Sunkissed Biking & A Whole Lot of Spontaneity Part 1 12/30

“Bicycle means simplicity and simplicity means happiness!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

A picture of a favourite tree I see every day when I bring the girls to school. Taken last 25th of March on a beautiful Spring day like today.

This was edited, inspired by the Almond Blossoms painting of Van Gogh, which I adore.

Today is the first time in Spring (the first day in the year of 2014!) that I biked without shoes!

It was spontaneous, like many of our Spring picnics, which is the reason I went sans socks and shoes today. 

On the way to picking up the girls from school after running a quick 5K (in preparation  for Sunday's 10K run in Hilversum - I will write more about this @ Happy Feet in the Netherlands) I run into (can one actually say, bike into? ;) ) the oldest daughter on her way home from her school, and I asked her  if she would like to have a picnic. 

She agreed and after we picked up the youngest (middle daughter had a spontaneous - yup we are a very spontaneous family! - playdate and opted not to join us)  I bought myself simple flipflops in HEMA before we got our spontaneous delicious picnic from Jumbo.

I still am riding the bike the whole year through but not taking as much pictures like in the previous years since we moved in Holland.

Biking home after our picnic.
Littlest finally got her wish to ride behind her older sister.
I feel so lucky to live in this idyllic village.

Most of the pictures I did take remain unshared, unblogged.

I find it such a pity, so I plan to share them even if not on the same day, or the same year.

I am happy that I am able to share the story of today, right away!

Our littlest was very happy when we told her we would be picnicking at her favourite place - Natuurmonumenten!

We were so hungry after a very active day, that I did not have the time and motivation to take pictures of our food! Unheard of from me, I know. ;) But alas I too need to nourish myself first before I can think as a blogger again. :D

At this point I have to abruptly end the blog because it is too late, and I have to go to bed (11:11 PM says the clock, even though the time stamp of this blog is 7:24 pm, I have not sat all through out to write it in one go!).

But I PROMISE to share all the pictures tomorrow, and the little bits of stories behind them.

It was a special day worth documenting because it felt so light, so great, so simple, so familiar, so comforting... :)

Let me leave you all with a favorite quote I seem to relish specially in Spring time..

“To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter... to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring — these are some of the rewards of the simple life.”
― John Burroughs, Leaf and Tendril

Ride the Rainbow 11/30

an image for today for my current 365 blogging project: Outdoors Selfies
documented @ 30BikeRides Challenge
introduced @ My Daily Mooosings in Netherlands ~
Be OK in October: Outdoor Selfies with No Filter

This morning, as we were preparing to bike to school, it was raining too hard for my comfort.

Normally, as I have done in past years, I would ignore my bubbling panic attack, and put on our rain gear, and go against my better judgement, bike through the pouring rain.

Add caption

This school year though I am taking the liberty of calling the school if I feel that my anxiety level is too high, and simply inform them that we are coming a little bit later.

I've noticed that it has helped tremendously lessen my stress on a daily basis.  Although I still feel exhausted at the end of the day, as a result of dealing with various source and triggers of my anxiety I have to acknowledge that I'm getting better with dealing with my condition.

There is a beautiful pattern, that the more I follow my instincts i.e. acknowledging my anxiety, and not forcing myself to function like everyone else, things gets easier for me.

There is indeed a rainbow at the end of the rain!

Speaking of rainbow, when we finally were on our way to bike to school, I told the Littlest that there is a great chance that we will see one because the sun was shining.

I almost missed it though because my mind got busy as soon as we were biking.

Thanks to Littlest, I didn't!

She was the one who cried in delight, "Mommy, the rainbow!"

The rainbow was faint, and about to disappear; I was torn between stopping to take a picture of it, and just riding on to make sure that we are on time before her class officially starts.

But I guess it is obvious what we did! Who does not stop for a rainbow?! :)

And so went the 11th Bike Ride of the 30BikeRides Challenge!

Note:

When I am not running, I am biking through the seasons.
http://bit.ly/TheLightnessofBeingontheBike

For those who are following the blog posts: 30 Bike Rides Challenge, I've written so far 3 blogs out of 30 in this series.

The pictures I upload @ Paper In Europe (in the FB album: 30BikeRides Challenge) are there to serve as my aid/guide later when I write all the posts and share the pictures of each bike ride.

No deadline for this bike ride blog series...only for fun, creativity and for posterity.

TGIF Bike Ride 02/30

TGIF Bike Ride

a bike theme I would like to draw, paint a lot someday:
Flowers in the Bike Basket

Flowers & Fruits in the Bike Basket

When I go biking, I repeat a mantra of the day's sensations: bright sun, blue sky, warm breeze, blue jay's call, ice melting and so on. This helps me transcend the traffic, ignore the clamorings of work, leave all the mind theaters behind and focus on nature instead. I still must abide by the rules of the road, of biking, of gravity. But I am mentally far away from civilization. The world is breaking someone else's heart. ~Diane Ackerman

 This will be a sweet and short post.

My TGIF bike ride being shared on a Saturday evening made me realise, that I am once again falling into my old pattern of making a nice simple project to a stressful endevour.

And so, I am revising the 30-Day Bike Challenge  into 30 Bike Rides Challenge, not limited by time pressure of accomplishing it within a 30 day time frame.

I love this bike ride, which begun in the early morning when I brought Littlest to school, got the groceries for the weekend, and ended in the late afternoon, after our trip to Hilversum for some shoe shopping and bonding.

Whenever middle daughter goes earlier to school, than Littlest & I, it is my habit to check to see where she parked her bike before I do my groceries.

Littlest happy to be in Hilversum.

with Littlest at her favourite ice-cream shop in Hilversum:
Tiramisu

Bringing Home the Sun(flowers)! 01/30

 Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling.

~James E. Starrs

"Turn your face to the sun and the shadows follow behind you."

~ Maori Proverb

"Light-enchanted sunflower, thou
Who gazest ever true and tender
On the sun's revolving splendour."

~ Pedro Calderon de la Barca,

Happy Face!
Almost home and excited to see what shots I could use to give you all a feeling of fun motion on the bike.

Hello, Sunny September!

What makes a great September? Biking under the morning sun with sunflowers in your bike basket - bring home the sun!  Simple bliss. :)

Sunflower bike ride

I know, I know, I have neglected this blog. Again.

This blog child seems to always take the less attention amongst my other blogs - Happy Feet in the Netherlands, My Daily Mooosings in the Netherlands.

It's ironic since biking is the activity that I do almost every day of the week and I have tons of stories and pictures I could share.  But it's the last thing on my mind to document at the end of the day. Pity, right?!

In the past days, I have been thinking that I have accumulated a lot of helpful tips for those who would like to be outdoors, be on the move and be relaxed at the same time, using their bikes. 

Specially for those who have learned biking at a later time of their lives.

Well, here is another attempt to do....drumrolls please....a 30 Day Bike Challenge!

Lucky shot!!!
I tried dozen of angles with the camera, very challenging!  The sun was  blinding, a busy morning with a lot of bike commuters on the usual route of school-shops-home.

How do you make a habit stick? Commit to 30 days!

It's not the first of the month (I use to obsess about this kind of details haha) but since in four weeks oldest child will  be 14, I thought it will be a great way to start today, and at the end of the 4 weeks, celebrate two great occasions: a birthday, and finally completing this biking project idea, I have had since June, 2011.

Are you with me? :)

This blog idea (30 Day Bike challenge, & taking pictures of riding on the bike) has been motivated & inspired by Simply Bike 2 years ago, and re-animated recently by Moments by Bike.