A beach race and cycling pictures from the summer

Winter is approaching, and Piet's hours on the bike are decreasing; it is not too much fun getting soaked when it is less than 10 degrees outside. Anyway, he participated for the 3rd time in the Rabobank Beach Challenge, 38 km from Scheveningen to Noordwijk and back. The weather was reasonable, with only a light wind, a minor drizzle and a temperature of 5 degrees. The tide was low, and the sand was quite firm, so Piet rode a personal best of 1 hour 37 minutes, despite suffering from a cold.

There are no photos of him, but last week he got hold of the cycling pictures of last summer, that his sister took on Col d'Ornon and Alpe d'Huez. A nice reminder and something to look forward to!

An impression of the Rabo Beach Challenge

Max and Piet on Col d'Ornon, July 2012

Dorien on Mary's bike, Col d'Ornon

Bart finished first

Bart and Piet cycling up Alpe d'Huez, July 2012

Max, Paula and Marc starting halfway on Alpe d'Huez

Jeroen, Max, Piet, Marc, Paula and Bart on top of Alpe d'Huez

At the entry of Alpe d'Huez, with the 6 finishers of the day

At the hairdresser

Today Beau went to the hairdresser…. During the winter horses grow a thick furry coat, which causes them to sweat a lot during exercise. When it is cold outside they can catch a cold easily, and therefore a lot of horses are shaven in the fall. So Mary borrowed a shaver and had a go at Beau. As Beau is easily spooked by anything he was heavily drugged (comparable to a trailer ride to France), and put in the paddock at our house. A pattern was painted on Beau, and while Paula was holding him Mary attempted to shave between the lines. Beau was moving around a lot, trying to avoid the strange noise and scary looking shaver. After a lot of carrots and some threats the drugs finally kicked in, and the job was finished to satisfaction. It was the first decent day in weeks so as a reward we took Beau for a long walk in the dunes and the beach, to show off his new hairdo!

 The barbershop next to our house

Barber Mary is shaving between the lines

Beau showing off his new hairdo in the dunes

A short holiday in France: from shorts to snow

It was school autumn break, and as usual we went to our house in France for a week. We had to leave Beau behind in the capable (female) hands of 4 of Mary’s friends, as it was too much hassle to take him along for such a short trip. We drove through the night, arriving early Saturday morning and went straight to bed, to wake up around noon under perfect late summer conditions: sunny, and temperatures in the low 20-ies. The weather stayed like this for the next days; we spend our time working in the garden, cycling, hiking, picking apples and doing two Via Ferrata’s. Village pony Image camped in our garden to eat the grass and get pampered by the girls. Payback was done through a few pony cart rides.

On Friday the weather turned sour, temperatures dropped, and it started raining almost continuously.  Piet still managed a wet and very cold ride op Alpe d’Huez, but most time was spend indoors reading and organising the house for winter. Early Sunday morning we woke to drive back home, and it was snowing heavily. We had to drive very carefully to Grenoble, as several trees had fallen across the road, and sudden breaking on snow is not easy. We narrowly avoided a few accidents, and halfway between Grenoble and Lyon we crossed onto save roads, and drove home in the sunshine. And 5 minutes after arriving in The Hague the ladies were at the stable!

Mary is working in our forest, preparing a training area for Beau 

Walking near Auris en Oisans, view over the village of Les Cours 

Walking near Auris en Oisans, with a spectacular view over the Romanche valley 

 Paula and Image riding near our village

Dorien and Mary in the Via Ferrata near Alpe d'Huez

 Paula, Mary and Dorien at the top of the Via Ferrata in Alpe d'Huez

Leaving on Sunday morning: snow everywhere!