Decent January weather for a 57km afternoon & evening ride – 15kmh SSE winds, 9°C, dry, & partly cloudy.
Here’s a sunset shot over the Nieuwe Driemanspolder between Leidschenveen & Zoetermeer, recently turned from farmland into parkland & a nature reserve with many new lakes & marshes.
Check out the satellite views on Google Maps & Apple Maps. The former show it as it was & the latter as it is: https://goo.gl/maps/a37uXfdVgzB9JC69A
One of the last remnants of the greenhouse complex on Kniplaan, south of Voorschoten, demolished over the last few weeks.
Somehow a fitting picture for today’s filthy 43km ride around the Vlietland on soaked paths in constant drizzle & 5°C temperatures under sky-filling low cloud.
It’s all a bit meh out there. Wet paths after lots of rain, very damp air reducing the effective temperature, no sign of the Sun, & too many commuting cars 🚕🚙🚗
Managed to dodge the showers, but goodness it was windy out there in the polders: F6 & gusting to 60kmh+.
Anyway, today’s 50km ride takes me over 6000km for 2023: far below my original goal, but it has been one heck of a year in so many ways, both good & bad. I’ll share some highlights later.
A cold & grey 60km Boxing Day ride along the Leidsevaart, one of the oldest canals in The Netherlands, dug in 1657 to connect Haarlem & Leiden by horse-drawn boat🐴⛴️
This picture however is of another piece of water & it doesn’t really look like this 🤷♂️