Day 136, Thursday 17/11/2016

Rest day

Now that I’ve arrived in the Nederlands I need a rest day, I’ve spent the last month crossing Germany about 800 km or 500 miles. I had a good nights sleep in the loft, it rained heavily last night and it was nice to hear the rain on the roof above me knowing I was safe from it.

I took a walk into town in the morning and came back through the woods and Pippa had her first experience of running through a field of leaves and having fun skidding on them as she turned. In the afternoon I had a lie down and a rest. This morning the site owner Jan came over to pick up my washing and dropped it off for me in the afternoon. One of the things that I do like about travelling is the generosity of people I have met on this trip.

Day 137

It rained very hard again last night and I was glad I was under the cover of a proper roof in my loft apartment. The owner invited me to his house for breakfast and even gave me some food for lunch, he was a cycle enthusic and very generous, I did not pay him any money and he helped me more than any campsite that I have paid for.
I cycled through Emmen and started following the cycle route numbers on the cycle paths. I had bought a book of cycle routes eariler this year and all I had to do was follow the numbers. It rained until 10 this morning but that did not matter as I did not leave until half past 11 so it did not matter. A lovely autumn day with lots of orange colours. I found a campsite just before Coevorden so checked in at 3ish for an early day. There were some mole hills where I put up the tent and I tied Pippa up as I put up the tent, when I looked around she had her bum in the air and head down a mole hole digging it up and trying to get in a mole run, when I called her she looked up with black claws and a black face covered in dirt looking ever so pleased with herself.
Today 31km.

Day 138

I left the campsite and cycled into Coevorden, and around it as I missed a cycle route sign and went in a circle, from there I went onto Hardenberg and found a campsite near Rheeze, I’d tried one campsite at lunchtime and 2 more just before the one I stayed at that was open. It was a good day for cycling, cold weather but dry and no wind.
Today 36km.

Day 139

Rest day

It was a very rainy night and it rained until 10 o’clock in the morning when the winds came, so I decided to take another rest day laying in my sleeping bad reading. The weather forecast showed no rain for the next week so hopefully it should be good going.
In the evening I was preparing my dinner, a stew with some pepperoni chunks in it, it was all ready to go on the stove when I had to get something from the tent behind me, when I turned around again Pippa was leaning over my legs picking out pieces of meat out of my stew pot, she is usually good with food but i guess the sausage got the better of her.

Day 140

Left site at 10 o’clock, a nicer day then yesterday but cold and slightly windy, I have been following route LF14 but cut a section out as a short cut in the morning. In the afternoon it was a nice route with less roads. I need to head south as fast as possible as it is getting colder and I do not think I’ll be able to make the med for the new year but still need to head south. 3 campsites closed today so I found a bench by a canal and decided to put up my tent when it got dark. It is warmer then Germany but i need to keep ahead of the winter weather.
About 9pm I got busted by the Dutch police, the Dutch police are nice and probably the best police to have dealings with, someone had reported me as they thought I was with a child but when they came it was only Pippa, there were 2 officers, the man checked my ID and was surprised when he found out I was English, I talked to the lady officer and when I explained that all the campsites were closed for the winter in this area they were happy, they even wished me a good nights sleep when they left.
Today 46km.

Day 141

Up early and on the road by 8am, about 10 I found a dog run area and let Pippa have a run with bigger dogs, lucky she is very agile or she would have been knocked over a few times at least. Cycled through Oldenzaal and Enschede stopping at a campsite just east of Haaksbergen but they were closed for the winter so wild camped behind some trees next to the reservoir.
I have made the 4000km mark today.
Today 48 km.

Day 142

Up early, very misty morning but cycling by 7.45 with lights on in the pre dawn light. Stopped at about 9 for breakfast and to fill my flask up and then on again. I stopped at 2.30 by a canal, I saw some fishermen and one had a shelter tent so I put up my tent and tried to blend in.

It was a lovely day today and I had to remove my waterproof jacket at lunchtime as it was to hot. Stopping early ment I could cook while it was still light and not draw attention to myself.
Today 41km.

Day 143

I set off early from my canal campsite and as I pushed my bike through the hedge to the road it felt strange and when I checked I had a puncture in my trailer tyre. I removed the wheel and tried to find the puncture but could not so replaced it and carried on. At lunch time I came to a ferry crossing and the ferry had to come over to pick me up, the fare was 1 Euro, so I gave the ferryman 2, 50 cent coins, it’s nice to see that the cost of ferries has remained the same for thousands of years at 2 coins.
I found a campsite about 20 km east of Arnham so stopped there as I planned on having a look around there tomorrow.
Today 50km.

Day 144

It was a slow leak in my trailer tyre so had to pump it up again this morning. It was nice to stay at a campsite as opposed to wild camping. Cycled through a national park forest with lots of ups and downs, mainly ups but at least it was downhill for the final run to Arnham. I had a little walk around town and saw the new bridge of the film, A Bridge Too Far.

I left Arnham following the river and wild camped just off a dyke.
Today 37km.

Day 145

Up at 4.30 to go to the toilet while it was still dark, had a cuppa and back to bed until 6.30. The last hour was very cold and the first time I have shivered on this trip. I packed up my tent and saw frost starting to form as I was packing it up. My water bottles were half frozen. Pumped up my trailer tyre again and was on the road by 7.30.
My bike stand bolt sheared through today so will have to try and fix it later.

Very misty/foggy day and arrived at another ferry crossing, I thought I had just missed a ferry so decided to wait for the next one in an hour. When that one did not come I went to the notice board and think from the Dutch I can read it said that the ferry would not run when there were extreme high and low tides, violent storms, mist, and the 1st and 2nd day of the new year. I think today counted as heavy mist/fog.

The alternative route would be go back to Arnham and find a bridge, or carry on to the next ferry crossing that was a 31km detour and that ferry may not be running, so I put up my tent on a large concrete bench so I could sit in the entrance and be sheltered.

I would proberly have to wait until tomorrow so I thought I’d try and remove the broken bolt from my bike stand but gave up as I did not have the right tools so I’ll have to think about it until I can solve the problem.
I prepared Pippas medicine for tonight and tomorrow, worm and flea treatments. She had lots of fun on the river Rhine today.
Today 7km.

Day 146

Woke up at 4.30 to go to the toilet and that it was clear of fog, I could see across the river and lights in houses on the other side that I could not see yesterday, even though it was only about 100 metres to the other side.
I took it easy as I knew the first ferry did not run until 10am.
At 10 the ferry came across to pick me up, it cost me 2 Euros but proberly cost him more than that in diesel starting the ferry up.
Cycled through Nijmegem and decided to wild camp in the forest south of town. I found a nice spot at 4.30pm by a bench and sat down to wait until until it got dark. A lady and her adult son came along and I chatted to them for a bit, at 5.30 it was almost dark and I put up my tent behind a large mound of soil behind the bench.
Today 33km.

Day 147

Up early again and moving again while it was still dark I stopped after 20km for breakfast. I had 2 more ferries today at a cost of 90 cents each, not sure how they work out the prices of ferries. Stopped at 3.30 today by some more benches and planned on sleeping here but had to wait a couple of hours until I could put up my tent, cycled over 40km today and my legs are tired. My cycle computer is starting to play up due to the cold and not working first thing in the morning so having to measure distance on the map and work it out the old fashioned way.
Today 45km.

Day 148

Freezing night, in the morning I had to put my gloves on to take my tent down, pumped up my trailer tyre again and left at 5.30, five minutes later I had to put my thermal glove liners on under my seal skinz gloves, an hour later my fingertips were completely frozen, so I had to stop and put my hands under my armpits for half an hour to thaw them out. After the first 5 minutes of finger defrosting my finger tips felt like they were on fire although eventually I had feeling in them again, I think i was on the verge of frost bite but at least I could let Pippa out as I could work the catch that held her in. All the water that I’d managed to keep as a liquid in the tent over night had frozen with the wind chill. At 11 o’clock I stopped for a break and managed to soak up some heat from the Sun. Could not find a campsite so I had to wild camp again. Today I had been following the river Mass and at night was thinking of getting down to Maastricht and getting a train south, it will be about 2 more days cycle there but the cold is getting to me. I had to sleep in gloves tonight.
Today 40km.

Day 149

Up at 6.30 packing things away which was difficult as I had to do it with thick gloves on, and still had a layer of frost/ice on the rolled up tent, last night I slept with my cycle computer in my pocket but after 5 minutes of cycling the wind chill had stopped it working, I should change the battery but I think this cold would still get to it.
Another ferry today and I was talking to a man, on the other side he offered to take me to Marseilles tomorrow as he was driving there with an empty trailer, I arranged to meet him in the next town at 1pm. When we met up again he told me where he worked, he drove and I arrived half an hour later, but it was bad news, his girlfriend was moving from France to Holland but she had not had a chance to pack enough stuff yet and did not want him there for another week, so I left and cycled off to Roermond, the tourist office found me a B&B it was expensive but was needed, it was in a shop but had a kitchen and toilet and shower, the thermostat was on 21 degrees but for someone who had been out in the cold for a while it was way to hot. The lady who’s shop it was had a Spanish chicken casorole left over from the day and I ate that for dinner. At night I removed the trailer and tied it onto the top of the bike as the plan for tomorrow was to get a train to Maastricht, and then get a train to the south of France.
Today 32km.