I posted this on Twitter on the morning of Day 6: « Morning massage of neck, shoulders, knees and biceps because it worked so well yesterday! It really delayed the onset of pain and made it less severe ». But I don’t remember any pain at all… The mind is selective when it wants to be.
Based on my experience in 2021, I knew that in the first 20km of the day, there would be a bit of a climb. Oh, nothing too dramatic, but when you’ve just ridden 600km on flat ground, it’s surprising. Delphine and I are rapidly splitted because I’m really a bad climber. In Zandvoort, we find a place to refuel, as we’d run out of food following the pizza fiasco of the previous day. Delphine had a bit of trouble that morning, and seeing a train station didn’t help. I know the feeling and it’s painful. We chat over breakfast and then set off again at our own pace. The rest of the journey is flatter and more dune-like, so it’s quite bucolic. As we approach La Haye, I come across an open ginguette. Hop, pee break. I look on the tracker and see that Delphine is only one kilometer behind. I have just enough time to go to the toilet and order a coffee for her when she’s already there. She arrives in the company of Werner, who has been riding with her for some time now. He’s not going to stop and go away. I continue on my way while Delphine stops.
There’s no denying it, when you don’t have a big storm on your head, it’s a lot easier to get through a city! The Hague is much nicer in 2022… Between The Hague and Hoek van Holland, I’m rediscovering the country. Nothing stirs the slightest memory here. Well, it was a complicated end to the day in 2021, and now I’m under blue skies and sunshine, and it’s mid-morning. Approaching Rotterdam, I find a bench. Once again, Delphine arrives fairly quickly and we have lunch together. It’s like being on vacation! At this point, she tells me she can’t find a room for the evening. I show her my B&B where there seems to be one still available, so she rushes off to make a reservation. Once we’ve eaten our sandwiches, we’re off to Rotterdam. I go ahead. I pass Géraldine on a McDonald’s terrace. I hadn’t seen her for two days.
In 2021, I arrived in Rotterdam late in the evening and the arrival was a mess. Now I’m in the midday rush hour and it’s not much better. There are too many people, too much noise and too many red lights. Crossing the industrial estate and then the long straight stretch along the freeway is as horrible as ever. I can’t wait to get back to greenery. I breathe a sigh of relief when that happens, but I grit my teeth at the same time as the headwind is annoying. It’s going to be a tough few kilometers.
I find a public toilet and when I come out, Géraldine is there! We ride together for an hour before Els catches up. Géraldine takes a break and I continue with Els. We spend four hours chatting and moving forward without a break. 100km without a break, a new record for me. A new record, but also a new stupid thing not to do: I’ve hardly eaten or drunk anything in that time… I feel a great chill as we stop at an open bridge. I’m going to eat and drink a lot at once. My stomach won’t like it, but I feel better. The weather is changing and the sky is becoming threatening. We stop to put on rain gears and Géraldine catches up.
Els will go ahead and I’ll continue on the Delta plan with Géraldine. There’s a monstrous amount of mist! I’ll be giving the middle finger to the lock that made me crack up in 2021. It’ll make Géraldine laugh, but it’s a real relief for me to feel better.
The fog thickens and we are forced to turn on our headlights. We can’t see 5m in front of us. Where has the sun gone? Géraldine continues on her way while I reach my destination. Delphine will arrive later.
The landlady offers to make us breakfast at 5am when we tell her we’ll leaving at 6am. Thanks to her, it helps to start the day with a full belly.
