Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong now admits that he's not the greatest rider ever. Even the second place isn't on his account. No he said on an airstrip in The Netherlands, he's not a constant rider through the year. He only performs on the Tour the France and some trials before.  

George W Bush, As Fair and Balanced as Fox

Listening to the Dutch radio, a link to blogspot

George W Bush, As Fair and Balanced as Fox

Time trial....

Today, it's a sunday I didn't hear the churchbells. (of the church close to my house, sunday's at 9.45 am) Maybe it's a sign that I'm tired. It might be because yesterday I almost rode a timetrial on my bike. At the same time the Tour the France riders had their timetrial. 55 kilometers against the hour. I rode 110 kilometers, from Utrecht to Leiden. Leiden lays west of Utrecht, close to the northsea.The strong wind was blowing from the west I could smell the salty air. The sun was shining and I was sweating and felt good. The fist time this year I rode a 100+.

The statistics of the 35th ride of the year:
110.53 km, avg 25.87 km/hr, 4 hr 16 min 21 sec, max 41 km/hr, total 25123 km 

Counter

pffff... I placed a little counter on the site, and made a quiter of myself. Selfcriticism is good, it gets you higher..... LOL 

Internetdating

I updated my account on Lexa, to find a girlfriend via the internet. I thought that I would not dare it, but now I already use it 20 days. My experiences are not overwelming good. Few reaction, no real friends. I am negative about internetdating because to be serious it's unreal. people are to shy to answer and/or not open for reaction. I mean it's one way communication. For  20 Euro  I can have the free blogspot and do something else with the money.

Cycling..... from pole to pole

Weekend .... Friday evening 16 july, after waiting half a day I cycled 20 kilometers just for fun. 20.14 kilometers, 30.80 kilometers an hour. That's 39 minutes and 16 seconds. My maximum was 40 k/hr. The total distance on my current bike 24.853 kilometers. More than the distance from pole to pole. I only had 1 flat tyre. It's amazing...
 
Saturday 17 july, at 11 o'clock am my mother and het friend came over for a visit. A coffee- break on their way to my brother in The Hague (his neighboor is Slobodan Milosevic).
I showed my pictures and they theirs... So on my balcony I served real good Max Havelaar coffee with a strawberry cake and we talked about our holidays.

When they were back on their way I watched the 12th stage in the Tour the France. Fascinating how opportunistic Michael Rasmussen escapes the peloton but he might have had a deathwish. In the end his rabobank team only have exposure time on television. Cycling, especially the big tours are commercial events. Heroic actions like Rasmussen is of course beautiful to watch. But a new French hero is born. His name is  Thomas Voeckler . With his escape 11 days or so ago he had enough lead to start on 20 july for the 11th day in the yellow jersey.
 
But I didn't watch the final 60 kilometers. I cycled almost 100 myself with 2 small hills: 91.8 km, 25.2 km/hr, 3hr 38 min 34 sec, maximum 54 km/hr, total distance 24.945 km.
 
It was very warm, after 18.00 some heavy thunderstorms were gaining strenght in the southwest. I looked at it and saw the cumulus clouds building and tumbling over eachother. At 18.20 I was home, I heeard the rumbling and in the southeast a giant front of black clouds with a white top came nearer.  18.30 the rain started.

Today, 18 july, I cycled another 41 kilometers. I went west of Utrecht and was surprised that halfway I rode 20 kilometers. I'm gaining condition like a thunderstorm. Statistics 41.77 km, 26.91 km/hr, 1.33.11 hr, 24986 km.
And now while writing this down another thunderstorm is building up.
 

12th Stage Tour de France.

This afternoon I went home early (I only worked 3 houres). My weekend has started. Earlier last month I made an appointment with a man who checks the boiler in the kitchen. Instead of waiting, I have a lot to do.... wash the dishes of last night, do some financial work, pay my bills. Luckily the 12th stage of the Tour de France is going into the mountains. Within an hour the live-reports will be on television. Now I listen to Dutch radio 1, news and information. After 12.00 pm GMT live-reports of the manslaughter in France (TdF).
 
http://www.letour.fr/2004/us/index.html 
 

Lazy in the corner.........

Well, a busy working day.....lazy in a corner with some work to do, watching the trams passing by. Sitting on a chair debating with collegues about facilities for handicapted persons and insurance, maintainance and repair. Watching my sunflowers growing in the shade and hear the laughter of my collegues. It's all music in my ears. Checking cost of maintainance and repair of 3 different suppliers isn't an easy job to do. Often making phonecalls to suppliers who want their money. They want it now, they want it all or in the worst case at least before they sent the initial note. They already wrote their letters stating the unpaid bills.... It's because of me....
However my department isn't a large one we can always celebrate a birthday...  A dear collegue will be 40 next week. Today he invited us for a delicious strawberry cake. Strawberry fields forever reminds me of endless dreaming, of happy days..... and they ain't over yet....Maybe I'll meet a girl.
 

Context and the state of being

The photo's below show an overview.. there are more.. but what is the reason to show them all... that must be boring..... That's daily life...a dull life? But when you're living your daily life it's not so boring at all.... however when you look back on it.... there are many things that are not on a photo and things you can or cannot recall, such as smell, memories, thoughts, the context. Maybe a good novel can give you a feeling of the state of being on that specific moment on for example the top of the Dundret. The context is also the journey to the Dundret...being underground 15 houres before... speaking English, eating, smelling different things, the football game, meeting different people  

Stockholm, 26 June 2004

The spectators went home sadly and very silently after losing the match, Sweden dominated, by penalties... 

Arjan Robben decides the match with his penalty... 

Kiruna, Swedish Lappland

Centre of Kiruna 

12.00 am Drundret looking south east 

Crossing the Polar Circle in a bus.... Arghhh 

Football, Sweden-Holland, quarterfinal Euro 2004 

my stuga in Gällivare 

Kiruna station with the train heading for Narvik 

Stadhus Stockholm 

the snowfence on the Dundret 

Kiruna station.. Imagine -40 degrees celsius outside.... 

She was totally different than the other characters....she tried to persuade me to stay in her hostel before I went back to the city.... With a dictionary from the late 1890-1900 English-Swedish she made me try to make some Swedish sentences. No.... to difficult.  

a character dressed like a farmer in 1895... he also acted as he were in those days...he spoke a little english... (Östersund was already a big city and had bright lights) 

Another mountainview, direction north by northeast, Dundret, near Gällivare, Swedish Lappland 

Stockholm, St. Eriksgatan

Sunday 27 June, the day after Sweden lost the quarterfinal football of the Euro 2004, however they were better Sweden lost with penalties. 

lake 

Bothnian Gulf

20 June 2004
I was halfway walking around the bay of Luleã, the bothnian gulf, It took me 6 houres with the blisters on my feet....I was not so happy by then... but back on my campsite I was relieved....  

Vilhelmina

another lake.... I slept on it's border 

Swedish road in the outback. But you can cycle it. 

A rapid and when there's much rain it can be a grand rapid... 

wheelchair on a camping