Cycling trip | 2023
The Netherlands - Belgium - France
Day 01 - 55,7 km | elapsed time: 4hrs
Today I set out to try something new, and hopefully make my parents proud. At 9 a.m. I left home with my parents, grandma & sister towards the south of the Netherlands. After a stop at my paternal grandma’s home for a coffee, a snack and a goodbye we set off to Baarle-Nassau where we have a goodbye & good luck lunch.
I crossed the dutch/belgian border what felt like a thousand times today as I cycled from Baarle-Nassau to the west through cornfields and pastures. Much faster than I had expected I entered the ‘Kalmthoutse heide’ park with heather fields stretching towards my left; perfectly purple. Unfortunately I couldn’t enter the off-road paths through the heather as they were for hikers only, so I cycled on to my farmer campground where I cook myself some dinner & relax, proud of having conquered the first day.
Day 02 - 67,2 km | elapsed time: 6hrs 45min
There’s not much else to do after a terrible night and waking up at the crack of dawn then to mount my bike early and find myself some breakfast. I leave the campground at 7:20 today which leaves me quiet roads for a good part of my trip today. Unfortunately the weather isn’t completely on my side as I face headstrong winds the entire day which leaves my ears ringing. My destination for today is my mother’s friend and world cyclist Trudy, with whom my mother cycled on her big trip. Today I only cycled in the Netherlands, Zeeland to be more precise, and I encounter mostly orchards from which I will admit, I picked some fruit from to eat throughout the day.
Despite the winds and because I left early in the morning I arrive at my host’s place earlier than planned at 2 p.m. we did some catching up and took the car to visit Middelburg and do some groceries to stock me up for easy dinners.
Day 03 - 67,4 km | elapsed time: 6hrs 40min
Today I cycled to Bruges and left my home country in my rearview mirror for the rest of my trip (if I had an actual rearview mirror, that is). It is maybe the most chill day of the entire week that I cycled as there’s barely any wind after my ferry trip from Vlissingen to Breskens, which was the first leg of my day, it is smooth roads & traveling from there on out. In Groede, I stop to have my lunch because the square is cute and I’m hungry, I also take the opportunity to cool my feet off in the fountain. A few kilometers further I treat myself to the pear I had been saving from yesterday before I cross the border into Belgian territory; if it hadn’t been for my navigation I wouldn’t even have noticed that I had crossed it. It was just an opened boom barrier…
I cycle along the Damme Canal in practically a straight line all the way from the border to my destination along with a lot of other cyclists enjoying the nice warm weather of the sunday. In Damme I make a last stop for a refreshment before continuing to my destination of my hostel in Bruges. At my hostel I meet another cyclist who just so happens to be in the same room as I. He’s been traveling for a long time and is on his last leg towards home in Germany. He did a proper around the world from crossing into Turkey, Georgia & Armenia, flying to India to tour there as well as Thailand, Laos & Vietnam, flying to Japan and South Korea to cycle there, crossing the USA and flying to Portugal for the last leg back home. His journey was almost finished after a year whereas mine had just started. Unfortunately I didn’t stay long to talk as I wanted to explore the city and scout photography locations before dusk.
Day 04 - 72,7 km | elapsed time: 9hrs
Today was quite stressful to say the least, in general it seems like the universe is conspiring against me. The day started off alright though, I wake up before dawn and sneak out of my dorm to photograph the quiet streets of Bruges as the sun is rising. And have mounted my bicycle before anyone else in my dorm even awakes.
My first stops are some castles, the first one just outside the city where I make myself some pasta for breakfast and the second of which the castle of Loppum, where I spend a good hour creating content. Unfortunately it is also where the universe starts conspiring against me. As I leave the castle I hit a small pothole and the nut holding my front rack (and my tent) up shoots lose, In full panic mode I start looking for it, and text my dad if by any chance he knows if there’s a nut of the same size in my repair kit somewhere. There of course isn’t so I settle for zip tie after an hour of frantic searching and crying alongside the road; of course with my luck I find it right after I fasten that zip tie. All seemed to have turned out well, but that thought didn’t last too long.
Back on the road again the sun is scorching hot on my back, and even the breeze that meets my skin is burning me. I have lost a lot of my energy in my hour of panic, and I didn’t even see the worst of it. The next times I pull my camera out it troubleshoots after being on for merely a second. There is no way for me to photograph normally, so I set my camera aside for most of my journey and hope that the troubleshooting will resolve itself, maybe my camera had simply been overheated, much like me. I cross the border into France today and stay on a campground only a few kilometers across it. My camera unfortunately doesn’t stop troubleshooting when cools down in the night, I even struggle to read the photos of the previous days on my laptop. I try everything to fix my camera as I try to stay calm (but fail to) I also fail to fix my camera, so instead I try to find a photography shop not far from where I am to have it checked out. Better practice my French…
Day 05 - 42,2 km | elapsed time: 5hrs 50min
If I thought yesterday was challenging, I was in for a surprise today. I truly fell apart yesterday, from not having a functioning camera to kind of missing the mundane routine I had at home, the familiarity and predictability is what I missed most. In contrast I hated the mundane and predictable landscapes I was cycling through, this day in particular I struggled wielding a heavy bike in the scorching sun without any shadow or breeze. I just wished to see the opal coast, from which I was still a few days away. I get some encouragement from friends and acquaintances throughout the day which encourages me at least a little bit to keep going, and when I arrive in the Saint-Omer where I will have my camera checked, a road cyclists passes me and gives me a big smile and a thumbs up. Perhaps it isn’t often that they see a fully packed bike with a young girl here. My camera, however is definitely broken and must be fixed back in the Netherlands. My father is so kind to leave that evening with replacement gear to drive four hours to where I am and take my own gear back home with him. I am incredibly grateful for him suggesting and doing that. At the very least I now have a functioning camera again.
Day 06 - 62,3 km | elapsed time: 10hrs
After I say goodbye to my dad I am back on the road again, now with a functioning camera. My confidence and sense of fun has returned and despite having to climb a lot of hills, which I did by foot pushing my bike up with me, I actually really enjoy today. I am met with some challenges here and there but with the help of a nice French family and my own mental strength I overcome them with ease. I cycle along a very nice road for a little bit where I struggle to cross a very narrow bridge; I end up having to take off all my baggage to cross it. And eat my fruity lunch at the ruins of a chapel on top of a hill that I had just conquered.
I had no specific campsite or hotel booked for today nor did I really have a destination, I wanted to try out a more free approach and immediately learned my lesson. When I reach the coast around the hour of 7 p.m. the campsite is already closed for taking bookings and all hotels have no rooms to spare in Sangatte. With my phone nearly empty and a powerbank without any juice left I cycle the short bit towards Calais where I try my chance again at several roadside hotels, all without any luck. I beg one of the hotels if I can possinbly pitch my tent in the garden against a fee, but that also isn’t possible. Fortunately the hospitality of some hotel guests in the lobby help me locate a hotel that does have rooms available and I’m sent there in the middle of the night, cycling over the eerily quiet highway by the Eurotunnel.
Day 07 - 36,4 km | elapsed time: 6hrs 10min
I decided against traveling too far today, in the morning I book a campsite so I can avoid the same events as yesterday. With my destination in mind I set off, first over the now busy highway around Calais and then through Sangette again up to Cap Blanc Nez, which is where I officially decided that maybe cycling isn’t for me. Mostly because I absolutely hate steep hills and I really miss my camera. After a significant amount of time, when I arrived at my campsite in the rain I called my parents up to say that I quit and the next day my sister and mom drive down to Ambleteuse to come pick me up. After only 9 days I am home again, planning a replacement journey. I made it to the coast on this one at least.
