Belgium to Home

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Belgium - 2 Days

Diary extracts in italics



I crossed the border into Belgium close to Aachen on day 106 and he day after the trip ended as I killed my back wheel.



Day 107 - 24.8 miles - (€87) - Tuesday 4th July

So none of my stuff was stolen despite leaving it all outside and all the teenagers walking passed my tent last night. I cycled up a descent sized hill and found une supermarche and sat next to a very friendly kind man who offered to buy me some pizza. I noticed the problem avec mon back wheel - one of the spokes has snapped but I dodgely fixed it by over tightening the spokes either side. I was about 10km from Liege and the road down was mainly descending - this road was also shit and full of hurdles.

Half way down a bump threw one of my panniers off into the wheel and fucked up 2 more spokes - END OF TRIP - I cycled to Liege and after a couple of miles found the Gare just in time to catch the train to Costende - lucky as I arrived at 12:01 and it was a 11:58 train that was running 8 minutes late.
So now I am sat on the train and it’s a time to reflect:
Right now I feel a little down as I wanted to cycle right home and surprise mum and Matt and also I feel like I´m cheating getting the train home but in all honesty its fucking hot for cycling, 34C and all my stuff is knackered so c’est la vie.

My bike needs new tyres, spokes, brake cables and saddle
My stuff knackered = camera, alarm clock, tent, mattress, pannier frame and panniers.


Thank you to all my equipment it has survived me very well.


Ways to improve my next trip
- Travel wipes
- Front panniers (to disperse weight)
- A non-leaking tent
- Waterproof shoes
- Stronger wheels


I got to Oostende and jumped on the train to Lille, there I jumped on the train to Calais. In Calais I pissed around for ages trying to find the entrance to the ticket office, spoke to Jo then caught the 9:15pm ferry. Nice crossing then I cycled in the dark to the Dover train station arriving just before 11pm. I could have got the last train to London but I opted for sleeping in Dover over Waterloo especially as there was a cheap train at 4:45am that didn’t go through London. I slept a few hours on the hours on the metal bench outside the station after enjoying a storm.



Day 108
Home by 10:30am


A great Trip, simply amazing, such variety.

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