Koninginnedag knutsels

 

BP MS150

As most of you know Thijs had been training for The BP MS150 bike ride from Houston to Austin for a while now. It is a ride of 180 miles over two days benefitting the Multiple sclerosis society. Every rider had to raise at least 400 dollars, Thijs managed to get over a 1000!

He was looking forward to the weekend very much so imagine his disappointment when his boss walked into his office on Thursday night and told him he was expected to attend a meeting on Sunday!

Even though he would not be able to do the whole ride Thijs still got on his bike on Saturday morning and rode from Katy to La Grange where I picked him up. It was a beautiful day and he had a great time. He was amazed at the support along the route and the reception all the riders got in La Grange. Too bad he couldn't make it all the way to Austin but well done Thijs! There's always next year!

 

 

Mini geocacher

While Marc, Diana, Norah and Pep were visiting us we found some geocaches together and I think they got infected with the 'virus' as well :)

Here a picture of the smallest geocacher in our family, Norah! (Pep can play when he starts walking!)

 

Cool geocache

While on holiday in Belize we picked up a travel bug (our first) while geocaching! (Below some more info about travel bugs for those who are interested)

It had been a while since we picked it up so time to let it travel on! Before an early dinner we made a stop at some old grain silos. Very neat hiding place!! If you are not looking for something you would never guess that the box didn't belong there.

What is a Groundspeak Travel Bug?

Simply put, a Groundspeak Travel Bug is a trackable tag that you attach to an item. This allows you to track your item on Geocaching.com. The item becomes a hitchhiker that is carried from cache to cache (or person to person) in the real world and you can follow its progress online.

What does a Travel Bug do?

It's really up to the owner of the bug to give it whatever task they desire. Or no task at all. The fun of a Travel Bug is inventing new goals for the Travel Bug to achieve. One Bug's goal may be to reach a specific country, or travel to 10 countries.

How does a Travel Bug work?

Each Travel Bug has its own unique tracking number stamped on it. This tracking number is used as proof by the user that they found the item. It also doubles as a way for the user to locate the personal web page for the Travel Bug.

Travel Bug Trackables are tracked with the help of users who go online and 'grab' them from caches, or receive them from users. The idea is by picking up and dropping off Travel Bug Trackables on the web site you are mirroring the Bug's real world adventures. Each Travel Bug has its own 'diary' that follows its movements.

 

Beautiful weather in Katy today!

 

First bike race

Yesterday Thijs competed in his first ever bike race. It was the Gran Fondo in Hockely, TX, about 45 minutes north of Katy. It was a recommended ride to prepare for the BP MS 150 which he will be riding in two weeks time.

There was a choice of three distances, 47, 69 or 94 miles. Thijs and Edward opted for the 69 miles.

This was a view of the start at around 7.30 in the morning. There were around 1800 riders in the race.

The ride proved to be a good test for the MS150. Hills and head wind made for a tough day. However the guys made it to the finish, satisfied with their performance and declared to be ready for the big ride in two weeks!

Some stats for those of you keeping track....

 

Road sign

Along the way from Katy to Sugarland there is a prison. Just before you reach the prison area this sign is beside the road. I had see it many times before but today I was finally able to take a picture as my dad was driving.