Hey let's see a pic of your favorite ride!

[withm]

This was from my favorite ride earlier ride this month in the Netherlands. There is a bike path that runs along the canal and we rode from near here to Vianen - about a 30 mile ride, complete with headwinds.

We rode through the town of Kinderdijk, which is the home of 19 working windmills. Though none were operating at the time of the photos, we did later encounter one windmill being preped for starting up and we were able to go inside one to see the massive wooden gears inside. The miller has to actually climb the blades like a ladder to set the sails, then manually turn the turret around into the wind to start it up. But if it gets too windy, they have to slow it down and take reefs in the sails so the blades don't go too fast. If they turn too fast, it creates intense friction in the wooden gears, and, well, they catch fire. Not a good thing.

This was truly a beautiful and wonderful ride, but windy.
Enjoy.
Martha