Day after a long ride and Poperinge

I am a little tired today.  After all, I rode a bunch over the weekend.  I didn't think about the day after until I jumped on the bike this morning at Union Station in Dallas.  None of my joints ached, BUT my legs didn't feel as strong as they have in the past week.  I had no choice to continue to ride and was surprised that I was a little short of wind as well.

This afternoon, I was concerned about ride 11+ miles from the office to Victory Station.  I could tell pedaling up hill that I was not fully into it.  Well that is until I got to Victory and found I had finished faster than any of the days last week.  Maybe just felt tired but did not give into it.  I will see what I feel like tomorrow before I make any judgements.   If I do the Wednesday Night Ride, that ride and the morning after may be a good test.

The days after I ride from Brugges to Westvleteren, I should be in similar condition as I am now.  I hope to spend late afternoons and early evenings sipping great beers http://sastje.webs.com/englisch.htm and riding around WWI sites in the morning and afternoons.  One place that will be on my tour is Poperinge.  This housed the British soldiers and acted as a supply depot, R&R site, hospital, and cemetery.

One of the places, I plan to visit and if able spend the night is the Talbot House.  http://www.talbothouse.be/en/?id=Archief 

Poperinge now is known for their hops.  Several bike routes exist that extends from Poperinge into the hops fields.  They even have a hops museum.  http://www.hopmuseum.be/home.php?lang=EN&itemno=90_95_91

Brugges to Westvleteren

This may be the longest day on the road. But to make up for the ride, I will be looking forward to Westvleteren 12. Some have called this THE best beer in the world. Of course there is a supply problem so when something is in short supply, it may be rated higher than it should.

http://www.sintsixtus.be/eng/home.htm

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/313/1545

http://www.classiccitybrew.com/west.html

http://www.indevrede.be/languagee/index.htm

When I was in Brugges, some of the local beer stores sold Westvleteren beers. All three were wonderful. The 12 may be a bit a strong for a session beer. I am really looking forward to going around the brewery

Brugges to Westvleteren

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westvleteren_Brewery

Riding a longer distance and Gent to Brugges

This weekend, I was able to take two long rides. On Saturday, I rode 50+ km. Today, I rode 65+ km. Except for one or two days, I would hope to ride only 50 km between nightly stops. So I am glad to see that right now I am able to relatively easily reach these distances.

http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/e175/b603/4c28/8c13/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20100703-0939.kml
http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/e175/b603/4c28/8c13/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20100705-0907.kml

Brugges was a wonderful city the last time we were there. Lots of beer. Lots of canals. Great churches.

Gent to Brugges

http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Brugge/blog-266811.html

Riding in the rain

While at work yesterday, I kept looking out the window at all those black clouds rolling through north Dallas.  Rain then dry.  Rain then dry.  Should I ride to Victory Station or should I wimp out and take the light rail.  When I got off work, the rain had stopped.  Off I went toward Victory.  Eight miles of dry road in traffic.  Then when I got on the Katy Trail, the skys opened up.  What a downpour.  It had probably been 10 years or more since I had been drenched. 

Today, I decided to ride 30+ miles to make up for the day I missed last week.  This was a test to see how well I will hold up for a semi long ride.  First off, the weather is fantastic for July - 80 degrees and cloudy.  Knocked out 18 miles before stopping for a sandwich.  Then another 14 miles.  I got my 100 miles in for the week, and am getting more confident that I can ride 40+ miles for several days in a row. 

Weekly ride and Westmalle to Gent

Had to take Wednesday ride off to get things squared away in the office. Yesterday's ride seemed easier. I don't know if it was because I had a day of rest or if it was cool with no wind. Or maybe a little of both. So tomorrow, I will have to ride 30 miles to make up for taking a day off. Look forward to riding out to Lake Benbrook and back. It is supposed to be a nice day.

Last night, I began plotting the route from Westmalle to Gent. It seems to be little further than I had expected. Sos I don't know if I will do it in one day or find a place to stay along the way. What I am trying to do in this early routing exercise is to rough out the basic trip. One to see how many days I need to do it and two to see where I may add things or have to subtract things to do. Gent seems to have a lot more churches than breweries. That is not a problem because they do have a lot of beer bars.

Westmalle to Gent