I, like many others, moved to a new city, joined a new company. Meantime Covid19 infection started slowly and took the whole world in its grip. Work from Home started, with limited one-to-one interactions. Not much activity to explore the city & its culture. But We as human beings need to socialize and explore. What would be better than Outdoor Team Activity in such a situation. We opted Cycling as it was easy and convenient for all of us. Also, The Netherlands is famous for Cycling, Cycling culture, Cycling tracks & Cycle-friendly Policies. Amazed by the fact that they have dedicated bicycle tracks since 1890, that is more than a century ago. Not only Govt, but Dutch people also preferes bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on the typical day. And We are very adaptable too. We did four Cycle trips around the city in that calendar year and each one had its own essence.

Achel, Hamont-Achel, Belgium(One Way Distance: ~25KM)

Summer was just around the corner. Received message from Subranchu on 22nd May for next day cycle trip. I said Yes without much thinking. On 23rd May, We reached near Mediamart, Eindhoven to start our trip. We met Shyam Bhai & family and others. Trip to Achel started with the assistance of Google Maps. We got different tracks on our way to Achel. First one was the usual bicycle track in the city with seasonal flowers in roadside trees. Then we encountered a country road through a country forest. And Finished with the bicycle track till Achel. It was a very windy and sunny day as well. This city is situated on the border of NL & BE. Explored different types of Beers, as this place is famous for breweries. On the way back, we took a different route through the highway to Eindhoven. For the First time after a decade, I cycled for 25KM and never felt tired because of tracks, fellow mates & curiosity to explore new places in the new city.

Heeze Castle (One Way Distance: ~ 12.5KM)

After the success of the first trip, we were motivated for the next trip and planned quickly, after just one week of the previous Trip. On 31st May, we assembled near Mediamart, Eindhoven as communicated before. We met Laxmikant, Soumen, Samer & their respective families. It was less distance compared to the last one but more members joined this time. With more members, we had more fun during the trip. We cycled to Heeze Castle through Geldrop. Road throughout the trip was the same as the usual bicycle track. Found Windmill while crossing Geldrop. We touched the highway on our way to Castle and back. We came back through a small forest & then a cattle farm.

Postel, Belgium (One Way Distance: ~34KM)

We took a small break of 20days before our next trip, which was the longest one till now. This place is in Belgium which is almost ~35KM from Mediamart, Eindhoven. Soumya and Sachetan joined this time with other regular members. We started around 13.30 from our assembly point. We had four major segments which included places like Veldhoven, Steensel, Eersel, Witrijt and finally Postel. After a short distance from Veldoven to Steensel, It started raining with passing clouds, so we took our first break near big trees. Then We took another break in Eersel as it was a really hot afternoon and to click city beauty. Moving Ahead, We found a country road to cross a small forest for around 5 KM just before Witrijt. But this segment of the trip was very scenic and adventurous. It started to drizzle again but we were in denial mode and moving forward. The 70–80% track was a typical Dutch bicycle track but with elevations in between which made the trip a bit tiring. After reaching our destination, we had a small refreshment break & rest in a restaurant. We started back to reach Eindhoven asap as many of us were already tired. But eventually we completed it together. Harder the choices, sweeter the outcome. More than 3hours of cycling to complete more than 60KM in unpredictable weather but with finishers.

Gretel BlauweBessen, Nuenen (One Way Distance: ~ 6.5KM)

Not sure why we didn’t plan after this and it became the fourth and last cycle trip in the calendar year 2020. It was a short distance trip but close to nature. As usual, we started from Mediamart, Eindhoven to Nuenen through the city bicycle track. We reached our destination and marched into fields to pluck blueberries. It was a really hot day but it was ignored with tasty berries. Never had this kind of experience before. So It had special memory. We bought from the counter at the end of plucking and back to Eindhoven. Short but sweet trip.

We never planned rigorously, didn’t have a customized cycle, but we had the energy & curiosity to explore places around the city by cycling. We covered mostly the south and some parts of the northeast of Eindhoven City. Hopefully we will explore more places in the coming days.