Day 6

We have arrived in Belgium! 

Not long after exiting the terminal at 9am (8am your time) and cycling around cobbled streets to shake us up, we were on the superbly efficient bike route to Ghent, just 42 mls away. A really good ride, completely flat, with the majority of paths being tarmac, at least 6ft wide, beside a canal or river, and lined on both sides by very tall trees. And then farm tracks, wooded trails, and disappearing amongst acres within "fields of gold" (sweet corn!!)

We turned up at The Gravensteen Hotel literally minutes before a heavy thunderstorm struck, and retreated indoors to rest up.

An hour's walk around town gave us the appetite required for our meal in the speciality Ribs Restaurant, visited over the years with Brian & Susan, and Marie & Bernard. Good times. 

These words in the pavement took our eye: and we said goodnight to the Castle. Cheers. 

Finally, tonight, a quiz. These photos were in our hotel. Can you name the film stars? Answers tomorrow!

Day 5

A leisurely morning with the Hicklings. A light lunch in the garden. 

About 2:45, we set off on a short 15 mile easy ride to Hull. For about a third of the journey we chatted with another cycling couple who lived in Hull but were planning to move to Lancaster. Small world!

We boarded the "Pride of Bruge", secured the bikes, and found our cabin with bunk beds!

The view behind the boat looking towards Hull was quite stunning. 

13 hours overnight and a 9:00am start tomorrow when the doors open in Zeebrugge. Part two begins ......

Day 4

I hope you all enjoyed reading last night's blog, which I'm sure you guessed was written by Ann. For future reference, mine are the ones with facts and figures, times of departure/arrival, and percentages. Ann's are the descriptive ones about the scenery, the country smells and the weather!

Today, we did no cycling. A leisurely stroll around Beverley including the purchase of some cycling gloves for Ann at Minster Cycles. Then a short drive to the race course, where car parking was at your own risk:

Once inside, we enjoyed fine weather and an afternoon of horse racing:

We noticed on the race card that a horse called Red Pike was owned by Sir A Ferguson. Ann had £1 each way on it at 11-1 but it didn't do too well. After the race, we saw the disappointed owner walking back from the paddock:

After the 5th race, Paul still hadn't picked a winner, but Ann, Brian and Susan had all done quite well. Was this about to change for the 6th race? Not really! Paul lost again, but the two people pictured below managed to win nearly £50 each ..........

Later in the evening, we went out for a meal, and Paul won a 50p bet by wearing lemon coloured trousers!

Back in the saddle tomorrow, for a short (15 miles) trip to Hull to board the ferry on our way to the continent! 

Day 3

So, what a lovely way to see the beauty of England's green and pleasant land!

We had a trip of 40 miles today, left at 9.30am, and arrived at Chez Hickling in Beverley at 2pm exactly, seconds before a heavy downpour. Lucky Luptons. It was a good ride, almost easy, apart from the 2 hills when I muttered my apologies as I passed Paul. Our hosts Brian and Susan have never disappointed with their generosity, and after a cuppa, natter, nap (Ann) we have eaten far too much this evening, and are ready for bed.

So far, so good :))  We have cycled on mud tracks, green fields and hillsides, canal paths, little roads and busy wagon ways: seen hundreds of haybales, harvesters, farms and farmland, blackberries for the picking, kamikaze squirrels - almost under Paul's wheel - cows, acres of stinky pigs (!! really), black sheep and lambs: a white butterfly for good fortune, and a funny chap trimming his 30foot high Leylandi crossed the street to wish us luck.

A welcome day off tomorrow as we visit the famous Beverley Races, and rest these newly found achy bits, shoulders, neck, legs and buttocks..

Good night all. Thanks for being there!

Day 2

Full English at "The Old House" B and B at Torside overlooking the reservoirs in the Woodhead Pass. Our host, Joanne, was excited as Channel 4, were coming to her Tea Rooms today to film a couple for the Undateables TV programme. Wish we could have stayed but almost 50 miles of cycling lay ahead of us!

We left at 10 and after about an hour arrived at the steepest part of the ride. The two railway tunnels were now used by the electricity power companies to bring cables through, so for us, it was over the top. The path was so steep in places, it was a case of get off and push. The scenery was amazing. Lots of purple heather. 

About 3ish, we arrived at an unusual crossing of the Calder River. It was a bridge only for trains, but with a section of the steelwork underneath the train lines for pedestrians/cyclists. There was a steep ramp to push the bikes up and a narrow passageway just wide enough to cycle through.

An hour later we cycled though Outwood, near Wakefield, and called in on our nephew, Sam who provided some light refreshments and admired our bikes!

We completed our journey in a little village called Monk Fryston, where we had a room booked. Both a bit tired and sore, and glad tomorrow is the last cycling day before a restful weekend with friends in Beverley. 

Map shows Alsager (purple pin), current location (blue dot) and Beverley, about 42 miles away.

Day 1

After a few days of feeling we were "ready", of course the last few hours turned into a bit of a rush. All the things you couldn't do until the last day; window locks, bins, fridge etc, so our 11:50 departure became 12:10. Not so bad.

Much of the route (especially in Belgium) will be on cycle paths with no cars, or on lanes dedicated as cycle routes with minimal traffic. However our first 12 miles today was a straight run to Macclesfield on the main roads. It would have been possible to get there the back way but as it was day 1, the idea was to keep it short and direct.

We called in at church to say goodbye to several friends at a Weds morning discussion group (which is on 10 till 12, hence the plan to leave home at 11:50). Anyway, most were still there and sent us off with enthusiasm. (and a prayer!)

After Macclesfield we joined an old railway line which was of course very long and flat, and took us almost into Marple. There, we followed the canal and cycled on a pathway parallel to the Marple Staircase of 16 locks. As the canal crossed under a busy road, we saw the chance for a coffee stop. Within a 100 yards of our route, we found a Costa Coffee and spent about an hour there at an outside table in hot sunshine. Bikes locked and leaning on the rack nearby (see photo).



After Marple with only about 12 miles to go, the route went up and down quite steeply as we passed through Hadfield, Padfield, Glossop and eventually arrived at Torside at 6:05pm. Just a short day to start with, 38 miles on the clock and just over 4% of the ride completed!

Steep uphill tomorrow for an hour and a half then a relatively downhill run once we get onto the other side of the Pennines.

Thanks for lots of messages as we set out. Texts. Emails. FaceTime. Even a couple of cards in the post! Much appreciated :)

Intro

This blog is created to provide a quick up-to-date check on Ann & Paul's progress on their Alsager to Wengen bike ride.

It is for friends and family only. Please do not copy the link to anyone in case it gets passed on to someone interested to know that we are not at home!

You can come back to this blog at anytime and scroll through the posts, which we will number and publish each day.

The journey begins soon. Our next post should be from Torside, just north of Glossop in the Peak District, on Wednesday 26th August, at the end of our first day.