The fact that I'm writing this means that I made it across the pond on the plane and am safely housed near a phone line in Ma and Pa's house. I'm bloody knackered too, as I got about 8 hrs sleep in two days. I finished cleaning my place (and it was very clean, apart from the odd mark on the wall...) at 1am on Monday night, went to sleep about 1:30, got up at 4:30 to make the 5:15 train. I was seriously considering having the Duvel I'd left in the cupboard for breakfast...but I didn't.
I didn't get charged for excess baggage!! So I stocked up on duty free - some Hoegaarden with the right glasses and lots of chocolate. I was peckish but I didn't do the "Yak Goes Home" trick and eat all of the chocolate on the plane. Sorely tempted.
I misread the intinerary so I thought we were cutting it a bit fine getting into Vienna at 9:30 when my connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur left at 9:25. Fortunately, I was wrong. It was 10:55. I was also wrong about the arrival time in Sydney, because I thought it was 20:10 when in fact it was 15:10. The total flight time was 20:10. I think I needed more sleep.
I got on the plane at Vienna and I was Out of Order because I had a low row number but I hadn't been called. So I was sitting down in my comfy chair when I overheard a couple commenting on how "ignorant" all these people were who shouldn't have been in these rows yet. I resented that. I wasn't being ignorant, I knew damn well what I was doing. I wanted to get into my seat to stash all the duty free in the overhead lockers!!!
Things took a turn for the worse when a man of Middle Eastern descent was ushered into the seat across the aisle next to me by a very large and very menacing Austrian cop with a gun. The man looked very upset, and I would be too if I had a thug of a policeman coming back every five minutes to give me the evil eye. I don't know what he had done, but he was pretty quiet on the way to Kuala Lumpur and he didn't hijack us. I think the Austrian cop with the gun was far more dangerous.
I watched all the movies (Kingdom of Heaven, Garfield, Monster-in-Law, Hitchhiker's Guide, Herbie Fully Loaded, The Longest Yard) and chatted to the Swedish bloke next to me for a bit. He was going to Oz for a six month holiday which sounded pretty good to me.
I stepped off the plane into glorious 31 degree temperatures and real sun. It was good to be back. Alas, Ma has whooping cough and is very poorly. It's not a disease you want to get. She's better than she was last week though.
Eyes closing.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Monday, October 24, 2005
It's going home time
It is indeed time, so I'm gunna post these pics for posterity's sake. Next year, I'll be back for at least a couple of months staying at Reinhard's rather more sumptuous apartment. I'll see some of yez in the snow then!
London blog will follow when I get home.
Goodbye Koningin Astridlaan
© Briony Neilson
Archival photo of moi and Christina in August. Note Panos sandwich.
© Briony Neilson
I spotted this Trabant parked out the front! It's not mine, I tell you.
© Jeff Jones
London blog will follow when I get home.
Goodbye Koningin Astridlaan© Briony Neilson
Archival photo of moi and Christina in August. Note Panos sandwich.© Briony Neilson
I spotted this Trabant parked out the front! It's not mine, I tell you.© Jeff Jones
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Countdown
I'm sitting in the very classy antechamber in Brussel-Zuid, waiting for the Eurostar to take me to Londoninium, where much Fun awaits. It's another lightning trip: leaving on Monday arvo, stay for a couple of nights, back on Wednesday. So while I was waiting in line to check in, three English travellers pushed in front of me - not that there was any hurry - and then proceeded to complain about the 'shambles' that Eurostar is. We reached the passport control together and they just beat me because I had a couple of Japanese in front of me. Then we had a half an hour wait before the doors even opened to get onto the platform :-) But that's half an hour of Bilge writing time!
It's been all systems go in the last two weeks, but things are gradually falling into place vis a vis the Move. I have much to do when I get back, but a tenant has been found for my place I think, and I can leave my furniture with him. Yay! I also cleaned about a quarter of another room, which leaves just one and three quarter rooms to go. So much dust, so little time.
I saw Nochnoi Dozor (Night Watch) in a late late session while the Flemish Film Festival was on. It's a Russian film, dubbed 'the first Russian blockbuster' and it had Flemish/French subtitles so I could at least follow what was going on. Brief plot summary: Light versus Dark, all vampires/shapeshifters and other assorted weirdos on both sides. But there's been a truce for a while, until things start to change. It's set in modern Moscow and there's a boy who has to choose between Light and Dark, and supposedly that will tip the balance in favour of one. But it's not so easy, because Anton, a vampire who chose the Light, tried to murder the kid before he was born (long story), so the kid feels hard done by and chooses the Dark. OK, so I gave away a bit of the plot there, but there's gunna be three movies so it's no big deal, you can wait for the next one.
I liked it because it was Russian and therefore different. The cinematography was great - lots of closeups of stuff, and it was fairly bleak. Surprisingly, not too many people got massacred. The plot was a little weak but at least the usual stereotype of Light = Good and Dark = Evil didn't really exist. The Dark guys weren't that bad and the Light dudes weren't that good. Herendethereview.
I met up with Reinhard for a coupla drinks on Vrijdag avond, and that was entertaining. His shop is going well and he's selling a lot more pies, so good on him for getting the massage across. I'll probably stay with him for a couple of months next year and eat pies. We went to a cafe just opposite his shop, then moved around the corner to a "Trendy" place called Igor a bit later. It was so "Trendy" that the name of the bloody cafe wasn't even on the building. You had to look across the canal where it was strung up in neon lights. Jeez, I thought the place was called "Vedette" but that was the name of the beer that they served. Not bad beer either.
The cafe was a bit weird though. It's only been open a week and it's supposed to be the place to go if you want to be Seen. I wasn't sure about that as I normally go Incognito, but it was worth a look-see. It was a biggish place but there was no advertising on the walls, so it was quite plain. It was all done up in wooden paneling, but some maroon had made everything uneven and asymmetrical in the name of being "Trendy". Even the floor had little ramps everywhere, meaning that once you had imbibed sufficient alcohol, you'd probably trip over and crackabone. The seats, tables, everything were uneven, and so were the bar staff. They were very surly so after one Vedette we called it a night, or an early morning by that stage.
I've been building up the mileage base without going too hard for the last two weeks, and that should knock me into shape for Oz. It's been awesome weather too: 20 and sunny most days, apart from a bit of mist. On Thursday I went to Knokke along the Leopold kanaal, which is a really nice ride. I got good pics of the 'cathedral of trees' that runs along most of the bike path - see below.
On the weekend, I just did the bunch ride both days. Saturday was a little harder, and I think there were four Aussies in the bunch at the start, along with Gab(ke) Reid, who is getting fitter again. We were fairly average on the Trap Op (5'38 on Saturday, 5'30 on Sunday), but that was fine by me. No need to go into the red too much at this point of the proceedings. The sprint on Saturday had to be aborted because we would have run into a number of horses that were milling in the fog about with 150m to go. Sunday was nicer weather and we had a bunch of over 30, which is amazing for this time of year.
Finally, and by no means the most trivial thing of this bilge update, the pure, sweet waters of Gent have been poisoned!!!! Yes, our water supply has been contaminated by some canal water in Dampoort, apparently. No idea how that could happen, but anyway, we have to deal with the consequences. Everyone has been advised to go to London or drink bottled water. I am doing the former because I didn't want to run out of beer.
More later...
A spot of fishing
© Jeff Jones
Closer to Gent
© Jeff Jones
Cathedral of trees
© Jeff Jones
Somewhere between here and Knokke
© Jeff Jones
Pithy caption
© Jeff Jones
Glorious Knokke
© Jeff Jones
Glorious Knokke again
© Jeff Jones
On the way home, near Knokke
© Jeff Jones
35 km to go
© Jeff Jones
It's been all systems go in the last two weeks, but things are gradually falling into place vis a vis the Move. I have much to do when I get back, but a tenant has been found for my place I think, and I can leave my furniture with him. Yay! I also cleaned about a quarter of another room, which leaves just one and three quarter rooms to go. So much dust, so little time.
I saw Nochnoi Dozor (Night Watch) in a late late session while the Flemish Film Festival was on. It's a Russian film, dubbed 'the first Russian blockbuster' and it had Flemish/French subtitles so I could at least follow what was going on. Brief plot summary: Light versus Dark, all vampires/shapeshifters and other assorted weirdos on both sides. But there's been a truce for a while, until things start to change. It's set in modern Moscow and there's a boy who has to choose between Light and Dark, and supposedly that will tip the balance in favour of one. But it's not so easy, because Anton, a vampire who chose the Light, tried to murder the kid before he was born (long story), so the kid feels hard done by and chooses the Dark. OK, so I gave away a bit of the plot there, but there's gunna be three movies so it's no big deal, you can wait for the next one.
I liked it because it was Russian and therefore different. The cinematography was great - lots of closeups of stuff, and it was fairly bleak. Surprisingly, not too many people got massacred. The plot was a little weak but at least the usual stereotype of Light = Good and Dark = Evil didn't really exist. The Dark guys weren't that bad and the Light dudes weren't that good. Herendethereview.
I met up with Reinhard for a coupla drinks on Vrijdag avond, and that was entertaining. His shop is going well and he's selling a lot more pies, so good on him for getting the massage across. I'll probably stay with him for a couple of months next year and eat pies. We went to a cafe just opposite his shop, then moved around the corner to a "Trendy" place called Igor a bit later. It was so "Trendy" that the name of the bloody cafe wasn't even on the building. You had to look across the canal where it was strung up in neon lights. Jeez, I thought the place was called "Vedette" but that was the name of the beer that they served. Not bad beer either.
The cafe was a bit weird though. It's only been open a week and it's supposed to be the place to go if you want to be Seen. I wasn't sure about that as I normally go Incognito, but it was worth a look-see. It was a biggish place but there was no advertising on the walls, so it was quite plain. It was all done up in wooden paneling, but some maroon had made everything uneven and asymmetrical in the name of being "Trendy". Even the floor had little ramps everywhere, meaning that once you had imbibed sufficient alcohol, you'd probably trip over and crackabone. The seats, tables, everything were uneven, and so were the bar staff. They were very surly so after one Vedette we called it a night, or an early morning by that stage.
I've been building up the mileage base without going too hard for the last two weeks, and that should knock me into shape for Oz. It's been awesome weather too: 20 and sunny most days, apart from a bit of mist. On Thursday I went to Knokke along the Leopold kanaal, which is a really nice ride. I got good pics of the 'cathedral of trees' that runs along most of the bike path - see below.
On the weekend, I just did the bunch ride both days. Saturday was a little harder, and I think there were four Aussies in the bunch at the start, along with Gab(ke) Reid, who is getting fitter again. We were fairly average on the Trap Op (5'38 on Saturday, 5'30 on Sunday), but that was fine by me. No need to go into the red too much at this point of the proceedings. The sprint on Saturday had to be aborted because we would have run into a number of horses that were milling in the fog about with 150m to go. Sunday was nicer weather and we had a bunch of over 30, which is amazing for this time of year.
Finally, and by no means the most trivial thing of this bilge update, the pure, sweet waters of Gent have been poisoned!!!! Yes, our water supply has been contaminated by some canal water in Dampoort, apparently. No idea how that could happen, but anyway, we have to deal with the consequences. Everyone has been advised to go to London or drink bottled water. I am doing the former because I didn't want to run out of beer.
More later...
A spot of fishing© Jeff Jones
Closer to Gent© Jeff Jones
Cathedral of trees© Jeff Jones
Somewhere between here and Knokke© Jeff Jones
Pithy caption© Jeff Jones
Glorious Knokke© Jeff Jones
Glorious Knokke again© Jeff Jones
On the way home, near Knokke© Jeff Jones
35 km to go© Jeff Jones
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Recovery Ride
As promised, Sunday's rapport:
The effects of approx. three Trappist Dubbels and a couple of shots of Jenever do not wear off that quickly, I found, and I woke up on Sunday morning with a taste of Jenever still in my mouth but with a surprisingly clear head. I also woke up 40 minutes later than planned, and had roughly half an hour to get ready and ride out to the bridge for the Sunday recovery ride. Bolt down a cup of coffee, several muesli bars and a yoghurt (not too many superfoods in there) and I was out the door.
I ended up being early, as we didn't leave for five minutes. Jo of the five Trappists rocked up, as did Rudy, but I didn't spot any of the others from the cafe. I remembered Jo's promise that we were going to attack on the cobbles near the top of one of the hills, so that was my primary motivation for being there. Also, riding is the best way to get rid of a hangover.
We had a modest sized group and were very orderly as we rode down the Schelde, but I believe there were some comments made when a police van passed us going in the wrong direction. It immediately turned around, sirens blaring, and about half of the group was stopped to get an earbashing from a very angry cop. Apparently we weren't riding two abreast (what do you think happens when the front two guys pull off after doing their turn?) but the thing that actually annoyed him were the snide remarks. It wasn't me guv'nor, honest. I was off the back.
Mr Officer, who claimed to be a former bike rider, wasn't going to book us because none of us would have had any ID. We are such an anarchistic lot. I mean, it's a slippery slope from riding four abreast to international (wieler)terrorism, and this goodly officer clearly wanted to nip it in the bud. He deserves a medal for his crime fighting vigilance.
About 500m later, we turned off the Schelde anyway, and continued our very sedate pace on the Sunday parcours. There was no inkling of an attack on the cobbles, and we did the Trap Op in about the slowest time ever, due to a) a minor crash at the bottom, involving our own cycling cop (I think he's a cop), and b) some communing with nature. But at the top, Philip Vereecke had lifted the tempo a bit and we started to roll over at 40 clicks.
After the Edelare descent, we were given a tip off from one of the others who had taken a shortcut that the cops were just around the corner. So we all got onto the bike path just in time to see the cop van. Hah! We're law abiding citizens, we are. Then, to be even more sneaky, we decided to go straight ahead and take the bridge at Eine instead of the earlier one, and we gave the p'lice the slip again! It was wielerterrorism at its best.
Just before Eine, Jo and I were on the front, not going hard but riding tempo, and we looked back and saw we had a couple of hundred metres. That was all the incentive we needed and we kept going fairly hard back along the Schelde, encountering no more cops. The Others didn't bother chasing and we were about five minutes ahead at the end. Thus, Saturday's promise had more or less been fulfilled!
It was a great way to get rid of the alcohol, and for some reason it was my best day on or off the bike for about four weeks! Mr Vereecke's girlfriend told me that it was probably all the vitamin B in the Trappists, and who am I to argue? That stuff really works. Jo and I opted not to go for any recovery drinks though.
In other news, it's been beautiful weather here for the last two days: sunny and 20++!#. That has been pleasant.
I am in the throes of moving stuff, which means I haven't started yet. Better clean the bathroom. I believe that a new tenant has already been found, which only took a week. Anyone got a garage I can rent for three months?
(Note on comments: I've turned on an anti-spam thingy so you have to type the secret word in to post a comment. Don't ask me what the secret word is, but it's not theodolite. Blogger will tell you.)
The effects of approx. three Trappist Dubbels and a couple of shots of Jenever do not wear off that quickly, I found, and I woke up on Sunday morning with a taste of Jenever still in my mouth but with a surprisingly clear head. I also woke up 40 minutes later than planned, and had roughly half an hour to get ready and ride out to the bridge for the Sunday recovery ride. Bolt down a cup of coffee, several muesli bars and a yoghurt (not too many superfoods in there) and I was out the door.
I ended up being early, as we didn't leave for five minutes. Jo of the five Trappists rocked up, as did Rudy, but I didn't spot any of the others from the cafe. I remembered Jo's promise that we were going to attack on the cobbles near the top of one of the hills, so that was my primary motivation for being there. Also, riding is the best way to get rid of a hangover.
We had a modest sized group and were very orderly as we rode down the Schelde, but I believe there were some comments made when a police van passed us going in the wrong direction. It immediately turned around, sirens blaring, and about half of the group was stopped to get an earbashing from a very angry cop. Apparently we weren't riding two abreast (what do you think happens when the front two guys pull off after doing their turn?) but the thing that actually annoyed him were the snide remarks. It wasn't me guv'nor, honest. I was off the back.
Mr Officer, who claimed to be a former bike rider, wasn't going to book us because none of us would have had any ID. We are such an anarchistic lot. I mean, it's a slippery slope from riding four abreast to international (wieler)terrorism, and this goodly officer clearly wanted to nip it in the bud. He deserves a medal for his crime fighting vigilance.
About 500m later, we turned off the Schelde anyway, and continued our very sedate pace on the Sunday parcours. There was no inkling of an attack on the cobbles, and we did the Trap Op in about the slowest time ever, due to a) a minor crash at the bottom, involving our own cycling cop (I think he's a cop), and b) some communing with nature. But at the top, Philip Vereecke had lifted the tempo a bit and we started to roll over at 40 clicks.
After the Edelare descent, we were given a tip off from one of the others who had taken a shortcut that the cops were just around the corner. So we all got onto the bike path just in time to see the cop van. Hah! We're law abiding citizens, we are. Then, to be even more sneaky, we decided to go straight ahead and take the bridge at Eine instead of the earlier one, and we gave the p'lice the slip again! It was wielerterrorism at its best.
Just before Eine, Jo and I were on the front, not going hard but riding tempo, and we looked back and saw we had a couple of hundred metres. That was all the incentive we needed and we kept going fairly hard back along the Schelde, encountering no more cops. The Others didn't bother chasing and we were about five minutes ahead at the end. Thus, Saturday's promise had more or less been fulfilled!
It was a great way to get rid of the alcohol, and for some reason it was my best day on or off the bike for about four weeks! Mr Vereecke's girlfriend told me that it was probably all the vitamin B in the Trappists, and who am I to argue? That stuff really works. Jo and I opted not to go for any recovery drinks though.
In other news, it's been beautiful weather here for the last two days: sunny and 20++!#. That has been pleasant.
I am in the throes of moving stuff, which means I haven't started yet. Better clean the bathroom. I believe that a new tenant has already been found, which only took a week. Anyone got a garage I can rent for three months?
(Note on comments: I've turned on an anti-spam thingy so you have to type the secret word in to post a comment. Don't ask me what the secret word is, but it's not theodolite. Blogger will tell you.)
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Afscheidswedstrijd
Although it's two weeks until I go, Guido is going on hols next week so we had to have our depature drinks today (and tomorrow if anyone can still feel their heads). Good ol' Westmalle Trappist plus a couple of Jenevers for the road and...ooooohhh dear.
We did the usual Saturday loop in the fog that's been hanging around for three solid days, and even though riding through humid air is meant to be quicker, I felt like I was riding through Victoria Park swimming puel. We did the Trap Op in 5'45 (about a minute slower than best) and I was even off the back at the top! Felt a bit better coming back and Marc and another guy gave me a perfect leadout for the sprint, but Jo hadn't read the script properly and came around me easily. Sorry guys! Not to worry, I'll get my speed back.
Then we had some drinks, and it was good to see Philippe B again, on the bike for the first time after his accident nearly 6 weeks ago. As mentioned above, we started with Westmalle, and I stuck to the dark stuff, which is only 7 percent, while the others went to the tripel (9.5 percent) and then Guido got stuck into the Jenever (something like 40 percent).
One beer is enough to annihiliate me after a hard ride, and I was only a bit of the way through the second beer when somehow I knocked it all over the table, the floor, the guy next to me, and me. Oops. I felt better when Jo did exactly the same thing with his fourth or fifth. Then it was clearly time to drink Jenever.
I think we all made it home, although the guy I was riding with kept disappearing off the side of the road. He already did that when he was sober so it wasn't a big drama Sleep was necessary, then I watched Kindergarten Cop by accident and my headache came back.
Earlier in the week on Tuesday, I did Henk's Tweede Fietstocht, which was a nice loop down south towards the southern parts of Belgium. I need to look at it on a map. He'd already taken the Others on the ride a few weeks ago, so it was just us two. No punctures this time, but I was fairly hammered after doing that plus another 70 km in the morning. But afterwards we had a great pasta meal at Henk and Ilse's, so that made it definitely worthwhile!
Then the fog set in. On both Thursday and Friday, the fog was thick all day and all night. It didn't lift once, not until Saturday. I even got lost riding around Zwalm on the backroads. I thought I was going in one direction but it was the opposite. I think I need more sleep.
Things are progressing slowly as far as moving out goes, but next week I'll have to get my A into G. I'm leaving in just over two weeks but in a week I'm paying a final visit to Rabbit's friends and relations in Londoninium on Monday->Wednesday. Woo hoo!
We did the usual Saturday loop in the fog that's been hanging around for three solid days, and even though riding through humid air is meant to be quicker, I felt like I was riding through Victoria Park swimming puel. We did the Trap Op in 5'45 (about a minute slower than best) and I was even off the back at the top! Felt a bit better coming back and Marc and another guy gave me a perfect leadout for the sprint, but Jo hadn't read the script properly and came around me easily. Sorry guys! Not to worry, I'll get my speed back.
Then we had some drinks, and it was good to see Philippe B again, on the bike for the first time after his accident nearly 6 weeks ago. As mentioned above, we started with Westmalle, and I stuck to the dark stuff, which is only 7 percent, while the others went to the tripel (9.5 percent) and then Guido got stuck into the Jenever (something like 40 percent).
One beer is enough to annihiliate me after a hard ride, and I was only a bit of the way through the second beer when somehow I knocked it all over the table, the floor, the guy next to me, and me. Oops. I felt better when Jo did exactly the same thing with his fourth or fifth. Then it was clearly time to drink Jenever.
I think we all made it home, although the guy I was riding with kept disappearing off the side of the road. He already did that when he was sober so it wasn't a big drama Sleep was necessary, then I watched Kindergarten Cop by accident and my headache came back.
Earlier in the week on Tuesday, I did Henk's Tweede Fietstocht, which was a nice loop down south towards the southern parts of Belgium. I need to look at it on a map. He'd already taken the Others on the ride a few weeks ago, so it was just us two. No punctures this time, but I was fairly hammered after doing that plus another 70 km in the morning. But afterwards we had a great pasta meal at Henk and Ilse's, so that made it definitely worthwhile!
Then the fog set in. On both Thursday and Friday, the fog was thick all day and all night. It didn't lift once, not until Saturday. I even got lost riding around Zwalm on the backroads. I thought I was going in one direction but it was the opposite. I think I need more sleep.
Things are progressing slowly as far as moving out goes, but next week I'll have to get my A into G. I'm leaving in just over two weeks but in a week I'm paying a final visit to Rabbit's friends and relations in Londoninium on Monday->Wednesday. Woo hoo!
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