Tuesday 30th September 2014 - Croissant o'clock. Nom nom. Some tuc (bacon ones) and Philadelphia. Tried to eat the wee tin of tuna I had bought yesterday, but it had lots of dark red bits and slug like gloop on it, so only managed half. Vomit!
Left campsite about 1pm. Should be handy enough 70 odd km to Basel. Now following the Eurovelo route which is pretty well signposted.
About 2km later I've lost the signposts.
Backtrack to the last sign, yes if definitely pointed straight across that roundabout. Hmm...look around and see some bicycles painted on the ground heading left from the roundabout. I'll follow them, ah EV sign, back on track.
Cycled through field roads, but they're tarmaced so good surface. Past fields and fields of corn. Very flat so not much to see. Lots of flies and wriggly things on the ground.
It was one of those days like you're the last person on earth. It was overcast, not dark, not bright. Very still and calm and quiet. No one in the fields, or houses, or villages I passed through. Bit odd. Like time was standing still.
Stopped at some picnic benches under a water tower for a bite to eat. More cereal bars and chocolate biscuits. It also had a water pump beside it. Went and tried it out and it was working. My bottles were full however, for a change.
More cycling on, now cycle path just beside the road from village to village, along the D468 just west of the Grand Canal d'Alsace. Time for a little music I think. Cycled on to the tunes of Now Thats What I Call Running, haha, sometimes I just feel like a plastic bag!!
Passed a pizza shop. It was closed.
More cycling, back to the canal now.
Saw the biggest rat ever. It was actually more a cross between a rat, a guinea pig and an otter. Got a photo, it wasn't scared of me and just sat there munching away.
The black clouds that have been following me have started to unload their water.
Bridge 2km, hopefully it'll not pelt down until then. Get there, stop, it stops. Wait, eat, nothing. Pack up and start, it starts. Rain jacket on.
Just a shower but looking up the clouds are going the way I'm going. Pass a bird hide, ah ha. Stopped and turned back to it and sat for over an hour waiting for the rain to stop.
The ground is full of puddles now too, so even when it stops and I go, everything is gonna get mucky and wet.
Saw a stork I think, it caught a couple of fish, so that was nice. Charged phone, wrote this, filed my nails, ate some cereal bars. Drank some water. Looked at the rain, which wasn't taking time to come down.
I'm only about 4km from the Swiss border. So close, but so far.
7pm just have to go. Full waterproofs on.
It's raining, there's wet muddy gravel over me and the bike and the cycle signs have disappeared. Its dark.
Make it through the Swiss border into city chaos and road works. Which way??
Follow a main road heading into the city. There's road works, trams, buses, bikes, cars and people. Going in all directions. The traffic light system is a complete mystery to me. White straight flashing lights, flashing orange lights, what's the problem with stop, ready, go lights. Cyclists seem to just ride on and weave through traffic. Trams keep sneaking up on me.
Nice strip of new tarmac for a while, but the road is wet and there's only a few inches between tram line and curb. Really don't want to catch my wheel on, or in, the slippy tracks.
At one stage a tram, they have drivers thankfully, had to stop so I could get off the road out of its way. The ones in Oostende left room for cyclists.
Pure nightmare. Kept stopping every few 100 metres to check map to hostel and try to figure out the best route there. Just totally not used to cycling in cities, with trams, at night, in the wet, without having a clue where I'm going!
Finally find hostel, without being squished at 9pm. Result. They have a bed. Great.
Basel Back Pack hostel, fab place. Good vibe. Lovely dorms and the most comfortable hostel bed I've slept in since leaving home.
Expensive yes, but I'm going to stay another night I think. It's worth it.
Day 32 - 30.09.14
Neuf-Brisach, France to Basel, Switzerland
1pm to 9pm
4hr 25min cycling
70.2km
1761 calories
648 metres asc
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