Saturday, June 16, 2012
We are at DFW
Well we made it to DFW. I screwed up and left my boarding pass and Admirals Club day pass in a bag in the back of the truck. Good news is that the bag and strawberries made it to the airport. Bad news the paperwork stayed on the streets of downtown Fort Worth. Have no fear technology comes through again. I don't need no stickin' papaerwork!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Almost ready
Well this isn't the date I had originally planned, BUT June 16, 2012 IS the day that I will be flying to Belgium. My good friend, Michael O'Brien and myself depart DFW at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning. We fly to Laguardia in New York City. Bus/cab to Kennedy Then off to Brussels at 6:15 p.m. We arrive in Brussels at 7:35 a.m. Sunday morning. Hopefully, our bikes will have made it through two flights unscathed. Hope, hope, hope.
We have NO hotel/motel reservations anywhere. Have a vague plan of riding to Antwerp, Ghent, Brugge, and Westvletern. Almost for sure going to Leige for the first stages of the Tour de France.
After tomorrow, the next event that we have planned is the flight home on July 7th.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I will try to blog semi-daily. For the first time since Desert Storm, I will not have a computer packed in my bags. So all the great photos that I would normally bombard you with will not be coming until after I get home.
We have NO hotel/motel reservations anywhere. Have a vague plan of riding to Antwerp, Ghent, Brugge, and Westvletern. Almost for sure going to Leige for the first stages of the Tour de France.
After tomorrow, the next event that we have planned is the flight home on July 7th.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I will try to blog semi-daily. For the first time since Desert Storm, I will not have a computer packed in my bags. So all the great photos that I would normally bombard you with will not be coming until after I get home.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
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
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
Monday, July 5, 2010
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.
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
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
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.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, July 2, 2010
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
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
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