Nieuws uit Beuningen

Hi again folks. It has been some busy but great days here in Beuningen, The Netherlands. Yesterday I got the tyres changed on the bike, not that easy I can now tell. Four and a half hours to change rear and front tyres, including some small breaks. I got some rutine, which was the main point, in doing this. Matheu stood by the side and supported me with funny jokes and positive thoughts, but no more than that, cause I have to be capable of doing this all by my self. I learned that taking the old tyres of is harder than installing the new ones. As if this wasn’t the biggest problem, inflating them was a hurdle, as the carcase of the tyre was not pressed out to the side of the rim, meaning it wasn’t sitting correct. This can only be done with high pressure air, not a job my little transportable 12 volt dc compressor can manage. So after a small trip down to the gas station, I got the the rear tyre fixed, sitting correctly on the rim. 
What about balancing of the new tyre? Just beside the local gas station here in Beuningen is a garage called “Vermeer en Kersten“. They fix cars, so I went to them, to see if they were able to help me? No one was present when I got to the garage, so I whistled, and a guy quickly came out from the backroom. I told him about my situation and what this was all about, me going around the world, and now wanted to have the rear wheel balanced after my hard try to change the tyre at my friends place. The guy’s name was Patrick and he was very friendly. He immediately put the wheel and tyre in the balancing machine, found a cone that fitted the center of the rim, and started balancing the complete assy. When he was done I asked him how much it would cost me, he refused to accept any money, so I told him I would drop by on Monday to take a photo of him, to show my gratitude.
So what about the front tyre. Well the job was not done yet. Back home refitting the rear wheel and then on to the next assignment, which of cause was to replace the front tyre as well. Same procedure, and again, taking the tyre of was harder than putting the new one on. So now I had the same problem, regarding inflating the front tyre. I then got a good idea, or at least I thought so. I did promise one of my sponsors Job Hoevenaars from the “SHUURMAN BV” a visit when I got to The Netherlands. So why not visit him now, and see if they where able to help me out? Matheu and I quickly left Beuningen to drive to Oss, a city located about 35 kilometres from Beuningen, The Nerherlands. When we arrived, I asked for Job, to say hello and speak to him. We were invited in for a cup of coffee, and sad there talking about all the stuff they had in their exhibition and my journey. I then asked him if it was possible for them to help me balancing a front wheel with a new tyre? He promptly said yes, and went to get one of their mechanics, so he could see if it was possible? We quickly found out that it wasn’t possible to do this job in their shop. But instead of sending us back home, with a wheel unbalanced, and a tyre without any air, they send us to the local bike shop in Oss, called Vos Oss Motoren. They did the job just perfectly, and guess what, neither did they want any money, they were more than glad to help me, and wished me good luck. So after 20 minutes Matheu and I was on or way out of the shop again with a balanced and inflated front tyre.
 On the way home Matheu showed me the country site. I was very impressed of how beautiful the landscape is and the Dutch people’s gardens as well, they are well kept.
During the day Matheu had updated my laptop with more memory and bigger hard drive, so now I have much more space on the hard drive, about three times as much, as before.
Back home and install the wheel, and do some other maintenance, like checking engine oil, refilling the chain oiler. After that we enjoyed a nice evening meal prepared by Matheu, and of cause I got my weiss bier. That was how my Friday went…