During the last months we have been very active on two fronts: cycling and horse riding. Piet and his cycling mate Renaat have been putting in many kilometers since early spring. On Saturday mornings they have been making rides of 80-120 km, all over the western part of The Netherlands. This culminated in two organised events, "cyclosportives", in Limburg and the Belgian Ardennes. These are longer rides with thousands of participants, on scenic roads, with many small climbs. The first one was the Grensland Klassieker, 150 km from Geleen to Eupen, Aachen and back.Unfortunately this day had the worst weather in a long time, and they got soaking wet and very cold, but finished without problem. The next ride was the Steven Rooks Classic, 165 km from Maastricht, south into the Ardennes and back, over the classic roads of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race. The weather was fantastic, and both finished strongly after nearly 7 hours on the bike.
Also the girls have been busy: Paula is spending more time with the friendly giant Zidane; especially after Zidane stood on his owners foot (and she broke a bone). Mary has slowly started riding again after her back surgery, and except for some initial sour muscles she has been doing fine (and enjoying it tremendously after 4 months of abstinence!). The injury of our timeshare horse Smook has not been improving, and his owner decided to take him to a field for the summer. She found a place in Kootwijk (east-central Netherlands), where he is sharing a large patch of grass with other horses. We went to visit him, and Smook is obviously enjoying the freedom after months of confinement in his box at the stable.
Piet's race number for the Grensland Klassieker
and for the Steven Rooks Classic...
Paula and Dorien are trying to walk Zidane
Nearly under control, Zidane is very strong!
Paula and Dorien are entertaining Smook in Kootwijk
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