sutra 2 - To Diest ... everyday superheroes, industrial maze, and an unexpected dance!
Next morning sun was up … and so was I! Took my time to pack everything had some breakfast and started cycling, goal of the day reaching Diest.
Unfortunately misreading my map got me completely lost … took a wrong turn and found myself wandering within an industrial maze … with only factories and no one or nothing else in sight… I had no water left it was 11:00 and the sun was burning me to death on my effort to get out of this area and find my way to Balen. Finally I made it out (took me a good hour and a half) and decided to follow the same road back. Luckily I also found a nice café on the way to refill my water supplies and get out of the sun for a while. Re-coordinated and relaxed cycling through Olmen and Ham I was about to reach Tessenderlo. Just there on a hill, a wrong move to change Jack’s gear and my chain came off! Pffffff … trying to balance all this weight hoping I can fix it without having to unload everything seemed impossible on that hill. And then universe sent me the superhero Cindy, a lady that stopped by with her car noticing the situation and offered me help to hold Jack steady! From that point on it took me only a few minutes and the chain was fixed! She also wanted to give me some more water and asked me a bit about my journey wishing me the best of luck! So yes … superheroes do exist and there are everywhere around you ready to catch you when you are about to fall, so when you meet one make sure you ask their name!
After passing Tessenderlo only 10km were left to meet my first goal … Diest! Happy that I had made it to the city’s centre important stop to cook some lunch was needed before drinking some coffee and finding the camping I would spent the night: Stille Kampen
The place was not something special or luxurious for an organized camping (no wifi, showers working only with coins, no places to charge phone etc) but it was very clean and cute, owned by a sweet old man reminded me of my grandfather that showed me my spot and filled me in. By the way it was a great opportunity to have a conversation completely in Dutch, being surprised that I was able to find my words easier!
The camping had a little café where I met 4 cool older cyclists, being very curious about my trip when they saw me studying my map, willing to give me tips, and offering me a free refreshment.
Next day I had to pack everything under an even more burning sun ... and get ready to face some important casualties ... unfortunately my 5liter water bag had a whole and I had to leave it behind, same with my coconut oil and my thermus was lost on the way ... now I have to use my 10liter bag from now on filling it up according to the distance's needs. I filled up 8 litres and set my goal to pass through Tienen continuing to Namur covering aprox. 80 km
By the way my old dancing shoes are really comfy for cycling during hot days ... besides you never know when you will be asked for a dance ...
