We woke about 7am to the sounds of pitter patter on the tent. Bugger! I got on the phone and checked the weather, and it said no rain today, so what is this then? It's definitely rain! So we just laid in bed until it stopped, then a bit more. Finally we got up and ate the rest of the chocolate muesli, had a coffee and went about drying and packing the stuff.
Finally getting out of there around 11am, this is getting silly, we got straight onto a RAVel (Belgium cycle path), which lasted for about 20kms and followed the La Lesse river. We think it must of been an old rail line. It was great, easy and pretty. We found an old concrete bench to have a snack, then carried on.
Glory riding, on the RAVel 2.
Cute little farmhouse along our trail. So nice without any hills.
Even had cool tunnels to ride through. We needed our lights on though.
So far, so good, no hills and no wind. A bit cool, but manageable. The river came to a village, and there was a little snack shop next to the train station, so we decided to have a burger before carrying on and check our route. Davo GPS wanted us to leave the river path, and follow the road (this would be hills), but we decided to carry on the RAVel. It turned to dirt, then got a bit rocky, but was faster than the long slow hills, and it was really nice forest.
Bush track along the La Lesse river. Very nice.
When we came to a junction, we found some signs, and the trail we were following was actually a walk trail, and there was no way we could get our bikes through. There was a very steep goat track, that looked on the map like it went to a better quality path, so I walked up it to see if it was possible. Hell no it wasn't, I nearly died walking up it myself. And to top this off, on the way down, my arm brushed the shrubs on the side of the track and started stinging! Aaarrgghh, stinging nettles! I carried on down to give Will the news, and we discussed our options. Go back about 5kms, or follow the other road that was supposed to meet up with a secondary proper road.
Spot the Straya Animal in the Belgium bush. No chance for the bikes up this one.
Heading to the mud hole, please don't let me fall off in that.
As there was a shire vehicle (White van....?) parked, with a weird guy just sitting in it (see, work dodgers all over the world) we decided it had come in that way, so off we went. It was still dirt, mud and rocks, going up hill, but the forest was amazing, and it did come out as expected, phew! But, we had only dodged half the hill, and it was a long one. Trudgie, trudge up we go in third gear for a few kms with cars whizzing buy.
Ah, so peaceful and beautiful.
7% down the other side, yay, should be a nice reward.
Down a few hills, up a few hills, and we came to a cool Chateau. Tourist attraction, but closed, not that we would have gone in, but it looked better without all the cars and stuff around it.
Chateau De Veves! How cool does that look?
We had two more long hills to get up, and then, according to Davo, a very steep downhill. Oooo goodie! What he didn't tell us, was that it was a tiny little walk trail winding down someone's backyard. He he he, only 300mtrs, then we popped out to the most amazing view of Dinant. Roof tops, green hills, rocky cliffs, church steeples and an old castle at the top. Wow, awesome.
Oh, WOW! Dinant. It has everything.
Heading over the bridge to our path. Still wowing!
Zipping down into the town, we made our way to Le Meuse river, and the view was still awesome. Lots of people, old buildings, and a bridge full of saxophone sculptures? We discovered that Adolf Sax, the inventor of the saxophone, did it right here in Dinant, and they are very proud.
We thought they were just cool sculptures for a festival. Ha ha ha!
What an awesome cathedral. So gothic. They were busy doing repair work on the side.
From here we were back on easy street, along the river all the way to Profondeville. A nice ride, and the camp ground was easy to locate, but had the steepest hill of the day, to climb to get there. What a bummer, cause there is no way I'm doing that again today. Looks like emergency food for dinner, and let's hope the campground owner has a cold beer.
Lovely easy riding along the river.
One of the massive locks on this huge river.
As luck would have it, she did, for 1€ each, so we got a few, and drank them at room temperature, bloody cold! After getting our little home organised, we showered, and cooked our Uncle Bens and Salmon and made a coffee. Just about to retire to our tent, when another tourer came in. A young guy from Belgium on his second day, he'd ridden 140kms! Holy crap! Talk about fit.
So we made Klaus a coffee and chatted for a bit, then as it was just getting a little dark (about 9pm), a car pulled in and two more young Belgium guys got out. It was obvious they were all friends, as they started hugging and talking to each other in some other language. Michael and Joseph had driven an hour and a half to come camp with Klaus and they'd bought beer and food and a care package from Klaus' mum. They were going to BBQ, but the camp lady wasn't having it, too late! So instead they just cooked their sausages on a little gas stove like we use. They had candles, beer, sausages, and chocolate. What more could you need?
Michael, Joseph and Klaus. Great Belgium Boys. Notice the shorts, it is bloody freezing.
By the time all the tents were up, and showers had, it was well after 10pm, and I was freezing, so headed off to bed to get warm. Will stayed up for a couple of beers and a chat, but after about an hour, I was still freezing, so put on another layer of clothes and got Will. We put our sleeping bags together (we don't usually, it's a bit of mucking around) and snuggled up in our layers. Finally we got warm and slept pretty well. It rained all night! Ugh!
Love this post....great stories, beautiful photos...
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