Cobbly Cobble Cobble Ugh

03/06/15 Tournai to Ypres (Ieper), 67kms

Oh my god, it bloody rained again last night! But, when we woke up around 6am, there was no rain, and the wind was considerably better. When we finally got out of the tent at about 8ish, there was even blue sky and sunshine. Woo hoo!

All packed and down the road by 9:50am, and straight back into Tournai for the scenic tour. I forgot to tell Davo we'd done that on our own yesterday. Oh well, it is a pretty place, and the cobblestones aren't that bad.

On the outer of Tournai, almost in the farmlands, and more cobblestones. Wow, maintaining some history is all good, but come on! The back roads are a really nice riding alternative, the only thing you have to look out for, are the massive tractors pulling even bigger trailers full of stinky cow poo.

The cobbles were so bad, we rode on the potholed verge. Bone jarring!

After a short morning tea stop, in Willem, we enjoyed some more historic cobblestone roads, and fields of potatoes, before entering the very big city of Roubaix. Hooley Dooley, we thought it was just another small town, but it took us about half an hour pretty uneventful riding to get through it. Just on the outskirts, we stopped for lunch.

Go Will, he has become the glass tapper we hated at the roadhouse..ha ha ha

Oh no, more of the teeth cracking little buggers.

All the churches seem to be undergoing repairs. Pretty awesome though.

A few more kays down the road, we crossed the river, and spotted our first official Belgium sign. We'd been in and out many times over the past week, but hadn't seen a sign. So snappo, got that one now! From here we were back on RAVel 1, along the river, then onto another one of Belgiums little bike routes. 

Finally got our border crossing pic.

We were enjoying these bike routes heaps, and we we turned onto yet another one, not far from Ypres, it looked really nice. Forest, little stream, compacted gravel.....then....oh oh....bloody cobblestones. This was a ripper, my dentist bill is going to be huge. We tried riding on the "verge", but that was either soft mud, or stinging nettles. Some ladies were stopped on the track, and we stopped to have a rest and a chat. Right next to a bridge that had been built and collapsed no less than four times. During the war, the Germans came to blow it up, but it had collapsed all by itself. They thought the English had destroyed it before they got there!

Happy riding, but someone needs to get the mower out.

Fffrrriggin hhheckk, tthisss isss rough! Hhhoww mmuch lllonnnger?

Not long after the bridge, the path turned back to sealed track. Aahh! Then we popped out next to a beautiful WW1 cemetery. On our way into Ypres, there were several of these, all immaculately kept and cared for. 

This makes you stop and be grateful, so stop, people and be grateful.

Entering the town was amazing. A real town surrounded by a fort and a mote. Way cool! Oh, and streets of cobblestones. At least the cars had worn these ones day some over time. Again, we aimed for the massive steeple that seems to be in the centre of the village, and came to the main square. Oh wow! The old Cloth Hall, which was destroyed in WW1 and been rebuilt as closely to original as possible, is now the war museum and is beautiful. The rest of the town was also flattened, and has been rebuilt.

I would like to live in a town surrounded by a big wall and a mote, wouldn't you?

Just head for the mega steeple.

WOW....wow.

We found somewhere to eat and drink, and had an early dinner, before locating the campground, less than a kilometre from the centre. It is really nice, and it was full of motorcyclists, on a tour visiting some of the war sites. They do it every year, and pay homage to their comrades by laying a wreath at one of the memorials. A bunch of ex servicemen and women, bikers! Great to chat to a few of them.

Cheers, just a shandy for me, it is warm.

We ordered chicken chips and salad...ha ha ha, didn't expect a whole baby chicken....yummy though.

We rode through the Menin Gates and Will was so busy navigating he didn't realise....

Later on, we walked into town to watch and listen at the Menin Gate, as nightly they play the last post and lay a wreath in honour of those lost and who do not have a marked gravesite. It was very moving, and there were a lot of people there to pay respects. I'm glad we did not miss it.

Security guy in action.

A few of the biker dudes.

The awesome Menin Gates.

Inside thousands of names....

The guys who do the ceremony. 

Too Much Rain, Then Too Much Wind

02/06/15 Tournai and Back, 7kms

I woke in the night to the sound of heavy rain. Oh not again? The weather report had said no rain, and a good day today. That was not the case. It rained all night, and then the wind started. The flags next to our camp site were flapping loudly, and not really inspiring me to get up. So I didn't.

We're hiding out.

The UK biker guys were also slow moving due to the stupid weather, and finally got going by 12pm. They are heading for Luxembourg today, that has taken us seven days....I am missing my motorbike today. I hope they have a great 7-10day tour. Sounds like fun.

Dean and Rich almost ready. They'll be in Luxembourg by 4pm.

We'll still be here...ha ha ha.

The rain has stopped, but the wind is howling. We are not moving. Not today! This is the seventh day in Belgium, and it is now "summer", so come on with at least the Sun side of that. Hopefully tomorrow, but for today, we are hiding in our tent and maybe we'll ride into town for a bit of a look around and try and find the elusive Belgium Waffles.

By 2pm, we were bored enough to get out of the tent and sort ourselves out to go to town for a look. The wind was still whipping the flags about, but with the unloaded bikes, it was ok. We decided that if we could find a bike shop, we'd get them to adjust my chain, as Will had tightened it as much as he could, and didn't have the tools to shorten it. As we rode into the town centre, we spotted the big church spire, and just headed towards it, as most towns revolve around them. On our way we spotted a bike shop. It was for electric bikes, but we thought we'd see if we could get help anyway.  Xavier was super helpful, and wouldn't even take any money for his work. It was not as simple as we imagined, either. He is a young guy, and is the owner of the business. He has a partner with another shop in Besançon, France, and they develop and build the bikes themselves. The business is Proxy Cycle Company, and if you are interested in the next big thing, check out their website, www.proxy-cycle.com . They do sell the bikes through retailers as well.

After Betty was all good, we explored the town centre. It is really interesting, and instead of a pub on every corner like Australia, it has churches. Some great old buildings, and old cobble stone roads. They are so much fun to ride on....not! As we were cycling slowly around, we could smell the Belgium Waffles. We sniffed them out and got ourselves one. It's ok, but not really as good as their beer. 

It was pretty cold, very windy, and therefore there were hardly any people about. We chose a cafe/taverna and got a couple of drinks. They had Wifi, wahoo, so we people watched, caught up on the blogs, and sorted out the next two days travel plans. When it got too cold, we headed back to our campground. Not before stopping at the supermarket for something to cook for dinner.

The wind has increased a bit, and it may even rain again tonight, but tomorrow promises to be better. Warmer, no rain, but still windy. Too bad, we'll just have to keep going. That English Breakfast is calling us!

Barging Along The Canals

01/06/15 Mons to Tournai 62kms

Rain, rain, rain, all night. So glad we are warm and dry inside. Our plan this morning was to go eat breakfast, pay some bills while we have good internet, then hit the road. Simple! Breakfast was good, some variation of scrambled eggs, boiled bacon, crepes, cereal, fruit, toast, pastries, coffee, juice, and it was a buffet. So we ate what we could, and returned to the room to pay bills. This part did not go well, as we need more info, and just ended up emailing people for that. We'll have to try again later. Ugh!

Drying washing, and trying unsuccessfully to pay bills.

All packed and downstairs loading the bikes, and Sven appeared. He is another cyclist from Belgium, on a three week tour. He had lots of advice for us, telling us all the things we had missed out on, and should see. He also thought we should ride further each day. What ever! We're pretty happy with our adventure, thanks Sven.

We choofed off, and made our way back to the canal. The weather had improved greatly, and the sun was even getting a bit of warmth into us. After a bit of messing around getting on the correct side of the canal, we had a much more enjoyable ride along the Canal Du Centre. 

They really look like they should sink. I wonder what sort of life it is to live on a barge?

We're both just cruising along peacefully.

Lots of busy barges, loaded and unloaded, and one in particular, we saw many times during the day. We caught it, then we stopped to polish off the left over pizza, and it caught us, then we caught it, then we stopped at this massive lock, that was in action, and it almost caught us again.

We're catching you Querida. Watch this one, it is stalking us.

It was still yummy, on day two, and plenty there! Not going hungry today.

It was a pretty uneventful day, with a few minor route issues, mainly due to roadworks and forced deviations, but over all a simple cruisie ride. The hardest part of the day was the concrete path had expansion gaps, that were often very rough, and at times we sounded like a train, ker-thunk, ker-thunk, ker-thunk, and it was a little tiresome and we were happy to have a break at the huge lock.

Querida again, passing us as we ate lunch.

More geese and their babies. Instead of attacking us, theses guys just jumped in.

Perfectly timed, as a huge loaded barge and small leasure boat we entering the lock, we watched as the big steel gate was lowered and then the water level dropped very quickly. I was concerned about the small amount of rope they had used to tie off with, but as it turned out, the cleats were on some sort of float set up, and lowered with the water level. It was amazing. The water level would have dropped about 30 meters, then the gate at the other end opened and out they went, under the huge concrete access bridge. This all took about 20 minutes. 

The huge barge is in and ready.

Just waiting for the little boat before lowering that huge gate.

Gates down and a few meters of water gone. So quick.

Still going down....

At the right level and the next gate opens ready for the boats to go.

Bloody amazing. All that water out in such a short time. 

Passed this point, there were heaps of barges, and it was a really busy part of the canal, with lots of small canals coming off in different directions, we did lots of circling around, over bridges and such to stay on the main canal. It wasn't long before we we at the outskirts of Tournai, the second oldest town in Belgium (according to Sven). Our camp ground was just south of the town, so we haven't seen much of it. We stopped at a big shopping centre for supplies, at last, and then somehow found our way to the campground. 

This mural was at a roundabout. How funny.

Almost at Tournai, and we started seeing lots of old ruins.

The start of Tournai. It looks interesting.

Really nice little campground, and cheap! We set up, drank the cold beers I'd managed to find, and chilled out. A couple of motorcycle tourers pulled in next door, and happy days, they're from England! Good pommy accents, and really nice guys. We cooked some dinner, then went and had a chat and a cuppa with Rich and Dean. 

Our little corner.

Pommy bikers. This one is Richard.

Cooking up some dinner. Rice, tuna and yummy salad. 

It was late and cold by the time we hopped into bed, but tomorrow is meant to be 22C and sunny. Yay!

RAVeling Around

31/05/15 Fleurus to Mons 64kms

I woke early after staying up late reading, bugger, and it was raining outside. I rolled over and dozed for a couple more hours. Finally we forced our lazy butts out of bed, and got everything together. All we had to choose from, to eat, was the four rolls from yesterday, and two tins of sardines. Guess what we had for brekkie? Yep, we did! 

The Sardine Chef at work. I'm just glad I don't have to carry them anymore.

Drying our stuff is difficult in Belgium.

We were out on the bikes by 10am, and it was windy. Davo GPS was set for a hotel we'd booked last night in Mons, and we'd checked to make sure his route went along the canals we wanted. Off we go! Little bit of a push uphill, then a nice run down a straight road into the wind. From here, Davo thought a nice little warm up through the forest on an advanced mountain bike track was in order! Bloody hell, some of the dips and peaks would have been tough on an unloaded bike.

Making sure I am warm enough, well layered up.

On a good day we could have had fun down that. Bloody wind!

I was sure he'd stack it here, but nope, he made it in one go. I walked it!

Will found us a track out of there, and onto a road. Not for long, as we were directed on to the RAVel 1, which was fantastic. Winding through the bush, behind some villages, and -Bang! Straight to a Carrefour supermarket. Oh, but it's closed! Poop! Carrying on the bike path, winding around and weaving through communities and bush. Most of it was very pretty, and wind free, but it also showed a poorer side of the country. Lots of housing developments, and rubbish, and it just goes to show hardship is everywhere.

The wind is blowing hard down the canal. 

After about 15kms, we got onto the Canal Charleroi-Bruxelles, and the rain started. Light at first, and the wind was gusting from the north west at about 30km/hr plus. It was supposed to be an easy ride, flat and cruisie, but it was tough. We looked forward to getting to the bends in the canal that would turn is with the wind or at least side on. 

First bridge stop to cover up properly. The rain has started early.

There were many bridges, and we took a couple of small breaks under them, and enjoyed the last two pieces of the Belgium chocolate Klaus and the boys had given us. It was a life saver. Being on the canal, we saw no shops (not that they would have been open), or other shelter, so we just rode on in the rain.

It is slowly getting worse, we can't see out of our glasses anymore.

Chocolate stop!

Rickety old concrete path, plus wind, plus rain, equals hills!

The Canal Charleroi-Bruxelles joined up to the Canal Du Centre and we reached there after about 35kms. It is big, and very industrial. Not the prettiest views, but some amazing feats of engineering. A further 10kms along, the rain was fairly coming down, and the wind was really strong. The canal and path became a massive bridge, over the major highway. The wind was so strong over this, we were in 3rd gear going 5kms/hr into it. We didn't even realise it was an amazing water bridge until we'd safely reached the other side, and looked back to watch a couple of cyclists on the other side, flogging along with the wind behind them. Wow!

Amazing bridge taking the canal across the roads. 

Just a little further on, there was a strange structure. Huge big thing, that we could not think what it was. As our path detoured around and down, we realised it was an Elevator for vessels, taking them from the canal above, to the canal below. A total of just over 73mtrs. It is 150 meters high. It is called the Ascenseur à Bateaux de Strepy-Thieu. Worth a Google. Awesome, even in the rain.

Ok, this is not a good look, I hope they let me in the hotel.

The amazing Elevator for boats. 

Wet and industrial. Glad we are almost there!

As we got closer to Mons, the rain began to ease off, and so did the wind. Thank god, cause then we had to contend with some pretty big geese who thought we were after their cute little babies. After Klaus had told us one flew at him and bit him on the side the other day, we were very cautious.

Will is yelling at me to get closer to them for his photo! I told him to piss off!

Zoom in, he is really hissing at us with his tongue out...ha ha ha.

After surviving all that, we wound our way uphill to find our Hotel Utopia (I know, it is so appropriate for us today). It is really nice, but their restaurant is closed on Sunday's, and it is a five kilometre round trip in the rain to the next one. Not gonna happen! We may just have to suck it up until breakfast. They do, however, have coffee making facilities and supplies, in the room. Woo hoo!

Once we had changed and warmed up, and discovered there was nothing close by for food, we thought we would see if they had vending machines, like lots of other places, and just get something, anything! Off I go downstairs, and nothing! I spoke to the young lady on reception, who thankfully spoke English well, and asked about some drinks or snacks. She told me she could get us drinks from the bar, oh my god yes, and she could order us a pizza if we wanted. Hell yes we did, those sardines lasted well, but they're only small.

I raced up and told Will the good news, and we went down and enjoyed a couple of drinks and the worlds biggest pizza. We at least have lunch for tomorrow. At least if I can figure out how to carry it! 

                                    

They don't cut the pizza! Surely they can get a pizza cutter from IKEA?

                                    

We ate three quarters of it! Oh my god, it was as big as a bike wheel! But good!