Day 27: Mons to Namur

On June 11, 2026 By Sharron YaxleyIn Europe2 Comments

Breakfast was provided and it was an effort as the smell nauseated me and I ate little.

I soon had the runs….but at least I was not dizzy today!

We headed off, aiming to reach Charleroi, 58 km away, then to get the train for the last 52 km to Namur.

My Hr issues surfaced above 100 beats,. Concerning and annoying.

It was a really flat ride, and I was worried as our accommodation was up a hill requiring a 2.5 km, 5 percent gradient climb.

This was an interesting sight. The canal had a significant height level change. This is a mechanised boat lifter that lifts the boats up, or down to the other side.

The Strepy-Thieu funicular lift is the second largest boat lift in the world and its 73.15 metre incline is impressive.

The canal began operations in 1879 and its locks and lifts could accommodate vessels of up to 300 tonnes. This became inadequate when the European standard was 1350 tonnes.

It was completed in 2002 at a cost of 160 million euro.

Would love to have seen it in action but no barges in the immediate vicinity.

We mainly rode on canal pathways today. The surfaces varied. There was the nice, smooth sealed sections. Then there were sections of concrete, getting bumpier. Then there were old seal sections where the adjacent tree roots had made it a very rough and bumpy ride.

We did not pass through any villages today so just a few photos along the way.

We made it to Charleroi. What a mess of a place that is. Crazy drivers, one cutting Tony off as he turned right, he rushed ahead to also turn right!!

We needed to cross a particular road and stood there for ages, until a kindly truck driver halted the traffic so we could cross.

Many truck drivers are like this.

Found the central railway station, found a ticket machine, and managed to purchase four tickets, two adults and two bikes.

Made it to platform 2, the coldest platform around with the headwind hitting it. It was a cold day of around 12c without the wind.

We waited about 35 minutes, the train arrived, and again, a conductor appeared who lifted my bike up and onto the train.

As we disembarked in Namur, another one turned up, and lifted it down.

Kudos and respect to these younger male conductors with Belgian Rail. We are beyond impressed with their assistance and kindness.

We did not get to check Namur out. Rain was incoming and we had a hill to climb.

That’s the hill I climbed. Not bad ordinarily, but given my heart rate issues, I was concerned.

Very satisfyingly I did the climb without any heart rate or nausea issues. I was super pleased as I pushed my body more than I had for days, and I felt fine!

A good indication that whatever drug interactions had occurred had left my body at long last.

We are staying in this chateau. Not a bad place. We are on the second floor and have a little dormer window,

It is a training school for hospitality, so at dinner we were served by students.

They are required to practice different languages to explain the food to the customer.

There are two ‘more senior’ men overseeing them and dealing with the wine.

The menu is set so I was required to have a minimum three course meal. I was not sure how that would go given my lack of food for a few days.

We both had a lobster and asparagus dish for entree, pork for main course and a dessert.

Fortunately the portions were not huge, more about the presentation on the plate. The food was very nice, I ate most, and felt ok.

It did drag on for two hours and we got upstairs at 9 am and I pretty well fell straight asleep.

Today’s routes, 63 km in total. I am ok with that, all things considered.

Tomorrow is a new day and a longer one again. We’ve some tougher days ahead with hills starting in a few days.the physical signs are positive though.

Thanks for reading.

More detail Strava: The Mink (Sharron Yaxley)

Day 26: Lille to Mons

On June 10, 2026 By Sharron YaxleyIn Europe4 Comments

I slept overnight for 13 hours. Unheard of for me. I felt ‘not right’ but decided to give it a crack.

That turned out to be the wrong decision.

If my heart rate went above 100 I was very nauseous. My lung capacity felt reduced. I was dopey.

I gave it 10 km and we went to a rail station in Villeneuve d’Ascq, an outer suburb of Lille.

We spent an hour there. The girl said, using Google translator on her on her phone, we could not book the bikes on. Needed to do that on line.

Turns out, that station is not one that appears on Belgian Rail website to Mons.

So I either need to ride back to Lille, across all the shitty cobbles and traffic, or clear out on quieter paths to Tournai, over the Belgian border.

It seemed we could book bikes on from there, as we would have already crossed from France into Belgium. Same rail company though!

It was a slow crawl as I needed to stop regularly. I wanted to close my eyes.

I was concerned as I thought the anti histamines ‘should’ have left my body. The thing that ‘scared’ me the most was my lungs and nausea at 100 bpm.

That is not a high riding rate. Quite low. Thank goodness it was flat and we had a tail breeze.

Not many photos today as Tony was more concerned about getting me to Tournai.

We did stop here for a breather.

It was relief making it to Tournai. 31 hard earned km.

Tournai is one of Belgium’s oldest cities. We only got to see a few of the sites, taking a breather in the Markt.

The railway station is regarded as one of the most beautiful in Europe.

The French speaking man at the counter was very helpful. I was delighted to see four tickets spit out, and we only needed to wait about 40 minutes.

Down the stairs and then up the stairs to platform 2 was a challenge. I got downstairs ok, but upstairs was beyond me today. Fortunately Tony is strong 💪.

When the train arrived, the conductor actually took my bike and lifted it in. I was beyond grateful.

I was curious that all the on train communications, plus ticket office were in French. I have learned that there is a French speaking part of Belgium, and also a German speaking part, as well as Dutch.

Maybe 45 minutes later we were in Mons. I just closed my eyes.

Mons railway station is like nothing else I’ve ever seen. Futuristic, super modern, clean.

Photos I have copied.

We were too early to check in, so we stayed indoors at the station, sitting in a Starbucks, hot chocolate warming us up. I was intermittently shivery.

It was about another 2 km to our overnight stop. it was up a decent hill of 10%, cobbled! I pushed.

Along the way two photos.

Another interesting town, but after checking in, I went back to bed.

I later reluctantly got dressed to search for dinner. I was not hungry and not really eaten for two days, but have forced myself to eat a few things like grapes and banana. The thought of anything else is puke.

We walked through the main Markt place, rain closing in.

Tomorrow is another day. Will see how I pull up. Decisions then.

Thanks for reading ❣️🚴

Day 25: My Great Uncle, Alexander Harvey

On June 9, 2026 By Sharron YaxleyIn Uncategorized16 Comments

Alexander Harvey was born in Deloraine and went to school at Dairy Plains.

At the age of 22, March 1916, he enlisted with the 40th Battalion of the AIF.

He proceeded overseas in July 1916, arriving at the Western war front on 23 November.

He was killed less than two months later, on 19th January 1917.

The loss of his life devastated his family, including my young grandmother, Nellie Harvey, then aged 20.

A few years later Nellie married James Saward. Her first born was a male in 1921, and she named him after her brother.

Alexander is buried in Northern France at Armentieres and today we visited his grave to pay our respects.

Something I’ve always wanted to do.

I have a precious possession of Alexander’s. His bible. It is leather bound, thin gold leaf pages, Old Testament.

It was given to me by my father when I started scripture lessons (Roman Catholic) at PumchBowl Primary.

Little did I know then how sentimental a gift this was.

Lill was Alexander’s sister. She then gifted it to my father,who in turn gifted it to me.

I’m glad that I did treat it well as a young six year old.

When my Uncle Bern passed away (nephew of Alexander), my cousins Angela and Steven gave me a large picture of Alexander, plus an AIF framed work. They were my Grandma’s and I guess her parents before that. More sentimental treasures.

To visit Alexander’s grave, we had an adventurous day.

We left Lille via the citadel gardens, which are the most pleasant part of Lille. A population of over 1.2 million, its interesting but from the cycling perspective, a pain in the butt.

Cobbles galore, narrow streets, people…

We are heading to Ypres in Belgium. Within 20 km or so we crossed the border at Comines, by the river La Lys.

No signs, just car registration changed from F to B, and the flags changed colours.

Belgian Comines, flea market in progress blocking the image taking.

This church had a small war grave site on the far side.

The peace of the river as we approach Ypres.

There were at least two of these large covered cement structures. Presuming from the war. Very long and would have housed many men.

This is an interesting fountain!

On the outskirts of Ypres are ancient ramparts.

These are the best preserved fortifications in Belgium, dating from the 10th century. They survived WW1 mainly due to their structural thickness.

It is a pretty area of the town.

Ypres, or Leper as it is known in Belgium was annihilated in WWI. All that was left were a few tall spires.

The town was totally rebuilt in the early 1920’s following pay,ent of reparations by Germany. The buildings were constructed following the original blueprints.

I’m thinking these might be remnants from the original church as they are damaged.

Heading out of town, plenty of bike signage. By chance, we’ve followed the Front Route 1914-1918 a fair bit.

It goes past many small war cemeteries.

Then my day took a tumble. Right by this paddock, adjacent to a war cemetery, I tried to make my way in front of a parked van.

I failed to see there was a stinging nettle filled ditch, and bike and I both went down, quite a steep ditch.

I screamed in pain as my right leg was hurting heaps. But worse, my bare arms and legs had nettles all over them.

When I finally wriggled my way out, blubbering, annoyed with myself, I had welts and blisters on both arms and legs.

The worst case of stinging nettle I have ever experienced.

Two blokes that were in the van came out from the cemetery, working for the Commonwealth War Graves.

They noted I was bleeding and insisted on finding their first aid kit and rendering bandages.

They had been working on a wrought iron gate. The bloke on the left is a carpenter, the one on the right a blacksmith.

They had been at my Great Uncles cemetery just a few days before.

It was so nice meeting these blokes, but not in the way it happened.

I was shaking and in pain. I took two anti histamines. Big mistake as I became very drowsy, dizzy, nauseous, vomiting and had two consecutive migraines.

With the migraines, I get the visual aura where I can’t see properly, dizzy and it is triggered by bright light, knocks to the head or stress. I also get a form of epilepsy with a few triggers similar.

We stopped a few times so could just close my eyes.

It was a tough 40 km ride back to Lille. We did manage to make a few tweaks to shorten it.

We ended up doing 82 km vs 88.

This area of Belgium is beautiful. A few more hills, very green open fields.

Killing fields once, the scene of far too many men dying.

Thought this looked like Prince Philip.

Beautiful region.

So many war graves.

Finally we make it to Armentieres. Here he is buried.

I cried. I was feeling miserable anyhow, but was surprised that I was crying for his senseless loss of life. People say that the loss gave us our freedoms, but I seriously hate war.

There are over 2,200 buried in this cemetery alone.

It is peaceful scene now.

I bid Alexander farewell, and we headed back to Lille.

An emotional day.

I’m slow in writing this blog, as when we returned I went to bed and slept for 13 hours straight. Unheard of for me. I’ve awoken early to try and write it.

My back is bitching and I’m drinking black coffee, sitting in cool air to ‘wake me up’.

We have 82 km today. We will see how I feel as there are train options. It might be that we ride to Tournai and reevaluate, as the cool air ( and I think tail wind was forecast!) might help.

We will see.

Thanks for reading 😊🚴❣️

Day 24: Ghent to Lille

On June 8, 2026 By Sharron YaxleyIn EuropeLeave a comment

We were staying fairly close to the Markt square area, maybe 250 m walk away. Looking out from our balcony you would not know that.

Our host Ben rocked up with fresh fruit and pastry items for breakfast. A really nice guy.

The weather was a cool 12 degrees.

Soon we were off, loosely following the Bovenschelde Canal, that starts up in the Netherlands around Terneuzen (where we caught a ferry to days earlier).

We passed through some nice villages.

A roundabout showing a typical bike path around it. Cars give way, unlike home where you are mixing it with the cars. Cyclists safety taken far more seriously here.

Some people say, oh but their roads are better. Nope, often narrower. This roundabout a perfect example.

Today the pack cyclists were out in force. If there was a bike path, they were on it.

The Australian standard is 2.5 metres for a cycle path. No wonder we do not have many. Here we’ve been on some very narrow ones and passed, or waited for the pack cyclists, or other users.

Local brewery with statue.

Local church. I like the pointy spires.

We stop in Oudenaarde for lunch eating leftover breakfast. A lovely fresh baguette with banana.

A nice looking town. We did not venture into the town markt. We could hear loud music, and people were crossing the bridge towards it and we tonight ‘nah’.

The town has a history back to around 900 bc.

The Tour of Flanders is an annual prestigious cycling event and there is a museum in town.

Views from lunch.

This was in our direct vision 10 metres from the fountain. Make of it what you will. Bit freaky. It is named ‘Titus’.

We then followed a very decent path out of town and through lovely agricultural fields. Wheat and potatoes seemed to be growing.

To our left (east) we saw hills for the first time in weeks really. The Ardennes.

A historical area with a sad military history but the location of many events including cycling.

Ronde van Vlaanderers, also known as the Tour of Flanders, is a gruelling one day monument cycling event.

270 km for men, 170 for women it is renowned for its steep cobbled climbs and punishing crosswinds.

Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel have won it six out of the last seven editions.

Arguably the toughest climb is the Koopenberg. It is relentless and has seen far too many accidents and pile ups. Cyclists are often pushing their bikes up.

Turn left? Not on your sweet Nellie! Iconic, yes, but we are on loaded bikes and if the pro’s push their bikes up then why would we try?

If we were centred around here for a few days and could ride unladen, perhaps we would have a look. But we are not, and cobbles are my least preferred surface given my rib bone breakage history.

Back on track!

Cyclists yielding and checking traffic before crossing.

Small group pass by.

We followed the canal for 13 km section, mainly into headwinds.

The cyclists coming the other way were flying. So many had disc wheels (solid covered in type) that make a certain ‘whop whop’ sound. They were doing 40 km ish with the benefit of a tail wind.

Interesting observation. There were very few casual riders along here out for a Sunday ride on their e-bikes. Just did not see them. I am wondering if they avoid this section given the powerful packs that were powering through seeking fast times.

It was being treated like an interval time trial.

At a canal crossing was this interesting hut.

Area board.

Cycling ‘art’.

Cute home.

The canal we were still following. We would soon deviate as we were heading to Roubaix and the canal to Tournai.

Little statue.

Big statue. The light was all wrong here, but sillouette works.

More canal.

Finally into Roubaix. A busy town where we headed to the famous velodrome, the finishing site for the Paris Roubaix famous cycle race.

Like the Tour of Flanders, a monument one day race featuring gruelling cobbles. Roubaix is regarded as the toughest, with sharp cobbles and climbs.

Dutch and Belgium riders have dominated in recent times. Mathieu van der Poel has won three and this year, Wout van Aert.

We headed to the velodrome, to do a lap. However, turned out the velodrome was hosting a huge soccer carnival and there was not going to be any cycling there today.

Outside the entry gates a huge cobble.

Peaking over the fence from the dyke you can just see the track.

A bit disappointed, but what will be, will be.

Nice park in Roubaix.

The ride from Roubaix to Lille was predominantly on a paved cycle path, running adjacent to the main arterial road.

The two cities are joined, one larger urban area.

The path is intersected by red lights every few hundred metres for about 8 km. I reckon we got every red light.

It took quite a time to do the distance but finally we were in centre Lille.

Photos riding through.

Pleased to find our unit, then the day got hard.

We had been given a series of seemingly easy instructions to follow.

First, press the code to open the front door to the apartment building. Easy.

At the next door, press another code that would go through to the owner, who would open the door remotely.

Did it, but no answer. Tried a few more times, no answer.

We rang him. He said, try again. We did, but we’d now tried so many times it locked us out. He said we needed to wait a while.

Can’t you come down and just let us in? No..he was in southern France.

Waiting, waiting, waiting….try again. Boom, I am in.

Go to the second floor in the lift. I cannot make it work.

I find the fire escape stairwell. Grope around for lights, go up two floors.

Pitch black, grope for more lights, find unit 16.

Next clue, at floor level is a key box. Here I am on my knees, trying to open the key safe. Boom, I have a key.

I open the unit, dump the gear I carried up.

I need to find the garage key, near the spices. I failed.

So I head back to Tony, lock the door but cannot get the key out!

Down the stairs, groping for lights, jamming the coded remote access door open with our luggage, opening the exterior door and jamming it with luggage, and Tony heads up to retrieve the key and search for the garage key.

He succeeded. All up it took 50 minutes to get us sorted.

Lots of colourful language used.

We went to a convenience store and grabbed supplies to cook a simple dinner of omelette and salad.

This unit has a washing machine, so we put a load through.

Tomorrow we do a day ride featuring an interesting family legacy.

94 km today. 2,196 in total.

We are back in France, having crossed the border not far before Roubaix.

Thanks for reading 😊❣️

Day 23: Bruges to Ghent

On June 7, 2026 By Sharron YaxleyIn Europe2 Comments

Today was planned as one of our easiest rides, a half day ride to Ghent, ‘just down the canal’ some 50 km.

We enjoyed a slow breakfast, and did not rush to get out the door.

The weather was cool, and windy!

Being a Saturday, it was not as busy in Bruges, but we still scored plenty of red traffic lights.

Finally, peace and relative quiet.

Just geese to avoid, and plenty of pack riders out, some smashing it heading our way with favourable tail winds.

Some housing and farming, a few villages, but fairly quiet.

If you take a closer look at this photo, you will note 12 men, seated, with their backs to the river.

Behind the men are two ‘supervisors’.

The seated men each have a box, and are literally just sitting there. We watched curiously for about ten minutes.

Nothing happened except for the two ‘supervisors’ walking backwards and forwards.

It was like an after school detention for naughty boys.

Should we go across the nearby canal bridge and seek to liberate these men?

We left with questions. Later on, we asked our Belgian guru for an answer. Read on.

A bridge closing along the canal. As we rode, two motor boats were frequently sighted. We’d get ahead and stop to look at something, and then see them a bit further up the canal.

Some curious art. Reminds me of when I worked at the Launceston General Hospital in Women’s and Children.

Our offices faced onto a very private, non accessible external outdoor area. There were no safety barriers, hence our inability to access the area. However , the Arts group had placed a series of rusty metal art out there. I never did figure out what they represented. It felt like they were out there as they could not figure out alternative locations.

One of our companion boats.

We stopped at a large pill box (cement military armament base, often grassed, housed people inside, armaments on top). We see them frequently on our European and Uk trips.

I picked my love some wild flowers. At home, one of my neighbours calls these ‘Bunnings weeds’ and that sticks with me, but in the right setting, they are nice.

A bit further on, Tony tries out a hammock. It made him dizzy which we do not want given he has Menieres.

Cyclists and runners all use Strava. There is a saying, if it’s not on strava, it did not happen.

Or they joke. If you had a bike crash, they will say, did you press stop and upload to strava (before the ambulance!).

I use Strava heat maps in plotting our routes.

This is something we’ve not seen before.

The sign indicates it is a 600 m section and flat. There was a further sign indicating end of strava segment.

Given there are people walking dogs, kids etc, not sure about the safety of others in promoting this. The alphas will smash it with the right winds.

Nearby a cat topiary.

Some school children art.

After 30 km we pulled away from the canal and headed into Bellem, a small village.

We were hoping for a hot drink but found a little shop open. It was exquisite. I wandered around in awe at their creations that not only included the cakes above, but amazing little chocolates, and other confections.

How to choose? I lost my place in the queue multiple times as I prevaricated.

Well, it was my birthday yesterday. No birthday cake, so this would be my substitute.

We shared these. The one on the left has apple in it. Light and delicious. The chocolate one was well, chocolatey! Also very nice.

I had messaged our Air BnB to say we’d be there at check in time of 3 pm. We had many hours to still kill. I read a message that we could check in at noon. Beaut we thought.

So we headed into Ghent. It was raining again, the cobbles were wet, plus there were metal tram tracks to cross. In fact, I had to ride between the tram tracks on cobbles.

Eeeeek.

We arrived without me falling. Turns out we could just drop our gear off including the bikes, and we were back on the road until 3 pm.

So we wandered around Ghent, in our cycling clothes, in search of a loo! We decided to have lunch as there would be a loo there.

Then we walked around.

Gravensteen, circa 1100’s, former home of the Count of Flanders, now a museum

Interesting statues, modern day gargoyles?

It was raining by now, so we needed to keep dry and went up one street with three churches. We were not alone seeking shelter inside these amazing old buildings with various histories back to the 1100-1300s.

They all had very high arches and ceilings, with incredible stone pillars.

Our wander thereafter between rain showers and check in.

We got back to the key deposit area at 2.50 pm but the key was not there. Obviously super strict, we wandered for another 10 min and on the bang of 3 pm, the son put the key in the box.

We then enjoyed a shower.

The undoubted highlight of our day was still to happen.

Ghent may have wonderfully historic stories and buildings, but Fran eclipses that.

I’ve known Fran for many years on Zwift. She is one of the earlier legends, being formative in setting up events that still exist with Pride month, plus she established AHDR Ladies (an Aussie group).

Fran is from Belgium, and her two daughters live here still.

Aside from being an incredibly decent and nice person, she is a very talented and gifted artist.

She is back zwifting again after a hiatus.❣️

We were delighted to finally meet face to face and enjoy dinner with her.

We showed her the photograph of the 12 men under supervision, from earlier. Fran had a good think and offered a very plausible suggestion.

Dove or pigeon competitions where the bird flies back to its box.

Best idea yet.

Hugs Fran ❣️

Today’s route.

Tomorrow we head to Lille, in France, via Roubaix (hopefully not too many cobbles!).

Thanks for reading 😊🚴❣️

Day 22: Belgium loop

On June 6, 2026June 6, 2026 By Sharron YaxleyIn Europe4 Comments

Lots of coffee and bike messages around the breakfast room, plus a cute display my grandkids would love.

After an ample breakfast, we headed off on a day ride. We were planning on meeting another Zwift friend, Luc. There was to be a surprise there, but I’ll get to that.

The traffic was busy in Bruges and it took 20 minutes of traffic lights, hopping on and off the bike, scooting, to be free.

Another city gate, with a macabre story attached about a so called traitor who was killed, head spiked at the gate, skull kept, then bronzed, now sitting in a museum.

I found this one a bit creepy. He has pulled the fish out of the pelicans mouth. I don’t like this kind of imagery. The pelican deserves to eat! Go catch your own fish!

Peaceful rivers and canals.

Loppem castle was built in the mid 1800’s and now houses art. Quite pretty by the lake. The skies are very grey and rainy.

In 2006, Ichtegem village was chosen to honour a local cycling legend Jules Vanhevel who had previously won this event.

The overall winner in 2006 was well known Tom Boonen. George Hincapie was third.

It was windy, headwinds of course, but at least today we knew we would get tail on the way home. It rained so the jackets were on then off multiple times.

46 km in we arrived in the town of Diksmuide, a lovely town with striking buildings, a super nice markt, and a nice statue.

We were standing at a statue waiting for our friend. Tony got involved in a conversation with a group of Vespa riders. I laughed as I watched his arm movements.

He then took a photo for the guys with their vespers. I was spotted by their ‘leader’ and told to come out of hiding behind the plants. In fact, he asked me ‘have you been pissing in those plants’.

I told him no, but that I did need to pee badly. Truth.

They took our photo.

They told us that 2000 vespers were descending on the region for Europes largest vesper gathering. It was being held at the hippodrome in Ostend. We were cycling through there later in the day.

Then our Zwift cycling friend rocked up, lady on his arm who gave us a big welcome, like she knew us. Turns out Jill, whom I do know through Zwift is his partner. I had no idea, but what a lovely surprise.

Jill, from England, got to know Luc zwifting, and now she lives with him in Belgium ❣️❣️

We had a lovely catch up. I talked too much in hindsight. Surprised?

Jill recently spent time in Australia, as one of her sons lives in WA.

But all good things need to come to an end, and we had to keep cycling.

This are of Belgium has a lot of war history from both world wars.

On the outskirts of town is this war memorial. There is a UN owned museum there where you can experience mustard gas. Not on my must do list.

I experienced tear gas during my army reserve military training. A highly unpleasant experience that triggered asthma.

The next major town was Veurne. Only 10 km from the North Sea, and even less to the French border.

It has a striking markt (yes spelled without the ‘e’).

We looked for some food. I went into one store that only sold beautifully made, exquisitely pretty things. Nothing savoury, so a scroll it was.

We sat outside a church, and I wandered in. It has a history going back to the 1100’s.

The church details differ in Belgium. The ceiling is timber.

The tiled sections of roof.

This looks creepy! Medieval reenactments.

We then headed towards the North Sea coast. I had looked at us riding to Dunkirk, but it would have added another 25 km or so to the day.

Through the Netherlands there were many such signs. Wildrooster.

We figured it out, as each time there was a wildrooster, we rode over a metal cattle grid.

We laughed, as with the English definition, I wanted to see a very angry, free range rooster!

Today we photographed the sign that had made us smile and comment lots.

The wildrooster existed due to these sheep grace grazing along the dyke.

We made it to Nieuwpoort.

We thought we were getting a ferry someone out into the gusty sidewinds along the busy causeway. Windsocks are full.

A shallow river, controlled by sluis gates. during one battle the gates were opened flooding the lower lands to stop the German advancement.

There were statues and picture frames along the route.

But there was no ferry! It was not running!

So a detour was needed, back to town adding about 7 km to our day ride.

On the detour was this war memorial.

Finally we were on the coast. Lots of sand was built up.

Wide promenades and buildings that were no taller than 10 storeys.

Lots of interesting art.

The beach rolled on and on.

So much beach.

Ah, the Vespa week. We did ride last the very busy hippodrome.

Junky art. Huge squashed metal objects.

Ostende suffered bad,y from war. German occupation, allied bombings destroyed much of the coastal structures. Ultimately they were rebuilt with the apartments.

The old church of St Peter and St Paul survived. It is a wonder how with such heavy bombing such tall, intricate structures do survive. It is great that they did!

It was then a fast ride back to Bruges over 20 km as we had a tailwind. What joy!

We followed a good canal path.

Here is our ride. 122 km for the day.

It was a good day to be out, we experienced all weather but good to be alive.

For more detail, Strava: The Mink (Sharron Yaxley)

Many have asked if I spent today being pampered and spoilt? No, I rode. We did what we do!

Today I turned 64. Reminds me of a certain Beatles song.

I got lots of messages, and three videos, one from each of my grandchildren ❣️❣️❣️, and a lovely card from Tony.

He had pre gifted my present. A new Hammerhead bike computer that I’m using on this trip.

Thanks for reading.

Day 21: Middelburg to Bruges

On June 5, 2026 By Sharron YaxleyIn Europe4 Comments

Today we left the Netherlands after nearly 1,000 km ridden in this wonderful country.

The weather, still trying to not let us go, headwinds and likely rain.

Tempting to stay!

Nevertheless we had our breakfast, put on our wet weather booties (go over our cycling shoes to keep our feet dryer and warmer).

Middelburg was a busy place today, after being quiet as a mouse last night. Soon we were following the canal to Vlissingen.

It was maybe 7 km or so and we were at the ferry terminal. It was about a 45 minute wait and we were on the ferry for about 20 minutes.

The bikes are well looked after. The bikes are tied to the rails.

The ferry is a catamaran and crossed the slightly rougher waters in the wind fairly smoothly.

We chatted with a group of Dutch friends, some living in Geneva. They had hired e-bikes to look around Breskens.

Soon we were on the road again, passing through villages including Groede.

We deviated around Sluis, riding along the old rampants, on a gravel path. It had been raining and I wondered what as going through Tony’s head. Gravel, rain, bikes = messier bikes. 😳😝

Soon we were back in town. Sluis was largely destroyed by Allied bombs near the end of WWII. The city ramparts, belfry and windmill make the town seem historic though.

Close to the North Sea coast, just a few km to the south is Belgium.

The skies opened again in the centre and we went into a small restaurant with covered outdoor seating close to our bikes.

We ordered a fruit smoothie and a ham and cheese pancake. It was huge!

We chillaxed here for a while, as today was short, relative to our usual days.

Sluis sights.

On the outskirts of town we headed out following the canal, there are a series of old fortifications. I walked through them. You need to use your imagination as to how they would have looked in their day.

Look, the sun has started to shine! Still a headwind but, the sun is shining and it’s not raining.

We ride across that bridge.

Within a short distance we are in Belgium. No signs and we are not certain exactly when we crossed, but the residents cars along the canal all have a B instead of NL.

So no teary farewells.

This was interesting. It is a little punt you can operate to cross the river. If it was not so windy with rain forecast, we’d have given it a go.

Scarecrows.

It started raining heavily as we approached Damme, a former major European port. Must have been a lot of land reclaimed since.

We take shelter and keep moving when the rain eases.

Some sites around the town. Lots of cobbles here. Not my favourite surface particularly when they are wet.

The bat cave.

We cut our ride short today by 10 km heading to our hotel on the outskirts of Bruge. I had routed 10 km wandering around the city.

Dark clouds were threatening and it was going to rain again. The wind had dried us quickly and we were keener to arrive dry. we took shelter under a building foyer as another downpour bucketed down.

Then the sun come out and we moved on.

We are at a bike hotel tonight. We were able to check in 90 minutes early too.

Wonderful bike storage and everything is themed bikes.

Adjacent to our loo! Freddie watching over us.

After an hour or so, the forecast showed no further rain.

We walked nearly 7 km into the centre and back.

Bruges is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe. It was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 2000.

Of course, everyone knows that Matilda of Flanders was born here. Who? The wife of William the Conqueror (King William I).

Ezelpoort one of the many remaining city gates

The famous belfry.

The belfry of Bruges is from the 13th century. It houses a carillon of 47 bells.

Need to travel a long way to get Aussie ice cream

We will likely come back into Bruges on Saturday on our way to Ghent.

Today was a short 51 km, but after yesterday’s headwinds, a reprieve of sorts.

It was a SW headwind again today but only into the lower 30’s kmh, and without the exposure of the bridges and causeways.

Tomorrow we have a longer day ride planned, can be tweaked if weather dictates.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner in the restaurant here. It’s nice to get a lift and find dinner vs going on the prowl, when I sing one of Willow’s songs ‘ we’re going on a bear hunt’ changing it to ‘food hunt’.

Today’s route. Thanks for reading ❣️🚴😁

Day 20: Delft to Middelburg

On June 4, 2026 By Sharron YaxleyIn Europe6 Comments

Today was to be our last full day riding in The Netherlands. We have loved it. What would today bring?

Firstly, another amazing breakfast. Looking out the backyard. Serene. Flower hot houses to the upper right. The geese and their small growing broods over the canal.

Darker skies but it’s not raining, tick.

The forecast includes strong SW. Our direction today? SW.

The winds were blowing. Ominous start as we had 106 km to ride today, heading towards the coast and across the southern islands of Zeeland.

Back through Delft and Schipluiden, we headed to the ferry at Maassluis, to cross the Scheur River.

Waiting for the ferry. It costs 3 euro for the two bikes.

The ferry heading to us.

Me sheltering from the winds on the ferry.

My hammerhead computer says we are off route!

The ferry twists and turns in the short distance, plus needed to give way to three larger vessels.

Today we are riding through South Holland, across many islands.

Only one ferry, the rest is a mixture of bridges and causeways.

Great places to be in 35-40 kmh headwinds as they are usually more exposed 😳🤣

The wind turbines are in their element. Always delightful riding along and seeing they are receiving the same wind direction. The wind turbines here are much larger than those I’ve seen in Tasmania. These are seriously huge.

Finally a small forest section, where we enjoy a reprieve from the wind. It didn’t last long. We took a break at a table here.

Up to the coast. Blowing like blazes there.

Tony looks, and he climbs up the observation tower.

What Tony saw.

At ground level, plenty of bike signage. A strand is beach. Along this section, there are about 9 access points. Like Poland along their Baltic coast, numbered and designated points.

Tempting to turn and head back to Rotterdam. We’d have a tail wind.

A lighthouse at the southern end of the North Zealand island, Schouwen Duiveland.

If you look at this map of Zealand, you can see the narrow slivers of land we cross.

From South Holland the bridge and causeway across. Then another two around the Deltapark.

There are some wonderful beaches at one end. Today paradise for the kite surfers.

On the other side, no sand, calmer and the windsurfers are enjoying it.

The pathway across one causeway. It looks calm but you can’t photograph wind. It’s blowing a gale with gusts over 60 kmh.

The path is built on the dyke. In places, my legs were being sandblasted.

The best I could manage was 12-13 kmh along this beautiful straight and flat section. Cyclists coming the other way were flying.

There is a tourist train! Does it take bikes???

More beach, kite surfer. This area would be brilliant in a nice summers day. Oh yes, it is summer now 🤣🤣🤣

I look for seals. I see none.

Riding into as much wind as we did today is physically and mentally hard. To help counteract the mental I count things. How many wind turbines? I got up to 39 with one view from left to right.

52.2 kmh wind gust on Tony’s bike computer. We also looked at the wind apps and no good news there, still 32-38 kmh SW for the area.

I’m still smiling….or is it gritted teeth? Rain jackets on as it started spitting.

We stopped to put our rain booties on with 20 km remaining. No more photos.

So then we had driving headwind plus rain.

We arrive in Middelburg and have a self check in. Good bike storage as they also do local bike tours.

Our room has a wall heater, plus we put a portable fan on a bedside table, in front of hanging space, to dry our clothing.

The smell of drying cycle shoes is a less pleasant sensation.

We head out hunting food. It is a quiet night here in Middelburg, the capital of Zealand.

The closest restaurant says no. The next restaurant says no….feeling despondent the Spar supermarket looks like the best bet. Then we spot signage to another. She said yes!!!

Third time lucky, I could have kissed her.

We left with a full tummy and had a wander.

Love the umbrellas. This is where we ate.

I was not going to sit next to her. Puddles!

Just under 1,900 km ridden now. Today was one of our tougher days courtesy of the strong headwinds.

It was tough and you just have to mentally break it down into bite size chunks. We ate all our snacks today speaking of biting chunks. We did stock up at that Spar on our walk home.

Tomorrow the forecast is similar, but we are not riding as far. Shorter day as we head to Bruges in Belgium.

I think the Netherlands does not want us to leave. It’s saying, turnaround, head north and we will give you tail winds.

Tempting, but our journey does need to take us in another direction. Surely the headwinds will give up eventually?

Let’s see what tomorrow brings 😳🙏🙏🙏

Thanks for reading 😁🚴❣️

Day 19: Cruising with Theo

On June 3, 2026June 3, 2026 By Sharron YaxleyIn Europe2 Comments

An amazing breakfast, delivered to our table and more than we needed given we thought we were not riding.

Beautiful food, and I gazed out across the canal watching the geese with their young ones. The Dutch geese are plentiful, and many with young families currently.

We thought we were meeting Theo at 10am. He rocked up at the said time, on his bike.

So we quickly changed whilst Theo enjoyed a coffee here in the breakfast room.

We jumped on our bikes and headed off, armed with rain jackets.

The forecast was for about 8mm of rain today, with a moderate thunderstorm warning.

The neighbours have this carving. The bear looks sad.

So where did we go? We followed Theo! We had no idea and just watched our route grow on our bike computers.

The green dot was our start and finish point. 51 km was ridden in and around Delft and The Hague.

It had been raining and the paths were wet. In places, there were some quite big puddles.

Without our rear luggage on, water flicks up from the rear wheel onto our bums.

We passed many hot houses today. Theo tells us that many have been closed, or moved on, to provide for new housing.

The hot houses are mainly flowers but we pass one that grew capsicums too.

We ride through a large park, Landgoed Ockenburgh. The park is part of a country estate villa built in 1630 in The Hague.

A large lake, sun starting to shine.

We stop at a quaint cafe not far from the coast. It is frequented by Theo and welcomes cyclists, having a bar that you can hang your bike on (we prefer those to the racks you jam your wheels into).

There are a few other, seeming regulars, in attendance. One man sits on a pokie like machine inside, a few others enjoying a beer.

Theo orders coffee for each of us and asks if she has apple pie. This is the same as Jeroen in the north. I’ve deduced apple pie is a ‘thing’ here in the Netherlands for cyclists.

Cream is known as ‘slag’ here….far different meaning to home.

Theo is a friend from Zwift. We connected when he was recovering from open heart surgery, a few months after mine.

He has more recently had spinal surgery and has bolts and screws added to his collection. He rides well.

Zwift was a wonderful rehabilitation tool for both of us, and obviously with strong social connections as we have been fortunate to meet many zwifters on our trips now.

We sit for maybe 90 minutes at the cafe chatting away.

The skies start to darken and boom, down it came. 10 mm fell in The Hague yesterday and I would hazard a guess that much of that was just after 1 pm.

The cafe lady had a mop with a large head on it, pushing up the canopy over her entrance. Incredible volumes of water were caught weighing it down.

Maybe 20 minutes later, it eased up and off we went.

At the town of Schipluiden we said our farewells. Theo would head south to Vlaardingen, and us to the north east to Delft.

Theo’s jacket has lots of mud and very wet.

Thanks Theo for being part of our journey and trip memories. ❣️

Riding back towards Delft, further rain threatens.

We skirted around Delft, as Hoeve Buyten Hout is closer to the village of Delfgauw.

For dinner we walked about 500 metres to a delightful French cafe restaurant.

A lovely setting, we sit indoors as it rains on and off. We ordered a main course each and had eyes on the dessert menu, but neither had room!

We have so enjoyed our time in The Netherlands. Tomorrow is our last full day riding here and we will make the most of it.

We head south tomorrow to Middelburg, on the southern Dutch islands before Belgium.

Thanks for reading ❣️🚴😁

Day 18: Voldendam to Delft

On June 2, 2026June 3, 2026 By Sharron YaxleyIn Europe3 Comments

A nice breakfast, chats with some of the other guests, asking us about our trip. Going to breakfast in cycling gear tends to do that.

We rolled out quietly, crossing the cobbled pavement, heading towards Edam and Purmerend, then onto Zaandijk.

Lots of canals, nice homes and farms.

An older junkier boat, but I’m sure lots of stories to tell

Crossing over a bridge, looking down at the bike paths and signage. We rolled down and headed under the bridge.

Wide canals or maybe rivers . Hard to know without looking at maps

This stretch of road was beautiful. The houses all had such features with flowers. Clogs, scarecrows and stuffed jeans.

An old packing crate, clogs and geraniums

A dairy area too.

Lots of tourists were walking around Zaandijk.

Not sure what this is, but interesting structure.

We saw the kiosk and stopped for drinks. Buitenhuizen has a ferry to transport over the North Sea canal.

It’s free, and constantly going back and forwards. We just missed the first one, so enjoys our drinks and chatting with this super fit 70 year old Dutch rider.

He rides 800 km per week, on the road. His wife is still working four days a week, so says he rides all day, up to 150 km.

We stand just under the descending flight to Schipol (Amsterdam airport). A constant lineup.

We cross to the other side. We laughed as the three motor bikes are revving their motors.

An interesting point is that small motored bikes below certain cc are allowed on bike paths. We have been passed by hundreds mostly respectfully, but some at quite the speed.

An interesting church.

Our route goes through the side of Haarlem towards Leiden, following a path that cuts through villages and flower farms.

Many tulip fields that would have been glorious a few months ago.

A heavily picked over peonie field.

Not sure what’s growing here. Look like carrots but likely a flower.

Hand painted tulip bulbs.

Churches in each village.

Always canals and boats.

Old gateways into towns. This one is at Leiden. An interesting looking town, birthplace of Rembrandt.

Roundabout of the day.

Excellent pathway.

Heavily flowering peonies. There was a farm shop open at this one where you could buy produce.

Very modern homes back onto this canal, with internal spots for the boats.

The men were busy fishing here. We’ve not yet seen anyone catch a fish! Many of the men have quite elaborate set ups.

A lovely windmill renovation in progress.

We are riding towards Delft, riding through parts of The Hague. Many beautiful homes back onto the canal.

We don’t deviate as today, at 107 km to ride and it has been increasingly challenging with the unabated head winds growing stronger.

Around Delft there are roadworks in progress and we need to re route. Annoying as we are keen to get there, but easy for us to figure out with our bike computers.

We are staying in as all boutique style accommodation alongside a small canal. It has won many awards including a Netherlands National BnB award. It is likely the nicest overnight (well two in this case) we have stayed in on any of our trips.

The bikes are well secured with their loan e-bikes.

We pass by the rabbits, ducks and chooks.

We have our own enclosed yard, where the sun shone brightly, and enough breeze to catch the drying clothing.

The backyard extends down to a canal, a hot house with vegetables growing. There are also beehives.

The room is beautifully appointed, with a handwritten card and gift of local tea.

A little car we saw as we walked to the village. These are compact and have seen one on a bike path! There is a sign on the back indicating it has a limit of 40 kmh.

So here we are now in South Holland province.

Tomorrow is a rest day off the bike. after 1720 km in 18 days, good for our body.

I do have a route mapped, but there are thunderstorms brewing with warnings, and we have plans to catch up with a friend instead. Who wants a wet bum if you have options.

Thanks for reading.

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