Away in current times

Can you go away for a night in current times? For me a really difficult question to answer, because I really want to respect the rules and regulations. But can you go away with respect to these rules? In the end we did go and I am super happy with that and felt really safe as well.

Normally Esther would have been in Inzell this week, but since the hospital withdraw all holidays, Inzell got cancelled and she had to work some night shifts in stead. In the end, to oval in Inzell got closed, so nobody could go. I suggested a mini training camp on a Dutch skating rink, following the current rules and regulations.

But the next question? Where to go and how can we follow the rules? And since I cannot stand long car drives.... Well a bit close by. Furthermore, there are no open restaurant, so we needed a kitchen as well. Oh... And of course I wanted to go cycling, so nice environment for that purpose. Erol and Evelien joined our night away, so we also needed three different studios and three parking places, because of course we needed to go with separate cars. Stick to the rules. The place to be... See picture below 😁

Preparations started with an app-group for pre-fun, think about a menu for sporters; doing grocery shopping (well... more like ordering it online and let it deliver on Wednesday) and for me the most important pre-fun: create a route with Komoot. For Thursday a shorter and not too difficult route, discovering the Sallandse Heuvelrug and on Friday a longer route to get home. And of course... can I make my new colleagues just a bit jealous?

The route on Thursday was not super, but just okay. Perhaps I am a bit too spoiled with all the tracks in the neighborhood or I did not give the route the attention I normally do. The weather was a bit dark and I was muddy within 5 minutes, but that is just part of the fun. I will come back to give it a second chance.

After two-and-a-half hours I arrived at the hotel, where I felt immediately very welcome, because the owners were really friendly. Without even asking it, they had a super safe place for my bike. The three studio's were more than great and a perfect kitchen to cook and also really easy to keep the 1,5m distance (Hotel de Vischpoorte in Deventer; a real recommendation and no, this is not sponsored). The only problem: one night was just not enough.

On Friday I left direct after breakfast and was on the bike before 8.00AM. This time the route was amazing. I had to find a balance between coming home smooth and discovering small tracks, so I think I need to come back here as well to enter the small tracks I saw during the ride, but especially with the rising sun and colder temperatures I just felt so happy. Unfortunately, a big part of Kroondomeinen is closed at the moment, so missed some kilometers there, but the part that is open, was really beautiful. And also really empty roads, so it was some kind of meditation on the bike. The pictures will tell the rest.

A small traffic jam due to some sheeps gave some, absolutely no problem at all, delay, but with four hours I was back home again. Well deserved shower&food to recover and on the schedule for today: the bike will get some extra cleaning attention. She did a good job, she did not complain at all and is eager to go away soon again, so she deserves a proper bath as well.

So, to answer the question at the start. Can you go away in current times? Yes, you can and in the end it was easy to follow all regulations. The Netherlands is really beautiful and diverse, so you actually do not need to go abroad to refuel your body battery. Just check my happy face on some of the pictures.