Cycling on flat-lands

After a break of four years when I only did a bit of utilitarian cycling, this year I started to do a bit more cycling again. Not mountain-biking as before. Since I started to do trail running more seriously,  I feel that running is much better suited for the type of mountain trails we have around Brasov. This time I have returned to road cycling after many years... On roads I am exploring other landscapes around Brasov, not than just mountains. There are many secondary roads with good surface around Brasov, just perfect for road cycling.

The highlight of the cycling season was a cycling tour in the Netherlands. It was a last minute decision. Myself and my wife had some holiday days left for the end of the summer. As she is still recovering from an ankle injury, hiking was out of the question, but cycling was OK. 

Knowing how good the cycling infrastructure is in Holland, I proposed that we could go there for cycling in a safer road environment than in Romania.

My wife quickly searched the web for a fully organised tour. As we have never been cycling in Holland before, this was the safest option to ensure a last minute successful holiday. Most organised cycling tours seem to target the older generation; have short daily distances and e-bike option. Anyway, my wife managed to find a tour operator that had road bike tours on the menu: Holland Bike Tours. As both of us are quite well trained for endurance, we went straight for the most demanding tour they have on offer: Lake Ijssel Round Rrip; 400km in four days.

The tour was very well organised. It was an individual tour. The tour operator provided us with good quality road bicycles and a GPS device pre-loaded with the tour route. They also gave us a set of lightweight tools, a pump and a spare tube. In case we had more trouble, full bike assistance was included - luckily we had no need for it. We only had a punctured tire during the whole trip.

The hotels on the route were all booked by the tour operator, including our luggage transfer from one hotel to the next one on the route.

The GPS device was very helpful ans saved us a lot of time - especially important on the long stages. Due to the many canals that criss-cross the landscape, getting from A to B might not be as simple as it seems... Just using a compass is not of much use for finding your way in Holland...

Cycling on flat-land was tougher than I thought! We live in the mountains, so most cycling routes are 50% up-hill and 50% downhill. Moreover, the mountains protect us from strong winds. Covering a similar distance on the plains felt harder, especially with head-wind. Sure enough, half of the tour we had to work hard against the wind! Even with tail-winds, you still have to pedal, unlike on mountains down-hills...

We both enjoyed the tour very much. The landscape of Holland is as different from home as it can be! It felt like being in a delta, which in fact is the case. What I find amazing is that all the landscape we were cycling through is man-made! Yet, along the route there were many wild areas, with forests, lakes, canals and lots of water birds, reminding me of the Danube Delta.

The second day we had the longest stage. 160km. It was the one we enjoyed the most. It included Afsluitdijk, the 32km dam between the North Sea an IJssel Lake. We had west and north-west winds during this day. The first 40km until we reached Afsluitdijk were quite hard as we battled the quite strong head winds and a few light showers. The 32km on the dam were OK; we were sheltered by the top of the dike so the side wind was not so strong. The cherry on the cake were the last 85 kilometers! We flew most of the distance with strong tail winds along the lake shore and across the plains! Without the tail winds it would have been very hard to reach our destination in time that day.

Here is the route of the second day:

And some photos we took along the four day tour:

Cycling along Afsluitdijk

By the North Sea

Rain on the last kilometers of the tour...

Ghost Riders

No running today...  I ran enough yesterday as I competed in the 39km Ciucas Trail Marathon race. I will write about the marathon next days. So today I did a short recovery walk on the hills near Brasov. On the route I took photos of competitors in the On The Rocks mountain bike race. The race was a long 12km downhill from Postavarul Mountain to Brasov, with almost 1200m of altitude drop. It was the first edition of this contest on this route.

When I first heard about this contest I was quite worried, as it took place along some popular hiking trails. I am happy to report that the organisers did a very good job in keeping the safety standards high. Posters on the trees along the route announced the race 2-3 weeks in advance. On the day of the race, there were many volunteers along the route so any hiker could be warned. In the end the day was quite cold and cloudy so there were just a few hikers in the area. The race had a mass start so the whole event was a quick one causing minimal disruption along the trail.

As the sky was overcast, the forest was quite dark; not ideal conditions for taking action photos. So I experimented with panning and relatively long exposure times. I got a few very interesting photos, more on the 'artistic' side of photography. However, the majority of the photos will disappoint the racers as they are really shaky and blurry... Even so, I kept at least one photo of each biker and posted them on Picassa Web Albums. Here are some of the best photos of the day:

The Essence of Cycling

Last month I was talking about the Simplicity of running. I mentioned there my bicycles. So now it is time to talk a bit about the simplicity of cycling... cycling reduced to the essence... at least from my point of view.

Over the years I used almost a dozen of bicycles. In time I realized that some of the most amazing tours in the mountains I ever did, were done with my first mountain bike. It was a really cheap and basic one. It was all that I could afford back then. But it was more about the energy and the enthusiasm of being in the nature rather than equipment. Later I could afford better and better bikes but I had less and less time to use them...

So does the bike matters? Of course, but...

One has to know the limitations of the bike he uses. As long as you know it and stay within the safety limits, then you are fine. If one feels that the bike is holding him/her back from what he/she wants to achieve, then it is probably time to look for something else. In most cases we look for something fancier, more advanced, more performant.

Over the years I had better and better mountain bikes. They offered me more safety at higher speed and more performance. I was obsessed with average speed, kilometers, gears and so on. Indeed, I could do my tours faster, I would have more control on downhills, I had gears combinations for every situation and so on.

And yet, the performance is not everything and I think that we should not become obsessed with it.

I am cycling for leisure, not to win a competition. While being obsessed with kilometers, speed and gear shifting, bent forward over my handle-bar, I was often missing the landscape - the main reason I was outdoors!

A couple of years ago I was looking for a bike to use in the city. Something simple and solid and easy to maintain. I got an Kona Africabike. A solid no frills bike that just does the job. It has a solid steel frame, a single speed and coaster brake... I started to use it more and more and realized that I really enjoy riding it! 

My position on this bike is more relaxed, more upright so I can enjoy more the landscape; it also feels safer as my posture is more relaxed with my head higher so I can better observe the road. I do not have to worry about shifting gears. I can climb slopes up to about 10% inclination. Steeper than 10%... well I just push it as it is anyway not too efficient to paddle uphill on steep slopes. On downhills... the gravity is pulling me down regardless of the bike I ride. On flat terrain... yes I am slower here, but this means that I can enjoy the ride and the landscapes.

On the hills with my Africabike

I now use the Africabike on the hills around the city where I was using a mountain-bike before. I cycle mostly on wide paths and forest roads where I do not really need a mountain bike. On more difficult terrain I prefer running anyway.

This bike may be a strange choice, but on the other hand it is all that I need... the essence of a bike. 

In the end, the best equipment is the one that distracts one less. In my case I want to simply enjoy the ride and this simple bike gives me just that!