Day 19 - Antwerp and Logistics

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The Dan Briel is a fairly new hotel and was a great stopover in Gent. All in all we think Gent to be the best city we've visited so far.

Logistics: We want to be in Cologne in 4 days. It's 264kms away, on average, 67kms per day.

Antwerp is less than 60kms from Gent so we look for a place to stay on the eastern side of the city. For some reason there aren't many there. In fact we can only find one AirBnB at a distance of 64kms away. It looks fine and is a bargain too. Booked!

We left Gent at 8am. Great weather and a tailwind again - I could get used to this. I was using Google Maps to navigate and Jeff was using MapMe. I took the lead. It all started well until within a kilometre we were pointed down a gravel path, that degenerated into two wheel ruts that degenerated into a single rut hard up against the railway line on one side and a corn crop on the other. Time to back track and hand over navigation to Jeff and MapMe.

We were on roads mainly, but there are bike paths or separate lanes for cycles everywhere. It makes riding the bike very safe and you make good time. Extremely good time today in fact. One stop we did make was by chance. There were some vintage tractors on display in a glass enclosure. We stopped to have a look. The owner, Roger, came out to have a chat. Roger had been a tractor engine mechanic since the 1970's and before that he worked on car engines. He ended up running a tractor business with his son and now, in his 70s, spends time restoring old tractors. That yellow contraption is a 100 year old wheat thrasher.

As we entered Antwerp we saw a tram turning circle, well Jeff saw a tram turning circle, I saw a tram and some tracks. You have no idea how much joy this brought him, pictures abounded (on his facebook feed, not here). The standout for getting into the centre of Antwerp was the tunnel. You catch a lift down 31.5 meters and then traverse the 575m tunnel. It's 4.5m wide and 3m high. We caught the lift back up on the other side - now that's what we need to cross the Yarra!

We rode through Antwerp taking some tourist snaps. We had made excellent time, it was only 1pm. As we left towards the east side (and our accommodation) there was a distinct change of feel to the neighbourhood. It got progressively worse the closer we got to our accommodation. Now for the astute traveller there are two red flags that we completely overlooked when we booked this place.Those being, If there are no hotels in the area, there must be a reason, and if it seems an absolute bargain for the price, there has to be a reason. We checked the room out and it was OK, but the neighbourhood wasn't, and there was nowhere to get a meal and it was early in the day. We decided to keep going and just cut our losses with the hotel (not so much of a bargain now!).

We picked a hotel(!!!!) 24kms away, this would make it a big day of 88kms. It was early so we went for it. Jeff's route took the main road, my route went by the canal. Jeff lead out so we followed his. I followed for a while watching the distance to our destination fall. A while later I looked again and it seemed to be the same as previously. Well, without my glasses on, who can see those small numbers anyway. A while later I look again and we;re now further away from our destintion! I check my route and we travelling totally in the wrong direction. I call out to Jeff and ask if he was still following his route and he answers, "it's just along the main road isn't it"? Well, No, it wasn't. We've gone about 7kms out of our way. 88kms now becomes 95kms. We now have a new problem, we're perilously close to 100kms for the day - we pick a new hotel, that will get us to 100kms and ride on - this time with me navigating.

We arrive in the beautiful town of Herentals. The hotel I picked by the dot on a map is in the old part of town opposite a church. They have a twin room for us, with breakfast included and it's a bargain (so long as you don't count Antwerp). Right now we're both very tired having gone 35kms further than we expected this morning. No idea where we're heading tomorrow, that's a conversation for dinner - assuming we can stay awake that long.

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Photos

Roger the engine mechanic
Jeff's new friend

We've seen HFC about a bit
Halal Fried Chicken (what our Colonel Sanders)

Antwerp Underwater Tunnel
Pedestrian and Bicycle Tunnel. 574m long, 31.5m unerground, 4.5m wide, 3m tall. You catch an elevator or escalator down and up from the tunnel