September 16, 2022
Day 38: To Belgium!
It was a really tough night. Kevin screamed on an almost hourly basis all night; it was probably the worst we’ve ever had, certainly in the tent. And when he woke up for the day there was rain falling on the tent, rain that was forecast to continue on and off all day. This wasn’t how we envisaged our journey to Belgium concluding, but perhaps it was a good time to conclude it, and at least we knew that we had a warm dry home waiting for us at the end of the day.
We decided to spend the first part of the day hiding in the tent and not cycle until Kevin’s second nap. This seemed like the right decision because the rain stopped later in the morning and we were able to pack up in the dry. Paula, the nice elderly woman we had met the day before, brought us tea and offered us a dry place to sit outside her neighbour’s caravan. I think she told me the owners were away but as she couldn’t speak much English and me even less Dutch, who knows? As Dea sat there breastfeeding Kevin we did worry that perhaps the owners of the caravan were home and going to get a big surprise, but luckily they never came out and found us.
It was still dry when we strapped Kevin into his trailer for the last time in the Netherlands but almost as soon as we rolled out of the campsite it started to rain again. This was actually pretty good timing as Kevin was at least dry in the trailer. It was pretty strange how fast the weather and the season had changed. It suddenly felt very much like autumn as we cycled over wet leaves with a chill in the air. The long hot summer we had enjoyed almost the whole way was no more, but at least the rain didn’t last very long and the sun was back out for the final few kilometres of the Netherlands, ridden on typically good bike paths next to a main road.
That main road did at least guarantee that we would have a proper sign welcoming us to the next country and there was a lot of good feelings as we rode up to it, parked our bikes and posed for some photos. There were times before we started and during the early days of this trip when the idea of cycling to Belgium with Kevin had felt like way too much, an impossible fantasy. And yet, slowly we had made our way across three countries, slower than we had initially planned, but little by little we edged our way along, and now here was the realization of our goal. We had made it, we had cycled from our front door in Denmark all the way to Belgium with Kevin.
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1 year ago
We had arranged to stay with our friend Ludo in Turnhout, a town about 15 kilometres across the border. He was going to look after our bikes for two weeks while we visit England by train before our return journey. A keen cyclist himself, he was riding out to meet us and cycle us to his house, and by chance we met at exactly the place where I had suggested we could take a break, him riding in from one direction and us from the other at just exactly the same time. An incredible coincidence, Ludo.
We had met Ludo five years ago at the start of our world tour together and he and his wife Alda had invited us to stay. Since then Alda has very sadly passed away, but Ludo has continued to follow our progress and seemed very keen to see us again. We sat down on the bench in the sunshine and drank coffee and ate pastries that Ludo had brought. He probably doesn’t want me to mention his age but he told us he was up to 7,000 kilometres cycled this year and he is aiming for 10,000, which if you knew his age you would probably be very impressed about.
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But as we sat there enjoying the sunshine we were disturbed by the sight of some very dark skies approaching. It was clearly going to rain a lot so I quickly put the tent up next to the bench and we invited Ludo to join us inside. At his age it had been a while since he’d been in a tent and he joked he might not be able to get out again, but he wisely accepted the invitation, for over the next few minutes there came some strong winds, heavy rain and even a little hail too.
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We cycled together the remaining distance to Turnhout along a canal path. It was perfect cycling and it was nice to ride along with Ludo just as we had down when leaving Turnhout five years ago.
An hour later and we were arriving at Ludo’s front door. For 38 days we had been slowly but surely making our way in this direction and now we were finally here. Now our bikes could take a rest and we would continue our journey by train.
This is not the end of this journal though. I will post some sort of update about our time in England, and then there is the return journey. We still hope to do some of it by bike, hopefully to Düsseldorf from where we can most easily catch trains home with the bikes. But this is the end of something, of the main part of our travels, of our ride to Belgium. And what an adventure it has been, our first bike tour with our little boy.
Having him along with us has forced us to slow down, even more than we initially thought, and that has improved the experience a great deal. We have been forced away from wild camping and into people’s homes and gardens, and to campsites, and we have met so many interesting people as a result, seen so many places and things we otherwise would have missed. Kevin has really made us slow down and smell the roses. I have cycled this route many times before, at least seven or eight times, but I have never experienced anywhere near as much or met a fraction of the people. Cycling with Kevin has offered a completely different perspective on cycle touring. And most importantly it seems like Kevin has really enjoyed the experience, of seeing new things every day, of being outside. I think it has been really good for him, and for all of us. It’s been a long time since I have been as happy as I have been the past five and a half weeks, and that is down to being back on the bikes and being together as a family. It has been a really special trip and I hope it is just the first of many we get to do together.
Today's ride: 27 km (17 miles)
Total: 1,131 km (702 miles)
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"Kevin has really made us slow down and smell the roses. " Or nappy? :-)
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Well done , the THREE of you! It’s been a splendid journal to follow and I’m sure just the beginning of a long series. Thanks for taking us along.
Cheers,
Keith
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