Ardennes by Bike

I was lucky enough to be in Dunkirk at the same time as a Dunkirk Little Ships excursion to town. It is the 85th anniversary of Operation Dynamo. I had noted the event as I scanned UK news but hadn't really processed what that meant until after my Friday 23rd May bike ride I heard repeated blasts of a ship's horn; of course, the boats would be in harbour.  The expanse of boats; 74 were planned. My alarm call. Papillon LLANTHONY Included in the fleet were a couple of Thames barges and one was offering impromptu tours.  The same barge under sail. A light atmosphere with most boats crewed by people in Yatch Club costume drinking chilled Chablis. Summary information here  and a link to the Assiciation of Dunkirk Little Ships (ADLS)  here . 

I always squeeze as much out of a tour as possible and ultimately that leaves me feeling a bit frazzled. I usually have options and seldom do more than I want. The main pleasure for me is the cycling and I try to maximise distance covered just for the fun of it. 40 miles a day has worked well on a generally flat route with hills and shorter days in the middle week and no tent or camping.  This is a photo I took of a large billboard advertising a trade electricals outlet; not sure of the message here but I encountered it at the end of a tiring day. The Ardennes along the river Meuse is a flexible location as road, rail and cycle paths run up and down the valley and then you have interesting rides with some hills but nothing extreme I think an altitude of 450m was as high as I got and the Ardennes is rolling forested hills rather than mountains and certainly nothing above 700m. Charleville-Meziere is a good base for day rides and for day trips on the train to places like...

My cunning plan for today, a plan that has been brewing for a few days now, was to have a sneaky day off. I have been adding extra distance most days and at 791.88 miles I am achingly close to my initial 800 miles in 20 days plan. People always ask how many miles in how many days so having some simple numbers helps. I have been rounding down to the whole number of kilometers each day but even if I add those back in (19 lots of 0.5 of a kilometer is 9.5km) I am still shy of the mark. You can see I did the maths. Numbers aside, the sun is shining, I am here to cycle and I visited the Operation Dynamo museum on an earlier visit to Dunkirk. So, my new cunning plan is a trip out to Bergues which, if it's the place I think it is, will be a good destination and at under 40km for the round trip I can have a late start and an early finish. On the way out there is a brick hut with murals on each side. This is what I think I look like.  This is more realistic.  An...

Go the distance! Audax UK website.  Cobblestones feature today as I take an arc of a route taking in Cassel which is a French village with cobblestones on a steep hill similar to the bergs in Belgium. This provides me the opportunity to showcase the route analysis that navigation tools can provide. It is then possible to zone in on where the cobblestones are, or whatever way type or surface interests you, for instance if you want to avoid, or just be aware of, troublesome paths or fast state roads. I probably missed the "Welcome to France" sign as I cross the border via isolated lanes and this is made the transition from Belgium to France blurred for a number of miles. The road signage changing was the first indicator with the bike no longer having elevated rights of way; luckily I noticed that quite quickly and this explains why I didn't die today. However, place names are still Dutch-sounding and the architecture has a Dutch appearance, you know, those step...

War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. Faramir, a reluctant warrior in Part 2 of Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.  It's hard not to look back to World War I when approaching Ypres and this from Tolkien felt appropriate.  I was staying at a B&B last night which means a good breakfast this morning. There was a generous breakfast table laid out for me and, only slightly worryingly, two lit candles and fresh roses from the garden. The scene reminded me of the film Misery which stars Kathy Bates who does everything to stop her guest (played by James Caan) from leaving. I shouldn't have worried as part of the way through my meal my host announced that she had got my bike from the garage so I was 'free to leave'; and this was said with no trace of malicious intent. Lots of ...

Good morning! [says Bilbo]   Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?  [replies Gandalf] The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.  Today the morning is good with sunshine, a gentle breeze, a fine breakfast and more bicycling to look forward to. The type of morning you want to embrace wholeheartedly. If I sound extra cheery it's because I had mis-recorded the distances and today I can look forward to a full 53 miles and it's either downhill or flat. It is a Good morning! to quote Bilbo. As part of last night's planning session I extended tomorrow's ride from Tournai to Ypres to include Kortrijk which I visited last year but where I didn't really pause that long. The day after is also extended to include the hilltop town of Cassel which I rode to last year and which will save the ride down the coast to Dunkirk; I rode up and down that last year. These ...