#19 - Two decisions
I’ve mentioned it before, and it will be a big part of my progress: I have to adapt to what my body tells me. And to the circumstances of course. For the past month or so, I have been planning two big milestones: The Cyclon Track open ride on a formula one circuit, and my first real tour in the Dutch province of Zeeland.
The Cyclon Track event may be disturbed by our rather wet Belgian summers, it seems. At the moment, about 10 mm of rain is predicted for next Tuesday. I have decided to wait for the day itself, before I decide to go or not. I have a see-through rain cover, that protects most of my lower body, but it won’t keep my torso dry. A waterproof coat may help, but it won’t be as comfortable to ride. As things stand right now, I’m still planning to go, and put at least one lap in. I’m looking forward to test my legs on the climbs, to fly down the hillsides on the descends and I’m not willing to postpone this chance, unless the weather really turns for the worse.
This was the van when I bought it.
For the Zeeland tour I am planning, I decided to change the concept slightly. I’m still going to in the very near future. Again, the weather forecast will be a deciding factor in this too. But where I was planning to travel by tent, I will now change that to my camper. Camper may be a slightly optimistic description for the beast on wheels. It started out as a van for a furniture company in 1999. Later on, it was modified by someone who kept his sledge dogs in the back part, while he and his wife slept in the front for events. By now, I have removed the dividing wall, and renewed the cladding on the walls in the back. Very soon, I will add a raised double bed, under which I can then park my trike, inside the van. It will all be very basic, and I will have to sort out the electrics at a later time. But using the van as the epicenter of my tour, has a couple of immediate effects.
I don’t have to search for a sleeping spot every day. This gives me more time to ride every day. I can take things a little slower, without having to worry about a good spot. The added flexibility will definitely help me on my first tour.
I will have a bit more comfort, sleeping in an insulated van, rather than a tent. More space, warmer, and I’ll even have some room to dry out clothes that may have gotten wet that day.
Circling from and to the van every day, eliminates most of the bottlenecks I found in the original tourplan. There were some boat crossings I had to take in account, where I needed to be at specific times. Especially near the end of long rides, that was hard to estimate. definitely, since I can’t really predict my average speed yet, taking in account the weather, my packings, and the level of tiredness.
So there we are. The plans are still very much a thing. And they are happening. All be it in a slightly changed way.
