June 2, 2026

 Tuesday. Left at 9:35. Nikor. Tiny raindrops for the first minute or so. Overcast, with light and darker gray clouds. Light winds out of the southwest; fairly mild. Straatweg to Maarssen and ARK. Past the train station, the rain began. All fair-weather riders at home, just one woman in a SD Worx jersey coming south, from the looks of her, and her speed, a real deal. It rained the entire way to Javaplein, and then also on the part to the Bushuis. Busy on the canal, with some barges being pushed by tugboats at high speeds. Also several pleasure boats and other assembled smaller boats and platforms. Good smells from the wet, tall grasses before the Diem. Soaked and in the wind at Javaplein, so just a quick read-through of the paper. Headline of the Ukraine diary stating what is visible to all: the better Ukraine fares militarily, the more they suffer in Kiyv. And even if the American president wanted to supply more anti-ballistic missile technology--a big if--his reckless war on Iran has depleted stocks for months and months to come. And so the Russian president gets another unearned break. On to Bushuis. So many more turning cars on the Piet Heinkade than a decade ago. Today the cause was one of these obnoxious cruise ships offloading God knows how many passengers. In town, tourists on bikes, dressed for yesterday. It had stopped raining on the way back, and the winds had picked up. The sun came out for a little while. At some point, along the Vecht before Nieuwersluis, the wind seemed to be coming from the northeast. Amstel to a new Omval in the works. Then Abcouderpad past Abcoude. Baambrugge to Loenersloot--tall grasses providing some shelter from the wind in the big curve. Still very few people out. In Loenen, the old drawbridge was just going up, but the other one stayed down. Zandpad back to the detour at the Klopdijk. Skating route in reverse to get home.