Rode hard and put up wet.

Originally I thought the title of this entry would be "Bob's bike tours ", but after getting just a tad too much sun yesterday, it's more about how I feel today than anything else.
Our visitors, (and here they are btw, just outside the Hengelo train station, since they're off to Amsterdam today....)

arrived without too much difficulty on Saturday morning at Schiphol. I say that, even though it did seem to take them forever to emerge, but then again, the airport has had to hire extra personnel this summer, since it's been a mad house there for the last month or so. Seems the recession hasn't stopped the Dutch from going "op vacantie".
The rest of the day was more or less spent recuperating for all concerned, since I too had a brief rest in the afternoon after going to the airport for seven that morning.
As delightful and convenient as the train ride from the airport may be, I volunteered to go and fetch them. The car certainly doesn't complain, and then there's also no concerns about changing trains in Amersfoort. I can't quite put my finger on it, but changing trains always makes me a tad nervous, and I'd sooner just take the direct train to Hengelo, but of course, that one is operated by Deutsche Bahn, which can make it even more confusing.....

*sigh*


Sunday we decided to head out on the bikes, with the usual visit to Twickle, since it's pretty much the extent of the local attractions around here. We then came back through Delden, stopping at a bakery for lunch before heading off to Hengelo. By the way, this is one of the bakeries that I almost always go to on a Sunday morning for croissants, so it was a pleasant experience to be met with a couple knowing smiles when I showed up there again a couple hours later with an "entourage".

This can trump the anonymity of a big city any day as far as I'm concerned.

We later took a little detour through one of the streets here in Delden on the way out of town, since I knew that the houses were all very interesting.
What I didn't realise was that among the many that have thatched roofs, there was one that was getting redone. This is a bit of a dying art it seems, and probably somewhat of a status symbol, since I understand it's a rather expensive proceedure.

Here's the bare roof with what we would call "ice and water shield"....
with all the straw ready to be installed...
Betty wanted to touch....
No sooner had we reached the "Hengelo" sign, when I heard some rumblings from the back of the pack, only to discover that the bike that Betty was riding was beginning to have some "issues". This is one of the bikes that we shipped over when we moved here, only to discover that it was was too small and uncomfortable for me, and is now used as a spare. It has also turned out to be one of the most unreliable pieces of junk I think I've ever owned in my life. But don't let me tell you how I really feel.
This meant that we had to figure out where we'd meet up, since I'd need to pedal it back to Delden to grab a couple adjustable wrenches.....
There was really no other choice to be made, since the problem was that the seat had come loose, AND in the moments leading up to our departure, "Do you have any tools with you" was one of the questions I heard but failed to react to just before we locked up and headed out the door....

Idiot.

The car was sitting there tempting me when I got to the house, but that wasn't going to be an option, and at least the head wind that I had been battling on the way home was helping a touch on the way back. Took two seconds to solve the problem, but I think it was just that small amount of extra time in the sun that put me ever so slightly into the "well done" category....

....which probably explains the way I feel today.

Just as content to keep a low profile here at home, and let the travellers....travel.