Me being one of the 'rufty tufty' types...hahaha.
I weighed my luggage before leaving, a total of 14kgs, so pretty good as I was carrying camping kit, stove food etc. The bike is supremely comfortable, I have done many days over 12 hours 'in the saddle', with the only aches being the legs, understandable. What is not so good about the loaded recumbent is the difficulty in getting the thing in and out of trains, lifts, escalators, and other tricky spaces. It becomes a bit of a lump, with no obvious easy way to pick it up.
The tour started with Arriva and GWR transporting me to Paddington, and a meandering ride to Liverpool St, found Stu. Thats where the plan started to crumble, delayed trains to Mannintree, missed connections. We arrived, but the later trains left riders with moments to spare as they raced to catch the ferry. There was a good opportunity to meet old and new friends on the ferry, before retiring for the night. Beer was rubbish though, and don't mention the wine.
It's hard to anticipate the speed a group will travel, and how you can keep up, or be held back, but that is the nature of groups. I found the pace to be pretty good, and gave me time to look around at what we were passing, no point going if you don't see anything.
I had checked out the camping sites, and made routes from Fridays Central to each one, so it was just a matter of following my track to the site at the end of the days ride. First day, Garmin said no!, something wrong in the file. Fortunately, I discovered the track hidden under the map, and with the help and support of Kim, made it to the site. It didn't look promising, but at that time we didn't have much choice, so after a bit of help from a couple camping there, we unpacked and got the tents up. En suit camping? Oh yes, each plot had it's own facilities in a small shed, shower toilet, power points, perfect, all for the princely sum of 7.50 euros.
At Venlo, Kim's choice of site was closer, and as we were the only campers, we had our oun facilities again, there was also a bar on site, handy for a rewarding glass of fizzy yellow stuff. The following day was heating up, and my supply of sun block was rapidly being used up, thankfully bought the extra factor 50. Water was an issue, I have only one bottle carrier, not normally a problem, but we were stopping at supermarkets to buy water to fill our bottles. Adds to the tour, having a group photo taken at the request of the store manager outside the supermarket.......
In Koln it was good to ge together with all for the group dinner at Malzmuhle. Good food, dangerously efficient beer supply, but no tap water.....The walk through Koln at night showed that it deserved further investigation another time. The night at Koln was spent in the hostel, and was probably my worst nights sleep.
Arriving in Aachen, we lucky campers had a guide to take us to the campsite, about 3km from Fridays Central. We detoured past a supermarket to get emergency supplies, and arrived at a very nice site, with plenty of space, and a couple of other campers. The field is only for tents, no cars so it was quiet, and the facilities were a 100meters away. It was good after a hot day cycling and chatting to lie down on the grass and relax, eat, drink, and read. The next morning, a day off, I discovered a small shop on site selling fresh breads and cakes. Kim was not well, so I left a croixant and bread offering, and rode into town for the Cathedral tour. One of the highlights of the week, such a stunning building, with a great mix of ancient and modern images. Particularly loved the modern (1940's) geometric stained glass.
The ride to Leuven was my favourite day, not sure why, could be the beautiful places we stopped at or went through, Maastricht, Sint-Truiden, or that the bike and legs seemed to be working well. Such a joy leaving the jacket packed away, and being warm in glorious countryside. Did I see a hill, not really much of a climb, but the down seemed to go on and on. At Leuven, Fridays Central had been swamped by a fair, so it was changed, to a nearby point. The choice of campsites was very limited here, and the nearest I could find was another 9 miles, so do your stuff Garmin..........Half an hour later, and I arrived almost exactly back where I started from, the track had looped round, and left me retracing the line. D'oh! Turned round, and started again, discovered I had routed for walking, so ended up going through places I would certainly not have cycled, very narrow cobbled streets, allys, pavements, over a very narrow bridge, through an arched doorway and through a convent, (a couple of nuns smiled as I went past, it was pity I think). It was starting to get dark, the rain was coming down pretty hard, and the route forced me into a dark wood, bouncing over fallen sticks, rocks mud, leaves, more of a circus balancing trick than a bike ride. At last, a road. Torrential rain now, and the road seemed to go on and on. At last, the site. Dark, nobody about. Just at the point I was going to put the tent anywhere I could find, a man appeared, and guided me to the manager, who lead me to the front garden of the owner, who was away, and said I could camp on the grass, and use the awning at the front of his house to dry out. Perfect, I even managed to persuade him to give me a beer, very welcome, as 9 miles had turned into 15 miles.
Lovely ride in to Central the following day, I had discovered where the hills were hidden, and could see them properly, with the early morning mist resting in the valleys, very peaceful, another place to revisit. The stop at Mechelen, a very surprising town that we entered through a large gatehouse looking building, that hid a beautiful town the other side. I somehow managed to eat a gigantic portion of spaghetti icecream, easily enough for 4 people.
The group dinner in Gent was excellent. Really good food, and great company. I had to get back to Wales the following day, so collect my bike from the hostel where it was locked, and rode to the station. The train was 5.30am, and it was now 1.30am. The station closed, and I spent a couple of hours sleeping in a building site out of the rain nearby. I had some trouble buying the ticket to Brussels, couldn't find where to pay for the bike. The train was a double decker, and is very difficult to get on with a fully loaded recumbent, climbing up three steep steps. Couldn't find anywhere obvious to put the bike, so left it in front of the doors. Guard didn't seem to be bothered.
Booking in at Eurodispatch was easy, and before I had time for coffee, we were boarding, and 2h 10m later, in London, amazing. Not so good from there to home which took another 11 hours and nearly had me weeping in frustration, but thats another story.
So, I loved it. It doesn't worry me if the pace is slow or fast. If it's too fast, I will get left behind, and I willl catch up, eventually. No such thing as too slow, as it gives time to look around and explore. I never felt out of the loop, being in a field is my idea of bliss, rain or sun. The time we all meet up for meals was very good, but I never wished I could ride back into town to go to a bar etc. I valued Kims company, it's sometimes hard to be totally alone in a stange place. I enjoyed meeting everyone, it is such an enlightening experience, just cycling and chatting.
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