Belgium

BASTOGNE

My time in Belgium began in the small town of Bastogne. Unfortunately my host, Thierry, had to work every day that I was there. But that was ok because it gave me time to explore the region, relax and do my laundry.

On the first day, after doing my laundry, I visited the American Monument/memorial and the Battle of the Ardennes Museum. More interestingly, on the second day I bicycled to a nearby forest and found some foxholes of the 101st Airborne (circe 1944).

There isn't a lot to do in Bastogne, but I managed to meet some nice people including Thierry's friend Yohannis, who treated me to a couple of nice meals. He also showed me the ring he was working on (he is a jewel artist). The ring was worth nearly $200,000. I saw it in an incomplete stage, but it was gold with brown and clear diamonds encompassing the outer periphery.

Lucky for me, Thierry offered to drive me to Namur so that I would not have to endure a day of riding in the rain and cold over the Ardennes.

NAMUR

Upon arriving in Namur, I met with my host Martin, who is a student of chemistry. He lives in a college style house just outside the centre. He made me genuine student food (it wa sonly 2 years ago I was doing the same) of beans and pasta. Afterwards, we hit the pub for some Belgian beers.

Martin enjoys beer about as much as I do, and was just as knowledgable; so as you could imagine it was the topic of discussion.

The next day, Martin took me to the castle/citadel in Namur which offered panaramic views of the city and a look into the past. I left around 11am for Brussels.

BRUSSELS

It took me under 4 hours to get to the outer limits of Brussels from Namur. The best part was the constant slope downhill. From here until the end of my trip things will be much flatter.

It took me about an hour to find Miguel's flat just in Ixelles. I was early by 2 hours. I waited outside and sent him a text to let him know of my arrival. 20 min. later I guy came out backwards with a baby carriage and nearly backed over top of me sitting on the curb. I said something and he turned around. It was Miguel!

He invited me in and showed me around. I met his 18mo. baby, Igor, and his wife, Stephanie. Afterwards I joined him on a shopping excursion in the city centre. We stopped for hot fresh Belgian waffles (not a breakfast item in Belgium).

Disaster strikes!

On Sunday, I told Miguel I was going to ride around the city before we left for his family reunion. I got about a half mile from his flat when I hit a bump. The bump jarred my front wheel loose and out from under me. The front forks hit the ground and I went flying. I rose with agility, uninjured, but it looked like the bike was damaged goods. Yes, the front wheel was warped, the mirror busted, and my lefthand shifter broken. I rode it back with a wobbly wheel.

No bike shops open. I decided to try and straighten the wheel by standing on it. I did it. For the shifter, I had to jimmy rig it with a bottle cap.

After the wreck, I joined Miguel and fam in a rented car to his hometown in south Belgium. It was the birthday of his sister's twins. The family was extensive and we had delicious cakes and sweets. This is the real Belgium, I thought to myself. The people and their gatherings and functions. I had a nice time talking with Miguel younger sisters about films and music.

On Monday morning I left Miguel's place around 8:30am with my damaged bike.

Antwerpen, and beyond.

I got lost leaving Brussels. I got lost in Antwerpen. I got lost in Bergen Op Zoom. I got lost in the middle of nowhere in The Netherlands.

This ruined my plans to make it to Rotterdam in one night.... or did it. The Netherlands is the msot bicycle friendly culture I have been in. As soon as I crosses over the border I noticed an influx of bicyclists and bicycle specific paths.

I sped along still with a bit of hope to make it to Rotterdam.

When I planned the route of this trip, I was following smaller highways. Little did I know that The Netherlands has an extensive bicycle route system. And because of that, they dont allow bikes on most of the sizable roads. So my planned route was foiled. I found a map posted of the routes. They meandered through the countryside. I had no choice but to follow one of them, well out of my way. After hours of this paths I found myself in desolate farmland amongst gravel roads and fading sunlight.

I began looking for a forest to camp in. There were none. It was all open pastures and small houses. I chose to continue on; and as I did, I noticed that other bicyclists were stiull riding well into the darkness.

Because of the culture and network of paths, riding at night is very common. So I chose to continue on to Rotterdam.

Problem.

At about 7pm I came to the bridge which crosses the river onto the area of Rotterdam. (30km outside) The bridge that allows bicycles across was closed for construction. I found some people and asked them how to get across. They said that there is a bus, but I missed the last one.

Great. So I asked another person and they said that there is another bus. I waied at the station for 30 min. A teenage boy showed up and I asked him about the busses. (luckily he was from England, thus speaking good english) He called the bus people and arranged a car to come pick me up. It was even free!

On the otherside I followed the paths to just outside Rotterdam, where Rogier lives. It took me nearly an hour of searching through neighborhoods to find his flat. I found it at 11:30pm last night.

I had been on the bicycle for over 15 hours and probably did around 150 miles.