The big balkan cycle adventure

Pip the home-rabbit didn’t kill me. At least not yet, but I probably will as result of sleep deprivation. I learned the hard way that rabbits are nocturnal animals, during the night the Pip made a lot of noise drinking and scratching…Today a good rabbit is a rabbit in combination with prunes… After breakfast I left Hannah, Alec and Oscar around 9.00 and cycled to Dilbeek to pick up Maarten and Inge who would join me cycling to Gent. On the way to Dilbeek another friend, Jurriaan, informed me that he would join as well. For my last TBBCA cycling day the weather gods have foreseen most of the day rain  but eventually it was only the last 20 K that I needed to cycle in the rain. Not to to bad.  Thanks to Maarten leading the way we soon arrived in Schellebelle to say hello to another friend, Nico to have some refreshments and chocolate waffles….The last 20 K I cycled along the Schelde to home…I took the scenic route through the city center… and surprised the kids with my arrival…....

The roosters of the nearby farm thought it was a good idea to wake me up at 5.15. I waited until 6.30 to get out of my bed and breaking up my tent. There was nothing to eat so early on the camping so I left on an empty stomach around 7.20. For the first time in 85 days I misread my GPS and started descending a road, unfortunate the wrong road…After I realised I took the wrong road I climbed the hill back up via an other road to eventually arrive on the correct cyclepath. Today I would cycle to Halle, 140 K away,  via the outskirts of Liege, through Limburg, Haspengouw, Heuvel land and “the green ring” around Brussel. I also passed Borgloon to say halo to Rudi, a docent of my art academy, who has a solo  exhibition  in the Graethempoort. It was great cycling most of the day ; mostly small roads, through fruit orchards, 2 bigger forests, great views, small villages.The closer I came to Brussels though the more I was confronted with the lack of decent and safe cycling infras...

I was awake by 5.30 thanks to many birds making a lot of noice. I stayed in bed until 7.00 and was ready to go by 8.00. In Remagen I bought breakfast at the bakery and cycled afterwards the last kilometers along the Rhine.I also passed the remnants of the Remagen bridge which was was captured intact by the allies during WWII and scene for heavy battle as the Germans tried to destroy the bridge, which  it eventually did.  Leaving the Rhine required some climbing to get out of the Rhine Valley. A short but steep climb brought me in a different landscape. Big fields, low rolling hills…Most of the day this would be the landscape, not  to bad but also nothing extra-ordinary. The cycle path often ran parallel to quite busy roads which spoiled somewhat the fun.  In the afternoon I cycled though Aachen. I had never been to Aachen before and the  city center  looked very pleasant. The icecream was also of reasonable quality, no Amerena and Malaga this time but yoghu...

Yesterday evening I had a dinner of aspargus and a schnitzel Wiener art…and as I was still hungry after,  Ice cream with chocolat milk, not sauce…my German needs improvement. I woke up early as it would be a another long ride of 140 K. When I packed I noticed my second battery was not charged. As it was a flat ride I should be able to cover the distance on 1 battery but my range anxiety was stronger than myself….I put my second battery in the charger and went in search for breakfast whilst the battery would load enough to satisfy my anxiety….. At 8.30, 1 hour later then planned but after a nice breakfast, I left Mainz. Today it  would be about following the Rhine, the weather would be great , the cycle path signposted and Loreley waiting for me…To get out of Mainz I passed an Industrial zone and some highways….but soon I was cycling along the Rhine.  There is much more traffic on the Rhine compared to the Danube ; a lot of river cruise boats, but also a lot of cargo ships...

Pff…after cycling 130 K with most of the time a strong headwind I arrived in Mainz. It had been a while that I had a so much headwind….I had planned to camp on the nearby camping but again the promised restaurant was not open I also didn’t want to eat pasta, ravioli or Hahne-topf…again.I checked booking and found a room in Mainz city center… which has plenty of restaurants to choose from. The headwind took away most of the fun today, the route and and views where really nice. I followed some part of the day the Main and when cutting a bend of the Main river I cycled though a beautiful forest and a cycle path through fields and small villages..I also passed the nice town Darmstadt. It would have been a great cycle day wasn’t for the headwind…. When I cycled along the Main river a man stopped me…He signed me to follow him and explained that he wanted his photo taken….he had just catches a big fish and wanted proof of the catch….he had an old mobile phone and it took some time to make his...