Susanna Aug. 16, 2021 Overijse to hotel in the middle of nowhere

Clouds in the sky at check-out pushed us to move the packing process as fast as possible to avoid getting wet. Big decisions (as in, what we might get rid of) were put off for now. 

There we were, cycling about and happy as can be, until it started raining. With rain, we need to be more careful on the road, but mainly, we are carrying instruments which should not get wet. Rain also puts campgrounds out of the question for this reason. But you know us, we came prepared with rain covers for the guitar and the cello. What we weren’t quite prepared for was the sky falling down on us. We didn’t plan either, for the Eurovelo or other cycling routes including a segment smack in the middle of a highway. There is actually a bicycle lane on the highway, so we ended up in an unprotected cycling lane, under the pouring rain, riding along cars speeding next to us–very scary. No pics or videos of those moments–too risky. And last, we didn’t plan on getting lost right when the rain got heavier, adding an extra 10 kms to our ride.
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Wet, covered in mud, tired, and hungry, we stopped at a small hotel along the way before it was dark. I booked it online for fear no one would let us enter their place in our state. The expression of the hotel manager when she saw us walk in–loaded with gear, wet, and muddy–is something to be remembered. Pretty much, her jaw dropped. But at this point, the reservation was thankfully paid for, so they had to let us in. We bathed, had a salad and a BIG order of fries, and got much needed rest. The guitar and the cello cover proved themselves not worthy of being carried along–both instruments took some water and humidity and we desperately needed to find a better way to bring them along safely. Horacio apologized to “Martita” and Sol kissed her cello, and luckily,  both instruments forgave and forgot and seem to be doing just fine. Phew.