This day ranks right up there with some of our hardest days.  Bottom line is we got spoiled with all the flat terrain in Netherlands and the Flanders part of Belgium.  The rest of Belgium is downright hilly.

Leaving Rochefort, we started climbing immediately.  We had successive climbs and descents.  I was clocking the climbs and they were of the two mile long and lowest gear variety.  Nice coasts downhill but we froze on the descents.  After almost two hours, we had covered only about 15 miles .Very demoralizing, but the terrain improved after St. Hubert.   From there the terrain became rolling hills.

The salvation of the day was the tailwind for the last 20 miles or so.  It was just what we needed to finish today’s ride on a positive note.  We left around 8:40am and didn’t get to our hotel until 5pm.  We covered 74 miles which is a little more that Brian and I are comfortable doing in a day at this stage of our lives.  Only one more day of riding and it should be a short one, around 30-35 miles.  Then we have a four and a half hour ride back to Amsterdam.

We leave Chris at the Trier, Germany train station so he can catch the first of six trains he needs to ride to get back to Kopelain (sp?).  The biggest bummer for Chris is that the first train from Trier doesn’t leave until 8:30 tomorrow night and he’ll have to ride and switch trains all night.  Beth, Brian and I will be sleeping soundly in our hotel in Amsterdam tomorrow night.  We’ll be thinking of you Chris.

A view from the window of my room at our hotel in Rochefort.

Getting ready to roll out this morning.

Chris making final preparations for today’s ride.

After two hours of climbing and descending, our first rest stop on some church steps in St. Hubert.

A monument/memorial at the base of the church steps. Major battles in WW I and WW II were fought in Belgium.

Brian taking a break. For some reason, we didn’t eat much today.

A view of the countryside from this afternoon.

Afternoon break along some narrow agricultural roads. Very rarely did we come upon cars along these roads, fortunately.

Welcome to Luxembourg. I entered my third new country on this trip. Not much of a sign but more than Belgium had.

I’m having a blast and am already making plans for next year.  Even though it rained most of the day, we enjoyed the scenery.  Unfortunately, it’s hard to take pictures when it’s raining. Here goes my attempt at today.

The most elaborate church I have ever seen. Leaven, Be

Morning break after getting soaked.

I forgot to count so Brian forgot to suck in his gut.

The dirtiest my bike has ever been. The picture does illustrate the real thing.

The scenery was spectacular but it doesn’t show on a cloudy day.

Brian and I are waiting for Chris to finish climbing this hill. It only goes one way.

A nice beer in the lounge of the hotel after a long day.

A street scene in Rochefort, BE.

Typical rain shower on today’s ride.

A picture of Beth and my dessert which followed our best meal yet. Served in the French style.

Google maps failed us today.  Took us on gravel paths almost impossible to ride.  We had to walk almost a kilometer on one of the paths.   Also met a Belgium named Yeve, also traveling to Rochefort.  Rode with him until Namur when he took a different route.  Brian and I wished we could have taken the route he had mapped out.

Today was supposed to be 71 miles but I suspect it was more.  I don’tknow the exact mileage because my odometer got too wet in a rain shower this morning and stopped working.  Tomorrow is about the same distance but it’s supposed to be nice tomorrow.

Since I got so many replies to my picture blog (thanks Mark, you were the only one), I’ll try again.

Welcome to Belgium.

Brian and Chris standing in Netherlands and Belgium.

One of our bike paths today. Most of our day was spent on bike paths.

First rest stop in a bird viewing tower. It was raining lightly The cover was well timed.

Afternoon rest stop.

View of the grounds of our hotel.

Resting in a rocker at our hotel.

Not much scenery today other than the old part of Tilburg which we rode thru at 7:30 am and the jarring cobble stone streets of Leuven at the very end of today’s ride.  Off and on drizzle but not an issue.  A strong headwind kicked up our last hour or two.  Leaven, Belgium is typical of the towns we have been staying in with an old town square.  Covered 67 miles.  Tomorrow is our longest day of riding..

If I can get pictures to send, I hope to do a blog in pictures ala Mark.

Bike Parking Lot in Amsterdam

Leaving Amsterdam. First Morning

Classic Netherlands Landscape

Taking a Break on a Bikepath Next to a Canal

Lunch in Delft

Leaving Delft. Day 2

Picture on a Bouncing Bridge

Hope you enjoyed a sample of Day 1 and 2 pictures.  I’ll try to post more tomorrow but internet is fickle and I am having a hard time adding pictures.  57 miles today.  No rain and mild headwinds.  Perfect temps for riding.  Rain in the forecast for tomorrow’s ride.

The Netherlands is flat, and we are loving it.   Arrived in Amsterdam after flying all night and rented a car and drove to our hotel.   Balance of yesterday was spent getting acclimated to the 6 hour time difference and putting our bikes together.   Managed a little sightseeing in Amsterdam last night before getting as much sleep as possible.

First day of biking was also our shortest this trip at 41 miles.   Got rained on, at times pretty heavy, but a good beginning to this 3 country bike tour.  Chris did an excellent job navigating using an app on his iPhone.   We rode the entire distance on bike paths or dedicated bike lanes in Amsterdam and the two other cities we passed thru.

We are amazed at the amount of bike infrastructure, both in the cities and in the countryside.   More than even Denmark.   It seems everyone rides a bike to go shopping, commute to work and/or school, and just biking around.

Bikes have the right of way over cars and pedestrians.   Intersection traffic lights have special green lights for bikes.  I am loving this bike culture.   Wish we had it in the US.   Maybe someday if we keep pushing for it.  It is no wonder we hardly see any obese people with so many people riding bikes.   I have taken pictures of bike parking lots which are huge.   I will try to figure out how to download to my blog later in the trip.

Longer day of riding tomorrow but it looks like we have to go thru Rotterdam, a large city.  Tomorrow is supposed to be rain free, one of the few this trip.   I will enjoy it and hope we dodge the rain drops on the days to come.   Wishing Mark and Matt were with us.   Already thinking about trips in future years.   Ted, this morning our hotel had a devoted section to gluten free breakfast.   I’ll keep looking for you.

Our prettiest day yet.  Bright blue skies with big puffy clouds.  Warm enough to shed the arm warmers for the first time.  57 miles of mostly flat roads with bike lanes in the populated areas.

A. Map of part of today’s route instead of a historical marker.

A sample of the clouds we enjoyed at our lunch break.

Are these clouds better than historical markers or what?

Enjoying a well deserved rest with Friday.

A view of the Ribe skyline/church steeples from miles outside Ribe.

Guess what Brian is doing in the Ribe town square?

The view from the top of one of those churches we saw from miles away. That is the North Sea in the distance.

A pic of the riders from the top of the church tower. 260 steps up and 260 or 1 steps down.

Ribe town square. Larger open spaces than in the others we have seen.

This is our hotel for tonight. It was built in 1535. For over 100 years it served as the town jail. It’s right on the town square.

View from inside our hotel. They never took the bars down.

Brian’s room tonight. Chris and I are hoping that solid wooden door blocks out his snoring. We should have found a place like this earlier in the trip.

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Here are a few pictures from yesterday I forgot to post.

This is the inside of the train car as we crossed from one island to another yesterday.

This was a view from the balcony off my room about 9:30. Notice the moon rising. Yes, that’s my wash hanging out to dry.

The ride today was only about 45 miles, mostly thru farmland.  In a way, an off day.  I took a bunch of pictures of two villages we passed thru so you can get a feel for the scenery in the towns.

Chris and Brian at an outdoor cafe in Faaborg. Chris needed another cup of coffee because he complained we got him up too early.

This gentleman is Jess Anthill, whom we met in the same town square. He is getting ready for his annual solo ride from Copenhagen to Paris in Sept. It is 1100 kilo and he has been doing it for over 15 years. He is 69 years old. Most enjoyable visiting with him.

Another pic of the square in Faaborg.

Our last ferry ride from Bojden to Fynshav. I won’t try to pronounce. Nothing is pronounced like the spelling in English. Isn’t Brian doing a great job with his fingers?

Pic from the bow of the ferry.

Our little old bikes with all the cars and trucks.

Brian’s daily ritual. Check into the hotel, shower and go find an outdoor cafe to have a beer or two. Beth, you are dearly missed this trip.

This is from the town square of Sonderborg. A pleasant stroll after dinner. Another difference without Beth along. We walk everywhere. If it’s not close, chances are we are not going.

A pleasant night down by the harbor of Sonderborg. My last pic of the day.

A sunny day for a change and it actually got warm.  69 miles, two flats (Brian and I) and a train ride in order to get from one island to the next.  One more ferry ride tomorrow and we will be on the Jutland peninsula which connects to Germany.

Mostly agricultural between towns with these beautiful town squares.  They seem to be next to the cathedral(Lutheran, although probably Catholic at one time) and the city hall.  Usually very old stone and/or brick buildings.  I’ll try to take some pictures tomorrow of some town squares.

Chris’right knee is bothering him.  It seems to have settled down tonight.  I guess a couple beers helped.  Fortuneately it didn’t start acting up until the last 7 miles or so. This was a long day.  We should sleep well tonight.  We just finished a great dinner outside.  I had a white fish called ‘hac’ or our waitress was pulling my leg..  The waitstaff on this trip have been kidding us a lot.  They’re all fun.  They speak great English, sometimes better than Texans.

Now I will try to post some pics of the day.

Brian having lunch at a roadside rest stop.

Friday likes his breaks too. It is not a circus bike.

Loving these bike lanes. We had them almost the whole day. WOW I wish the states would start doing this and the road surface of the bike lanes and roads is much better than PA.

Picture taken from the train window. We got on and rode the train one stop in order to get to the other side of a body of water. 10 minute ride. No other way across.

Copenhagen street scene. Notice the sign on the green building in the background.

Rain rain go away, don’t come out the rest of this trip.  Gorgeous sunny morning that clouded up, rained when we were leaving Copenhagen and rained most of the way to Roskilde, our destination for tonight.  The clouds cleared and we enjoyed a beautiful sunny afternoon.  A good thing.  We needed the sun to dry our shoes.

A relaxed moment at outdoor cafe in Roskilde.

Brian and Tim in Germany with the Baltic Sea in the background.

I am trying to add pictures to this post but struggling to succeed.  If the blog seems disjointed, it’s because I have been told to add pictures.

This was a sample of the gravel roads we were on from Ystad to Malmö on Sunday afternoon.  Fortunately no cars were encountered on this one.

Brian and I in Helsingor with Hamlet’s castle in the background.  Yes, Hamlet from Shakespeare.  That Hamlet.

I am fascinated by the similarity between English and Swedish. This sign is an example of what I mean.

The literal interpretation of this sign is:  “This is where we are building fiber for the future.”  Bygger is building.  Fiber is fiber.  For is for.  Framtident is future.  Looks like “from today”.  See what I mean.

That’s enough for tonight.  I’ll get better at inserting pictures into my blog since Mark isn’t with us and Brian has no phone to take pictures.  A casualty of the rain soaking on Sunday.  He hasn’t blogged yet because he is so out of sorts not having a phone.  Major bummer!!!!!