Day seven

My journal calls this day six, but I finally figured out that I lost a day traveling across the Atlantic. or something...I woke up feeling more tired than refreshed. Just too sore to sleep well. Ended up sleeping on my stomach, which is something I couldn't do when I arrived here and it was the size of a basketball. I wrote in my journal:"The secret word for today is: sheepshit." And the secret word for yesterday was slugfest.....

While I slept, my tent was surrounded by these huge slimy dennisons of destruction. The picture fails to convey how big they are. As for the sheepshit.....I entered into a section of my route where the entire Fietspad surface was covered with the stuff. Not a square foot of clean pavement to be seen for miles.

My progress was also hampered somewhat by the nature of the beasts. They didn't want to get out of the way. I didn't want to start a stampede by spooking them so I crept along so as to minimize my disturbance. I packed up wet in the morning, planning on drying things out during the day, but ended up just setting up wet that evening and allowing the breeze to dry the rainfly out a bit. I rode all day without stopping for lunch or dinner. All day I rode through open sheep grazing with no viable place to stop. I camped around 6:30. It was a small place adjoining a farm, and though the owner wasn't there at present a camper assured me I could set up for the night and get squared up with the owner later.

I had some unsolicited assistance in setting up from this young feline, who was all over the top of the tent underneath the rainfly, and very curious about my velomobile as well.

I had exhausted my Appelbotter cookie supply during the day, and wished I had bought more of the big KitKat bars I found at the TankStation (gas station) That's where I stopped for pop and cigarettes (Marlboro) Mostly Coke. Pepsi was rare out in the boonies. It was the easiest choice for getting something quick without leaving the VM unattended for too long. A quiet, uneventful evening. Found the showers, and rested my tired old body. I was lost alot today; am I missing the signs, or are the signs missing? Lots of riding through the woods, sometimes on gravel. Tough going in the Versatile, pushing the two front tires with the rear drive wheel, while pulling the two trailer wheels through their own freshly formed furrows. I would ride for five miles through the woods, and come out in the middle of nowhere with no signs to tell you where to go, or help you figure out where you were. But hey, that's why it's an adventure. Somedays you eat good. Other days you go to bed a little hungry.

Here's a shot of one of the beautiful places I cycled through on my route. These are mapped out bikeroutes that can lead you all over the whole country. We are really missing the point of it all in this country.