Day 21: My chain exploded! And bivouacking in Flanders

August 10, 2024

Brussels, BE to Ursel, BE

Refreshed I set off on my bike again about 930 after repacking my stuff that was strewn about the room. My pedaling was not feeling as smooth as usual but I couldn’t figure out what was wrong as it wasn’t super obvious right away and I hadn’t felt this exact conundrum in about 10k lifetime miles.

My route out of the city charted me north east which was ill-advised according to Komoot but I wanted to pop by the Atomium. It’s a structure they built for their world’s fair similar to the space needle in Seattle.

Upon arriving the drivetrain decided to give out and I felt a crunch and my chain exploded wide open. Someone asked me to take a family photo of them at the atomium at the same time. I think this helped me not go into panic mode because the obvious response was a smile and a yes, get them their photo, take a quick snap of the atomium myself and then assess the issue. Gave me a chance to deep breath.

The chain seems to have broken at the power link. Again never seen this happen and it’s not clear to me what caused it - I’ve been reasonably diligent about keeping the chain lubricated after rain though not perfect.

In any case this is not rideable. My first choice was to find a local bike shop ASAP as I expect limited hours on Saturdays, no hours on Sundays, and no hours on Mondays. That’s Europe.

I rolled the bike 15 mins to the nearest velo store and what do you know totally closed anyways. Ha! Okay I better get down to it then and try it myself.

I’ve taken a chain on and off before to clean or replace but never had to fix a chain. Luckily before setting off on this grand adventure I not only packed my chain tool and quick link tool (thank god) I also bought a spare link. I initially laughed thinking who would ever need this? Me I guess.

I had to watch a YouTube video to (mostly to remind myself what I was doing) figure out how to get it fixed the right way. It took me a couple tries and some dirty hands but in about 40 minutes I was on my way again. The drive train was a bit noisier than before but I was able to ride so I decided to not worry about it unless something else goes wrong. I felt pretty proud of myself. Thanks GCN and park tool for good videos.

Good as new. I fixed it and glad I brought the right tools for the job including the chain tool for removing a pin as there was originally no quick link in my chain.

After fixing the chain I went back to the Atomium to get the picture I deserved.

The day continued northwestward towards Ghent. I would be stopping there to take some quick pictures and eat lunch before continuing on.

The adventure I have planned for today (not the chain) is that I will be camping outside of a formal campground. In Belgium, wild camping is strictly forbidden. I’m also not in a place in my bike touring career where I am interested in skirting laws and also sleeping out in the wilderness with nobody around. However in Belgium there is a concept of “bivakzones” which are places that are legal to pitch your tent for a night, following strict rules to leave no trace. They are quite similar to primitive sites or hiker biker sites in the US - no shower, no facilities (maybe a toilet)

So since today that was about as far as I wanted to ride I decided to give it a shot! Why not, see if I like it or can handle it.

The day was pretty flat as it’s Flanders and just saw more farmland on the way to finding the bivakzone.

When I grabbed some groceries for dinner that night I saw two adults and three boys pedaling around town and had a hunch I’d see them at the bivakzone.

Around 18 when it became legal to pitch the tent I went off in search of the spot and after about 300 meter or so of sloshing through mud pits I found it.

Welcome to the Bivakzone! Leave no trace!

There was a water pump but it didn’t quite seem to work. I anticipated that and carried an extra 1.5L bottle of water today

My hunch was right and about an hour later the riding family plus two other parents came through. I won’t quite get the “solitary” part of the adventure I sought but I will get to try camping away from a campground.

The Flemish families were very nice- they were taking their boys out to see the seaside. I ended up going to bed fairly early so didn’t spend a lot of time chatting.

Now when it comes down to it - the only euro I spent today was 90 cents on some daily bread. Not bad.

Today's ride: 89 km (55 miles)
Total: 1,544 km (959 miles)

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