A Christmas Facebook Miracle

Disclaimer: I am using a French keyboard so I will be making a lot of mistakes.

Nights on the road: 14
Nights payed for accomodation: 1
Nights sleeping in the snow: 1

I happened to get a facebook message the day before I was planning on leaving for Antwerp. Anton, an English/Dutch cyclist I took in for a night when he was touring through Noth America half a year earlier, saw my blog and invited me to join him for Christmas in Weert. Change of plans. At the end a miserable first day, I got a flat and, due to the cold, snapped all three of my tire levers and could not remove the tire (the metal wire inside had shrunk). I awoke Christmas morning under a cluster of trees in a field. Using a knife and a screwdriver, I managed to make my bike ridable, and by late afternoon I reached Weert.

My luck is incredible sometimes. Anton´s family was immensely generous and while I was dining on lobster and veal among other things (a cyclists wet dream), my bike passed the night safe from the elements in a garage next to a Ferrari. The next day, I made my way south. The cough that had been plaguing me since Rotterdam became more noticable. And during a fit of clearing my lungs that brought me out of deep thought, realized that I had been in Belgium for probably an hour. I cycled until about 8:00 (the sun sets about5:00) and, worried about what another night in the snow would do for the cough, I grabbed a hostel bed in Tongeren, the last city before the Flemish/French language divide. Unfortunately, my health was already on the decline and after a very short next day (20km) I reached Liege and I decided not to go any further. Lucky for me, within a half an hour in Liege, I met a very fun couple out on their walk who decided to give me a place for the night. We had a great dinner with their friend who cycled from Liege to Mali (the long way around). I am still having trouble imagining how a human being could cycle across D.R. Congo (east to west).

Anyway, after a miserable night of throat and lung pain, I am not fit to hop on a bicycle. Thankfully Brigitte and Charles are very understanding and allowing me to stay until I recover