Day Six

May 22, 2025

18/05/25 - Day Six

I said goodbye to Jacob first thing and wished him luck with his marathon. He had left some hagel slag (classic Dutch food of bread and butter with chocolate sprinkles) out for me for breakfast. I soon tucked into a couple of rounds of that and Bram made me a coffee. We chatted as we ate, but soon he had to leave as well. I was left to myself and was blown away by the hospitality they had showed me so thanks again fellas! In the West, this is not so commonplace, but maybe it just needs a medium (like 'welcometomygarden') to shine forth!

I cycled to Utrecht Centrum and enjoyed another coffee whilst I reflected on the day ahead. Whilst not feeling amazing, my knee was rideable and so the fun of leaving Utrecht unfolded. At 4 points I was redirected by the marathon, only to hit it again. Following some locals I cut behind a barrier and down the roadside where runners were going to opposite way. It was now a real life game of crossy road. The consequences of which involved decking a tired, and dare I say it, out-of-shape person, since the 2:30 pacer had just run by. I hit a gap and slipped through with my KD still at zero. Phew. I twice more had to pull the escapade in order to leave the city. In the meantime I was shouted at by a very angry steward who certainly didn’t appreciate my cute but obnoxiously English “sorry!”.

The day was rather uneventful for the duration. Cruising through the forested national parks was a nice change of scenery and with plenty of stops to nurse my wounded limb - motion is lotion afterall - I made it to wageningen, a small university city. Thinking I deserved a beer, I hopped onto google maps. The Drunk Slug Tavern was the first to come up, a student run pub/bar set in student accommodation. With licensing tenuous, and the reviews they had on their website (https://www.thedrunkslugtavern.nl) I couldn’t resist checking it out this hippy free-for-all. Unfortunately it was either too early or closed, being a Sunday, as there wasn’t any activity going on.

I went into town instead and had a drink there. It started to rain almost immediately, so dispatched my beer and set off for a national forest I had spied on maps a couple of miles away. Luckily the rain eased as quickly as it had set on. Not long after searching I found an enchanted little spot down a secret path and set camp.

It’s very interesting to look back and see how many ups and downs in mood and emotion you have in just one day. This evening was the first time I felt lonely, and in that moment the whole day lost its point somewhat. Whereas now when I’m writing this I’m buzzing again, safe in my tent. The procedure of finding camp, making camp, cooking, washing up, stretching and now writing is very therapeutic. Meditative. In those moments I thought of not much else. Feelings don’t last, they’re transient, if only you can hold on in the darker times you will feel and think differently again.