Overnight Trip to Herentals

About five days ago I bought a used nice bike from a travel shop that does bike tours. It's a sweet little bike - a 7-speeder - and I really like it. I named her Sabrina after my favorite horse from my childhood riding lessons. 

Friday, Peter and I packed up one pannier each with pajamas, a change of clothes, toiletries, water and chocolate milk and rode 25 miles northeast to the town of Herental where we had booked a hotel room. 

 Along the way we saw many horses, sheep, chickens, and donkeys. We even saw some ostriches (or maybe they were emus.)

About half way we stopped for lunch. We got chicken doner kebap sandwiches that were very good. 

We also stopped at a coffee shop that was right on the trail. You can't drive to it - it's bike and foot traffic only. Pretty cool. We got coffees and blueberry cake. 

When we got to Herentals we checked in at our hotel. They let us bring our bikes inside to put in a room they weren't using. We got showered and then went out for drinks. I got a Coke Zero and Peter got a local beer. 

Coming home was a lot harder because we were riding into the wind a lot. Plus, our legs were tired. We were also hungrier because we had the hunger from the day before in addition to the hunger from the ride. We stopped at a grocery store for sandwich meat chicken and guacamole and chips. It was a fun way to see Belgium.

Riding Side by Side

Today we went for a ride down to Remy and it was quiet on the path. Due to it being Saturday, there was hardly any bike traffic. This meant that we could ride side by side as much as possible and that is always fun. I was riding Bruno and barely even noticed his squeaks. Maybe I'm getting used to him. It was cold this morning - right around freezing. There was a little bit of fog, but the coots and seagulls didn't seem to mind. We didn't seem to mind either and enjoyed the ride.

Riding Photos

Today we just did the 45-minute ride so it was nothing too interesting. But Peter got some great riding photos I thought I'd share. 

Thoughts on Airplanes

We went for a longer ride today. Not too long, but something like an hour and fifteen minutes total. We are getting faster. I had to gear up to keep my legs from spinning out of control. 

For a lot of the way, the path was quiet enough that we could ride side by side. We talked about the little grebes in the water and how much fun it is to watch the coots dive under and bop up to the top like tiny surfacing submarines. 

Because you can see the flight path of all the airplanes coming into Belgium, my thoughts turned to airplanes and flying again. I told Peter about this article I had read about a man who'd had an unlimited ticket for American Airlines. He also had an unlimited ticket for a guest. I just can't even imagine how much fun that would be.