I’m on a biking holiday — first time I’ve done such a thing. Here’s a short summary of what’s happened so far:
Day 11: Banneux – Troisvierges
Bike counter settings:
| begin: | 822km |
| end: | 892km |
| cumulative avg: | 18.94km/hr |
| route: | Haut-regard, Stoumont, Petit-Coo, Troisponts, Grand-Halleux, Vielsalm, Bovigny, Courtil, Gouvy, Haut-bellain, Bas-bellain, Troisvierges. |
On waking up, I could really feel my upper leg muscles. Must’ve been the two hours of uphill of the day before. Moreover, the saddle pain, which had always been looming as a vaguely distant and ominous threat, had begun manifesting. Nevertheless, nothing to be done for it but onwards.
Where the day before, I mostly followed the route I took coming (in Belgium that is), today I figured to deviate. Coming, I had followed the water. And it was nice and reasonably swift. But today, I’d be going uphill anyway, and there was a far more direct route to Stoumont (20km vs. 25km, according to google maps). So I opted for the more direct route. To my surprise, it did not go down. And more not-down. And even directions that can be described as “up”. Somehow, most of those “up”-like directions were nicer than the day before, and I managed around 15 an hour on those stretches.
I passed through Troisponts, and figured it was early but lunch could be had. However, the village did not seem to have a nice place for that (must’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere). So, I figured to try my luck in Vielsalm. On the way, I passed a Motor Inn (sort of a hostel for motors) opposite of a replica of the cave of Lourdes. Weird, but fun. But by then I kind of had had enough of the racing cars, the negligent driving, the general feeling of putting my life at risk just by being on the road in something not having four wheels and a cage construction. So once again I went on, and once again I failed to find a cosy place for lunch. Must be getting picky in my old age :)
Finally, in Courtil, I passed a brewery / restaurant called “Lupulus“. Since this was sort of the last possible stop in Belgium (and thus the last stop, since I had planned on taking the train from Troisvierges for a long time now, due to the body’s complaints as much as the desire to be home and have things over with), I stopped there. It didn’t look convincing from the outside, but I had a meal and a bit of juice, bought the local stuff for Aga, and marched on.
Within a few hundred meters, I realised something was wrong. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it felt like a “slag” (an aberration of the circle-shape of the rim of the rear wheel). However, glancing down, it did not seem to be that — the rim kept a straight line with every revolution. Nevertheless I could feel a definitive movement with every revolution. Crap.
I biked — carefully — onwards. As long as I was providing the power myself, it felt alright. But the downhill stretches, which previously had been joyful exercises in lazy acceleration, became frustrating events filled with worry and brakes. Going over 25, I could feel the wobble in the wheel, and the luggage’s effect on it, which seemed to amplify one another. Not Good!
Luckily it was not that far any more – another hour or so. Naturally, this cemented my plan to get on the train and not get off till Luxembourg city. Yes, I had made the provision for getting out sooner to enjoy a bit more of a ride, weather, bike, and physical state permitting, but “bike” was definitely not permitting, so no go.
I got back home, put the bike in the garage, and had a looooong shower. The next day, I limped my lame bike over to a workshop, where the problem turned out to be a rupture in the rear tyre. Big thanks Twan for diagnosing this over the phone in one go!
I got myself a new inner tube (never sure how much duress it had been under) and a new anti-leak tyre, and the mechanic put it on swiftly and expertly. Okay, it was quite a hassle for him, but he fixed a few other minor annoyances with the bike, so it is now yet again revisioned :)