Cycling through Delft

  Delft was a beautiful town with a central square (Markt) that was really quaint and large for as small a city as it is. This particular shop is where we picked up a few pieces of Delftware for the grandparents as a thank you for watching the kids.
We had a nice day cycling through Delft with the Northeastern University class that was spending a month in the Netherlands completing a college course. I was speaking to the class about traffic signals in Portland and how we were learning from European practice.
The cycling through the countryside was fantastic. We were getting a lot of nice information from one of the local regional planners from the area as a part of the first classroom lecture.
 
This picture of Susan is not even behind the biggest landmarks in the square, but I enjoy it anyway because it provides perspective on the cafes, the shops, and the chruches in the background.
We came across this gentleman in the community just crusing through. I had a chuckle becuase we were in the man's way and the group stopped him on his everyday trip to the store.  
 

I loved all of the train station bike parking areas. The number of bicycles at these locations was beyond consideration and seemed like every possible rack was full to the point where it was futile to add more racks because additional bikes would be added. Amsterdam and The Hague have structures for bikes both three stories high, which is quite an expense for infrastructure.

Tour de France, Delft Sunset, World Cup... is this in the Top 10 days of all time?

 
On the ride back to the hotel (from Rotterdam) after the prologue, we had a nice ride back with the sunset greeting us as we entered the city. It was a lovely end to a great day. Finished off by watching the World Cup and seeing a great goal by David Villa of Spain to advance. This day might have cracked the top 10 days of all time, which got me thinking. So you have to have the wedding day, the birth of your kids, graduation from college (especially for Dad), probably an OSU Civil War victory in there (when we beat Joey Harrington at home), visit to South Africa has to be in there, and then there's this (what a great day). It would have been better with the kids and more friends & family to enjoy it with, no doubt.

at Tour de France

 
So much fun at the Prologue and looking forward to Stage 1 tomorrow. Got a nice photo of Chris Horner that seems worth sharing.

Susan and Peter at Tour Start

 
Well, this is where the prologue begins. The riders shoot out of the Festina launch pad (right on time of course)! Mr. Festina himself counts down with his fingers, which is kind of funny when you think about it.

Tomorrow's Night Train

 
As I was preparing for today's travels, I found this 8 Best Night Trains article on Lonely Planet. I hope it's true as that's where I am heading. When they mention AMS to CPH, does that also include the reverse? The picture has nothing to do with this, other than it was taken at night.

Rosenborg Slot

 
This morning I am planning to use my remaining 36 hours in Copenhagen wisely by planning out and reviewing some of the major sites. The Rosenborg Slot (picture to the right) dates from 1604-34 offers "an informal, intimate glimpse of Danish royal life over the centuries". That doesn't make it sound like a lot of fun, but I haven't been to a museum yet and while that's not critical to seeing a City it's something that I think also helps round out a trip. So off to the castle and perahps the Amalienborg Museum.

World Cup Viewing Party

I have really taken to the World Cup. It's partly due to the fact that it is played on the world stage. It's also a sport that is growing on me as it seems like a lot of skill and some luck and I don't have any idea what is going to happen. There's a certain simplicity to a 1-0 game that I can appreciate.   Denmark's national sport is supposed to be handball, but if football isn't it, I would love to see what they do when a Handball game is happening! This was the Argentina-Mexico game and the square was packed and the crowds were a lot more civil then when the Danes were playing. I could actually get into the square to see the screen. This was a Sunday night.
 

Vor Frelsers Kirke - Church of Our Saviour

One of the most beautiful sites in all of the City, this Church is right in the neighborhood where I am staying. I haven't yet climbed the 400 steps to the top, but will before the end of my stay.  The church offers a 360 degree view of the City due to the spiral staircase that wraps the outside of the spire. I am looking forward to this as much as anything in the next two days!

Skype with the Kids from the Ebeltoft to Odden Ferry

 
With Free internet on the ferry, I was able to Skype with the family. It was nice to connect and enjoy a little time with them when I was travelling. Such a civilized way to travel.

Fur Brewery on Jutland

We took a long bike ride from the house near Hvalpsund to Fur and hit the Fur Breyhus (brew house). The brewery was a little off the beaten (paved) path for bikes, but we managed just fine.  

Storebaeltsforbindelsen - Great Belt Fixed Link

Storebaeltsforbindelsen is the longest bridge in Denmark (11 miles) and connects the islands of Funen and Zealand. Before the bridge, there was ferry service which required approximately 60 minutes of travel. The bridge makes this trip a 10-minute car ride, which resulted in an increase of traffic by nearly 300% once construction was complete. This suggests some lessons for the Columbia River Crossing perhaps.
 

Combined with the Oresund Bridge which connects Denmark and Sweden, one can travel by car from Sweden to Germany. The bridge was pretty impressive.

More Copenhagen Day 2

Copenhagen's bicycle facilities have made a difference in bicycle use, if there's any doubt these pictures should help.   The blue bike lanes are at intersections with a high conflict volume. A significant variation on the Dutch Bike Box, I haven't completely analyzed the advantages of the cycle track. One thing is for certain here though is that since they are everywhere, there's less chance of confusion.
 

Copenhagen This Week, Next Week TDF Prologue & Stage 1

There is so much in Copenhagen to see, I find my mind wandering to the bike boxes, the Copenhagen left turns, the neighborhood bollards, the cycletracks, it's all so interesting and different to what we're used to back in the states. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that there are more bikes than cars at most intersections. Amazing!
 

But the Tour de France is calling right around the corner and I got a message about the Tour preview guide from Bicycling Magazine, so had to steal the route maps and post them here for fun. It is a bit odd that we'll be watching the Tour de France from the Netherlands, but alas, just another reason to come back to visit in the future.

 

Copenhagen Day 2

Carlsberg Brewery, Velo-City Global Conference Bike Parade, and watching Danes with the Danes in World Cup Soccer. What a day!  
The Carlsberg Brewery was a good tour, especially considering the two freshly poured Carlsberg beers we enjoyed in beautiful weather. The brewery tour was very informative and had a fair amount of information that we couldn't cram into the short time that we had, since we had to get back for the Velocities Bike Parade.
 
At the parade, we met up with Peter Furth, who I will see again when we are in Delft, but we caught up with him and had a nice talk throughout the parade and enjoyed the sites of Copenhagen as we rolled slowly through the streets. Even with corked intersections, there were a lot of delays. Some of the largest delays appeared to be where we conflicted with other bike flows on the street. We were in the street more often than not and when we would turn right, we'd have to cross the cycle track traffic. Streetsfilms was along for the ride, so I defintitely will try to link back to the story they put out that pieces the amazing elements of the conference to this part of the event.
 

 

Copenhagen Day 1

Arrived in Copenhagen and found that my luggage had not arrived with me. Not a great start to the trip, but alas, it had to happen sometime, and it has been a long time since that happened to me on a trip (yet I don't often check bags.... is that why?)
 
Not soon after getting to the apartment I was staying, I got on a bike. I was really lucky to have Paul to show me around, it is always great to let a local do the navigating. After a nice bike trip around, we headed to the canals for a tour by boat. The canals remind me of Amsterdam, yet there are fewer and the ones that we were on seem like major facilities as opposed to neighborhood inlets that are only used by pleasure craft. It's one of those skills that would be fun to have, but then again I am not sure when I would need it unless the water was more accessible (financially and time wise). Being from River City, I can't say I am geographically far away, but it is another hobby one would have to make time for.
 
We were fortunate to have good assistance from an experienced sailor, as Geska's son was lending us a hand in getting the boat ready. It was a good thing too because I am not a nautical person.
 
 

Father's Day and Susan's Bday

Good times in the Koonce household.   We're getting through one of the wettest May-June periods that I can remember and we have only made it about 80 degrees once thus far in 2010. That hasn't stopped us from having loads of fun with various activities even with some minor bumps and bruises between my straining my back lifting Abby.
  Susan's birthday was a nice time as we went out to the local Thai and had a nice dinner with the kids. Came back to the house for a dessert and really enjoyed the walk on a nice evening in the 'hood.
  Father's Day was great as we started by watching the World Cup with the McConnells and had breakfast. I wasn't sure we would but we ended up heading out to Estacada to celebrate Father's Day with Danny. It was a nice way to end the weekend.

LGRAB Summer Games, Part II: Learning Experiences

There's this great contest on a blog that I have read (after reading Portlandize.com) and so I am blogging about a blog. What's this world coming to?

Anyhow, here are the tasks for this session:

June 7-June 27: Learning Experiences
Perform a maintenance task — big or small!
Decorate your bike
Read a book about cycling
Carry a load on your bike — groceries, etc.
Test ride a different type of bike than you normally ride

This was an easy one for me. I switched pedals onto the new bike and took pedals off Susan's since she had the fall in February and didn't want to be clipped in all the time.

We decorated our bikes for the Grand Floral Parade. My bike and the kids'. I am reading the Time Crunched Cyclist by Chris Carmichael, but I haven't gotten through half of it, so I am not sure that's fair to list that one. Then finally, we competed in the Fiets of Parenthood at Clevercyclces on Saturday and carried a mock load on the bike. We took 2nd place in the fiets event and even got captured on flickr.

Since we own nearly every bike known to mankind, I had better not test ride another bike. I will leave that to Susan, who wants a new bike!