. Earlier in the week they had an educated woman in a government job from Nebraska. She's now losing her job and is surprised, since she imagined that change would come gradual and in a nuanced way. Of course, we had every reason to expect that, absolutely. The saying goes that people deserve the government they get, certainly the one they vote for. Problem is everyone else getting swept up in the chaos.

March 29, 2025

Left around 9:45. Blacksmith. Cool, partly cloudy, moderate breeze from the northwest. Daalsetunnel to Thomas a Kempisplantsoen. Old intersection gone, bike path runs straight to the light before the yellow bridge now. Goodbye diesel fumes and related filth. Progress. N will be spinning in his grave, but I like riding through the western suburbs. Hermelijnvlinderpad, then the Lint to the Alendorperweg, where you return a little to an earlier time there; you're in the park, and you're not. Out by way of Vleuterweide (Stroomrugbaan) to Rivierpad. Geese with chicks in the meadow at Kasteel de Ham, later storks on the nest. Sun on yellow reeds along a small canal curving to the right. Breudijk to Gerverskop. Koot on a nest, little lambs in a small field by one of the farms. Schutterskade to Galgerwaard (finally locating Vinkeveen's church). Breukelen, Gunterstein, Veenkade. Then almost all of Gageldijk to Ruygenhoek, the last bit "new road!" Everything's normal, as long as you don't read the news. 

March 27, 2025

 Left a little after nine. Nikor. Cool, sunny morning. Straatweg to Maarssen. ARK. Cees saw some baby geese alongside the road; I looked back but can't claim to have seen my first new waterfowl of the year yet. Wind out of the southwest, easy ride to Javaplein (inside). Ringdijk memories of 1960s "Jongenseiland," when you could drive home to Weesp that way, when you could still drive just about everywhere (I'm not nostalgic). Then BG2. Tourist Killer, Plantage, Watergraafsmeer: non-stop challenges thrown into your path. Short detour through Betondorp. Gaasp, Gooilandseweg, Ankeveen. Chase Cees. Herenweg, Kwakel, Emmaweg. Kerkelanden, airfield, Egelshoek. Spring on its way, but still early.

March 23, 2025

 Left at 9 (Dom bells ringing as I stepped out). Blacksmith. Some dampness on the pavement going out, otherwise partly cloudy and mild, light south winds. Straatweg to Breukelen. Spectacular colors at some of the big houses outside of Maarssen. Galgerwaard, Geerkade, Meije, Zwammerdam, Nieuwkoop. After the coffee stop it clouded over, but the darker skies, interspersed with white and light blue, provided a good backdrop to bits and pieces of blossom, daffodils, light green buds, even the grass and the yellow reeds, especially between Noorden and de Hoef. Brilliant contrast. Same with the row of bare trees on the high dike next to the house called de Rietkraag between Waverveen and Vinkeveen. Back by way of Demmerik, Oukoop, Lage Weide, de Meern bridge. Took off the knee warmers and buff half-way through, which, while not urgent, was still tenable.

March 21, 2025

 Left around 9:45. Spring. Southeasterly winds. Blacksmith. Off to Amerongen: de Bilt, Zeist, Woudenberg, Griftdijk, Haarweg with some rough, farm-to-nature fields signalling progress. After Amerongen, Lekdijk. Storks on the nest, one farm with baby sheep. Faint, green buds in more and more places, Forsythia yellow not far behind. Wijk glorious on the approach: the two church towers, the castle, and the windmill. In the news the report that on a global happiness index, the Dutch rank fifth. One explanation may be found in the recent vote in parliament, where three of the four parties participating in the current government opposed the country's participation in the envisioned EU borrowing to boost the common defense. Lame, disingenuous justifications boiled down to a denial of how the world has changed in recent years and especially this year. How do you maintain a healthy level of happiness? Easy: head in the sand.