I’m finding that the social encounters I have been having are striking a perfect balance for my needs. They happen often enough not to give way to the feeling of loneliness.

I would say I am having an honest and more personal encounter every few days or so, and meeting people every day for lighter chitchat about my bike and where I am going.

The scenery has definitely changed. Trees, as an example, have started to take shapes I’m not normally used to seeing. Houses have started to be more white, and there seem to be fewer clustered villages than I’ve been used to seeing till this point in France.

Everything is starting to look more Mediterranean, and that includes the people.

There have been 2 very intense days of climbing which, to my recollection, might be the most difficult climbs I’ve ever had. After each bend in the road, you expect the incline to stop because you can’t seem to see any more hill. But on it goes.

It’s nothing I can’t handle, and I’m enjoying it. Mostly because they come with the most satisfying descents.

One night we experienced rain and thunder for some time in the evening. It was a great test to see if my new tent would hold up. It kept dry, and the inner and outer tent stayed severely separated, which is a good sign. Only the next morning, when packing up the tent, I discovered some water had leaked on top of the ground tarp. However, it had not penetrated the tent.

Current location:

A lot has happened this week. I’ve had people clapping as I cycled by, older ladies inspecting my bike with the most curious interest. The lid of a tomato sauce bottle came off in my food bag, covering all my stuff in tomato sauce. I met a Camino hiker named Philip, or I think that was his name. I got invited for some expensive-looking rum and cheese by this very interesting German couple. I’ve received coffee and a egg from people. And I met a lady who explained to me some about George Sand, a famous feminist writer from this area who used to live near the place I am currently at in Montgivray (taking a rest day here). I’ve had good weather. It only rained on the 11th. The last two days it has been 24°. A very nice temperature.

Since the 15th it’s become noticeably less mountainous, with more flatness and fewer steep slopes. Along canals it feels so easy to bike after all the climbing I’ve been doing. I had a tough climb in Vézelay because the cathedral is on top of a hill. I stayed at a campsite at the bottom of that hill where I met Philip. He only spoke French and I definitely don’t speak French, but we somehow managed to get along. I asked him if he wanted to go for astroll through Vézelay and so we did. Even with a language barrier we had some laughs and shared some of our expirieces. He’s an interesting fellow. Hiking is what he does full time. he’s walking the Camino back and forth and started in the north of France. He usually sleeps by wild camping and supports himself by posting TikToks of his journey. He makes enough with it to pay for food, etc.

I’ve had a few days where it was hard pedaling onwards. So that’s when I implemented music. I try to only use it when necessary, but when I do it really helps. A lot of Frank Sinatra, Spinvis and André Hazes.

Also had a few bike issues that needed solving. A squeaky pedal, and I had an accident while in a busy city, which can be quite a stressful place to be in in a not bike friendly countries. The grip plate of the padel came off when i scratched the padel against a high sidewalk. Meaning it needed to be glued on again. I also had some issue with my pump where a crucial part has been lost. But I’ve managed, with some tinkering, to restore the function that part had been serving.

Current location

The only trouble I’ve had was a hole in my glove that appeared on the first day which I then sewed closed and then lost my gloves completely on Monday…

It took longer than I had anticipated to travel out of the Netherlands. This because when I cycled to Prague almost 2 years ago I took the quickest road possible to milingen aan de rijn. This time I choose a more scenic route.

Wensday I stayed at a campsite in the Ardennes that was run by this older good spirited and nice dutch Lady. When I arrived at the campsite a sign hang at the door saying in dutch I’m somewhere on the campsite, just wait a minute and I’ll come around. I got nervous after waiting there for 15 minutes because the next campsite was to far away for me to make that day. I was certainty not planning on wild camping because of the many hours of climbing I had done that day. I needed a shower.

After a while she appeared and said: “what a polite bunch of people you are sitting there waiting”

Then she told me where to put up my tent to get the earliest sunlight through the mountains. Which turned out to be next to a nice stream of water.

Later that evening I went to her office to pay and we talked a few minutes about my travel plans during which she grabbed my hands a couple of times while giving me some travel advice and wished me a happy and spirited journey.

The next day I ended the day in Bastonge which seemed like a fun place to stay an extra day. So today I relaxed, read, walked through the city and visited the war barracks museum.

It was interesting to see all this giant machinery and so many war vehicles and so many diffrent types for different purposes. One thing that really surprised me in a owhh ofcourse they would have these kind of way, was seeing how they had these gigantic mobile workshops vehicles with all kinds of machinery to fix vehicles at the war front.

I read 2 books this week

One I got from Benne and Tessa called The Amazing Tale of a Deaf Adventurer.

It is about a guy named Albert who traveled the world by bike while being deaf in the 1890s only a few years after the bike as we know it had been invented.

Very interesting book and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I can’t wrap my head around going to Russia and Jerusalem by bike in a time where roads simply weren’t made for that sort of activity.

Also he spent a big chunk of his life in Assen which is cool

The second book is a fictional tale called Ingrem by Louis C.K.

It follows a boy named Ingrem while he is coming of age. He is from the deep south and is abandoned by his parents at the age of 10.

The story follows him every step until he is grown. The most morbid stuff happens to him and it is quite a depressing book but you can’t help continue reading. You want to know what happens next to this boy.

Before leaving completely though, I had the chance to say goodby to some of my friends and family with a nice cup of coffee.

The day has had little trouble. No rain, a nice scenic route and a good place to stay. However, one issue arose halfway through the day that has slaughtered my legs… WIND. At some point going anything faster than 10km/h was completly undoable.

At around 5PM I got to the campsite and have been chilling ever since.

I’ll be writing on here about once a week. Pictures will be posted more frequently.

Today’s total distance cycled is 95km.

greatings, Liam Inwards