A MASSIVE 52km DAY - We Made it to France (again)!

WE DID IT!

We are all lying in bed sore and knackered - but we did it!

A big push today, and we said goodbye to Belgium and HELLO FRANCE (again)!

When we finally made it to our hotel - the Mercure in Roubaix - we celebrated with cake

The charm of this this hotel, the Mercure, is that Mum was here with Mike some years ago, and he took a photo of her in the cafe in the lobby which he put on her 70th birthday poster he made for her - it's a great photo - so here we are, staying here in her honour. It feels really special.

It was a tough day today - in fact it's been a tough week in Belgium. We've ridden really long rides each day - every day it's been 40-50km days, and we are getting tired. And my butt has been sore. We've had some awful head winds too. Lucky the Hamster Jams are so freaking awesome, as we take it all in our stride and move forward with our amazing athleticism and superhumanness, with no tantrums at all (👀).

So, here we are looking back at the past two days. We've had to stay in someone's house, and a hotel because there are very few camping grounds here, and those are all booked - so we lament the loss of our funtastic Trekking Huts, and though life is far more salubrious with more glamorous beds and better showers, it just doesn't seem as much fun. We miss the huts.

So, here are some pics of the last few days riding and eating in Belgium. None of us really loved Belgium, it was so hard to find anywhere good to eat, especially lunch, but the scenery was beautiful and the bike paths were pretty damn good. The big upside here for cycling is their Cycling Node System - we could follow the path we wanted based on nodes we followed, which meant Mike didn't have to navigate off Google Maps - it was much easier for all of us as we understood the system. Cody learnt it really well, and he became an expert navigator - thanks Cody.

So, enjoy the pics. We feel very proud of ourselves. Two weeks riding now, and we have the final 200km to go. I wonder what we'll find cycling here in France.

Our brilliant accommodation in Heusden after a diabolical day on the bike - 46km, hot, tough directions, really sore butt.

But all was fixed after a night at the local Friteur - Friteur Ben - YUM YUM!

And breakfast the following morning - pastries and coffee

The best food we ate in Belgium - lunch yesterday at Mac Pudding on the bike route - REALLY REALLY DELICIOUS

This is the node system sign post we've been following in Belgium

Some nice scenery pics

Breakfast this morning at our hotel just outside of Oudenaarde

Today, en route, we passed by the famous Koppenberg hill that Mike and Oscar have ridden a few times - it's a famous part of the Tour of Flanders, and as today was Saturday there was a LOT of cyclists out today riding here.