Fall and 3333 km ridden.

Tints of red, yellow and green adorn the Schelde dikes. Autumn is to be admired now in all its beauty. The amber tree is clothed in scarlet. You smell the beginning of the decomposition of the leaves. A mushroom-smell enters your nose as you quietly cycle along the meadows. Under the wheels, the leaves crackle, dried out and not yet washed away by the rain. After a short cold spell, it remains warm for this time of the year: today 17 degrees and lovely sunshine. Last week I had a bit of a cold, but I cycled to work nonetheless. Though it had been slow. After a stormy night (a week ago) some branches were lying on the path. On a concrete section in Hamme a broken branch blocked the whole width of the road. Noticed too late. This required me to squeeze me the brakes all the way for an emergency stop. The Versatile managed to just brush the leaves as it passed through. Fortunately the branch was not too thick and couldn't tip the velomobile. By dusk even on a totally familiar route I will certainly make sure to have the lights on in the future. The batteries last with turning on and off in the mornings just 14 days with. I estimate that they can burn continuously for three hours. Now that it's really dark in the mornings, I ride the whole route with the front light on. The rear light (LED) remains on wheneven you turn the key. Charging the batteries after a week ensures that I won't be without light. Also in the evenings, we can run late, with the rehearsals for the musical (' Doctor De Vuyst'). One of these days I will install some extra LEDs on my the flag. We'll have to see how they can be best fastened. A photo follows..

Flevobike has improved its website. New photographs --among others -- of my aquamarine little car. Delivery date for current orders is now July 2005. (See: www.flevobike.nl) Kees van Hage has ordered a silver-metallic Versatile number 23!