Everywhere Virtually

OK the definition of when yesterday ended and today started is a blurred one. Once on the channel tunnel I sat down on the floor next to the bike. I took my headphones from the sat nav and discovered the reached down to me sitting on the ground. So I closed my eyes and slept for the duration of the 30 minute crossing whilst being serenaded. To those out there that think how awful it must be to be traveling like this I can tell you it is not so bad. Bear in mind I am wearing protective bike clothing and I had body armour underneath. So I am dry, warm and with all that padding quite comfortable.

So by the time the train was loaded and taking into account the time difference it was approaching 4am by the time I arrived in Calais. I was emboldened now because the traffic chaos was gone and all I had to do was find the two 800 riders in Brugge. Of course they hadn’t given me a location in Brugge other than we are camping near the coast. I rode up that way and then from Brugge to Zeebrugge with obviously no success despite my sat nav giving me all the low down on every campsite in the area.

Apart from my 20 minute snooze on the train I had had no sleep. I was beginning to flag and checking into a hotel such as an ETAP would surely mean I would lose another day. There was no choice but to keep going… In the end though I was too tired to continue. I stopped at a services near Antwerpen and saw an overspill car park with lots of cars and lots of people sleeping in them.

It was a nice setting so I placed my bivvi bag on the ground and instead of trying to climb into it I just laid down on the ground and used my Kriega rack pack as a pillow, making sure all my essentials like passport and money were close to me and inside my Klim jacket. 30 minutes later the cold woke me up. despite my layers the lack of sleep and proximatey to the ground were giving me the shivers from the inside out. I got up feeling quite refreshed. I strolled over to the cafe and had a nice belgian breakfast, a strong coffee and supplies for the day

As I rode into Holland things were looking up. The sun was warm and I was beginning to thaw out.

To be continued…

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