Day 18 - Flanders

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We left Roubaix just after 8am. It's good to get away early in the cool morning air. It's only a short ride and we're on the canal that will take us most of the way to Gent in Belgium.
The canal path is excellent (mostly). It's a flat days riding although it's at out preferred limit of 75kms for the day. We make good time covering 50kms by lunch time. We're carrying our food with us today, so no need to find shops to stop at. It makes the travelling a lot more efficient.
Lot's of barges are travelling along the canal. The really are very large. The canal has drawbridges which swing up to let the barges through. There's a mixture of farm land, private houses and a bit of commercial property that line the canal pathway, but it's mostly a green belt which makes it a very pleasant days ride.
We cross into Belgium early in the day (a new country for both Jeff and I). It's not long before we find a bike shop run by Luc. He's keen to tell us that Jai Hindley used to ride on his team (well he was one of the sponsors of the team).
We rode into Gent about 2:30pm. An early end to the days riding.
We decided to go to the old part of town, not really knowing what to expect. Well, we were blown away. Not only by the castles, cathedrals, churches and towers that abounded but by the carnival/festival/expo that was going on there. There was quite a crowd, and stages set up all over the place with performances going on constantly. There were beer halls and bars set up, food vendors, lots of restaurants, it was just sensational. Jeff and I got right into it. I made a bee line for a Belgium Chocolate shop, bought some yummy chocolates and scoffed the lot - yum. I'd been looking forward to that.
We found a place to have a coffee and sat back and enjoyed the afternoon before finding a restaurant and ordering traditional Belgium meals of Beef Stew and Apple Cake. I'm not sure the 75kms we rode today would cancel out the food intake but who cares!
I'd like to try a few more traditional Belgium specialties before we leave (Rabbit, Mussels and Waffles - and maybe some more fine Belgium chocolate!).
What a great days riding and a very enjoyable afternoon/evening, one of the best so far.
Tomorrow we head off to Antwerp.

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Photos

The Canal
We spent most of the day riding along the canal

Canal Bike Path
Jeff riding in the shade of the trees on the canal path

Drawbridges
There are drawbridge along the canal to let the huge barges thru

Mandatory Church
The gold clock face is quite impressive though

Luc's Bike Shop
Jai Hindley raced on a team Luc sponsored a few years back.

Tower in Gent
Sorry no information on this.

Sipping Coffee
Sitting in a medieval court yard sipping coffee and eating olives watching the world go by.

Eating a Belgium specialty
Beef stew with apple sauce and frites. Followed by hot apple cake with ice cream, whipped cream, and cherries. If you do the kms you can eat the desserts.

Comments

[Mike1234]

Lovely Ghent
Hi Mark, glad you enjoyed Ghent. If you get the time in Antwerpen checkout the amazing train station. Safe travels. Mike