Tour of Flanders
Overview
Ricky and I finished the North Sea Cycle Route in 2016. We
thought that maybe we were hanging our saddles up but, following a chance
meeting in Otley when Ricky mentioned the idea of popping over to France for a
couple of weeks, we gradually took up the idea of cycling around Belgium. The
Tour of Flanders is an official route on the Dutch LF network and it lent
itself to an easy to arrange jaunt; all that was needed was a ferry from Hull
to Zeebrugge and back, the Flanders route being on the doorstep at Zeebrugge.
The route we created takes four of the LF routes to create a
circular route (although it's more of a square really) around Flanders. LF5 goes across the north travelling west to
east. This is followed by LF7 heading north to south; LF6 going east to west
and the finally LF1 travelling south to north. All told the route amounts to
550 miles of cycling, easily done in two weeks – and with time to spare. Such
was our confidence that this time we invited John and Chris to join us and we
set out on 24th May 2017.
The planning started to unravel even before we had set off.
The ferry tickets and the first two nights’ accommodation had been booked when
P&O Ferries sent a text to let us know the boat was broke and that our
outbound ferry was cancelled. This meant either delaying our start or going via Rotterdam and then using a
train to get to Antwerp before cycling to Ghent, our first overnight stop. We opted for the scenic route via Rotterdam. In the
event, this was not the smoothest of journeys. It did set the bar for the rest
of the trip however and our map of the Vlaanderen Fietsroute was quickly
replaced by a map of Belgian Youth Hostels which we used to plot our course. As
a result, we did one day on LF5; almost passed LF7 completely although we then rode most of
LF6 and caught bits of LF1.
All told we cycled 525 miles instead of 550 with no days to
spare. In terms of bike fixing we had zero punctures but John suffered two
broken spokes on the back wheel - but then John always breaks spokes so he was really only maintaining tradition. Our overnights were almost entirely in Youth
Hostels, the two exceptions being a hotel in Mechelen and two nights in the
Novotel in Ypres (discovered via a Lonely Planet guide in a Youth Hostel as it
happens).
Day 1 25th May 2017
57 miles
Ricky and I have ridden into Rotterdam several times so we
knew that to do this again we were looking at 22 miles and about two hours. We
decided to head instead for Maassluis to catch a train into Rotterdam and thus saving
about 16 miles and a good hour and a half. This, we thought, would help us get
to Antwerp a bit earlier. It was not to be. Getting to Maassluis involves
catching a short ferry and as we waited a lady told us that there was no rail
service in Maassluis as the tracks were being upgraded. Our next best bet, she
told us, was to head to Spijkenisse and catch the Metro. This we did although
our 6-mile cycle ride jumped to 16, probably taking as long as if we had simply
ridden into Rotterdam. To add insult to injury, we just missed a Metro train and the
route wound all around the houses before finally getting us into Rotterdam.
Once at Rotterdam Centraal we went to get tickets for
Antwerp (although going by train to Ghent was still an option). There were at
least 30 in front of us in the queue. We got the travel tickets and we were
told the next train left in 7 minutes. We didn’t half move! There were lifts to
the platform but we didn’t have time to wait for us all to use them. Chris and
I picked up our fully laden bikes and carried them up two flights of stairs (no
mean feat) to find the train still on the platform but the guard had locked the
doors. That gave us an hour to wait, although at least it allowed us to have
something to eat.
Antwerp to Ghent (41 miles)
Having lost time on the journey into Rotterdam and then
again on missing the train to Antwerp we were rather late in setting off on our
40-mile ride to Ghent. According to Strava, we started that journey about 2:30
pm. We had a pre loaded route on the Garmin that involved using a tunnel under the river. The
tunnel went down several flights of stairs and was adopted for cycles but not cycles with panniers. We were told that
there was another tunnel equipped with lifts that we could use, although that
involved a bit of back tracking. However, once found and across the river we
were directly onto the N20 which took us straight to Ghent. We set off with
purpose at a decent pace. We did stop for refreshments at Nieuwkerken however
as it was hot and sunny, before finally arriving in Ghent well after 8:30 pm.
It took a little while to find the hostel and it had been a
long day. Ricky decided on the early night while the rest of us found a very
nice Turkish restaurant. My memory of the evening is in drinking a 1.5 litre
bottle of Lipton’s Iced Tea without any assistance. A Big Night Out!
Ghent to Mechelen
Sunny with a blustery wind is how we found the day. Our
hostel was in the centre of Ghent so we loaded up the Tour of Flanders course
into the Garmin and headed off to intercept the route. This was done without
too much difficulty although I nearly knocked myself off the bike when I hit a
raised footpath at a tram stop with the front pannier – it’s easy to forget the width of the
bike when fully loaded.
The problem I was aware of was that, had we ridden in from
Zeebrugge then we would have known where to find the route and then which direction to take. In the event we found the route and set off in what seemed
the right direction with the wind at our backs. We were trundling along by a
wide canal when I realised that where we had been heading generally north, we
were now heading generally west – the right route but the wrong way! We had
cycled just under 5 miles so we had to go back and start again. Just to improve
matters we now had a head wind that persisted for most of the day.
All that said Ghent was beautiful in the sunshine and we
were all impressed by the place. This proved to be our LF5 day as we wended our
way along a meandering riverbank (the river Scheldt, I think) away from
traffic. The only problem was finding coffee stops but our route eventually
took us through a town called Wetteren where we stopped and ate at a garage with a
very nice delicatessen attached.
Our afternoon continued along the riverbank (after a
diversion for pathway repairs) to Dendermonde where we opted to leave LF5 to take a
more direct route to Mechelen. By this stage we had ridden almost 40 miles and
we still had over 20 miles to ride. We left LF5 at a road bridge over the river
but we couldn’t find an easy way up to the road. It was our one time during the
whole trip where we had to heave the bikes up a steep dirt track to make
progress.
The rest of the day was uneventful save that we decided to
find somewhere to eat along the way so we stopped at a Turkish restaurant in
Leest with about 5 miles still to go. When we finally arrived in Mechelen it
looked as though there had been some cycle racing taking place. We had to get
across town to our hotel and I took a wrong turn/ short cut just as we
approached the Hotel Elisabeth. This got us into the wrong part of the right
street but we got there eventually. It was another late finish, however, as we
arrived at about 9:30 pm and so decided that next day needed to be a short hop.
Again, Ricky went for the early night whilst the three “youngsters” went off
into town for a quick explore and some more Iced Tea!
Day 3 27th May 2017
Mechelen to Westerlo
Having decided that this was going to be a recovery day we
took our time over breakfast. I think ours were the last bikes out of the
Conference Room, and there had been many the night before.
When we did finally set off, I must admit to losing it a
bit. The background was that there had been various discussions about the
Garmin not doing its job when, in fact, it was doing fine. We had ended up on the two
days previous following directions from locals, some of which were not
that accurate. As a result, we ended up either losing the hostel location or
taking detours that we need not have done. As we prepared to leave Mechelen
some comments were made about a satellite safari and there was a general reluctance to lead. On that basis,
I put the address for the hostel in Westerlo in the Garmin and set off at quite
a pace. During this day, I earned the nickname Beryl (as in Burton) with lots of references to
liquorice allsorts. In fact, we did almost 20 miles before a coffee stop at
Hulshout where we watched couples going in to some buildings over the road to get married. It was here where another recurring theme for the holiday came
up. A fire engine went past with sirens going earning the comment, “He’s not
going to sell much ice cream going at that speed.” And this started a homage to
Morecambe and Wise jokes that lasted through to the end of the tour.
After coffee, we continued to Westerlo and the Garmin took
us straight to the door of our next overnight stop. The final turn to the hostel
disappeared onto a track through woodland which went on for over a mile and
which would have been difficult to find without having the Garmin.
Our hostel at Westerlo was in woodland and there appeared to
be a school’s football tournament going on. After some late finishes getting in
at 2:00pm was something of a novelty. As it was hot and sunny again we sat
outside (more iced tea) and spent some time talking with a local couple about
the state of the world. We later walked into the town centre to eat in the town
square before trying to sleep amid lots of youngsters enjoying a weekend away
from home.
Westerlo to Hasselt
In any event, the day started very wet so we delayed our
start until the rain cleared. Again, we were mostly following an on-road Garmin
route although we had a pleasant few miles riding by the riverside after
Testelt. A coffee stop was called after ten miles as we left the riverside. We
eventually came onto the N2 which was quite busy, but we came across a good
lunch stop at Spalbeek where yet more ice tea was consumed as the day had
become hot and sunny once again.
We arrived in Hasselt just before 4:00 pm and booked into
the hostel. After a wash and scrub up we went into town. There was plenty of
activity with live music being played at various venues. We had had a
substantial lunch so we opted for a plain and simple burger, which was very
nice. Chris decided that he needed more and he surreptitiously disappeared to
find an ice cream shop.
Day 5 29th May 2017
Hasselt to Liege
We had spent two days largely riding by roads and Ricky
expressed some disappointment that we had gone off-route to the extent that we
had. Although we were still generally aiming towards Maastricht (even though we had
arranged a hostel in Liege) the maps showed us that we could join up with the
southern reaches of LF7 by using canals from Hasselt that eventually joined the
river Meuse. On that basis, our intention was to pick up the Albert Canal and
ride with it down to the point where it joined the river, and then to follow
the river to Liege.
We rolled out of Hasselt just before 10:00 am. It’s always
interesting how people are curious about what we are doing and how they try to
help. Such happened as we were ready to roll out from the hostel. A man with a dog walks past and starts a conversation and then starts to offer advice about
how to exit Hasselt. The conversation is mainly between the man and Chris, but
I’m astride the bike close by. His dog (a big-eyed spaniel) looks at me and the
eyes say, “Don’t believe a word he’s telling you.”, so we didn’t. Instead we
followed the Garmin route which took us straight to the canal and we were away
for a very pleasant day of cycling.
It was sunny and the temperature was going up rapidly. A
coffee stop was in order so we left the canal side at about the ten-mile mark
to visit an industrial area where we found a café. We re-joined the canal a few
miles downstream and continued along its banks until a lunch stop was called at
Vroenhoven. Here we climbed up from the canal side at a bridge and immediately
fell into a café. Interestingly, we had surfaced at the bridge where the Nazi
invasion of Belgium started in 1940. There were memorials to those who died
defending the bridge and as we continued after lunch we came across some
Belgian fortifications that had been built in the run up to the invasion that
clearly had not withstood the attacks that had taken place. Most unusually for
the journey so far, this did involve climbing some hills before we again
dropped into the valley to ride by the canal.
We continued into Liege, arriving at about 5:00 pm. The
Garmin refused to accept the address of the hostel but Google maps came to our
rescue. It was noticeable that what had been Strasse and brugg’s a few days ago
had now become Rue’s and ponts. Clearly, my Garmin doesn’t speak French.
We found the hostel and had a really warm welcome from a
young lady who told us she liked English people and who was intending to work
in Britain, despite Brexit. After the usual scrub up we walked into Liege and a
5euro deal involving a kebab, frites and mayonnaise proved a winner.
Our room was overpoweringly hot that night despite having
the window wide open. There were flashes in the night sky and storms seemed
imminent. Happily, they passed us by.
Day 6 30th May 2017
Liege to Leuven
The plan for the day was to head north west towards Tongeren
to intercept LF6; follow LF6 for the biggest part of the day before heading to
a hostel in Leuven. We suffered another technology failure as the Flanders
route that I had downloaded refused to work on both Garmins so we had to
navigate on the hoof – not that this proved a particular problem.
We didn’t set off until 10:15 am largely because we got into
breakfast at the same time as what seemed like several hundred school children
who were also staying at the hostel. The Garmin was given Tongeren as a
destination and away we went. The route took us onto the N20 but as we went out
of the centre of Liege it first took us up a real daisy of a climb, and on cobbles
too. We had a few allez, allez, allez calls as we made our way up. According to
Strava we climbed about 400 feet in a mile. Once up, however, the height gain
made it a gentle descent all the way to Tongeren, some 12 miles distant. As we
rolled into town we immediately saw a sign for LF6 so, after stopping for
coffee, we were back on route. There then followed a day of meandering through
very pleasant countryside on a mixture of back lanes and cycle tracks. We came
across the Chateau de la Motte 23 miles into the ride and that was another stop
for coffee and a light bite. Those meanderings continued until we had cycled
about 40 miles when we decided to head for Leuven by a more direct route. At
this point, near Neerwinden, we came across a memorial that started by
commemorating battles in the 1600’s, the 1700’s and then the 1940’s. Perhaps
this explains why people on the continent are more committed to the idea of a
united Europe?
We roll on to Tienen where we decide to stop for a meal
(another Turkish). At this stage we’ve ridden about 45 miles and we still have
some way to go. In fact, we don’t arrive
in Leuven until after 10:00 pm having ridden the last few miles quite slowly as
batteries were failing on all our devices, and the batteries on Ricky’s bike
were almost at the point of collapse. Why it was such a long day we couldn’t
explain. A later start? The meandering route? A slight headwind? Small climbs?
Nothing alone seemed to explain why, but we were grateful for arriving in one
piece after twelve hours on the road.
Day 7 31st May 2017
Leuven to Brussels
We spent the rest of the afternoon having a walk around
Brussels and we found some interesting places, including the Golden Square.
Brussels is one of those places that would be well worth exploring at some
time. 
We also spent a little time planning the rest of the trip.
We decided that we would spend two nights in Ypres and we booked a hotel –
quite expensive after hostels, but the advice we had was that hostels in and around
Ypres set an age limit, and there wasn’t a Hostellers International in the
vicinity so we opted for a hotel. Strangely, we had picked up a Lonely Planet
guide in the Brussels hostel and this mentioned Novotel, Ypres, as being the
largest in the town with 100 rooms, so that was where we went. We were also
aware of a deteriorating weather forecast so we planned after Ypres too, aiming
for Ostend and then Bruges before heading back to the ferry at Zebrugge.
Brussels to
Geraardsbergen
Having planned ahead and booked hostels and hotels far as Ypres this
was a day for meandering. The hostel at Geraardsbergen was quite close as the crow goes, but today we had the time so we headed out to Halle to pick up LF6 again.
The ride into Brussels had been quite a few miles off heavy
traffic, buildings and busy roads and I expected the same as we left. Happily,
this was not to be. We gave the Garmin Halle as a destination and in less than a
mile we were on a canal side cycle path that took us all the way there. It
was market day and the place was quite busy but a coffee stop was called and we
settled down to be serenaded by the Halle Orchestra (a two-man band around the
corner!). We picked up LF6 and wandered around the gently undulating
countryside. Lunch was at Leerbeck, an exceedingly pleasant ice cream parlour,
where we decided to head for Ninove (another coffee stop) using the N28 and
then onto another canal side cycle track for the last ten miles to Geraardsbergen.
Along this part we came across several herons basking in the sunshine.
The Garmin told us we had arrived at the hostel but there
was nothing to be seen. It turned out that hostel was in parkland a little way
from the road. All in all, a very pleasant and relaxed day of cycling. Our
host at the hostel told us that there was a restaurant in the park so off we
headed, Ricky and Chris going for a swim at the pool on the way. There was a
restaurant but it didn’t have much left. We asked for steak but were told there
was none left only to see one of the lads slap a huge steak in the pan! We
ended up with very large portions of Spaghetti Bolognese with frites in any
event.
Day 9 2nd June 2017
Geraardsbergen to Kortijk
A hot and sunny day entirely following LF6, a day of more meandering
around quiet roads, this time with a little climbing in rolling countryside. Our
only departure from LF6 was a navigational error (we must have missed a sign)
that took us over some rough cobbles before delivering us back onto the route.
Our first coffee stop came after about 13 miles when we
found a small bar / café on a crossroads in the village of Schorisse. We sat
outside in the yard surrounded by a few aviaries with budgies. We heard the sad
story of John’s budgie, Bobby, eaten by a neighbour’s dog. We moved on to Ronse
where rising temperatures took us into the ice cream shop before finally
meandering all the way to Kortrijk. Kortirjk was buzzing as there was a music
festival on so the place was quite busy and quite noisy.
We had a meal in the main square, the eventual winner being
a small fast food shop selling Bratwurst, frites and mayonnaise, of course.
Day 10 3rd June 2017
Kortijk to Ypres (or Iepers)
We were off early with our first intention of visiting
Menen. The Garmin again took us out of town via a cycle way adjacent to the
railway before dropping us onto a cycle way by a canal. This ran all of the way
to Menen. Once at Menen, ten miles into the day, we stopped for coffee and we
raided the Tourist Information office for maps and guides before setting out to
visit some sites and then finally cycling into Ypres. We set out in search of Tyne Cot cemetery
but visited Bridge House cemetery and Dochy Farm cemetery on the way. We also
stopped for lunch at Zonnebeke before we finally found Tyne Cot in
the afternoon.
We spent some time at Tyne Cot. It was an emotional
experience for everyone.
We headed back towards Ypres and we passed a bike shop on
the way in where John got a broken spoke fixed. The shop was Tommie’s velodroom
and we had a real welcome from the proprietors. Not only did they fix the
broken spoke but we were offered refreshments and given water bottles before we
left.
We entered Ypres through the Menen Gate, a place we visited
later to hear the Last Post played. Another very emotional experience.
Ypres
We spent the morning at the Flanders Fields museum before
getting on the bikes to visit Sanctuary Wood, Hill 62, Railway Wood and that
part of the salient that had suffered from deep mines. 
Only when we travel around the sites and get involved with
some of the information can we begin to understand the scale of the
destruction. Apparently, 50 large houses simply disappeared during the course
of the fighting over 4 years. No trace was found of them after hostilities ceased.
We also heard about the bodies of the fallen being left out in the fields
before work started to clear the area to allow people to move back onto the
land. This explained why so many graves said simply “A soldier of the Great War”.
Day 12 5th June 2017
Ypres to Ostend
Today was Ricky’s birthday so we liberated a muffin from the
buffet breakfast which we later presented to him, in song!
Today was also cooler and there was a blustery wind present.
We started off by following LF6 once again even though it went all around the
houses and started by taking us away from Ostend. This was partly so that we
could also pass other sites to the south east of Ypres as we made our way
along. We passed and climbed Kemmel Hill before heading north to Poperinge.
Here we stopped for coffee and we also met Ginger, an unusual war memorial erected
to honour her memory for keeping the lads cheerful.
After Poperinge LF6 wandered far and wide once again so we opted for a
more direct route. This was partly by roads and partly by canals towards
Diksmuide. A further coffee stop was taken in Diksmuide before we followed main
roads to Middelkirke. This put us firmly on the coast so we simply turned right
and rode mostly along the promenade all the way up to Ostend and our hostel for
the night.
Our host informed us of an establishment called Den Atiest
just around the corner. This turned out to be an old small theatre. Tables were
arranged at various levels and meat was cooked on an open wood fire. It was probably
the best meal of the trip – a good one for Ricky’s birthday.
Ostend to Bruges
An interesting day. We had a delayed start as John had a
second spoke break as we left Poperinge. Our host directed John to a bike shop
and the spoke was fixed, but we didn’t leave until turned 11:00 am. This was
against a rapidly deteriorating weather forecast. I ventured out whilst waiting
for John and I thought it was a bit blustery with some light shower, but nothing to be concerned about. And then
we set off.
The wind picked up and heavy rain ensued. Luckily the wind
was mostly out of the west and at our backs but the rain was horizontal. Our
route was mostly following a canal and we had to stop from time to time to lift fallen
branches out of our way. Needless to say, ten miles in we came to a bar / café and
we were in pretty quick for lunch before we continued to Bruges. The Garmin
took us to the hostel again and we were there early afternoon. We had an explore
around Bruges before going to the railway station for food.
There was a rowdy lot playing pool that night in the hostel.
Luckily, there weren’t many there to hear us.
Day 14 7th June 2017
Bruges to Zeebrugge
Well, if yesterday was windy……..
We had intended to visit Blankenberge on the way to the
ferry but prudence, bless her, dictated otherwise. We had a very strong crosswind from the
west so we headed straight to the ferry, although this did give us a few hours of boredom to wait in the ferry terminal. Good old Garmin actually records the weather and it says the wind that day was from WSW and that windspeed was 20 mph. I couldn't disagree with WSW as that was dead on our left but 20 mph? Well, it may have been at some part of the day but we were gale force for our little jaunt. My Boy Scouts book of useful stuff uses the much more reliable Beaufort Scale. This defines a gale as 39 to 46 mph and I'll settle for that as being about right A fresh breeze is how the Beaufort Scale describes 20 mph and this was definitely beyond fresh. In any event, it was one of those days when any sensible cyclist would say no, don't be daft, but then we had a ferry to catch.
The ride out of Bruges followed a canal and there were industrial
units running alongside. At one point, I saw a whole corrugated iron roof lift
of a building and fully expected the lot to land on us. The wind dropped enough
for the roof to fall back but then another gust lifted it again and bent it
over like a sheet of paper. We pedaled like mad to get past the danger zone.
Further up the road we got sand blasted as various grits from a builders yard came scooting across
the road at considerable speed.
As always, we came across a small café about 4 miles before
the ferry terminal so we piled in for coffee before the final push to get the boat
home.
Our trip was over. We had enjoyed two weeks of glorious cycling without major incidents and mostly in good weather. As usual, we had set off with a plan but this had changed quite a lot along the journey. We had also learned much as we visited sites around Ypres. It was time to head home but already there was a suggestion that we just might think about doing it again next year.
