Ghent to Het Leen

Friday October 19, 2018, 21 miles (34 km) - Total so far: 7,042 miles

(11,333 km)

With a very short day ahead of us, we had a leisurely start at the campsite, managing to get the tent almost dry, for the first time in a while. We then headed into Ghent for a coffee - nice to see a bit more of the city (if not the pretty bit!) and to feel like we’ve got to know it a little bit at least. We hope to return - perhaps with a bt more money to spend!!

We shopped at a handy Delhaize, then had our last ‘hoorah’ using the node system. It made for a hilariously wiggly route, but kept us mostly on quiet roads and cycle paths (albeit with some bumpy roads and really bad gravel for a short section).

We’d located the Het Leen bivakzone on our Lezyne app and google maps, and also followed the instructions from the bivakzone.be website. It’s a newer site so doesn’t yet appear on openstreetmap etc. The approach was more rustic than some we’ve been to, and it certainly feels further from civilisation. It’s a nice spot though, with decent grass, a water pump (not for drinking and a very funny colour) and a pit toilet. We had the place to ourselves….until about an hour ago, when a lady arrived with her two kids. All on bikes, kids must be about 10 and 8 but possibly younger. How cool is that, after school on a Friday?? We chatted to them for a bit - they live 1km away and only just discovered the bivakzone.

It’s a bit chilly tonight so we’re holed up in the tent at 7.30pm! Long day tomorrow….100+ km for the first time since Asia…..to Dunkirk, ready for our ferry! Eeek.

Our (short!) route from today: https://www.strava.com/activities/1914279439