I’m going to start writing this as if I don’t know how it turns out! I slept very well after watching endless Top Gear on the Top Gear channel – the race across London is still good, and the “Garden Party” to introduce a new reasonably price car was very funny. With these modern TVs it is hard to find ordinary telly (the only other thing I found was Red Bull TV – overall a poor choice). Back in the day, when I worked in Holland, a lot of the TV was in English, albeit “The Bill” was renamed “The Bobbies”, and none of the Dutch people I knew could make head or tails of “Only Fools and Horses” despite being on tv with sub titles. We had to teach them cockney rhyming slang. Anyway, I slept well and was looking forward to the amazing breakfast.

It didn’t disappoint – I’d really recommend the Land of Tir Nan Og Stables. My plan today was to cycle 80 km to Geilenkirchen in Germany. This involved cycling through a thin slither of the Netherlands, which links Maastricht to the rest of Holland. I headed off after throwing the rope toy for the dog a few (dozen) times, (while repairing the last puncture). My penultimate throw ended up on a roof with the dog charging all around the building trying to find it. I just managed to reach it with my bike pump, so I thought it was time to leave.

The cycling around here is really superb with marked routes everywhere. I passed a sign proclaiming Limberg as a cycling paradise, it would be hard to disagree.

After cycling through lots of woods, on excellent cycleways, while the cars (if there had been  any) would be on dirt roads, there was a huge sculpture of a Butterfly and Sea Mine. I stopped to take some pictures. The Sea Mine was the biggest bug hotel I’ve ever seen!

I took the opportunity to push my tyre, which seemed slightly softer. It was a nice place to stop, with a bench, so I thought I’d do a proper investigation.

The “minor issue with my bike” that I haven’t been mentioning in my blog, is that my rear wheel rim is starting to wear through. I first noticed it while waiting for my welding to be done in Hythe, and its been getting gradually worse. I’ve been thinking that the punctures may be caused by small pieces of metal from the rim. Today it is much worse, but after getting they tyre off, I found a tiny piece of wire in the tread. It was so small I’m not surprised I missed it last time. I couldn’t seem to remove it, my pliers wouldn’t grab it and I couldn’t push it through in either direction. I wonder if it is part of the tyre carcass. Luckily, I have a spare tyre which I put on. It is a folding one, which are sometimes a bit tricky, but it went on well and pumped up to 100 psi no problem. The rim wear problem certainly looked worse, but seemed to be holding up.

I headed off into Lommel, which has a station, but I felt confident with the new tyre I should be able to get today done. My back wheel had different ideas. On Karrestraat, I stopped to check, it was still ok but the spokes seemed to be a bit loose.  A bit further down Karrestraat, with the first junction with Grote Hoef, my wheel was making too much noise and flapping about everywhere. The rim had split through on both sides over about a quarter of the circumference,  it wasn’t going to last any longer. Time to stop. I will start again from here at some point, so for the record my most easterly point was – ///sardine.rabble.navigate – using “In three words”.

A quick look at the map showed a McDonalds 1.2 kilometres in a westerly direction so I pushed the bike there to ponder. I had two plans, firstly Flixbus into London. I’ve used it before from Brussels, and I knew my luggage would be fine, and maybe just take the folded bike, but I didn’tknow where I could catch one. Or, getting to Brussels for the Eurostar, Lommel had a station so getting to Brussels seemed logical. Flying seemed out of the equation, maybe if I had got into Germany, getting Bonn or somewhere would be feasible. I discounted getting the wheel repaired, a 520 rim is so unusual it would likely take days, and in the Airnimal circles, people had been fitting 507 rims (and new brake parts) which allows fitting 32mm tyres. This should improve comfort over the 25mm (or the new one was 23mm). I’d never be able to get this upgrade in Belgium.

I had to walk a couple of kilometres to the station. All the way I was thinking of what things I could loose out of my luggage. In the end, it was food and toiletries that had to go. I think I had a lot of carrying and anything to make the overall load lighter. I managed to work out the train booking app (despite it insisting I had a login – I might have – but never sending the forgotten email message) and buy tickets for Brussels- Midi, and I only had to change one at Lier. I had to also buy a ticket for my bicycle. If I’d folded it, it would have been free.

The train arrived on time, and I managed to get my bike with panniers up the steep steps to the bicycle (and disabled!!!) area. There is no way a wheelchair is getting up there! There was a guy, with an incredibly heavy folding electric bike, sat in the flip up seats for the bikes making sandwiches. He just made a load of fuss, but eventually I got my bike in and left him to faffling around dropping bread while his bike kept springing open from its fold and falling on the floor. Once the bike was on I could relax. The bike was going to be the main headache on this journey. Part of the journey passed the endless cycleways next to the railway, its much easier by train.

At Lier, I had to change platforms, and a load of steps, in a rush, was a bit of an ordeal. I nearly slipped going up, and took more care for the rest. This train had a huge bike compartment which was a massive relief, only one more train to worry about.

I carried the bike off the train at Brussels Midi station, and found a lift (hurrah!) right at the end of the platform to take me to the (deserted) concourse which runs underneath all 22 platforms. I had to walk for a bit to find the main area. It was a bit tiresome trying to thread the bike through other passengers milling everywhere. I found the Eurostar check in area and then looked for a quiet corner where I could dismantle my bike.

Once I’d finished, I couldn’t quite get the zip of the bag closed. I have fitted it all in before, for baggage handlers or for posting, but asked at the check in who said it was fine open. This was good news as it saved a repack and gave me time for (what I thought) was a well deserved beer. I seemed to have pulled of a good self rescue! The check-in was deserted for the 17:00 train, which was good as the bags are very heavy and bulky making negotiating the gates tricky. The bike bag fitted through the scanner, but I did worry about my tools and Swiss army knife – given my previous experiences. I put my tool pack on separately and the security operator wanted to check my multi tool, to make sure the blade didn’t lock, which was fine and let it through. I’m really glad I didn’t bury it deep in a bag, which would have increased my stress levels considerably. Passport control was the final barrier, had the Policeman on the Boulogne quayside entered the photo he took of my passport into the “online system”? I needed to give fingerprints and Europe let me leave, and the British let me in. The logistics barriers were tumbling!

Getting on the train was a breeze. When the train came in, from Amsterdam I think, Coach 9 stopped right by the escalator. The luggage rack was right by the door and had a perfect bike bag gap. The panniers fitted on a higher rack and my seat was right next to that. It was all pretty unbelievable.

It wasn’t so smooth at London St Pancras. I had to carry the bags a long way, but frequent stops and switching hands saw me on the Thameslink home. I resorted to a taxi from the station and got home at 19:46.

This ride will be continued. I’ve learnt a lot from this section, especially fully assembled bikes can be carried between London and Brussels* for a modest sum. This makes getting back to my finish point fairly easy! (*For some reason its only between these stations – but won’t complain). Upgrades to my Airnimal bike are already planned, but I’ll have to decide how to approach the next section of Heading East.