Starting my way to Compostela, doing some solo female bike tourinG! Day 1 - 4 #compostela
I got my first stamp hi we are Poefi and Kaat and we are from Steps by Kaatje or should I say Wheels by Kaatje because we just started our trip to Santiago de Compostela our first part the biking trip through France so my bike is ready Poefi is ready I think I'm ready and I got my first stamp in my little booklet to prove that I go to Compostela all by myself on my own power so I think I'm ready to go so let's start come on poofy we're going I can’t believe that this day is finally here I've been thinking about doing this for like 10 years so it's really weird that I’m finally on this bike and going I know it's not like I planned doing the whole trip you know all the way to Santiago Compostela in one trip but I'm so happy with the three weeks I have now so just gonna be perfect forget about it being perfect because I got sick about three weeks ago and I'm still a little bit struggling with it but I got some antibiotics so it's kind of under control but instead of really planning to go to the Pyrenees in three weeks I'm just gonna go as far as I can get in three weeks that sounds I think better that way I can enjoy the trip and that's in fact all where it's all about all right okay so we'll just see I'm going for 50 kilometers today I think that's gonna ok perfect spot for a break I bought myself a Coke here and I have a little sandwich for lunch so that's what we're gonna do here and then I'll just relax it's great for kids here as well this has really been a long time ago this is great riding because we're following this old railroad track and this one is going all the way to Namen Namur and so today I'm gonna stay on this one almost until where I'm going to sleep tonight and then tomorrow I'll pick up this Trail again and go to Namen where I'll normally will be following the river it's not too bad you know those old railroad tracks they're not completely flat but they don't have a lot of ups and downs so nice This is the old railroad track, the Ravel, Ligne 147, that’s what we’re following so Namur is about 38 kilometers left to go but that's partially for tomorrow okay Poefi what do you think of our first day it was great I really liked it we had sun almost the whole time maybe a little bit cold but the trails were wonderful they were all almost only bike trails that's really great I really loved it yeah that's right we had really good trails it was fun we did pretty good we did finally about 48 kilometers which is good very good and so now I'm arriving at my uncle's place that's where I'm going to stay tonight so that's gonna be fun as well and I'm glad I made it and I'll see you guys I think tomorrow morning good night but not yet it's only 4 30. oh yeah that's too early okay all right see you guys in the morning sure yeah day two of my bike adventure and I must say it's surprisingly beautiful today the sun is shining and it should stay okay during the day with its clouds and sun so I'm looking forward to that so how did I go last night it was really fun to see my uncle we went to dinner together we had a really great dinner it was delicious and also in the car when we went there I got to meet this really old teddy bear it was a hundred years old that's old Isn't it Poefi oh yeah very old so I think I thought that was cute and I had a really good night's sleep I was pampered like they say this morning I had breakfast I even got myself a packed lunch so I'm all set for adventure today so what do you think Poefi are you ready to go all right so we'll see how far we get today I haven't planned exactly how far or where I want to go we'll just have to see and see what we get all right but let's start going come on Poefi we're going I'm starting today again on the old railroad the Ravel and so that's well not too hard goes up a little goes down a little but never really very hard so the first I think 20 kilometers shouldn't be too hard got my second stamp here at Namur and at here at Tourist office at the train station so that's where you can get it And this the river Samber, la Sambre, and it goes into the Maas la Meuse and we will be following the Maas or la Meuse upstream this is nice and flat only the wind is blowing the wrong direction this is the first sign I'm running into I'm on the right way yes I'm making this stop here in Leffe which is quite known it's an Abbey and they used to brew their own beer here Leffe the beer is still made but they don't make it over here anymore and it was quite a famous stop on the way to Compostela because you could stay here at the Abbey with the monks but they don't do that anymore but yeah anyway I wanted to make a little stop and I wanted to get a stamp here but the office is closed at one o'clock but I got lucky because somebody else just went in and I got second stamp today here from the Abbey of Leffe something you might not know about Dinant is that this is the hometown of Adolphe Sax and guess what he made he made a first saxophone you have one right behind me here and there are some more over there over there so Dinant is full of saxophones this is an important Milestone on my trip over there is Belgium and over there is France so let's go we're gonna cycle into France here I am at the church of Chooz I don't know exactly how to pronounce it but it should be correct and so we arrived after a long day of cycling I think I did about 89 kilometers which was really a bit more than I planned on doing but it's gonna rain tomorrow and tonight so I booked myself a little hotel right down here with a small room not too expensive so I'm gonna sleep inside tonight which is going to be comfortable and that way I can start tomorrow and also I can maybe do a shorter day tomorrow which is nice because the third day that's always the hardest well I think so anyway all right so but today well we had a lot of the old railroad trails and then we had usually a nice Trail next to the river which was really nice I had a bit of headwind but not all the time because the river doesn't go straight it goes like this so I had wind no wind, wind, no wind that was ok and otherwise I had about 10 kilometers that I had to follow the regular road and that was kind of dangerous because there's not that much room and at one point there was this motorcycle passing me and at the same time there was a car passing the motorcycle they were going at a really high speed that was really dangerous I kind of go into what's this but okay I made it so we are okay so tonight I got my dinner already ordered I think it's gonna be good and I'm gonna relax because I need it right now and tomorrow morning you'll probably see me in a lot of rain gear and I'll probably won't be filming that much we'll see all right so but for now I'm leaving you guys and I see you in the morning good night it's good morning this is day three of my cycling trip and I'm really excited although it's a rainy day but I'm completely dressed up for rain so I think I'm going to be able to handle it I even have gloves where I put a waterproof stuff over there over my shoes I have a waterproof layer so waterproof pants waterproof jacket so I should be all right did I sleep okay oh yeah I slept really good and I had the a perfect dinner I had this Chef cooking a dinner only for me because I was the only guest here so and I had asparagus freshly from the field and wow they were just delicious so I'm really ready to go so come on let's go for today oh what am I going to do today well I'm gonna follow the Maas the river again for another 75 kilometers on the trail the green trail which is really made for cyclers so I think it's going to be nice and hopefully quick come on for the moment it's pretty boring and I'm not advancing as fast as I would like to I guess that's the third day syndrome everything is a bit heavier on the legs and all that but at least for the moment lit’s dry, don’t know for how long I shouldn't have said anything but instead of my raincoat I'm getting my Cape out because it's so hot with a raincoat so and I have my overshoes on although I shouldn't get wet feet because I have waterproof socks what do you think ready to go I feel like a tent flapping in the Wind I hope it will keep me dry a little bit First technical problem, my chain fell off, I think I'll be fine just a little bit dirty the green line that's what I'm following in it's 130 kilometers following down the Maas and so I started here yesterday at Givet when I crossed the border and I slept here in Chooz and now I'm over here at Revin and I'm continuing today I hope to Charleville-Mézières so it's a pretty good trail it goes a bit more up and down than it did yesterday but I guess yeah I'll make it I've done about 35 kilometers up until now I had quite a funny lunch break and I was this guy Rocco Le Petit and he came up to me to say hi and he kept on talking the whole time so I got kind of distracted so I cut my finger instead of cutting my bread and then when we I left I forgot to put on the straps for my bag and so the straps went into the wheels and got stuck and then he helped me and he repaired it for me so I'm already set to go for the next I think another 40 kilometers or something yep this is just what I needed cheers got my stamp for today here I am at Charlesville-Mézières I did about 77 kilometers which is more than I was in for today but this afternoon as you can tell the sun came out so it wasn't that bad anymore to cycle so now I booked myself a room so that's where i’m gonna stay tonight and I think I'll see you guys in the morning right this is day four of my cycling trip and I'm leaving Charleville-Mézières and I'm gonna try to reach Chalons-en-Champagne tomorrow but we'll see how it all goes I had a good night I went out for dinner which was really good I think Charleville-Mézières is really a nice city so worth a visit and to stay a bit longer but I'm not going to do that so for now I'm just gonna hop on my bike as far I can hop on my fourth day but we'll see and I'll see how it all goes and Poefi is really happy today because he can sit on the front of my bike again after being in my bag yesterday because of the rain so he's really happy about that Yeah I ’m happy now this is going up I had to get off okay today it's a lot more up and down than it was the last few days so I think today it's gonna be hard that's better what an amazing Church in the middle of nowhere I'm trying to go in but I the one door I found is locked so I don't think it's gonna work but still it's a good place to have my lunch I did about 80 kilometers and I’m at Bétheniville and I found this pharmacy open which is good because I needed some disinfectation and some extra strips for my poor thumb which is hurting I need to take really good care of it and I didn't think it was going to be open on a Saturday so but I was lucky it was and so since I haven't found anything open today I asked him to stamp my little booklet so I have the pharmacy in my credential booklet for today so he also filled up my water so the only thing I have left to do is go and find myself a camp spot Poef and I we found ourselves a little spot in the woods I think we will be safe here and it will be okay to pitch our tent today I did 83 kilometers which is pretty good I think it was a lot more up and down than it was the days before and sometimes it was really kind of steep so I think I got off my bike like about five times but okay well I'm still going so that's the most important thing and so tonight I'm gonna make myself my dinner I have water so I'm just going to be fine so what do you think are we set for camp yeah Poefi will enjoy having a camp out so so will I, I hope but this will be it for the first four days of my trip I'm gonna finish the video here that way it's not gonna be really too long and so tomorrow I'm starting again I should be passing by Chalons-en-Champagne and after that Troyes but that will be for the next part so I hope you're gonna be joining me again so if you want to make sure not to miss it subscribe and ring the bell that way you get a notification when I put up a video all right so but for now I'm saying goodbye and I'm going to set up camp cook and go to sleep early all right bye
2023-05-10 00:05
