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In the summer of 2013, I rode solo from The Hook of Holland, through Belgium, into Luxembourg, then to Calais along the French and Belgium border

It took me 8 days to ride the 606 miles.

I mostly camped wiled, carrying everything I needed on my bike.

Well here I am I start my journey at the Hook of Holland ferries just Ryze is now five five pm and as you can see the ferries behind me got my bike so my plan is to head down to Rotterdam and then start heading towards Belgium bring it on you

Well it’s now the end of day one and not too bad I think the time around half past eight but annoyingly I’ve managed to do 40 miles and I haven’t really got that far to be honest so I think why it’s a lot of it was just going ham random

Directions and then having to go back myself really nice thing they got their own cycle paths so completely away from the cars and whatnot but the only problem is the directions aren’t as good so yeah and they tell you to go one way and then a while later you should sort

Of stop telling you all I say it’s the other way but anyway yeah so now camping out for the tonight and I found this little space in this woods as you can see what the footpath just they’re quite popular with other cyclists but then you

Got my little tent all set up it’s gonna gonna cook and then go to sleep for a big ride tomorrow you but it wasn’t too bad to sleep when I chose it was quite quite cool through the night I called and yeah when the Sun something knocks us in all the woods

Didn’t get in in the sunlight so I managed to leave about half eight I set off and nothing too bad just we managed to have eventually found the way it was comfortable bridges down south about char about 26 miles down south from where I camp last night third of our

Camps but I managed to find here so the plan now is just to keep heading south and so I had built it you you well it’s now the end of my second day and I did I did quite well today I managed to get quite a bit into Belgium

Which is good it’s about 85 miles in the end but it’s quite funny because compared to my original route I should be on about 90 miles altogether and the facts had in 40 yesterday and 85 today and I should only be on 90 you know hey

Hey and Bienes good riding today all the rights have the cycle path next to them so you know even on the road with the class it’s just following your own cycle path which is really good and yeah hasn’t been too bad at all very hot and very sunny

So the amount I was drinking it was you know I just kept drinking the whole time trying to keep hydrated but yeah so you can see where I am now on the map but yeah I think it was good day so just cooking and getting ready for tomorrow you

Well as you can see it’s once again a very very hot day it’s now coming up to 2 o’clock and all the signs are saying is about cups 30 degrees so it’s quite a hot day so once again lots and lots of drinking yeah I’m not doing too bad

Today already done those smells but my plan is to get try and get close to Luxembourg but I’m going to badly the road less and less cycle passing between the villages it’s not too bad eggs they’re not that busy but as you can see around me just lots of fields you well no

Day off so – about 70 miles today don’t do that but say the amount of effort you well it’s about mid-afternoon now and very very hard work again once again the heat the morning was okay when to do that quite fine go down had some lunch somewhere then started off again about

2:00 in the afternoon Jesus the heat is unbearable but it’s not going too well I’m trying to get into Luxembourg but the problem is there’s one main road and so did another tool character where the whole time but it’s quite big Road and I keep trying to trying to avoid it so I

Left it and taking these back roads it’s tall these massive hills and stuff and they they just keep on ending up back at this main road so we have to take it it shouldn’t be too bad though it’s quite straight Falls and directs no main hills

As opposed to all this stuff which just just tzuf hills but it’s not going to badly say very hot very hot well here I am that’s another day gone tricky day today very tricky no I definitely think as same before it’s the heat but after I it

I first spoke to you I attempted to do that pass and this was too busy squad man actually cuz I found myself halfway up this hill and there’s lorries everywhere cars everywhere and it’s it’s like semi motorway but not motorway so in the end after a while I’m not gonna

Not gonna risk it then eles the only Road I could take so I thought okay what shall I do and then saw bus stop it’s waited there right two hours in the end I always see this bus stop and then I thought I’ll just wait for the traffic to calm down a

Bit and then in about half sick so I eventually went for it and annoyingly as soon as I got up to the top this little hill tells us turn off straight away so I’ll manage to get off there I’m now into Luxembourg and found a campsite which meant I could shower so

Yeah it’s good so you’re gonna start kicking and then go wash some clothes and yeah not bad Oh with the bike though dunno why but I think about on the rear thar rear wheel well six spokes will loose my honour I don’t know how or why it happened but I

Was just coming down into here until that’s a lot of rubbing and then check them yeah as I said that six men will loose I’ve tightened it tighten them up this it’s not the wheels not true but it’s better than it was the arm I’m thinking easy day tomorrow so it’s a

Luxembourg can’t be too far away so I was thinking going there and then have a good explore and then head out the other side the afternoon sometime you I’ve made it through to Luxembourg in the end who owes furthering our thought holes can be about 30 30 miles in India hits and

Once again who’s up the main road again I kept trying to avoid it but then I say oh he’s taking with big hilly back roads to these little villages and then they all just kept taking me back to this big road so they luckily didn’t last for too

Long and then with a bus lane in cycle lanes so that was okay there about 20 kilometers in to the city am now in the city you well our set comes to the end of another day and another very hot hot day but yeah I went got to Luxembourg and then

Went around there for a bit there’s nice nice place now what I’ve started to do is head back to Calais in France so why I’m going to do I’m going to travel up the Belgium and French border and she’s working my way back along there you well now here at playschool boolie

Boolie on bullion where i’ve just had lunch and it’s a really nice place an ice castle and then the water running through the middle they’ve got lots of head loads and stuff on it but it’s definitely giving hilly again in the mountains as you can see so my plan now

Is hectic this place Ward’s sudden agony but yeah and I think it’s gonna be quite some Mountain work now because I’m yeah I tried to beat the heat this morning so I got up quite early well I say quite early and I managed I managed to get

Here well halfway here before I started feeling the proper full heat as soon as I started about 8 a.m. it was straight away after a whilst too hot so yeah now it’s midday well I wanted to turn the afternoon now and so the temperatures very high again up into the 30s

No Dowson and this constant Sun as well so it’s gonna be hard hard and hot work going through these mountains but headed home so it’s all good I forgot to mention noise here behind me all the dog barking is as you can see what’s the dog that’s one thing I’ve noticed around

Here is there’s an awful lot of like scout groups and whatnot just like all over the place and obviously by looks at dis Lotta’s on a dog walking well it’s quite weird actually after I just took that video just saw some random guy called Patrice came up to me

And he’s done a fair bit of sighting at touring in his time so she just goes on Jonah have a shower and then do not wash all your clothes and stuff so she went back to his and then it was just a case of washed all my clothes and the water

Was just dirty brown proper filthy dirty brown and yes I managed to wash all my clothes dry them all and yeah no clean clothes had a shower as well so thank you for trees you but that was yesterday and so it’s now another day I’m doing quite well made

Good progress so far still heading up along the border Belgium and French border it says quite funny every now and then I just cross the Sun tone welcome to Belgium and then all the sudden Oh welcome to France so yeah it states working my way up along there now just

Stopped to have some lunch and then back on the bike again but I’m thinking maybe maybe back in Calais into two more days so this day and then another two yeah oh this morning is good riding because there was no Sun it was quite cloudy quite over classic casts it’s just runny

And it’s a riding straight through the mountains you see the photos there and it was just lovely and cool a bit too cool says something you can see I’ve put my um my lycra legs and my jacket on so it now it’s going well today as Sam sons

Come out now though so it’s gonna start heating up but made some good miles before we got too hot that’s good you you well let’s now meet done for the day as you can hear it’s quite noisy behind me but that’s because I’ve managed to find

A a cancer what’s a campsite someone to stay which it’s right next to one of these massive main road motorways but it’s the only place that was going out absolutely naked just shake the myeloma today I managed 110 miles so I’m happy that was a good push really big push

Nattering though absolutely nothing good morning as sales through all the valleys and stuff and then this sort of flattened out coming out to lunch and then this last bit has just been quite flat so it’s just logging the miles but open to birds ready for big eat pretty hungry you

Well here I am finally made it I’m now in line we’ll build a vehicle she’s getting ready skilled ferry as you can see behind me good day today nice big push there was a hundred just I think it’s just over a hundred miles in the end get hit so yeah

Not too bad as definitely hard work towards the end I must say definitely hard work but here now it’s all good I’ll give you a foodie well that’s it now come to the end of my little cycle true of Europe I found this one completely different to last year’s

One where I did John O’Groats to Land’s End even though it’s pretty much exactly the same thing had all my stuff and my bike siting solo going from A to B and who saw journey time was planned to be roughly the same base of which thousand

Miles on this one in the main ting say what’s the heat as soon as I got out there there’s about thirty degrees and then trying to cycle about 8090 miles and that heat it was hard work it’s in the end my original route was to go Holland Belgium into Luxembourg and then

Along France then touch the Germans was Swiss border and then come back along through France through Paris to Dover well the time I got slots to be honest it was it was okay it was just an awful awful work as in I’d stopped enjoying it because instead I last year just get on

The bike nice cycling just keep on going this this year is just an effort is straightaway I just wake up in order to feel tired it’s too hot and now I have to keep drinking constantly so yeah so I got to Luxembourg I’m sort now I’ll just

Head back and coming back along the French and Belgian border it was about because the last two days when we had a cloud cover and was not you know there’s a nice normal temperature 18 degrees maybe and I managed about 100 miles on both those days no problem just because

There’s no no like overpowering heats there’s no blistering Sun there you just wake up get on the bike and just keep on riding so much method so yeah this is shame you know all together though and I enjoyed it but I you know I cut it short because thought with the heat it

Was a bit a bit too much feels good though my name’s just over 600 miles in the end it’s just over a week in the end so but it was good riding my time press with the gears bike one of the ships is broke I just standard the handlebar mountain

Bike style shifter worked absolute it’s fine good porn with the spoke stone which kept loosening when I got home I just tightened all the spokes up completely and then we realigned it all and I think any flat tires and he punches anything like that so it’s just

The constant time to stop and check check the spokes cuz performers if they had started braking rather than just loosening themselves a little bit annoying to have to keep repairing them then the main thing for me is taking these because all I did was print off

The Google Maps and go so it’s just a case of printing them out of sheets and sheets of them should I be or not but it really wasn’t well it wasn’t it wasn’t because I managed gets a lot tumors finder then when I decided to cut it short had to

Buy another map because that one didn’t have my Google Maps the printouts didn’t have to get back so yes I’ve on new one Neels of Belgium Luxemburg road map and wow it was amazing to see all the this roads and then all the little villages it made it

So much easier and this is what I got in the end I got my Luxembourg and Belgium that’s why impressive how nicely kept the churches were in the villages as well as I really liked the main two places destroyed and who you on just because he was quiet to a mountainous

Area and then they had the river coming through the valley so all the buildings are built up either side of this river and boy they had these Jets easy stuff she had seen the photos and then we on was where the castle was so I thought those two areas are really nice it’s

Quite interesting while I was out there on the ferry going there and back in I met some other people doing roughly the same thing touring with their bikes and I think next time I go out I’m going to have it nearly as planned or structured

I think I’ve just sort of seen have a map have no particular route and just see where it takes me as opposed to this which is very much old go here go here here it’s it’s okay because I’m on a bike I want to do the miles so I

Keep traveling the distance but then looking back on it some stuff you could quite easily missed but I think I might just go somewhere or even will fly out and then say okay I’m gonna go back to hit and then just grab a map and see

Where it takes me I think I’ll be quite quite fun to do thing that I’ll probably my next event she maybe there we go thanks for watching I hope you enjoyed the video and I hope you enjoyed for me through a little psychic tour of Europe from all the different places I went

You

8 Comments

  1. Like like your style. Doing a similar trip next week and trawling some solo touring articles and videos. What camera did you use by interest? Nice multiple exposure too

  2. Thanks for the video summary: your take away learning : #1 cycling in 30 Celsius plus takes more effort ( reduces the fun factor ); # 2 you had set your objectives too high and were too rigid (i.e. cycle 100 miles each day to get from point A to B); # 3 your physical map (print out from google maps) was not adequate ( missed some details and when your route changed, you were "off" the printed maps ).

    I am planning a month trip in August 2017 starting from Amsterdam… your video is quite inspiring and is helpful.

    May I ask about your gear? Any thing you wish you did not bring or Any thing you wish you did? My problem is to bring stuff I don't need.
    Thank you, again.
    Ryan
    California, USA

  3. i cycled holland germany poland then into the ukraine around the same time the sign posts will give you a direction and you stick to it till another one comes i got lost alot and some days did massive distances some times 15 km

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