Against The Wind

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‎Bob Seger to save you the trouble.

Today I was due to cycle through Arnhem but for me it also proved to be a bridge too far. I had seen on last night's forecast that heavy rain and strong winds were due but I hadn't fully appreciated what we were in for. When I woke this morning it was pouring across......no, not down, it was raining horizontally. Bugger.

'Perhaps it might ease' I thought. I looked at the weather forecast. It seems that when the winds get above a certain level  the BBC uses black wind symbols rather than white and, bloody hell, the wind speed started with a FIVE!  That is not cycling weather! Bugger. 

After a bit of interwebbing a plan emerged: cancel tonight's hotel (not really on the rail network) and book one in Utrecht (a simple 2 train journey). So far so good. It seems  that not all trains allow bikes so my simple 2 train journey became a 4 train epic, starting with a train back to where I was yesterday luchtime. Did I mention BUGGER?

At least Germany and the Netherlands ‎are good countries for rail travel - like their cycle paths the network is efficient and 'joined up' - and I am now safe and sound in a hotel. During my train journey, isolated from the wind, I started to feel like a bit of a wuss. This feeling evaporated when I got on my bike to ride to the hotel and found myself blown to the ground within 200 yds. In the coming mile I saw 3 more riders blown off!!! It is the gustiness that is the problem - in my case I was braced against a vicious side wind when it suddenly dropped and physics took over.

The obvious flaw in my plan is that this is a research trip and it leaves ‎a 90 mile hole in my route notes. There is a solution: I will be revisiting this route in June as part of my next 'proper' adventure and can document the gap then.   'what adventure is that?' I don't hear you ask. You will have to wait and see!



Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the EE network.





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