Dendermonde

Monday August 29th
In Which we Doddle into Dendermonde

The second day of any extended ride can always be a little trying in many ways. Bottoms that were punished by riding on an unfamiliar bike seat for many hours have to again front up (or back up ?) for another dose before the previous damage has healed. Grumpy old men (and even grumpier old women) have to start getting along with other, finally realising that they are going to have to live with them for the next 6 weeks. Some who found the first day's riding a little harder than they expected may even begin to doubt whether they will have the stamina to complete the ride they have committed to.

My first look out the porthole at 6 am also showed that we would also face a new challenge - teeming rain. In complete contrast to the previous few days, the skies had opened up and the temperature had dropped. The decks were flooded with water. I wondered how the rest would react when they finally emerged from their nocturnal hibernation and saw what they would be confronting

I needn't have worried. By the time we had finished breakfast the rain had stopped and by the time we climbed on the bikes the clouds were already beginning to break up. The earlier rain had actually freshened the air to give us absolutely perfect riding conditions.

Like the well disciplined team that we were we formed into a lengthy conga line of riders and began our circuitous route around the Flemish countryside. It is always surprising how the nature of a region can change in such a short distance and already we could see a distinct change between the houses and villages we were riding through compared to those we had seen yesterday. Lisa also pointed out that the cows had also changed - "These cows have wider bottoms", she pointed out with a straight face. Such a unique insight !

Somewhere around mid morning we pulled to the side of the road to ooh and ahh in front of a paddock of coloured begonias and roses. I had earlier discovered that, since the gears on our bikes were internal hub gears, we could actually change gears while we were stationary. I decided to put this to the test. I pulled up alongside Dave and asked to check his mounted GPS unit.

At the same time I secretly rotated his gear selector to Number 7 (the highest gear possible). I was curious to see his reaction when he started to ride away.
You could imagine how disappointed I was when he climbed on the bike and just rode away as if nothing had changed. I assumed that he must have seen my mischief and quickly selected the appropriate gear. It was only when we stopped for lunch about 10 km later that I found that the gear selection was still on 7 ! He hadn't even noticed. When I asked him he merely said that he "thought his legs were a little tired". Either he is excessively strong or unbelievably stupid. The reader can decide which is true.

Our destination for the day was the pretty town of Dendermonde and we found our barge moored on the outskirts of the city. Since we arrived around 3 pm we had plenty of time to shower and catch up with overdue laundry. It had been a thoroughly delightful day.Read more