Thorn Thunderstorm

Thorn to Eindhoven to Breda to Ossenbrecht

Day 72 - Tuesday - August 23
The thunderstorm crashed overhead starting at 1:30 am and lasted for a long time. Two strikes had to be right over us, they were so loud. The power went out after the second one. So our sound of the day came really, really early. The skies still looked a little unsettled when we left at 9:00 and there was water everywhere.

We passed fields of gladiolas, lilies and asparagas, dairies, horse farms and plant nurseries.

We had been watching this cloud approach and started looking for cover. This part of the road had a complete tree canopy so we upped the revolutions to get there fast then started putting on our raingear.

In a matter of a minute is was pitch black. It is about 10:15 in the morning in this picture and there was no camera malfunction. Doug pulled out the tent ground cloth which we put over us with our backs to the wind. We stood that way for 15 minutes in the noisy darkness but relatively dry and as protected as we could be under the circumstances.

Free range chickens not hiding from the storm.

We were really thankful that we weren't riding through here when that storm hit as the heather is too short even for Donna to hide under.

Dirt and water...the gear guy is going to have a lot of work to do.

We couldn't see the bottom and we don't think the Ortlieb panniers will float the bikes.

This is part of the DeGroote Peel National Park. The area was used to harvest peat in the past. Now it is known for good bird-watching and hiking.

The foresters are happy now. 

We rarely have to interact with this other ecosystem.

Back in a big town after all day in the wilds of southwestern Netherlands.....quite the contrast. There really isn't urban sprawl here the way there is in many parts of the U.S. Often the change from country to city is quite abrupt.

Day 73 - Wednesday - August 24
Our view of the mall in front of the central train station. Those bullet shaped  structures are access points for bicycles to underground bike parking.

Back into the wild. Is it my imagination or are the paths getting narrower?

These benches show up at the handiest times....like lunch.

Hilvanbeek

Young people getting out of the rain but not their horses.

This area had just been thinned, a lot easier to do when the ground is so flat.

It is always nice to come across these signposts and know that we are still headed in the right direction, especially since the sun hasn't been a very good clue lately.

A different way to cut the grass in Breda!

High humidity calls for extreme measures when it comes to drying our clothes.

Day 74 - Thursday - August 25
The place we stayed last night was a couple miles off the route next to a college. We are getting better at finding our way back to the national route we've been following.

In this case, however, we aren't sure the route is going to work, especially as wet as its been..

A typical and fairly common thatched roof.

The moss is really happy with this weather.

The strawberries not so happy.

Stopped at a roadside cafe outside Moeren for breakfast #2. 

We chatted with this gentleman for a half hour. He had been to Detroit and Ontario, Canada. He had stories he wanted to tell, especially when he found out Doug grew up in the Detroit area. Forgot to get his name but he was so friendly.

We've seen these same species of deer at several farms.

We get to go to Belgium again! We are not sure what good a gate at the border really does on a bike path. At least we didn't need the GPS to tell us we had crossed.

We passed a lot of active logging this afternoon. The machines are huge. They use steel plates on the roads to deal with the sandy wet roads but it was still pretty messy.

Ossenbrecht had just started school this week. This was an orientation activity that was taking place all over town. We were a little surprised when the sunflower first showed up outside our window!

There was a well-stocked bike shop in town where Doug found new cleats and Donna got a new water bottle.... the scum had won the war despite her best efforts at keeping the gross stuff at bay. Powerade is a great medium for growing things.