Ride Coordinator: Marita Moberg
Report by: Lary Schiller
ODE to BAC Holland trip - Water Water Everywhere
From East and West we twenty-three
Came to ride with BAC
With pants of Spandex and coats for rain
To Amsterdam, that town of Olde
Where bikes are king and streets are wet
Wait, they’re canals, so don’t you sweat.
Just follow the Mobergs, Dee and Em
They’re easy to follow, cause they’re the ones
You might mistake for flying Nuns.
In San Francisco there’s a parade to celebrate gay pride
I think I see a parallel for our BAC ride.
It’s led by gals on Harley’s with a banner “Dikes on Bikes”
So let’s rename our Holland trip
And call it “Bikes on Dykes”
But how are we to find our way without a GPS?
The Dutch have found a clever way so we don’t have to guess
They have these signs called Knooppunts with numbers for the routes
Let’s say you start on 38 but then turn left on 9
But wait, we should have followed 12 or was it 49?
We’d better turn around and see, oh right, it’s really 53
My glasses fogged up in the rain.
I think I’ll take the friggin train.
But if you find the knooppunts are too much of a menace
Just find a tall guy with a round green hat
And keep your eye on Dennis
The tracks are flat, you’d think that they’d be easy.
But sometimes the weather gets a bit breezy.
Well, maybe like windy, more like a gale
Or a small hurricane with a nice dose of hail.
But wait, there’s the sun. Whoops, where did it go?
And that dark cloud ahead, could it possibly snow?
So we’d best make a dash for our room and a shower
But hurry, get dressed or you’ll miss Happy Hour
Where we get one free drink, and review the next day.
Then dinner and bed, and rise about dawn
Pack up and eat breakfast, and then we’ll be gone.
And pray for good weather and a favorable breeze
And maybe a heat wave- like fifty degrees.
From Amsterdam, to Woerden, a small town of note,
Then Scheveningen, which gave me a sore throat.
Rotterdam, a large port with its great architects
Kinderdijk, Papendrecht Gorinchem and Utrecht
When I found the hotel I was nearly a wreck
Harderwijk was lovely and so was Enkhuizen
But the headwind to Alkmaar felt a bit like slow poison.
But oh! The scenery was a feast for the eyes
The canals and the windmills and the cows and the sheep
That pooped on the track, where is little Bo Peep?
And swans, ducks and geese, and occasionally flies.
And the locals so friendly if we only say please
Take our photos and of course we say “cheese”
We might also say apple cake, coffee, or beer
But don’t say “green vegetables” they don’t have them here.
And the towns are so quaint, and some others are quainter
And all made of brick, not much work for a painter.
But our BAC ride was made great by the hosts
Who planned it and led it so let’s have a toast
To Marita, the shorter and Dennis the tall one
But let’s toast all the riders, so I’ll try to call one
By one, let’s start out with Gerald and Gat
Who start a bit late, we don’t know where they’re at
Then there’s Falma, Irene, Camille and her Joe
Ted and Jeanette, Joanne, John, Val and Bo
A big cheer for Rick who rode like the wind
With assistance from Kathy who kept him plugged in
Hey, Jean-Marc and Susan, is that two folks or three?
And Marcy and Tony who just has to be
A sweeper renowned as he brought up the rear
Herding Judy and I who would have been last
If it wasn’t for Terry with her wrist in a cast.
I’ve gone on a bit long with my meter and verse
Perhaps a bit silly, but it could have been worse
So I wish you great rides ‘til we may meet again
And I hope that we do, but I just don’t know when.
Bicycle Adventure Club
PO BOX 23998 San Diego, CA 92193
Telephone (858) 715-9510 office@bicycleadventureclub.org