May 15, 2024 Bruges to Ghent

Our first morning awakening on the boat. It rained overnight and for the first hour of cycling but lightly. Then off and on sprinkles until noon. The temperature was 13C at 8 a.m. and there was a light breeze and still raining. For breakfast there was a big bowl of vanilla yogurt decorated with swirls of red and yellow, there was mixed berries with apples, muesli, granola, milk for the cereals, oranges, bananas, cold cuts, cheese slices, tomato slices, cucumber slices, pastries, hard boiled eggs, buns, bread that could be toasted, and three types of crepes with a choice of toppings. There was a cappuccino/expresso machine that also made regular coffee. Also on a separate counter were paper bags to use to store your lunch and box juices, mini chocolate bars, plus anything from the breakfast counter. One couple decided to stay on the boat today and relax, but the refilling of the 22,000 gallon water tank took longer than expected and they were unable to dock the boat in time for them to get a taxi to join the group in Ghent. Three couples went together on the GPS self guiding route, leaving the other 23 split between Peter and Mieke, our cycling guides.

We left at 9:15 a.m. with Larry as today’s sweep, the person who is at the back of the line. He notifies the leader if part of the group has to wait for a red light or someone had bike problems. Deidre was following the group into a left bend in the path and another cyclist was coming from a hill slightly to right. She got t-boned and had more bruises and cuts to add to the ones from yesterday when she ran into a post on the side of the path. Deidre was shaken and her ebike brake cable was damaged. She switched ebikes with Nicholas, an experienced cyclist, and the group continued to the mooring spot in a lock near Merelbeke, just outside of Ghent. We arrived around 6 p.m. having cycling over 58 kilometres today.

There were several breaks during the ride. First was the Canadian war Memorial to the troops the liberated the Bruges/Ghent area. The second was an old German bunker than was big enough for living quarters for the soldiers. Next was a stop to buy strawberries at a strawberry green house operation at Oostermolen-Nord, not far from Aalter. There strawberries are grown year round. The strawberries were in 1 litre containers in a refrigerated vending machine that cost only €3 (about $4.41Cdn). They were red, ripe and sweet. We had a toilet and refreshment break at a small Belgian pub, Den Overzet, along the canal at Oostermolen-Nord. During the ride we passed fields of crops, grazing cattle, horses and ponies. There were even some goats under a tree during a patch of light rain. Mieke stopped to point out the Belgium Blue cattle that were bred after the war to have more meat.

Our lunch stop was at a village restaurant, in Vinderhoute, where there were tables set on the grassy courtyard. Peter’s group had arrived about ten minutes earlier. Some people bought lunch, others bought just a beverage or ice cream and we ate our bagged lunch. Then it was short ride to the old part of Ghent where we had an hour of free time before having a river/canal tour of the Historic District. All the bikes were parked along the railing of the river, locked and our helmets just strapped to the bikes. The Belgians do not wear helmets, just tourists. We wandered around several streets, initially going to several churches. St. Nikolaus church (17th century), the Belfry, St. Bavo’s cathedral (16th century), the Belfry of Ghent with its dragon weather vane (constructed 1313 and 1380), the Cloth Hall, (erected between 1425 and 1445), the ornate Town Hall (15th century and many changes to 21st century.

At 4:30 p.m. all 29 cyclists met for a 40 minute canal tour. Different points of interest were shown - the grey stone ancient grain storage, the three towers of Ghent, St. Michael’s bridge, over the River Leie built around 1909, Gravensteen Castle ( the Castle of the Counts dating from 1180 to mid 14th century) The guild houses of the free boatmen of Ghent & unfree boatmen of Ghent were the workers who did the loading and unloading cargo from ships. There was the old toll booth, the old meat market, and the Imperial Bridge.

After the canal cruise, it should have taken half an hour to get to the boat, but Deidre’s crash delayed the group 15 minutes. Before dinner we had drinks, Larry’s beer was complimentary since he was a sweeper today. We had another wonderful dinner by Chef Michel.

After dinner Peter and Mieke gave us the route and plans for tomorrow. We still managed to log 7100 steps along with the 58 km of cycling.