Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside. - Mark Twain
Travelling light on a bike means eating what is available and vaguely sensible. Breakfasts - where they are offered - are continental meaning bread, hams, cheeses, pastries but also fruit and yoghurt. That's the variety meal that sets me up for the day and I take my time over it. Then it is supermarket offerings of more bread and ham, bananas, snickers bars and mixed nuts; whatever I can carry and eat as a picnic. Whatever food I have eaten is then forced to 'fight it out inside'.
And on a cool sunny morning I am forced to fight it out in the footsteps of Eddy Merckz and the first real berg, the Kluisberg - Mont de L'Enlus. I need to practice climbing because when I get out of the saddle on damp roads the rear wheel spins due to me getting too far over the handle bars.
An excuse to catch my breath. This photo is of the gradual descent through lush woodland.
Belgium cycle infrastructure at its best.
I follow the EuroVelo 5 very briefly.
Belgium celebrates cyclists and here they celebrate with a sequence of Tour of Flanders winner's names painted on the road including Tom Simpson from 1961.
I knew the end of today was a berg but hadn't appreciated that the whole day has a number of short sharp climbs. The bottom of each climb is marked out and luckily 530m is the distance travelled rather than the ascent. The Taaienberg felt more like a constant 10% though being cobbles it is hard to maintain the smooth pedalling action you can achieve on tarmac. You definitely need to apply some technique that you don't get to practice in the UK.
The "De Ronde" is The Tour of Flanders.
I am desperate for a coffee as the day draws on but everything is closed including this place which being true to its name operates a 'only after you have cycled' policy.
Entering Geraardsbergen I pass my accommodation on the way to the final climb of the day. The cobbles are wet and slippy and I quickly realise that my legs have done enough today so 'the wall' as it is called can wait until tomorrow. Yes, Muur means wall.
It has been a 40-mile day with some sharp ascents and luckily the steepest was the first climb. This is actually quite a normal day for me when touring but Belgium likes to celebrate the hills it has and for good reason as they are quite special.
I walk the first part of tomorrow's ride up the Muur as part of a stroll around town. Not that I'm worried about the climb, I just fancy a walk to stretch my legs. If I happen to make mental notes on gradients, road condition and any hazards such as wet leaves well, that's only natural. I've eaten too much bread recently, I can't face chips with anything meaty but eventually stumble on a place that does mussels.
The final word today must go to the rich verdant landscape of the Flemish Ardennes. The only problem is that driving would be a pain and it's not really walking country in my opinion so pump up those tyres and get rolling.