Hello rainy autumn.

A photo impression of my last two bicycle tours.

On the cusp of fall.

Here at the Northern Hemisphere we have moved from a sunny summer towards a rainy autumn. Yes, I know, the 21st of September it is supposed to change. But according to the natural weather pattern it already happened at the first of September. It was the day that I went to the city of Appingedam, by bicycle. Where the day before I had gone South to the village of Grolloo. Appingedam is up North from where I live, just like Winschoten in the province of Groningen (same capital name). Blues-village Grolloo is in the province of Drenthe. It is my end of summer trip, already has been a kind of tradition for many years now. (In memory of my Dad, who passed away almost 16 years ago.)

Appingedam, Grolloo and my hometown, Winschoten, are in Nederland, in the Northern part of Europe, next to Germany (D[e]ut[s]chland), (quite a bit) above Belgium (België). Most of this part of our country is flat, only for the 'Houndsback' (NL: Hondsrug) which to us is as close to a mountain as it gets. Whenever I go to the province of Drenthe it is something I have to deal with. Although the most Northern part of it can be found in the city of Groningen. Cycling through the province of Groningen means dealing with polders, flat and a lot of wind, always. The closer I get to the Dollard Bay or the River Ems, the colder and windier it gets. And on my trip to Appingedam there are large parts of 'false flat', which basically means that it is a long slow climb.

One day hot, the next cold.

When I went to Grolloo the weather was great, sunny and 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 F). And when I got there I took a seat at the veranda of Restaurant Hofsteenge. Looking at the bust of Cuby and the Blizzards frontman: Harry Muskee, a blues legend. As tradition wants I order a meatball and a Grimbergen double. Did ask for mustard with the meatball, got mayonaise, but I like it either way. This year I did not have I good feeling sitting there, so after I had raised my glass to my Dad and finished my 'dinner' I left for home. It was quite busy at Hofsteenge, people talking very loud, telling stories I did not was in the mood to hear. Rode past the 'Cuby and the Blizzard' museum and went for the village of Zeegse. Finally arrived home, early in the evening, just before the rain started. It looked like this was the turning point for the weather.

The next day the temperature already had dropped 10 degrees Celsius and the wind moved to the West. Not ideal for my trip to Appingedam. Had my mind set to visit 'Venice of the North', to end the time of Summer and start the Autumn one with. Soon things in life would run in its 'normal' day to day routine, while it would get darker sooner. The trip by bicycle was not the great, after I got in the polder part. Also it was a bit unfamiliar to me and the 'Kookul-lady' seemed to be off-track a lot. Noticed this odd behavior during my trip on the day before. Only needed some route advice luckily. Finally got to the old town center of Appingedam, which is absolutely worth visiting. And after I had wandered around for a while there it was time to go home. Very dark clouds moving towards me and I did not expect that.

The longest trip.

Getting back was a bit of a struggle with the 'Kookul_lady', as she made some stupid suggestions. While I could see on the direction indicators what the best route was. And so I choose to follow the signs. As she told me to turn round, over and over again, maybe it 'knew' that I was cycling towards the dark clouds of doom? The road ahead was slowly moving upwards (false flat). And it seemed that where ever I moved there was wind in my face. This was bringing my average speed down. Flatlands everywhere I looked, still could see the windmills in the polder of Delfzijl. How on earth was that possible? Was I moving that slow? Or did I go back into the wrong direction? Later I came to the conclusion that I had some kind of 'open space' delusion. Where large things seem to stay huge, no matter if you move away from them. The polder Flatlands had gotten to me. And I felt the first drops of rain.

Hard to guess distances, at least that is how I did experience it. Also I really wanted to go home as autumn was gaining in on me. And I do dislike fall. Up ahead in the distance I saw a few farms, with some large trees. Now if I only could make it there before there rain would begin to fall. At some point it seemed like the road was up a mountain, that steep and the trees stayed far away. Almost if somebody kept moving them further away from me. Was it the Flatlands that had gotten to me bad? That is why I did not see any cyclist this whole trip, they knew... The rain fell down and I got cold, finally I reached the trees and found my shelter. Yes, I did prefer Winter, Spring and Summer, I was more sure than ever. After the rain moved on towards Germany (DE: Deutschland) I moved back on bicycle to try and get back home as fast as I could. The sun already had sunk under the horizon when I finally arrived out my 'castle'. Can't wait for Winter to arrive, then Spring and Summer. And in the meantime trying to survive autumn again.