Releasing The Foot On Time

Nowadays most every racing cycle has some sort of sophisticated toeclip. Adjusting the clip to the amount of force you use to get out of it, is essential. If you don't succeed in releasing your foot on time before you're stopped, it can cause an unpleasant encounter with the tarmac. Which may seriously damaging your bike!
To avoid extra costs because you have to buy another bike (those carbon frames break even looking at them), it's advised to practice relasing your foot. I mostly release only the left foot, having the right foot ready for action. In the beginning I thought it was also a very brilliant idea to release the tension a bit on the left pedal, but that turned into a bit of a painfull moment. One day I was standing on the pedals when suddenly my left foot skipped out of the pedal. Luckily enough I was able to keep control of the bike, but my manly parts weren't very pleased that day...

Jaguar XK 120

A couple of weeks ago I've spotted this car nearby, at the Zandvoort Circuit. It's a left-hand drive Jaguar XK 120. I didn't find the owner to make a chat with him about the car, so I've put his initials on the number plate. As a sort of 'thank you for keeping this car in this splendid condition'. Pen and ink.

GPS For Cyclists

Traveling is not only about exploring new horizons, it's also a way of leaving your normal daily routines at home. Perhaps that's why some people use GPS devices to get as quickly as possible from one point to another. One of the advantages of traveling on a bicycle is that the process of getting away from daily worries into relaxing vacation mode goes on a slower pace then any other travelling method, except walking. Luckily enough for some people there are good cycling GPS-devices to help them finding their way. I don't have one, because I like to use maps. They give me a better sense of where I am instead of being lead by GPS to any place without knowing where it's situated.

Comfort Zone

Pen drawing, 14 x 8 cm

The Bee Keepers Garden

Last week we've had a little vacation in Mayrhofen, Austria. We didn't do much: the children mostly wanted to swim in the nearby swimming pool. The wife and I mostly read books, magazines and the latest news on our smartphones.
Mayrhofen is a very quiet place after the snow has disappeared. Also a very neat place. I found it difficult to find interesting points of view for sketching. When everything looks so well organized it tends to be boring. The houses all look very tidy. Luckily enough I found an interesting view from one of the balconies of our appartement into the backyard of the neighbours' house. The neighbour turns out to be a bee keeper and I've tried to capture some bees in flight.
Black ink sketch with Visconti pen on Moleskine.

King Of The Road

Yesterday we had the Royal Inauguration of our new King. We also had fancy fairs throughout the country and on the one held in our village I came across a model of a car we really like: a Volkswagen Microbus.
This one is a scalemodel of the 1962 model and we are hoping to buy a real one, in the future. There are not so many good ones left over the years and the ones still riding are all a bit above our current budget. So I'm not sure we can get our hands on a model like this. But a more recent model will be quite welcome also.
Sketch made with my Visconti-pen this morning, right after breakfast.

Something To Think About

About a year ago I was cycling in Germany. It was an organised cyclingweekend, meant to keep in shape for the season to come. The weather was friendly, although a bit cold in the mornings, but temperatures were during the day comfortable enough to ride in cyclingshorts.
Our guide, having many years of cycling experience, told us that particarly these weatherconditions are the cause of many knee-problems racing cyclists suffer from. Because you think it's warm enough to ride in shorts, the knees are remaining too cold during the day which may cause rheumatic complaints in the years to come.
Keeping this in mind I actually bought a pair of knee-pieces, just to wear them while cycling in this time of the year when Spring just peeks around the corner.