Other news about Belgium

Posted on by Debs and Jo (brakesandcakes.org)

imageThere were many revelations about Belgium in Brussels. As we rode south other misconceptions were addressed. The southern half of Belgium is definitely not to be grouped with the Dutch lowlands. There were some steep climbs, especially later in the Ardennes region. It is not always sunny here, sometimes it rains rain, sometimes it rains leaves. We also learned that even if there are lots of campsites on a map, and you chat to several locals about the location of these, they may not exist or could be very well hidden. Our first stop was Namur, notable for having a statue of a golden turtle and an international film festival. This meant there was red carpets out around town and also that we were accosted by two photographers and other staff for a photocall as we rode past the event. It is possible we were on The Today Show on Belgian TV. This is not our first cycling media event, we were snapped for the Winnipeg Metro in 2012. No idea whether we made the newspaper though.

imageFrom Namur we headed along the Meuse to Dinant, where brightly covered Saxophones decorated the town. Belgium is responsible for the Saxophone as well as the skinny chip. We climbed out of town and into the hills past several invisible campsites and some that were just closed. It got completely dark and having been told, “there is one in the next village, 6 or 7km” several times we decided to stop riding. There are so many kind people in the world, and the Belgian family whose evening we disturbed by knocking on their door wearing reflective vests welcomed us to our best campsite yet in their back garden (with full size football goal – one of the girls is an excellent player). Also a opportunity for us to test out rusty French and drink chocolate chaud in their kitchen. Passable at best! (Our French, not the hot chocolate).

The roads got hillier still, even as we followed the river Ourthe. The surroundings were very pretty and even better there was hardly any cobbles. We had a great stay in an old farmhouse and enjoyed hearing about container ships and tinyhouses. Luxembourg next!

Thanks in this post to the family Debaty of Heure, Luc, David and Pierre.

3 for 2 Belgian City Breaks

Posted on by Debs and Jo (brakesandcakes.org)

imageAs you may have noticed on Track my Tour, we did not take an obvious route towards the Alps from the ferry. This is because Jo really wanted to visit Bruges. Colin Farrell was not there, but Belgium’s cities delivered in all other aspects. At least once everyday we saw fancy buildings, rode on cobbles, and consumed either beer, chocolate or waffles. Occasionally we managed all three. From Bruges we rode along a canal path to Ghent which has even more fancypants buildings. It looked especially impressive on a sunny Saturday afternoon, and one of the fine squares provided a great venue for an evening out eating Belgian (great marketing coup France) fries with meat and beer sauce.  Continue reading 3 for 2 Belgian City Breaks

The Great British Send-Off

Posted on by Debs and Jo (brakesandcakes.org)

Not a soggy bottom in sight: Friday 25th – Weds 30th Sept

getting ready for the first ride
getting ready for the first ride

As we prepared to leave British shores the UK gave it’s all to show us what we were leaving behind. Thanks to so many of our friends, colleagues, students and family who made the effort to fit into our plans in those last few days. The weather was amazing, Leicestershire looked just lovely as we set off on the the first (short) ride from Measham to Hinckley on Sunday afternoon.

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The next morning was equal to it, with beautiful clear blue skies, rolling green hills, delightfully English villages and plenty of picnic spots to enjoy snacks. Northampton itself was a less fun meander along random cycle routes (“weren’t we just over there a minute ago?!”) – it was fortunate that Sarah our extra team member for the day had prepared additional sandwiches to counteract the challenge.

It was great to see friends for a final goodbye in Stewartby and the 110km day put Kelvedon (Debs’ Aunt and Uncle) in touching distance for Tuesday.

Make sure there are stiff peaks…

Who knew Hertfordshire was so hilly? We didn’t, and it really was. It was also our second day of headwind, and the loaded bikes felt pretty heavy. Thanks to Trax Cycles of Buntingford, who helped swapped Debs’ pedals and made the bags just a little bit lighter. Herts and Essex both had some great cycle routes, including the Flitch trail, named for the Flitch Trials of Dunmow, where the winning couple are awarded a side (flitch) of bacon if they can prove they have not argued for a year and a day. It can be assumed that none of the winners have tried to follow the Flitch trail through Dunmow itself, which was not the relaxed rail trail present either side.

Sadly, every week, someone has to say goodbye…

image(Bake-off spoiler alert) This week it was Flora and us (not that we found that out until later, see Belgium). Our Kelvedon family helped us carb-load for future pedalling and we hit Harwich for the overnight ferry. If you haven’t been on one, this is great fun, as you can pretend to be in an Agatha Christie novel and you get to sleep in a little cabin. Even better, you wake up in a new place with the whole day ahead of you. Welkom!