Cleaning and cycling

If I don't drink for a while, I usually get a huge cleanup and cleaning rage. Or maybe it's the other way around: if I drink regularly, I let things slip, in order to pick them up again in a sober state or to recover them. Last weekend it was time again, perhaps boosted by the beautiful weather (spring cleaning?!). I cleaned up the garden, cleaned the house and washed the car. The children also had to believe it: cleaning up rooms! They didn't mind that much, though. Daughter (8): 'yes, my room is quite a mess.' After which son (9) said: 'my room is a complete disaster!' Yes. That was true. So we got to work. Take the box upstairs, add some music, and clean up. It was a huge job and the children needed some help and encouragement, but we succeeded. All bedrooms, including mine, look great again!

The nice weather makes me happy. I enjoy sitting in the garden in the sun. With a book and a glass of wine… Oh no. Where I used to drink to deal with difficult emotions, nowadays I feel like wine most when I'm happy. If I don't drink for a while, I become happier, I feel fitter. And then my appetite for wine also increases. On willpower, I now (still) hold out not to drink. Focusing on what I still want to do that evening: read a good book, or watch an exciting series. And imagine how I'm going to wake up rested and fit the next morning. It's still hard, I think.

Then something else. I like cycling. So much so that I only got my driver's license six months ago. I did everything by bike: to work, to friends (so I could always drink) and on vacation. I still think it's fantastic to go on a cycling holiday: tent, sleeping gear, cooking equipment and cycling wherever you want. (Although I also appreciate the convenience of a car.) I bought my bike 12.5 years and 60 000 kilometers ago. That bike is now finished. All gears and shafts rattle. no surprise; I want the same again. But since the corona crisis, twice as many bicycles have been sold worldwide. The parts are also scarce. 'My' bike now has a delivery time of eight months. poop. I have scoured many websites. Well, then plan B: replace the sprockets and stretch it on my current bike.

That's why I stopped by the workshop of the (small) bicycle shop here in the street this morning, hoping that they still had some parts in stock (because they are also scarce in the corona crisis). When I had explained what I actually wanted (make, model, size) and added with a laugh that it wouldn't work out so quickly in this day and age, the salesman said: 'That sounds familiar to me, I'll have a look in the warehouse. .' Sales pitch was all I thought. A moment later he returned with 'my bicycle.' The bike is being assembled and tomorrow I can test it. I know what I'll be doing this weekend!