Dear boots – I’m cheating on you!

Those who know me, know I love to hike. Basically, there’s no thing in the world I love more than hiking. Or walking. Or trekking. Or whatever you choose to call it. I’m a blessed person because hiking (my preferred name for the activity) can be done anywhere. We live close to nature and can head out anytime we want. The office I work at, is next to one of the biggest city parks in The Netherlands so at least 3 days a week I take a hike during my lunchbreak. It’s not just a walk, but a sturdy uphill/downhill hike on unpaved trails.

However, a while ago, Martijn had the idea that we should change routine and try something new. Find a new hobby, that is. So what did he do? He bought us new bikes. Two Trek X 500 ‘s to be exact. One for him and one for her. My belated birthday present <3.

So we picked up our newest toys last Friday. And instead of going hiking, I went biking that weekend. While Martijn was doing a trailrun in Belgium, I went out cycling. Or biking. Or pedalling. Whatever you choose to call it. I prefer biking though.

Biking in The Netherlands is easy. Much easier than hiking. There’s a large (HUGE!) network of junctions where you can cycle from one place to another. You don’t need anything else than a bike and a bottle of water and off you are. There’s a junction right near our house and from here I could basically just cycle all around Holland, just by following the junction numbers.

So that’s what I did last Sunday. It promised to be a gorgeous day, the warmest March 8th ever and it showed: people where everywhere. Eventually I cycled about 60 kms. Here is a series of photos I took. And a movie. I should seriously learn however not to sniff my nose when cycling. It’s embarrassing.

Yesterday (= Friday) it was my day off and I decided to head out again. It was my first Friday off that I was actually home in at least 6 months and normally I take a BodyPump class in the morning, however I figured that cycling would be a much better option. So I prepared lunch and thought it would be a good idea to take my bike on her first international ride. Germany is only about 25 km away from here so it would be an easy task. Eventually, after about 2 hours, I reached a small town in Nordrhein Westfalen called Elten. Hello Germany! It was bloody cold yesterday and most of the time I was just frozen. I think I even started to talk nonsense to myself at a certain point so the pictures I took aren’t the greatest. The wind was just blowing me away and after I came home, I first stood in the shower for at least 30 minutes to de-freeze back to my normal self. Here are some pictures I took. Yes, with my new selfie-stick this time. Oh man, that thing caused a great discussion on my Facebook – loved it!

So that’s two rides in one week. My hikingboots haven’t been out of the closet for two weeks now. I can hear them scream “hey Anto – what about us? Did you forget about us?” In my wildest dreams, they would even haunt me, asking me why I dumped them. Why I found something better and what they could to do prove to me that they are actually still worth hanging out with.

Well dear boots, I’ll tell you: don’t worry. We’ll be alright again, in the end. Never ever will I exchange you for another passion. But life is too short to stick to just one hobby, right? So you’ll just have to share me from now on … I have big plans coming up for you but for now, just be patient. The grass is always greener on the other side you know…

The only thing I have to get myself over are cycling pants. I mean really, they look horrible on me. Wearing them each week to spinning class took me quite a while to get used to but wearing them in public just is not something I will ever get used to I’m afraid. So I just don’t do it. Screw the painful bum, I can live with it, I’m too vain to be seen in public with a cycling pants. However, if anybody knows a way to dress (somewhat) stylish when cycling without feeling like an exploded cotton candy, please let me know!

This post is a part of the Sunday Social Travel Talk series… each Sunday we’ll tell you something about a personal / private travel related topic. Go here to read the previous posts!

Thanks for sharing!