LKR: On the way to Gent - Belgian Bowling and Kasteel Beer

Monday morning we convened at 8 a.m. for our included breakfast at the bed and breakfast on the quaint and primarily pedestrian cobblestoned street in Antwerp. Breakfast consisted of the usual – rolls and croissants, sliced cheese (much better than Kraft) and ham, and butter. The yogurt was at this point an added delicacy, as was any fresh squeezed orange juice or fruit. This morning began our official use of the number system website and Seth, Lindsay and I made a trip to a nearby grocery store to use the copy machine to make a single back up of our maps. After a morning tour around the diamond district proper and down the Cogels Osylei – a bazaar of all possible house styles (we took lots of pictures for Mark N.!) we began our search for the beginning of our bike route to Gent.

Perhaps the most eventful part our bike route this day was the pedestrian elevator and escalator that lowered all ten of us (Ryan had at this point returned to Brussels via train, and Keith and Ellie drove the van) under ground to the pedestrian tunnel that led underneath the Scheldt river. No wonder the bike numbered route was a bit difficult to follow at first – we were looking for a bridge, and what it turned out to be was a tunnel. Only at the end of the tunnel did we notice the 5km/hr sign – CJ had definitely gone faster than that!

After being gently lifted back to the surface, we began in ernest our scenic ride from Antwerp to Gent. We stopped for lunch in … some small town… (see CJ riding the brightly colored bicycle statue) – a meal of lara bars and snacks purchased from a grocery store.

Comfortable enough with the numbers we would follow en route to Gent, the group split into three in the afternoon, Laurie, CJ, Jeff and Emily stretching their legs and riding quickly ahead, taking turns leading while the remaining three drafted in the slipstream. Maria, Lindsay and Nathan fell into their own comfortable pace, and Dave, Seth and I (Linda) cruised along in the rear, giving the three of us a chance to chat and catch up. We also got stuck behind a large group of older riders – must have been 20 or so in the gray-haired group, none of whom wore a helmet, and all of whom rode at least two abreast, making it difficult to pass. We decided with a kilometer to go to our junction, we wouldn’t make a big deal about trying to get past them. Their leader would use a whistle to signal to the rest of the group to narrow to single file when a rider/riders were coming from the opposite direction, but unfortunately, their rear-most rider did not have the same capability, so it seemed nearly impossible to try to get around them.

When we finally did break free, we settled back into our faster cruising speed, riding along a canal and comfortably shaded by clouds. We were pleasantly surprised to find Nathan, Maria and Lindsay happily pulled over and sipping beers at a small café near the canal and drawbridge some 10 km or so from our destination, and we joined them for cold, brown bruin – I ordered a Kasteel myself, and passed it around for fear of falling off my bike had I consumed the whole thing – I found later that its ABV was a whopping 11%!

Our final leg of our route this day brought us past a defunct nuclear powerplant cooling tower, a short but eventful ferry boat ride across a canal, and past Belgian bowling in a park.

We rolled into the campground outside Gent near the 6:00 hour I think. Keith and Ellie had graciously unloaded all our gear to the three, two-bunk cabins we had reserved, gone grocery shopping for a group meal, and then suited up and rode in our direction, hoping to pass us as we rode towards them. As unlikely as it seemed, we unfortunately missed them en route, which left the first group of riders locked outside the cabin. However, true to style, the campground - which I would liken to our KOA-style campgrounds - was complete with a café/restaurant, so we all sat down and ordered beers of course, and happily waited for Keith and Ellie to arrive.

While the group enjoyed a delicious meal of arborio rice, veggies, sausage and salad, I got ansty to get into downtown Gent to investigate the nightlife and a bar I had read about in the guidebook that mentioned live music on Monday nights. As we would only be there on Monday night, I had to satisfy my curiosity. Those who know me probably know that too much information can be a dangerous thing for the girl who can’t say no – but such was the case… I had to investigate, and once at the Café Trefpunt, we happily entered into an hour of live gypsy rock in a crowded bar – the band was lead by a wonderful clarinetist! I took it as a sign I was meant to be there!

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