February 28, 2026

Saturday. Left at 9:30. Nikor. Borderline chilly, with fairly stiff southwesterly breezes. Gray skies, but varied, with very light spots, even pieces of blue. Once or twice, the sun itself tried to push through. Pavement a little damp from overnight showers, and puddles. Gele brug to Alendorp and Rivierpad. Saturday activities: walkers, runners, dogs, children. The grass alongside the Rivierpad looked as if it's coming out of hibernation. The rest of the land and the trees not yet. Breudijk to Gerverscop. Some cars. The views west from the Rodendijk. Schutterskade to Galgerwaard. Breukelen to Scheendijk-zuid. Stork couples taking up residence on the nests alongside the Strook and the Bethuneweg. Birdspotters were out too. Herenweg to Oud-Zuilen, and back into the city amid the runners. The paper at Mos didn't have the overnight news yet of the new assault on Iran. It was clear that we were headed for this, but what this is supposed to be exactly is not clear. Regime change may sound good, since few would mourn the demise of the Islamic state. But exactly what would take its place is far from clear. Given the extent to which the Revolutionary Guards have entangled themselves with the state and the country at large, the replacement of the Ayathollas by some other leaders may not change all that much, least of all for the population. How this replacement would happen is one of the many unknowns, but the administration probably believes they're doing some kind of rerun of the Venezuela operation, minus the kidnapping of the regime's head guy. It is not clear at all how much that would change in the country and the region, and it's certainly possible that a collapse of the Islamic state could lead to chaos and more bloodshed. As to motives, it's best to keep the personal interests of the leader in the White House front and center. After all, for the leader himself, there's nothing else. In other cases we might speak of political objectives, but in this instance that's a meaningless distinction. The perverse upside of this operation going off the rails would be that the domestic troubles of the president and his allies would only get worse.

February 25, 2026

Wednesday. Left 9:05. Nikor. Clear skies and full sun, but pavement wet from overnight showers. Fairly mild, moderate winds from the southeast. De Bilt to Soesterberg and Zeisterspoor (flat). Initially, lots of commuters everywhere. Some roundabout way through Leusden, then Aschatterweg to Achterveld. De Roskam. The village getting ready for what appeared to be funeral. Small-ish cups of coffee, modest pieces of apple pie, equally slight whipped cream supplement. Only a cookie with the second coffee. Gelderse Vallei, where folks tend to do things the way they have been doing them for a long time. Nothing wrong with that, refreshing actually, coming from the land of the flat whites. Chilly getting back on, fog-like clouds whafting over the land, as if a morning fog was just burning up, and maybe it was. Eventually spring did come. Helweg to Renswoudsestraatweg, and through Renswoude. Biesbosserweg and Groeperweg on the way to the Amerongseberg, where it was fairly quiet and mostly without diesel or other fumes (one stinking, old-style moped). Behind Leersum to Gooyerdijk, all the way to Sterkenburgerlaan. Beverweerd and tunnel toward the Achterdijk. More tailwind, lots more people taking advantage of the weather. Other than snow bells, daffodils, and croci, not too much happening yet in nature. That should start to change very soon now. Marsdijk and Koningsweg back into town.  

February 23, 2026

Monday. Left around 9:40. Nikor. Overcast, not as chilly, but stiff southwesterly breeze. Koningsweg to Wayen and Lekdijk. Bakery smells on the Sluispad. The river very quiet, and just a few cars along the way. The sun trying to make it through the cloud cover but not really succeeding. Fierce cross winds just before the ferry to Beusichem. Across the locks and left onto the Wijkersloot. Two guys with a wheelbarrow and a shovel pouring gravel into the puddles by the side of the road. Spiegelweg and Bredeweg toward Cothen, then left onto the Ossenwaard. Watertorenweg to Zuwe and on to Driebergen. The talk of some early spring weather is all around, but today was just a decent winter day. Mini croci and snowbells in Driebergen. Traaij with damp to wet pavement. Same on the way to Zeist/Huis ter Heide. Home into the wind by way of de Bilt. Four years of war today, and new Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. However, the Hungarian government, supported by Slovakia, is happy to block urgently needed EU aid for Kyiv as well as new EU sanctions on Moscow. Perhaps the Hungarian prime minister is playing one of his extortionist games, making his assent conditional on Brussel's transfer of funds to his corrupt government. This has succeeded in the past, but perhaps it should not be allowed to succeed this time, since that would only help the prime minister and his allies in the national elections in April. While we do want him to lose, we don't want to make Ukraine's predicament even more serious than it already is. We need some creative thinking in Brussels and other European capitals, and we need some Taurus missiles finally to go Kyiv's way. 

February 20, 2026

 Friday. Left a little after ten. Nikor. Gray, overcast with some gray clouds moving through underneath the higher layer. Moderate winds out of the southwest. Chilly, but well above freezing. Pavement still damp from early morning showers. Blauwkapel to Groenedijk and Korssesteeg. On the trails, hardly a soul, but in the fields and on the water, the waterfowl seemingly getting ready for spring. Korssesteeg with its farmers playing victim. Airfield to Oud Loosdrecht. Mini croci coming up in the strip between bike path and roadway at the Molenmeent. The evidence of the rich and infamous in Loosdrecht. The new, off-the-scale apartment building is only the latest, but probably also the ugliest example. Then right. The  Loenderveense plas lapping at the bike path. Moleneind. Left toward Vreeland, then the west side of the Vecht to Loenen. Dorpstraat to the very end, then straatweg past Nieuwersluis. Too many cars on the short section to Nieuwersluis. Then ARK to Maarssen. Wind, barges, and dog people. Straatweg back into the city. A decent winter day, with the first taste of spring supposedly just around the corner. In a yard in Loosdrecht, there was what could have been a forsythia, already looking quite yellow. Snow bells in some places also, of course, and daffodils--although all still very sparse. In the news, more talk of Europeans doing more together on defense and intelligence sharing, but also new reports on how the Germans and the French can't agree on how to develop a new fighter plane. An older report also on how Europeans and Americans together have been more aggressive against Russia's shadow fleet of oil tankers and how it's hurting Moscow's ability to finance its economy and its war. But rather than focus on changing Moscow's calculations vis-a-vis its war against Ukraine, Washington seems intent on launching new attacks on Iran's military and nuclear infrastructure. That seems like a distraction, not just from Ukraine, but also, and likely intentionally, from some domestic troubles facing the White House. It's hard to detect a coherent strategy behind it all, other than a preoccupation with headlines and domination of the so-called news cycle. Compared to that, Europe's conditional and cumbersome steps toward greater collaboration and independence don't look quite so inadequate.

February 18, 2026

Thursday. Left a little before 10:30. Nikor, but the pavement was dry everywhere in spite of yesterday's showers. Moderate, chilly winds out of the east. A weak sun working its way through a high, thin obstructive layer. Straatweg to Deka brug, with its ridiculous but longstanding ramp, especially the tight hairpin turn. The railroad bridge is vital, but this bike path could have been upgraded years ago. 50 year-old infrastructure has its charms (see Gieltjesdorp), but at a place like this it's inappropriate. From the bridge, a novel but bland view of the canal. Lage Weide not too busy, then Zuilensebrug into the wind. Winter. Maarssen and its bridge across the ARK, then around the Haarrijnseplas to Smalle Themaat and toward the Rijnveldsche Boschpad. Around the parks surrounding Haarzuilens and the castle. Lots of snow bells have emerged there. Natuurpad toward Laag Nieuwkoop empty and barren. Gerverscop with the tailwind and in the weak sun. Gerverscop naturally and agriculturally still mostly inactive. Breudijk to Tiendweg and Dorpeldijk. Then Zandweg into the cold wind. Across on the Daphne, a stop at Taart, then into the city. In the news the report than U.S.-brokered peace talks between Russia and Ukraine only lasted for two hours this morning and prove to be "difficult." No surprise at all. In a way, the recent visit by the Archivist of the United States to Hungary's Russia-friendly leader, and his endorsement of the man for his upcoming national elections, told us all we needed to know--have known for more than a year now, if not longer.

February 15, 2026

 Sunday. Left a little after ten. Blacksmith. Sunny and cold; wind chills well below freezing. Moderate winds out of the southeast. Berenkuil and east, toward Zeist, seeking shelter from the wind. Sunday morning traffic through Zeist, Driebergen, and Doorn. One estate after another. Ruiterberg very quiet, Hoogstraat equally so. Some other riders. The woods barren and cold. Straight at the bottom of the hill. Darthuizerweg to Langbroekerweg. Then, it soon became clear, east instead of west on Gooijerdijk. Amerongerwetering--cars--to Langbroekerdijk--more peaceful. Over-Langbroek as it's supposed to be--nothing ugly. Steenen Brug, Langbroek, and beyond in balance too. Tailwind, light traffic, all of nature asleep, save for some swans in the fields, and a lone white heron. Odijk to Bunnik and straight to Koningslaan, Laan van Maarschalkerweerd, and the city. News of new Ukrainian attacks on Russian port facilities on the Black Sea. Long may they burn. And the address by the Archivist of the United States in Munich. We are still allies, perhaps even family, and that's not incorrect. It's certainly much better than sanctimonious hectoring, but the man he works for is not trustworthy, and that man is in charge. The Ukrainian president also spoke, and he made the crucial point: Washington is asking Ukraine to make most of the concessions, and not only does it fail to ask Russia to give in, it also fails to put any meaningful pressure on Moscow. 

February 11, 2026

Wednesday. Left around 9:45. Nikor. It hadn't stopped raining after all: very thin drizzle for the first 45 minutes. Fairly mild, virtually no wind. Gray all around, barely a kilometer visibility. Gele brug to Lint, right and around to Smalle Themaat, Vleuten, and Haarrijnsepad. Very few people out. Haarzuilens to Laag Nieuwkoop en Gerverscop. A gray peace all around. The daffodils again in Harmelen, but otherwise no sign anywhere of impending spring. It's not impending; it still feels as if it's weeks away. Zandweg back to the city and Mos. The Ukrainian president cited in the paper, saying that the peace talks are not yielding enough for his country--this alongside reports of Russian advances on two crucial towns in the Donbas, and more reports of how the lack of access to Starlink satellites is complicating Russia's military activities. Assuming Ukraine retains Starlink access, the three reports combined could point to another surprise move soon by Ukraine, one on the model of the airfield raid on Russia's strategic bomber fleet last year. It would be welcome amid Russia's constant terror attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets although it's unlikely suddenly to change the Kremlin's calculations. Welcome also would be some news about renewed European weapons shipments to Kyiv, both defensive and offensive.