Day 10, Thursday: 99,98 km, Dijon to Melay.
What’s new:
I don’t care what’s new because everything is wet!
Tool of the
day: Waterproof saddlebags. At least I still have some dry clothes to wear in
bed.
Hero of the
day: Lady with bright lipstick.
Soundtrack
(listen to this when you read my post): Clueso - Ey der Regen
I crossed
three “départments” today and it rained in all three of these.
I was a
living sponge: The lady wearing bright lipstick behind the counter of the
chocolate store felt so sorry for me, she offered me some free coffee. When I
left the little shop, there was a puddle where I had just stood.
She wasn’t
the only one who felt bad for me today. Everyone who saw me, stared at me with
a mixture of sympathy and confusion. “Who bikes in this rain? This is no fun! Go
home, girl!”
I would
have. There just wasn’t really a place to go, except of going forward. I was
biking on countryside streets and I really didn’t know what to do. If I stop,
who tells me the weather will be better tomorrow? Who would let me in their
house? Why does Steve not have a roof?
 |
| A picture from another day - a day when there was at least a litle bit of light (and a day my phone still worked...) |
Suddenly,
it hit me though: This is it, right here, this is part of doing such a trip.
This
biking thing might be one of the biggest things I’ll ever do, and biking all
day in the rain belongs to it. I am simply being confronted with the
uncomfortable part of my adventure. But I knew before I started this that this
would be hard work, and I was also aware of the fact that I can’t control the
weather.
(This
sounds like I didn’t mind being wet all day. Believe me, I was not happy today
and I wanted to stop all day long. I was cold and miserable and “triste”..)
For all
these people in their dry cars, I was just a very unfortuntate girl in the
rain. All they could see is a lonesome cowboy on a bike, a girl trying to make
her way up the hill before she gets washed back down.
But they
don’t know about the 10 crazy-adventorous days full of life that lie behind me. They can’t see that
there are picutres of nature in my head I will think of when real life will get
on my nerves. If they knew that and looked at me again, they would see someone living their dream. Even if it rains.
A rainy day
in my normal, every day life (I am not talking about stormy days with hail and
thunder.) is a day where I have a huge misunderstanding with a friend, or having
to study for three months straight, or being sick.
But all of
these rainy life days are part of this one life I get to live. These days occur
because I have friends, because I am a student, because I have a body. These
sometimes miserable days still get me where I want to go to, they still belong
to this one life I was given. This is it, right there. We are right in the
middle of it, and even though there might sometimes be a lot of rain (or hills
or flat tires), it’s all part of it. Of this adventure called life.
Let me tell you this: It might
look like (and feel like) you are the most pitiful person on the road, but
don’t forget: You are not only the person in the rain jacket, you have also
come from somehwere and you are going somewhere.
(Just make
sure you know where you are going. But we will talk about that on this blog tomorrow :))
-----
This afternoon, I picked this Chateau in Melay to be my reward if I make it
this far. I made it – and it’s charming! I have a huuuuuge room with a huuuuge
bed, and at dinner, the lady of the house served us amazing homecooked food. Us, that’s four elderly Dutch couples and I. They spoke German, just for me,
and I will fall asleep with their darling Dutch accent in my head...
But:
Even though
I made it here - my phone didn’t make it. It died in the rain, 3 km before Melay. There is no hope.
It’s bad,
it’s really bad. I use it to navigate and to find a place to sleep. I don’t
think it has fully hit me yet, but tomorrow will be .. a big challenge. Good thing my
French is slowly improving... ;)
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