Thanks you. Overhere conditions for riding are quite good atm. It is about 0 or -1 degrees Celcius. Exactly enough for that the snow won't melt away and still comfortable with the bit of sunshine. There are no tracks, because I jumped from the tree and the bike was trown to me...

More seriously: I came through the low fence behind me.

The 1st ride: It is a Champ in the snow. I had a very enjoyable ride. The bike masters bumpy section quite well, due to it's huge hoops and tallness. On the other hand a comfortable experience was underminded by the shellac cotton wrap and absence of hoods. The cockpit is also not the right one for me. For riding I need to construct another. I need a 1 or 2cm shorter stem, a wider bar, hoods and the current routing of the mech cable sucks. It leaves at the brake lever and it fights a continious battle with my thumb. That the stem has to go is a little bummer. Current one is a neat Cinelli 1R with brake cable routing through the stem. If anyone knows a source for alike stems, please let me know. Alternatively I'll have one modified. I want to keep that nice touch.

I did two rides today. One on this Batavus and another two hours later on a Grove Innovations Hard Core mountainbike. Because of the raised bottom bracket, you would think the HC lends itself not so well for winter conditions. But it has tractor tyres. On the 2nd ride conditions had dramaticly changed. Because of the many cyclists, walkers and so on, snow became much more compact and conditions more slippery and dangerous. Ate snow on several occasions during the ride on my local track.

On the Batavus I can say it is quite well preserved. According to the seller it hadn't been used for over 20yrs. It was covered in an oily substance and parked away. This created a bit a 'dirty' look over time for which the seller multiple times apologized. I am gratefull instead, as the residu can be wiped away with WD-40, while I know that would not have been the case with rust. The seller were unsure on whether I would take it till the last moment, while I were enthousiastic about it all the time and the asking was also not that opportunistic that carefull consideration was an absolute necessity. On my 1st ride it didn't explode under me, so to me it looks like money well spent. I will put up a couple more pics up soon.