The cycle ride today was a 102 km round trip through Belgium.
I left home just after 0800 and it was rather chilly as the sun came up.
Good progress was made for the first 25 km or so alongside canals.
The low early morning sun created stunning autumnal colours along the way which I tried to capture with my first photographs.
Moving away from the canal at Neerpelt (Belgium) I kept to rural and forest cycle tracks as much as possible.
The cycling infrastructure in Belgium is well developed in places but still not as comprehensive as in the Netherlands.
Pijnven is a 2000 hectare forested nature reserve to the south of Lommel, where I came across the largest German military cemetery in Europe. Over 39000 German soldiers, from both wars, are buried here in well kept surroundings;
Deeper into the forest I stopped for breakfast at a cleverly constructed log shelter.
Today, however, the peace & quiet was disturbed by frequent gunfire from the nearby Belgian military domain at Eksel.
By now there is warmth in the sun and the ride home was very pleasant as I meandered along the rural backroads and tracks.
