I'm a bike commuter now

I have commited myself to biking to work for the next two weeks. We returned the rental car today and we can't get the car from my friend until June 2. I decided that would force me to ride to work and I wouldn't have to worry about the rental car any more. The car had to be returned at the airport and so we rode the train back to Bussum. We were happy to find the trip was very easy and only took 40 minutes.

To get ready for being carless, we spent Saturday getting the bikes "road legal." That means we bought front and back lights and bells to warn pedestrians to get the heck out our way. We also got pannier bags so we can do our shopping. We found the bike locks in our miscellaneous biking gear, so I should be ready to ride to work tomorrow. This will also make our errands a little more efficient.

Before we took the car back, we went for a road bike ride. While the weather was cooler and rainier than the previous couple weeks, we still managed to get 25 dry miles of riding. We started out going through Naarden Vesting and then went northwest along the shore of the Gooimeer. The Gooimeer used to be part of the Zuiderzee, but the ocean tides were too damaging. They dammed off the sea and turned it into a lake. The lake is now fresh water and has several names depending on which part you are on. From the bike path, we could see people sailing and windsurfing.

Our plan was to ride across the bridge to Almere, turn east and ride along the shore to the next bridge and cross back to our side of the lake. But the first bridge was under construction. We weren't sure exactly where to go, but the bike path signs kept pointing us away from the bridge. With no other options, we followed the signs. As we got closer to the lake, we met up with a large group of road bikers. One of them called to us in Dutch, of course, so we didn't know what he was telling us. As we rode up to the pier, we figured out that he was telling us to hurry because the ferry was leaving soon. We debated for a minute before getting on. There was nobody taking money or anything, but also no indication of where the ferry was going. Fortunately there was a couple of bikers on the ferry so we asked - yes, it was free since the bridge was under construction, this was the alternate route.

We got to the other side and found the path along the beach. It was a nice fast straight away with super smooth asphalt. The first section was a bit protected from the breeze. Apparently the breeze helps to clear the gnats. Because in this section, the gnats were so thick it was hard to breathe. Gnats pelted us like rain. We were glad to have sun glasses on, but it was kind of gross to be covered in so many bugs. We finally got out of the gnat swarm and continued our ride. But the bugs were still with us. When we got home and undressed, the floor ended up littered with gnat corpses. Eww!

The other big achievement for the weekend was getting the grill working. We had to teach our American grill to speak to the Dutch propane tank, but we got it going and grilled some chicken for dinner. I haven't really felt at home since January when I started living in a hotel in Cincinnati. Now that I have my husband, my kittycat, the kitchen stuff and the grill, I feel like I'm home.