October 6, 2022
Cycling Day 1: To Lommel
Our last night in Turnhout was a bit of a nightmare with Kevin waking up constantly through the night. There is commonly a sleep regression at his age and with all the different sleeping arrangements recently it’s understandable he might be finding things difficult. Hopefully a return to the tent will help.
But first we had to leave Turnhout, back on our bikes again after two weeks. It felt really good to get back on and start pedaling, especially as the weather was perfect. We always knew that cycling in October was going to be a risk but the forecast looks great for the next four days so hopefully that will hold. Of course it is still October and despite the blue skies there was enough of a chill on the air to wear gloves for the first time on the trip.
And for the first 15 kilometres we were accompanied by Ludo, who took this photo of us as we prepared to move on.
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It wasn’t very nice cycling though, just on a bike path next to a main road for 13 kilometres as a shortcut back to the canal system heading east. We then stopped for a break at a chapel next to the road where there were benches and grass for Kevin to lie on. Despite laying out the tent and the tarp Kevin was off on the grass in seconds. He has become so much more mobile now and we can’t leave him for a moment any more.
Ludo said the chapel had been built here in the seventeenth century after a statue of the Virgin Mary was discovered nearby and it became a bit of a pilgrimage site as a result. But then a woman came by and he talked with her and she said that the statue inside now was a replica, because the real one was stolen in 1974. That might explain why the chapel was all locked up although I got a good picture of the inside by holding my phone up to the small grill on the door.
One advantage of having Ludo with us was that he is a really good photographer and we don’t usually get photos with all of us in, our little family. It was nice to get some now.
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But at the bridge above it was time to say goodbye as Ludo turned northwest on the canal back to Turnhout and Dea, Kevin and I south and then east towards the Dutch border. We thanked Ludo for everything, such a help he has been to us, and rode off our separate ways. Despite the fact we would have to take our own pictures again, it nevertheless felt really nice to be off the roads and back following the canal, where the autumnal colors made for a beautiful scene.
We hadn’t gone far when I noticed a leaf falling down towards me, and I was suddenly reminded of the classic autumn cycle touring game of “Catch the leaf.” This is a game I had invented during my world travels and the rules of the game are pretty much covered by the name of the game - you have to try and catch falling leaves while cycling along. I instinctively reached out my left hand and grabbed the leaf. Wow, it was a clean catch! I had actually caught a leaf, at the first time of asking, a split second or two after I had decided to start playing “Catch the leaf.” Now you might not be all that amazed by this, but consider this - catching leaves on a moving bike is hard, so hard in fact that I am pretty sure I have gone through more than one entire autumn season playing it without catching any leaves at all. This was a remarkable moment, one for the archives. A moment I will never forget.
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We took our second break of the day sitting beside the canal. It was really nice to be out here after so long in towns and cities. I am still so in love with cycle touring. I am looking forward to go home but I am also sad that we won’t be doing this much longer. It is such a good way to live!
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Our hosts for the night were on the edge of Lommel but right on the canal. Unfortunately it was the wrong side of the canal so we had to cross a bridge and backtrack a short section through town. Not very far, but this was the moment Kevin started crying so we had to walk the last little bit. It was the first moment he had been upset about being back on the bikes - he had looked so happy to be back in the trailer again, such a born traveler I think.
With many campsites now closed we are back to the garden hosting websites but this is a really good one, one of the best. Our hosts are a young couple with two sons, five and three. They were all very friendly, the boys bringing Kevin a collection of toys to play with / put in his mouth, and the mother bringing us some extraordinarily shaped tomatoes from the garden. But mostly they just left us to our own devices at the end of the long garden, access to the forest and the canal out the back gate, and that was just what we needed - a quiet night together. Well hopefully it will be, anyway!
Today's ride: 38 km (24 miles)
Total: 1,169 km (726 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 12 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 1 |
It was a great honor for me and I really enjoyed being your host. It felt so good to have you both and your sweet little Kevin close to me. I'm going to miss you three, that's for sure.
Safe return home, I'm dreaming of a cycling trip to you in Denmark in 2023. Let's hope I can make my dream come true …
Ludo
2 years ago