Until a few years ago, I could only leave on Friday afternoons because I had to give classes, but since Momentum is organized, I don't have that problem anymore. In fact, the TU/e kindly asks me to leave the building on Fridays. If I really want to come I even have to arrange a special access pass. Not me, I'm going for a motorcycle ride.  

The preparations start the week before Momentum. For days on end, people are building a true stadium. Grandstands, lights and I don't know what else. Fist-thick power cables are pulled across the entire campus to provide enough power for everything. Buildings, bike paths and walkways will be closed and all teaching anywhere on campus will be cancelled for that one event. After all, imagine campus visitors interacting with education.   

Watching that process every year, I can understand the politicians who want to cut back on higher education. Apparently the money is splashing against the skirting here. I always wonder with events like this, “how many PhD students could we have hired for the cost this event?”  

Anyway, Momentum will go by me, because I'm on my bike. And as I enjoy the surroundings flashing by, I realize that I have momentum all day anyway. Just enough momentum to get into the next turn, take out the optimal lean angle to get out of that turn with a tense chain and build momentum for the next turn. 

Boudewijn van Dongen is a professor of Process Analytics at TU/e. The views expressed in this column are his own.