Friday afternoon – 0 km on the counter
I cycle to Utrecht with L. We buy chips and wine at AH, drop my stuff at W.’s place and eat the chips on a bench in the street. When J. arrives back home, we drink the wine and eat the hot curry J. made us. Then we cycle to Averechts for drinks and talks with local CS’ers.
Saturday morning – 18 km on the counter
After a decent night of sleep on three couch cushions it’s time for the real work. W. and me arrive at the meeting point five minutes early. Impressive. After waiting for late comers, putting orange flags on our bikes, readjusting people’s luggage and a group picture, we set off at 11am.
We are an interesting group of people. We have professional cyclists and creative bicycle packers, most of us are Dutch, but our ages range from 23 to 59. We do not talk about what we do during the week. Right now we are just twelve crazy souls cycling in an ever-changing pattern through the surroundings of Utrecht with orange flags on our bicycles, singing children’s songs.
We cycle past and/or through the Hollandse Waterlinie, Loosdrechtse plassen, Utrechtse Heuvelrug, Lage Vuursche, Soesterberg and Doorn to Amerongen, where we arrive at a farmers camp site somewhat after 6pm. We set up camp, prepare dinner and eat lots of marshmallows for dessert. At midnight it’s time for ploenk to go to bed.
Sunday morning – 90 km on the counter
I wake up with a couple of mosquito bites in my face. Darn. But a warm shower and a good and long breakfast makes everything right. Around noon, we hop on our bikes again. Today we see some more of Utrechtse Heuvelrug and also Wijk bij Duurstede, Doorn, Austerlitz, Zeist and Bunnik, before we arrive in the city center of Utrecht at high speed.
Yeah, we cycled pretty fast sometimes, but on the other hand, we had a lot of breaks. Gymnastics in the sand, lengthy lunches, coffee/beer on a terrace and we even did some sightseeing. And here we are, back again, on the Oudegracht, tired to the bone at only 6pm. We had a lot of fun!
Sunday evening – 130 km on the counter
But my weekend is not over yet! I phone H. and go to her place. We talk, have dinner and talk some more. Until P. phones me that he just arrived at Schiphol. Wow, what time is it? I’m so tired already, I completely lost track of time. I go to his place and with his roommates I wait until he gets back home. Surprise! After stories, Macedonian food and photos, I can finally rest my head at 1am. Goodnight Utrecht…
Monday afternoon – 150 km on the counter
It’s 11.30am when I get out of bed to take a shower. My own bed that is. P.’s alarm clock was set at 7am and although it was still raining at that point, I decided to also get up and get the last bit of cycling over with. So that’s what I did. I hopped on my bicycle somewhat after 8am and jumped right into bed again after arriving home somewhat before 9.30am. Wow… what an impressive weekend…