The weather looked good but it didn't last long. I had contemplated taking overshoes off but decided not to bother as the first 30 miles were done in the driving rain. The scenery was lovely and its clear that the Dutch appreciate their cyclists. The cycle ways were top notch and the drivers of cars are very pro cyclist.
It didn't long before we crossed over into Belgium just after Strijbeek... still spitting rain it has to be said.
Not far across the border we stopped for a snack and water at 'Spar' type shop that
was called SUPRA.... I'm sure Toyota had a car named after this shop???? ps... the bike at the front is not one of ours lol!
The rain then lashed down again.... and by another 30 miles or so we had had enough and made for a restaurant. We were not disappointed and the soup and coffee's were excellent.
No idea how I ended up with a 'Fez' on my heid!
The second half of the day started well. The sun came out the gps's were all showing that everything was good. We got another 30 to 40 miles down the road and into Belgium when Eindhoven came onto the map. There was no signs of Brussels and Phil for one wanted to move on from the Netherlands.
As I was following Phil (at a safe distance), I saw his backpack come bouncing off his bike as he hit a bump in the road. I'm sure he was pressing a button to eject his equipment to see if I was paying attention. Luckily I was and here he is on the way back to his bike to re-apply his luggage.
Further up the road and Craig came a cropper again on a wet sandy surface and luckily for him he avoided going down a 30 foot ditch - chain back on and we were off again.
Further down the road and we saw this place called club Monaco - had we taken a short cut and we were in MC already - We didn't think we were going that fast?! I will have to admit... It didn't look like a Casino...
We carried on and on and on and on… where were the fecking signs for Brussels??? It was 5pm and no sign of this city.
It was time to ask a local.... Ooops...it turned out that rather than coming in on the north side of Brussels we were actually about 30 miles south of Brussels! The gps's had failed and it was back to the maps. A bit of re jigging and asking locals for directions and we were off again.
We were well off target and had to recover the ground.
We put our heads down and got to Brussels... eventually. It might be a big City but the Belgians don't like to advertise it. No signs until you get within 10 miles of the place.
So 105 miles into the cycle we see a campanile hotel. We know it not ours but we've had enough for the day, its getting dark and we chanced our luck.
The management were happy enough and changed our booking. Apparently it happens all the time.
A quick turnaround and we were heading for an Italian restaurant that we saw earlier. Pizza Bolognaise all round and a couple of beers made a tough day just a bit nicer.
While the rest of the crew went straight for bed I headed for reception to see if the Manager could help me with access to a printer to sort a route out for the next day. He was extremely helpful showing a safe cycle route towards our intended route 30 miles further down the road from where we were. Luckily, he couldn't find the keys to lock up which gave me the chance to plot the whole route to Cambrai. However, by the time I had everything sorted and printed it was nearly 1pm and I was absolutely shattered but I knew my friends would appreciate my work the following day.
So in summary, 105 miles. Wrong side of Brussels found, 10 miles to recover tomorrow and sore legs all round. An early start and a bit of planning required to negotiate Brussels.
Today's lesson. Gps is fallable, stick with maps.
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