Europe Day 23: 49 Miles

Bastogne, Belgium to Namur, Belgium

Today was another day of grinding through a ride. This part of Belgium has reminded me of riding through Missouri with many deceptive hills and short but steep climbs that take a toll on the legs. It was supposed to be 74 miles from Bastogne to Namur, but there was a conveniently placed train station where I could cut the ride a bit short. I knew this would be a hard day from the moment I mapped it out and I think the train may have been my plan A the entire time.

I woke up in the Airbnb after a good night of sleep. I wanted to get on the road early knowing if I did the full 74 miles it would be a 7 to 8 hour ride. I had purchased a smoothie and 2 chocolate croissants the day before and ate those for breakfast. I got all my stuff downstairs but had to spend 15 minutes doing some minor bicycle maintenance. My bike was a bit of a mess after riding through dirt paths and grass the day before. I hit the road and found my route was on nice paved roads which trended downhill but had some long uphill sections. The first 9 miles of the day were by no means easy, but I at least had more downhill than uphill to start the day.

From miles 9 to 11 I had a long downhill which was a nice break. It was in the low 50s to start the day and I had to put my jacket on for the downhill section just to keep warm. I had constant indecision with my jacket today. I was overheating wearing it on the uphills but freezing on the way down. From miles 11 to 21 I had rolling hills that trended uphill. This was the hardest section of the day and I felt like I was working hard the entire time. I was at least still on smooth paved roads so I could focus entirely on my riding and not the road conditions.

Around mile 24 I moved from the main road to a tertiary road, but it was at least still paved. I found a bench 2 miles later and stopped for lunch. I had made a sandwich the night before which I was excited to eat. I had bought a roll, a package or prosciutto and a package of cheese which is what most of my store bought sandwiches have consisted of. I used the entire package of prosciutto for the sandwich which was probably triple the meat in the standard premade store sandwich. I had topped the meat with 3 slices of cheese, so it was a hearty sandwich. I also ate some trail mix and a stroopwaffle so I was full of energy when I got back on my bike.

Over the next 10 miles there were 3 climbs that I was aware of. The ride was supposed to get easier after my lunch break, but it continued to torture me with short climbs in between the 3 longs climbs. By mile 37 I knew there were no major climbs left for the day. I had planned to reevaluate the ride at this point. The elevation map for the rest of the day didn’t look bad, but I know MapMyRide does not do a great job on picking up short steep climbs. My assumption is that MapMyRide uses an algorithm that picks up points at a certain distance interval. If these points are not close enough together it can flatten out what should be a very jagged looking elevation map. From mile 37 I had 10 miles to evaluate the conditions on my own. If it didn’t look like it was going to be enjoyable, I could stop in the town of Ciney and take a quick train ride to my endpoint in Namur.

This was a ride that I would have liked to break into 2 days. I was a bit stuck because I was already booked at a hostel in Namur and a hostel in Brussels the following 3 nights. I’ve noticed that the hostels are starting to become more crowded and are generally fully booked. If I wanted to stay at a hostel, I had to lock in my reservations a few days in advance. The 10 miles to Ciney were just what I hoped they wouldn’t be. I certainly could have finished out the day all the way to Namur, but I wasn’t enjoying the riding anymore. When I arrived in Ciney I had the choice between at 20 minute train ride or 27 miles that would have taken almost 3 hours.

I watched the scenery pass by while I was riding on the train and was happy to have avoided it. Most of the riding I’ve done has been enjoyable, even the challenging days. Today was a fun challenge to start but got frustrating after a few hours. Overall, I climbed over 3,600 feet which was only 600 feet short of my climb in the Alps. The Alps at least had the payoff of great views and a goal of reaching the top of something. Today’s scenery was nice, but nothing special and that sometimes contributes to a lack of motivation to keep riding.

It was a quick 1.5 mile ride from the train station to the hostel which is a few miles south of the center of Namur right along a river. My room tonight is one of the best I’ve had so far. It has large bay windows facing right out onto the water. I took a shower and then headed downstairs to the restaurant. They have a nice selection of Belgium beer which is all reasonably priced. I decided I wouldn’t make the effort to head into the center of Namur to explore. The hostel has beer, food, WiFi, and a river view. I don’t need anything else tonight. Tomorrow I’ll head to Brussels where I can explore and be a tourist again.

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Musings:

• It’s amazing what some elbow grease and chain lube can do. By the end of yesterday’s ride my bike sounded like a creaky disaster that could break at any moment. It wasn’t shifting well and just didn’t feel smooth to ride. I spent 15 minutes this morning cleaning the bike up and lubing the chain and it made an immediate difference. I hadn’t realized how much grass was stuck in my rear bike cog. I had also accumulated mud in both my fenders. I took care of those issues and also topped up my tires which I had been neglecting to do for a few days.  Overall some minor attention to the bike made riding a whole lot easier today.