EINDHOVEN..............Out and About Pt II, 'The Attic'.

A chance encounter with a man sitting on a tiny little stool cleaning his Triumph motorcycle on a lazy Sunday afternoon on the Kleine Berg in Eindhoven, a small narrow street with an abundance of cafes and restaurants which gives a very charming and artistic air to it, led to one of those discoveries that many look for, but in the process of zeroing in, fail to notice the peripherals, the little things.

What appeared to be at the outset a casual "Hi, nice bike, my name is Murph, mind if I take a few pictures" is now over a week later turning into a very pleasant friendship, resulting in my riding down to Eindhoven every two or three days to sit, have coffee, eat and talk with a most interesting and extremely talented man, Bob Casemier.

Born in Eindhoven in 1954, Bob has lived here all his life so far.

Nearly every part on this motorcycle has been massaged by hand, either polished, turned or lightened.

So after talking at length about his Triumph, and how he put the bike together and made many of the parts himself, he inquired as to whether I had the time to go up to see his 'Museum'.

You take a step back in time when entering Bob's apartment, a place where pictures, books, bicycles, motorcycles, magazines on the stairs winding their way up to the top floor, the attic which houses the Museum, filling you with nostalgia, it all serves to send you right back to the 60's and 70's, to the days when 'Ago' was king of the motorcycle track, winning both the 350cc and 500cc World Championship for Count Alfonso Morini on board the MV Agusta for 7 years in succession, and Eddie Merckx was king of the bicycle, arguably THE most accomplished rider the sport of cycling has ever known to this day.

Bob and Agostini.

Bob wasn't kidding when he said he had a museum.

The red Austin Healy toy pedal car was made in the Austin factory in England in the '60's, lovingly restored to perfection by Bob.

Even though Eddie Merckx was Belgian, Bob, as a Dutchman, still considers him the 'Worlds Greatest Cyclist'.

A velodrome Pace Bike from the 50's.

1960 46cc Royal Nord Cafe Racer, made in Belgium. Rare, very rare.

Bianchi moped.

1949 125cc Peugeot.

A 1929 100cc Radior, made in France.

A 1960 Zundapp Moped, another rare bike.

A 1936 B.M.I, Bilthovemse Metaal Industre moped, extremely rare.

Before bicycles had wheels made from metal, they had wheels made out of wood, just like this one.

Some of the details were wonderful to see, like this valve stem cap with a small chain which attaches it to a spoke, so you never end up losing it when you remove it to pump up a tire. So simple, an age and a lifetime ago.

Bob Casemier and Murph. 

May 20th, 2012.

Eindhoven NL.

Murph.

EINDHOVEN................Out and About Pt I.

'The Blob' in Eindhoven on 18 Septemberplein.

On a whim I decided to ride down to Eindhoven last Sunday, and coming in from the west on the A270, 'The Blob' is the first landmark that assaults the senses, it stopped me dead in my tracks. My shutter finger was already twitching even before I got off the bike and got my Nikon D3s out.

Argueably one of the more controversial structures built in Eindhoven, 'The Blob'  is a one of those 'Love It or Hate It' types of buildings, and it's not that difficult to see why either. 
Built right in the middle of Eindhoven's shopping district, it was built as the centre-piece of a complete re-development of the 18 Septemberplein area.
It's location and the other buildings that surround it just add to it's intrigue. Upon first sight, it appears to be completely out of place amongst it's older neighbors, like it just dropped out of the sky like a 'Blob', but I must say, I think it's quite an impressive piece.

So given that it's such a controversial piece, I thought I would throw in a controversial image to keep in the same spirit.
I photographed it an angle, usually a no-no in photography, threw it into a Photomatix Pro HDR preset to give it a 'painting' look with a Lightroom vignette to finish (sounds like a recipe for dinner), and i'm sure that i'll hear about it from a few people.

The city of Eindhoven counts 217,200 + inhabitants, 261,000 + if the adjacent Veldhoven is included, making it the fifth-largest city of the Netherlands.

I was only in Eindhoven for one day, and intend to return this coming weekend, due in no small part to meeting this man, Bob Casemier.

I'm riding down the Kleine Berg, a small little cobblestone street in Eindhoven, and as I turn a corner I see a man on a small little stool with a brush cleaning what appears to be a gorgeous Triumph Cafe Race bike.

So off I get and wander over, having no idea what's in store for me.

Bob

Bob Casemier.


Bob built most of this 750 Triumph Cafe himself, you can tell just by looking at the way some of it's pieces are constructed it's not a parts catalogue bike, it has all the hallmarks of being an owner built piece.
But the best was yet to come.
After chatting with Bob he asks me 'How much time do you have?', I have no schedule I reply, why?.
Well, I have a museum upstairs, would you like to come see?.


Ummm, yes please.

To be continued...........






Murph

'Welkom in Nederland' ............Pt I

The Netherlands, in it's entirety, is often referred to (and inaccurately so) as Holland, whereas North and South Holland are actually only two of it's twelve provinces. 
In English the country is called 'the Netherlands', while the people are called Dutch. 
In Dutch the official terms for these are 'Nederland' for the country, 'Nederlanders' for the people and 'Nederlands' for the language. 


The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 25% of it's area below sea level and about 50% of it's land lying less than one metre above sea level.
'Netherlands' literally means 'Low Countries' or 'Low Lands'.

One of the scenic country roads a few kilometers outside of Elsendorp.

It's flat here, very flat, many of the country roads here in the Elsendorp area where I'm staying give the visitor and the resident alike some stunning scenery to enjoy as they walk, bike or stroll through the countryside.
No hiking or climbing trails for me here to go play or train on for my Matterhorn climb,but the beauty is in the many symmetrically laid out tree lined roads that seem at times to be never ending.


I arrived at Dusseldorf airport last Monday, May 1st, on a flight from LAX, and British Airways decided that I didn't really need my luggage until Thursday afternoon, 3 days later.
My motorcycle sidecarist friend Richard offered to pick me up at the airport upon my arrival, he just didn't bank on me being 2 hours late . My flight was due to arrive at 9:30 pm, but I didn't get in until 10:45 pm, with an hour + drive to LBS where I was staying.
Still, he drove me the 110 kms to LBS Sidecars in Elsendorp, and after coffee and sitting with Ad and myself and chatting about politics and sidecars he left at 1am to drive the 80km home and then had to be up for work at 5 am. Thank you again Richard.

One of the reasons I timed my arrival here in the Netherlands to be on May 1st was that as a veteran of both Lebanon and Afghanistan, Richard was being honored with a Purple Heart on May 3rd, so I asked if he could arrange for me to be there to be able to photograph the ceremony. It was just something I wanted to be able to do for him and I know he appreciated me being there also.
A special honor for Richard and for me also. Congratulations my friend.





View Larger Map
So as we drove from the airport in Dusseldorf toward Elsendorp at 10 pm that evening, one of the first things I noticed was how orderly the driving is, no one hangs in the outside or 'Passing Lane' here in Germany or the Netherlands for that matter, and within a few minutes of having that thought the reason became very apparent. A car, I think a BMW, it passed by so fast I couldn't be sure, shot by us in the outside lane at approximately  double our speed. We were cruising along at 150kph (about 93mph) and this car just shot by us like we were still in second gear, it had to be traveling at about 240kph, about 150+mph I would guess.
Welcome to the Autobahn in Germany. 


I always maintained that it's not speed that kills, it's the idiot drivers that have no clue how to drive that do, the high speed limits in Germany and a lot of Europe are a testament to the fact that high speed limits are not, in and of themselves, dangerous. They also have very strict traffic enforcement here, much of it electronic, with speed and traffic cameras on most roads, and that, coupled with a 'real' and expensive Driver License test has the end result of putting drivers on the road that actually know how to drive and know the 'Rules Of The Road'. It makes for an incredibly refreshing and safe driving experience over here.


To get a Drivers License here in the Netherlands will cost you about 1500-2000 EUR, $2000-2600, depending on how many lessons you need. The Netherlands is know for excessive bureaucracy, so unless you are exchanging a European Drivers License, be prepared to do battle.
While talking with someone here in the Netherlands who had visited the US and drove there, a comment they made was how everyone drives/hangs in the outside or passing lanes, its just 2 or three lanes of solid traffic, you can't pass them if you want to go faster. 'Don't they police this' they asked?. How can you get anywhere with all lanes a solid traffic jam?...............exactly.
Oh, and if you decide to come here and drive, better make sure you brush up on your 'Turn Signal' etiquette, they use them here, it's the law.

Meanwhile, back in Elsendorp at LBS Sidecars there are 3 sidecar outfits ahead of me before we can start on my one, so it gives me a chance to do a little exploring.

Plus I get this outfit to drive while I'm here, another BMW GS similar to my motorcycle with an EZS Kompact sidecar.

Ad's H-D Boxer V-Rod in the shop for some maintenance.

Awaiting sidecars, a KTM on the right and a nearly finished BMW 1200 GL.

The Netherlands has nearly 1200 working windmills today, there are more windmills in the Netherlands, but the Dutch only count the ones that are actually work. There are over 4,000  incomplete or vanished windmills.

The largest number of mills in good condition is in Kinderdijk near Rotterdam, and I think I may have to go on a road trip there in the next few weeks and photograph them.

Some little know facts about the Netherlands and the Dutch people.
Did you know that:


The Dutch are the tallest people in Europe, with an average height of 1.81 meters (5ft 11in) for men and 1.67 meters (5ft 6in) for women).


Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe.


Almost every Dutch person has a bicycle, and there are twice as many bicycles as cars.


The Netherlands has at least 15,000 km (9,300+ miles) of cycle tracks.


Since 1901, sixteen Dutch have been awarded the Nobel Prize.


The Netherlands has over 1,200 working windmills.


The Netherlands has over 1,000 museums, with 42 in Amsterdam alone.


You can see 22 paintings by Rembrandt and 206 by Van Gogh in Amsterdam.

So until I get to Amsterdam, Van Gogh, Rembrandt and the windmills of Kinderdijk will have to wait, so I hope you enjoy these images for now.






Murph.