Earlier today I returned from a great two day cycle tour in Belgium.

Cycling along the canal banks seems to be a favourite of mine, having cycled this particular route 4 times in the last four years.

This time, the planned two day route was just over 200 km.

Yesterday I cycled 93 km from Heerlen to my overnight stop in Leopoldsburg, Belgium.

Although it’s only April, the temperatures were quite high, reaching 25c by mid-afternoon.

The planned 105 km return home today was cut short by about 30 km as I was forced to stop when I reached Berg aan de Maas.

I left my overnight stop in Lepoldsburg, Belgium, at around 06:30 and made good progress along various canal bank cycle paths.

Just like the previous day the temperatures rose quickly and by mid-day it was around 26c.

My legs were getting bad cramp and it became impossible to ride  more than 3-4 km without stopping.

To make matters worse the front tyre punctured as I rode away from the ferry across the Maas.

The puncture would normally be fixed at the roadside but the worsening cramp meant I had to stop and get Ans to collect me and the bike in the car.

Not the way I like to end a bike trip, but it was still a great two day cycling experience, as you can see from some of the pictures.

Today’s featured image is the sunrise over low-lying mist just to the north of Leopoldsburg, taken at around 06:40.

The orange sun casts such amazing light on the countryside.

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