Last Sighted in Hong Kong

It may sound unusual, but I've really missed the heat and humidity and haven't realised it till I got back here. The instant warmth the moment you step out of the door, the hot sun, the feeling like you are walking around in an over-sized steam room - sadly conditions that Holland doesn't often offer.

It's good to be back in The Big Lychee. Let the holiday commence.

Plans

Looking back at this blog so far it seems all I've produced recently is churn out a few photographs and stories about rusty old bikes that, surprisingly, turn out to be rusty old bikes and break. My life is much richer and varied than this, but it seems I can't blog without the aid of a photograph or transport-related mishap. Can I manage to create a readable blog post without these crutches?

This week I will be going off on a long-overdue and badly needed holiday to visit my friends in Hong Kong, with a side-trip to Hanoi thrown in for good measure. I've not had a proper holiday since I moved here back in October (Christmas doesn't count, everyone knows that), and my brain would quite like some time to stop from and take a breather from all that's happened to me in the past year. I'm really hoping that this break will energise me again and bring me out of the routine trap I seem to be all-too-happily falling into (that's the trouble with comfortable places).

Gigs, old friends, nights out in SOHO (and, god forbid, Lan Kwai), beaches, more Indochine and most importantly sun and heat are the ingredients for the proposed pick-me-up. If I look in my copy of the Cultural Revolution rural medicine classic the Barefoot Doctor's Manual it suggests a remedy of 'Xiao yao wan' three times daily, three qian per dose. However, not knowing exactly what that is, and more worryingly the book not explaining it either, I think I'll stick with my own prescription.

Beach

I decided to make hay while the sun shone, and braved a trip to the seaside despite the fairly stiff North Sea breeze. Still - it was good weather for kite surfers!

Brake-ing News

More bike news today as am slightly anxious to report my rear brakes spontaneously, err, broke on the way home from work. The mistake I made was obviously applying the brake in the first place, too much for the brake line which split from the brake handle and started waving around like a snake on hot coals in my line of sight. Most frustrating, as I was counting on my bike to get about tomorrow as we've got a day off - Queen's day. So I will have to celebrate in an un-Dutch style, on foot not on bicycle.


Not my broken brake but one like it. I'd be embarrassed to have such a rusty classic Dutch bike

Extended Easter

I hardly feel like I've been at work this week, having had both Easter Monday and also an extra 1.5 days of leave off. This was for good reason, as I had a visitor come from Hong Kong to entertain! Highlights included cycling round Amsterdam in balmy 22 degree sunshine, stopping only for a refreshing beer or cake; and a trip to Haarlem to see a 5800-pipe organ that both Mozart and Handel had made pilgrimages to play. After all that sightseeing it was a relief to get back to work on Friday for a rest.

Sparta out, Union in

Rumours of my bicycle's demise have, in the past, been greatly exaggerated. Sadly, I must report and confirm its end. On Tuesday evening, following evasive manoeuvres to avoid a car interrupting the bicycle path and a subsequent collision with a bollard, I hurriedly wheeled the Sparta Windsor (Know among connoisseurs as the Aston Martin DB5 of Dutch classic Bikes) to a reputable bodyshop. The outlook was by no means dire - broken front brakes, bent handlebars - but its vintage was to be its downfall. No spare parts were to be found anywhere in Zuid Holland. In an irrepairable state, my trusty steed was written off.

Dispirited, but not broken, I trawled the classic bike dealers in the neighbourhood - What Classic Dutch Bike? in hand - looking for a new set of wheels; but could anything come close to the sleek lines and classic performance of the Windsor? After prolonged enquiries and searching, something glinting in the sunlight caught my eye: I couldn't believe it, and speedily flicked through my guide to check, but there was a near mint condition Union Extra standing in the forecourt.

A quick test-drive confirmed it would be the bike for me. The gear changes are far smoother than the Sparta's ever were, and its taller driving position thanks to the larger wheels mean it has a more commanding driving position. Much more of a cruiser than the nippy Windsor, it'll be faster off the mark too, but I'm not looking forward to encountering any of the notorious local crosswinds.

Extended road-tests to follow.


A Union Extra, lovingly photographed against a beautiful tarp by its owner (courtesy Dutch Classic Bike Concours Club)

Not Skiing

Last weekend I was not skiing in Geneva because of 80kph winds.

Some off-piste skiing I was not doing