27/12

1 moustache, 2 bike's, 3 country's and 390km  

2 day's ago we made a appointment to cycle to France and coming back along the Belgium coast.
The weather forecast was just terrible, lots of rain and some more wind.
But my best cycling friend aka "big moustache" is a man of his worth, we have a ride so we have to start and later we will see. If its to hard (?) we can take a shortcut(?).
On the phone we said to each other at 6 a clock at the bridge, i was a little bit to early so i went to the direction of his home and waited.

time to set off

When i was waiting i realized myself there a couple of roads form his house to the bridge...
So we missed each other and get off half a hour later with the wind in our face, just for 145km against the wind and some pretty hills between covered with cobblestone on the street

the mounting off Cassel

Just before we'are at cap grez-nez, the most west point,(this is the smallest place between the UK and the continent)  there was a real big fight with the wind. This was a fight we never could win, we where fighting to get on the road and not get blowd away somewhere around. I never have done something like that. This was just a storm.
Because i know the road i could countdown, 3more up hill's, 5km ... even the last 2 km is a little bit downhill and we where very hard cycling to get a 10km/h.

After that roundabout i known we where for a lot of kilometer with tailwind and only 4 climbs.
By myself i was thinking where we could a warm meal, the town of Calais is 1h cycling and between is there still nothing. We arrived at the town of Calais around 13h20 so we where looking for a pasta or pizza to eat and set off.
Today we where having so much rain that there is no chance to take a good picture of it. Still i don't believe what this will mean.

I was so hungry i asked for a pasta and a pizza.
We set off and forgot the hole morning and cycle for owner life to get a "good" hour home(!).
Bruges , time to eat so we stopped at some kind of snack bar and order just food.

Back home in Belgium

But by the time my friend was coming inside, the owner was looking oh no 2 dirty cyclist my bar will be dirty and.... So big moustache had to sit down on a towel and hang his jacket and wet clothing somewhere else just in cause of ....

By time we where leaving the restaurant the owner was started to clean this place, and his wife didn't believe we we're cycling home, i didn't tell here that where not taking the shortest road because this is only 45km.
So for that point on we where  cycling the rest of the 85km in complete darkness. This is for us not so hard because we know this area very well and know the bad parts.
The last 30km i was started to dreaming of all kind of food and drinks.
So the first thing to do was eat and drink a lot

drinksdrinksdrinksdrinksandfood

getting home

390km of really hard cycling and 19 hours later to get home

26/12

to burn some calorie's made on the xmis diner, i made the decide to cycle a loop in  the french ardennes
just to Trelon and back. Trelon was also the first control place on my tour de france (by US metro) done 2 years ago. To my was it interest to visit the bar and drink something before i took the road back home, and the was blowing in the good direction.
So i forgot how it was to struggle uphill with a hard wind.
260km and 9h 46min of cycling

the famous forest of wallers, race of Paris Roubaix...

                                                        getting home in the rain

25/12

Happy XMAS to everybody, no cycling today

24/12:

cycling with some friends around in the Flemish hills like the new kwaremont, la houppe and some more.
Good for 193km and 7hours 06min of cycling