A day at the races.

Most of you might think of horse races, with a title like that. Well, I’m not.
I’m not thinking horses, I’m thinking bikes.

Today is the start of the season. And I mean the real start. Yes, there have been some races somewhere in the south. Yes, we’ve had the tour of Qatar, the tour of Oman, and the Ruta del Sol. All of those are just considered to be the preparation to the start. From today on, it’s the real stuff. It’s the first race of the season on Belgian ground. It’s the start of Flanders’ classics.

Perfectly shaped bodies. Athletic from head to toe. Some of them

Blinding Colors.

Fall is setting in really fast now. Howling wind en pouring rain.
After going off daylight saving time last weekend, it gets dark way too early. Leaving for work in the dark, and coming home again in the dark.
But hey, there’s always worse. Some people further up north don’t see any sunshine at all for weeks, if not months. At least we have some hours every day to look at the beauty surrounding us.

Looking at the trees right now, our eyes are spoiled by a wide pallet of colors.
Green, yellow, orange, red, even some purple. Even coming home soaking wet after a run has its charms. Who says fall is a grey season?
I don’t see any grey when I look around me. I see colors. Blinding colors.

Run, David, run!

As usual on Friday, I left work around 3pm. I prefer working a bit longer on Thursday, so I can extend the weekend a bit on Friday. Today, it created me some time to do something I’ve been wanting to do ever since Lake Baikal: go for a run.

Lake Baikal would ‘ve been the ideal occasion for a morning run. Except for the cold and the darkness… Not the ideal circumstances. I can cope with cold, but I need to see where I’m going, specially on a Siberian road full of potholes.

I was pleased to feel that my heartrate was rising. The lungs opened up and after a while I got all sweaty. Oh boy, doesn’t that feel good?
I was surprised with the ease I completed the 6 km run. After 4 weeks of no sports at all (except for the climbing of The Great Wall, which was a bit more intensive).

The wind blowing in my face to cool me down, the sun caressing my skin, a couple of guys fishing, and some people doing their afternoon walk. Aren’t I a lucky guy? I try to imagine what those people or thinking of. What is crossing the fisherman’s mind as I jog by, saying “good afternoon”? What is the lady with the stroller thinking about when I give her a friendly smile and wave to her kid. What is this other jogger worrying about?

Ah, the joy of life! Run, David. Run.