This weekend I cycled 215 km over two days, much of it alongside Belgian canals.
I left home around 07:30 yesterday morning and hadn’t ridden 10 km before the rain forced me to stop and put on my rain jacket, which stayed on for much of the damp day.
This route was planned some time ago.
Once I booked my overnight B&B last week I was committed, regardless of the weather.
I’ve enjoyed cycling along Belgian and Dutch canals in the past.
The cycle paths are flat and usually well finished for a smooth ride.
The major Belgian canals are part of a larger European network that forms essential transport infrastructure for industry.
In turn this keeps many large trucks off the roads.
For example one of the larger barges carrying sand or aggregates can carry the equivalent of 100 large trucks.
The featured image today is of the newly built fietsbrug (cycle bridge) over the Albertkanaal at Tessenderlo, Belgium.
I crossed it on Saturday afternoon on my way to my nearby accommodation and again as the sun rose this morning.
You can see from the photographs that today’s weather was much better than yesterday.
In fact, it turned out to be the warmest day of the year so far and towards the end of the ride I really wished I’d worn shorts.
Yesterday’s cycle ride to Tessenderlo was 95 km and today’s ride home was 120 km.
