Maintenance is the anticipation of your next adventure.

Sure, you make sure your bike shines. But also just lay out your gear, fill your bottle, and dress for the weather that's actually coming, not the weather you're hoping for. Saves a lot of hassle and a lot of excuses in the morning. 

Everyone talks about carb loading, but honestly: under 80 km it doesn't make much difference. Just eat normally. It's only from around 100+ km or a long day in the saddle that a plate of pasta the night before really starts to do something. For Flatlands300, yes; for a loop around the Rotte, obviously not.

And those four-euro-a-pop Maurten sachets? There's another way. The secret is in the ratio of maltodextrine to fructose: 1 : 0.8. Glucose enters your gut via the SGLT1 transporter, fructose via GLUT5. Combine them and your body can absorb up to 90 – 120 g of carbs per hour instead of the classic 60 g. 

Two hours before the start, a bowl of porridge with banana and honey. Espresso alongside. Simple rule of thumb: 1 to 4 grams of carbs per kilo of body weight, two to three hours before you leave. For a 75 kg rider that's quickly a substantial bowl, not just that one biscuit.

Out on the road the question is: hydrate or fuel? It depends on how long and how hard.

Once you're thirsty, you're already behind. Same with hunger: if you feel it, it's already too late.

Personally I can never start a ride calmly. I always set off too hard and sweat buckets. Not how it's supposed to go at all. But then again, who doesn't want to give their two-wheeled love a proper hard push now and then? That's what we do it for.

We've gathered our favourites in a Komoot collection. Krimpenerwaard, Voorne-Putten, Hoeksche Waard, Kinderdijk & Biesbosch, Maasland, all ridable straight from the atelier on the Oudedijk. Pick one and roll with it.

Order matters. Drink first: only eat afterwards. If you tuck into a plate of pasta straight away, all your blood heads to your gut, while your muscles and skin still badly need it for recovery and cooling down. Result: a stomach full of bricks and poor absorption.

Aim to drink back one and a half times the fluid you lost, with a pinch of salt to actually help your body hold onto that fluid. Only then eat: 1 – 1.5 g of carbs per kilo plus 0.3 g of protein per kilo, within the hour. For 75 kg that's roughly 90 g of carbs and 22 g of protein. A sandwich, a bowl of yoghurt with fruit, or that second plate of pasta.

Lukewarm water, a splash of bike shampoo, a soft sponge. No pressure washer near your bearings: they'll survive it once, not ten times. Top to bottom, wheels last. Dry with a microfibre cloth. Leave the chain for a bit.

Most people actually know this already. But sure, when Thomas says it, suddenly they believe it. A quick squirt of wet lube over the top doesn't work. A well-maintained chain is dry on the outside and greasy on the inside. That takes time.