Luttre, Belgium

Day Twenty-Two 82 miles 2684ft

Obviously Belgium was not happy that I had been rude about it yesterday, as for the first time since Sweden, I encountered both rain and hills, as well as some Belgian specialities which I will mention later. ( not chocolates or beer)

The forecast was for a bit of light rain later in the day, but segment one was run totally in the dry and even some sun.

Although built up, I generally had a good run after initially running on cycle paths then through the pretty pedestrianised centre of Hasselt   

Coming out of the town I saw Nigel and Monica in the camper at the traffic lights, but I had a green to cross in front of them so managed to keep them behind for a bit by riding in the road!

Still mostly on cycle paths, this segment to coffee went better than hoped and I reached first stop on time

Running through the next town I saw this sign  Sadly I did not have time to stop, but makes you think what really is on offer?

It was now that the weather changed. Despite the clouds being relatively high, the rain started and got harder. In addition the route got more complex through what seemed to be one village running into the next and then to add insult to injury some stretches of famous Belgian paves

 Ok in the dry, if just very bumpy – I could feel the muscles vibrate inside their sheathes – but really lethal in the wet, especially as the top picture shows,  with a fantastic crown on the road. This meant running on the ridge or in the furrows with the back  tyre slipping and sliding constantly particularly on uphill sections.

Holding the front straight too was a real challenge.  My hats off to the TdF guys and I can see why Chris Froome does not like the paves.

This meant that the lunch stop at the battlefield of Waterloo, was not reached until well gone 3, 200 years too late. A change into dry gear and lunch was followed by a trip up the Butte du Lion mound   Something that displeased Wellington as in creating it they destroyed the contours of his battlefield.

A trip round the museum and the best 3D museum film I have ever seen, meant that it was almost 6 by the time it came to leave.

 Deciding to reduce mileage for the first time this trip, as I was not keen to run in the dark and wet in such built up surroundings, saw a short 16 mile segment in yet more rain to a hastily found campsite with the most powerful showers ever.

This means that tomorrow could be a 125 mile day or we may decide to eat a little into the planned rest day on Monday. Sadly the weather forecast for the next few days does not look favourable and the inside of the camper looks like a washing line.

Wish me luck.